New Orleans daily crescent., 1859-11-12
Mfu Orleans 1alIp Grfsffnt,
SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 12. 1855.
From Brownsville.
The Galveston News, Of Tuesday last, publishes
the following interesting letter:

the following interesting letter:
BaowNsvrlE, Nov. !, 1870.
Eds. Ne,es Il wrote you on the 23d Of October,
that Col. Laronco with seventy Mexican soldiers
was expected to join our Brownsville volunteers
and give Cortinas fight on the next day. The
fight was commenced on the 24th, as was expected,
under encouraging circumstances, but ended in a
general rout of onr little army, as You have pro-
badly learned before this. .-.-.
Cortnas managed a retreat from his fertilization,
so that he drew our men into an ambu5cade, where
the gun carriages and mules became begged. and
both pieces Of artillery were abandoned to the
enemy.
BY an hour after dark, our men commenced ar
irving in town, some on foot, others on horse.
mules and asses mostly double, and many of them
without arms. Many Of the fugitves did not arrive
until morning. OF course such defeat, connect
ed with the fact that our enemy had possessed
himself of two feld-pieces and an abundance of
ammunition, was calculated to enliven us who had
remained behind, to little more vigilance.
BY order of the Committee of Safety, every
house and store was shut, and every man able to
bear arms was required to step forward for a
general defense.
The enemy are daily increasing; every day
parties on horse back appear in sight Of the town,
while parties Of ten, twenty and thirty are ranging
in different parts of the country, gathering and
driving off all the cattle and horses they can find
Cortinas is making the Rancheros believe that
this is revolution and that he is going to retake
the country from the Rio Grande to the Nueces
Last night, they attempted to enter the town
through the garrison, DuL ulu not succeed: night
before last, they fired upon the town, from the
direction of the Convent for short time, and then
retired.
We have been thus besieged for thirty five days,
and not man from an adjoining county has come
to relief.
We have called upon the President and our Gov
| ernor for aid, and we are promised Regulars ant
| Rangers, but the Regulars are to come from For
| Clark by land, with three batteries, distance o
six hundred miles, and the Rangers are to be en-
listed and equipped, and to march upward of thre,
| hundred miles before any aid can be rendered.
Where are the old Texans Of Galveston Harris
Fort Bend, Austin, Washington, Montgomery an,
| Grimes, and why do not some of them come ou
and assist in a free fight? They will find plenty o
beef for themselves and grass for their horses
| And they need have no fear of this affair helm
| ended before they can arrive.
The Mexican authorities are pretending to guar
the right bank of the Rio Grande for the purpos
of preventing Cortinas and his men from crossin
over, but I regard them as pretence only; 70
before his massacre he and his men were allowe
to return to Matamoras with their arms and horses
where they were publicly cheered and encouraged
and not step taken towards his arrest and the
may disguise the matter as they please, but til
fact is, that at the time of the massacre, Cortina
commissioned in the Mexican service and drew ra
tions and pay for thirty men who were with hir
upon his murderous trip. As it is time to mour
guard must close.
.-o- ISRAEL B. BICELOW