The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-08-23
"I understand its meaning perfectl,

81 understand its meaning perfectly.
1t means the death of every American
now in Goliad. I have watched for the
courier since daybreak, and was resolved
to know the contents of his dispatch at
any peril. What are your intentionsa
"To obey the presidents instructions
to the letter" :
"There is one company among the
prisoners in there of whose capture the
president could not have been advised
when he wrote that dispatch. I mean
the men from Capano."
81 don't know that"
"Suppose you assume that he was
not aware of their presence. He does
not mention the company in his letter. y
"Well, what then3 It would only
proIong their lives for few"days."
Promise me that you will do as l
wish. Much can be done in a few days.
have friends near the president whom
he cannot afford to disoblige +; nor can
they we'll afford to slight me. Promise
me this, and Francisco, my husbands
orderly, shall start for Bexar might.
"It shall be as you desire. They call
me Indian, Sonora Alavesque; but were
I president I would not write that letter
for all the lands your father owns not
for all the gold that ever passed the
mint of Mexico"
The colonel leaned his bronzed Aztec
face upon the table, weeping like a
child.
Donna Pachita Alavesque, lovely
women of twenty, was the wife OF q
colonel of the Mexican army, man OF
great wealth and power. She had fol-
lowed him to Texas, partly from whim,
but chiefly in the hope of doing good.
Her visit that night to the commander
saved seventy lives.
Col. Portilla sent courier that night
at nine o'clock to Victoria, informing
Gen. Urea of the receipt of Santa Anna's
note, and of the plan he should pursue.
He also informed him of his intention
in respect to the company to be pre-
served.
On that same evening the rumor got
abroad among the prisoners inside the
fortress that the commander-in- chief
had been heard from, and that all would
march in the morning for Capano, where
ships were waiting to transport us to
New Orleans. Nearly all were young
men, most of whom had pleasant homes,
and friends who would welcome them
home with Joy. Many were singing
gleeful songs, or telling pleasant stories
and talking of their friends. A young
man asked some one, apparently among
Wards men, if he remembered Jack
Fellows think that was the name.
The answer was: eyes" And the first
voice continued: "Do you mind how
he used to sit up there in the bastion
evenings and sing and talk of his moth
ers and sisters at home2"
"I do right well. That chap used to
make me cry sometimes. 5E
"Well, he'll never sing any more.
He's as dead as Julius Caesar, He was
the first man killed in the Encinal. Poor
fellow I helped to bury him in the
ditch. I wish he was here to night. "
A flute in the hands of skillful per
former had been playing all The evening
such airs as "Auld Lang Syne," and
.eHome, Sweet Home. Every one
around me appeared to be happy and
spoke in pleasant tones. At length all
the voices were silent, and nothing was
heard but the cries OF the Indian sen.
tries US they paced to and*fro on the.
walls yelling in most uneartbly accents:
"C.ntiuella Alerta u "Centinella'-
! something else, which I have long ago
forgotten. At daylight the reveille con-
sisted OF simply few drum traps and a
bugle blast. Soon lines .wrre formed
and the rolls called. There were no sol
diers inside the fort, only few officers,
who were counting the prisoners, and
making preparations OF some sort in
very quiet way. Now and then some
thing was said about the early release
and departure of the prisoners; about
the necessity for slaughtering beeves,
and other preparations for a voyage.
Soon a number of prisoners, should
say at least $50, moved out of the mail
gateway. in the direction of the south
ern; tastion. An officer came up to
where we we're standing in line aud Or
dered us to move AS we passed through
the gateway. the party that had gone
out ahead of US had turned the corner
| Of the fortress. going apparently toward
the river. We turned the opposite way,
and entered a small peach orchard,
where we were told to sit down on the
grass and keep quiet:
On one side of I'll ~~orchard, facing
the Matamoras road g line OF
officers tents. The c side was pro
tected by a cactus hec beyond which
was an old graveyard, much dilapjdated.
The western side was an open prairie,
with here and there tree. The rest OF
the prisoners then came out OF the fort,
one-half going three or four hundred
Yards westward along the Matamoras
road, and the others in the direction We
had taken. The latter passed up the
road, and, turning round the orchard
hedge, halted just beyond the grave,
yard. A. line Of soldiers marched oil
either side. A tall young fellow walked
at the head of this party, with Meu
can blanket about his shoulders. He
looked toward US, smiling pleasantly.
I had couversed with him the day pre-
yious, when, he spoke hopefully OF an
early departure for his home in Penn
sylvania. This party had barely turned
tho cactus hedge when prolonged roal
of musketry was heard IN the direction
of the river beyond the fort. The cry
then arose among our men that they
were shooting the prisoners. The firing
was kept up for several minutes, ano
then it died away in occasional shots.
The firing commenced at the grave
yard. The intervening bushes pre-
vented our seeing anything save the
occasional CLEAN Of a bayonet, but
could hear the trampling of feet and
the shouts and groans of dying mer
distinctly.
Meanwhile my attention was directed
to the party that had Earched out or
the road in front of the fort. They
were in plain view. Some accounts ol
this massacre say that the prisoners
we're shot while in sitting postures
This was not the fact as to the party
coming under my notice. They halted
when fairly out on the open prairie, the
soldiers forming line facing down the
road. The prisoners were then place,
in singlcline facing the soldiers. The
soldiers then faced the prisoners, ani
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