, 1873-05-04
SAN JACtHT0..

Since Bowie, Fannin, and Crockett died.
We we're tha Texan pioneers, !.
Tho first faint wave OF the Saxon tide.
Into the wilderness we had come,
Trstc and empty, but broad and fair,
And fitted to be freemAn's home,
And 1eared our humble tenements theec.
There Mother Earth Is q bouuteous nur1e,
Who can veil her chi1dren'a toll repay,
But ye tired Of the brutal Greaser's curse,
And the 1ordly Dons anarchtc sTAy;.
And ue raiaed tho dag OF an infant natfous
Weak, but born OF . glorious hn,
Knowing what utght1cr Constellation
Waited to welcome tho stranger IN;
Assured that II crime and bass surrender
Failed to tear our banner down,
Its star at Last would bloom In splendor,
Tho brightest gem in the Northern czoWn~
But alas tho sad and ahamefu1 story!
The Pun1c faith OF = jacka1 foot
That star, that rose In bloom Of glory
Sank In blood ut tho Alamo.
And stormy March beheld us flying
Eastward over = b1ood-statned track:
Old men-infants-the weak and dying
Our fair young nation blazing wEackS
Herds Of cattle and aheep were there;
ox-carts, laden with household waze;
Women, smirched With the deepening mira
Fleeing from outrage, blood, and fire;
Sick mon, anatched from terrible graVeay
Tended In wagons by trembling e1sves;
Children, bearing weary waight,
And the vast debris OF q ruined state;
While tho burning homesteads, ever nighar,
lowered In columns Of smoke and hre.
We were the rear-guard, seoW1ing back
At the foo that sW1rmed On uur SULTAN tx2cks
4 cruel, foul, and sHarthy throug
OF Greasers, twenty thousand strong
And we we're few our ranks, I'll told,
We're scarce si1 hundred, s,a yqqng h1ntI and olo-
Curaing with bitter hate the foe,
On we etalked through the shoreleas mud,
And talked Of the Aamo.
- The Alamoi Tie Alamo!
We felt the hot blood seethe,
Is ne hissed that word Of wrath and woe'
Through clenchcd and grinding teeth!
We talked Of the brave two hundred man
Piled In that horrible elaughter-pen=
Fannin, our darling, strong and lesl7
Bowie, hue as his own bright stee1;
Crockett, heaping his CORY bed
With hecatomb OF Greaser dead.
So We tramped tho alimy trail
Su11en, grim, snd slow,
With blooazhot eyss, and lips pressed ps1e,
And we vowed, II God our lives should Epazes
TIL the hour arrived to face the foe,
Ahuudred corses should rot In the air
For each that died at tho AIamof il,
So for weekH-day In, day out
Ever eastward swept the Fout,
To the sandy ehores Of tho broad Sabine.
But thern the American Eagle flew,
And there was Gaines, with his rauks Of blua.
There the terrible flight could cease
Behind the frontiers guarded bars,
And our wives and children rest In peace
Under the Saxon Stripes and Staa.
And than We turned; in every eye
The fires OF wrath burned hot aud high
Silent, su1len, stern, ind allow,
We again went marching toward tho toe,
TIL We reached a little wooded ridge
0'erlooHng the San Jacinto brIdga,
There two rivera, deep and wide,
Poured southwestward . sluggish tide,
Where man-of-War might at anchor Ide.
E3ch Vas . sumbre, turbid flood
1nky Water aud souudleas mud:
There Houston paused prince Of men,
Shall We ever look on his Like ngain,
A. he stood by the river-bank that hour,
Calm with god1ika sense OF power,
Ready to enter the coming strife,
His strong heart bearing nations ufe7
He stood and gazed, as in dream,
Toward the bridge that epanned the further ssrta
TIL over the woods we BaW appear
smoky pillar, ahootfng high,
And he draw his sword with wringing cheezs
And q terEib1e light In his stern blue eye.
"Texan.,n he cried, Is tho hour IL hero!
Nov forward, march Nc win or dtsl
Grant no quarter to yonder FOO;
And this shall be our battle cry
Remember the Alamo !"
Juzt aix hundred men, aud four,
We marched across the stream once mora
And all around the bridge, aud under,
4 crowd Of sl1vea st work we SAW
4 eight whereat We could but wonder
Hespfng pitch-pine wood and straw.
So ne fled along the roadway;
All twas ragged, motley crewI
One in tatte1ed black from Broadway,
One In soldiers cast-of blue.
One, escaped from felon's prison,
Stood by the man Of God, who hkd coma
Preaching the gospel Of Christ arisen,
To rear m altar and build homer
But e4ch heart burned with sense Of wrongs
In each the Saxon blood pulsed strong-
And the looker-0n would Burely say
Thst terrible work would be done that day.
Over our heads CUR banner flew,
A Lone White Btar IN = teld Of blue-
Then Houston turned as 80 reached the 1Ands
He struck match With his own stern hand,
And lit the pile; no word he spoke,
But well each man his purpose sAv,
md murmured cheer from tho Texans hroie,
Which rose and sxalled to loud hurrah-
We would win that day tho victor's wreath,
Or die with 9ampeon'B deathful power;
When the English 1nastif bares hta teeth,
Let the base coyote shrink and cowert
And every nerve Was iron-strong,
Though Zach heart beat with hxnnmer-h1owa,
As VIC took CUR way toward the mighty thro0g
Lying in careless, calm 1epose.
The DonB were al uncommonIy g1y
In the camps by the riverside that day.
In santa Annals grand marquee
The Aztec Esg1e WAS floating FREQ
On the Bilken banners gorgeous fold.
And the Generals sat at their MONDAY meal
With the hfgh-born grace Of old Castillo
Smiles wern be2mtpg on every face;
Twss the triumph hour Of tho Latin Race-
At the Alamo by the Gaudaloupe
They had broken the northern bulldogs tsH;
They had marked his Tying banners droop,
Torn BY tho Mexican Eagle's c1aw;
His fugitive army the scouts had seen
Fordtng the Ahoals of the broad Sabine,