Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1846-07-23
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A CAMPAIGN IN TEXAS.

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{ A CAMPAIGN IN TEXAS.
The following extract from the work
Of the above title, by Mr.. Ehrenberg,
which appeared las, year in Germany,
occurs in review of the work. which
is highly spoke, of, in B|ackwood's
Edlnburg Magazine. If the tlescrip-
ton is no, accurate, it is at least tue
in its outlines, as well as characteristic
Of the parties described:
1t was the latter end of March, and
the army ofrexan Militia. under Hols.
ton, which had increased to al out 1890
men, was assembled on the banks of
the Colorado river. One messenger
! after another had arrived, bringing
news that had converted them into per
fec, rannibaIs, ,hirsting after Mexican
J blood. The murder of Grant and his
horsemen; that of Johnson and King,
with delacEmenlS; the understandable
disappearance Of Ward, who was wan.
dering about in The prairie; and finally,
Horizons report Of the capture of the
unfortunate Fannin-alI these calami-
ties IN conjunction with the fall of the
Alamo. had raised the fury Of the
backwoodsmen to such a pitch, that
they We're neither to hold nor bind, and
nobody but Sam Houston would have
been able to curb them.
The old general sat upon a heap of
saddles; and in circle round IA large
fire, sat CT stood, leaning upon
their rifles, the captains of the militia.
The whole group was surrounded by a
grumblng crowd Of backwootl>men.
The dark fiery eyes of the officers,
nearly all tall, powerful figures, glanc-
ed alternately at the flames and at old
Sam, who was the only calm person
present. Slowly taking small katie
from his waistcoa, pocket, he opened
II, produced IA huge piece Of cavendi>h,
cut ofa quid, showed it between his
upper lip and front teeth; and handed
the tobacco TO his nearest neighbour
This was a gigantic eap'zin, The upper
part of whose body was clothed in AN
Indian hunting coat, his head covered
with what had once been fine beaver
hat, but of which The broad b,im row
tapped down over his eyes, whilst his
strong muscular legs were wrapped
from knee to ankle in thick crimson
flannel, a precaution against the ,horns
of the mu>kcet trees not unfrequen,Iy
adopted in the west. His bullet pouch
was made out of the head of leopard
in which eyes Of red cloth had been in :
serted; bringing out, by contrast, the
beauty Of the skin; and was suspended
from strap of brown untanned deer.
hide. With an expression of great
bitterness, the backwood>men handed
the tobacco TO the man next to him;
and it passed on from hand to hand,
untasted by any one-a sign Of uncom-
mon excitement amongst The persons
there assembled. When the drspised
cavendish had gone the round, the old
General stuck i, in his pocket again,
and continued the conference, at the
same time whiting stick with per-
feet GOODNESS and unconcern. eyes"
said he, 81 tell you tina, our affairs look
rather iicklish-can's deny iI-but thai
is the only thing that will bring the
people to their senses. Santa Anna $
the man to destroy the colonies, blu. it
won't be Sam Hous,on's fault. In
stead of at once assembling, the mill
tia stop at home with their wives; quite
comfortable in the chimney corner;
think that handful of volunteers can
whip ten thousand Of these half blood>.
Quite mistaken, gentlemen, quite mis-
taken. You see II now; The brave fri-
lows are gone; a scandal it is for us
and the enemy is at our heels. Instead
of seeing four OF FIVE thousand Of our
people here, there are only thirteen
hundred; the others are minding the
shop; making journeys to the Sabine,
Cant help it. comrades, must retire to
the Brazos; into the forests; must be
off, and that at once"
"Stop, General, that amt sense, !"