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Stephen F. Austin to James Bowie and James Fannin,
November 1, 1835

Page 1

This side of the page is signed by Austin, but written in another's hand.

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Stephen F. Austin letter - Page 1

Head Quarters Novemr 1st 1835

To Colo James Bowie & Captn Fanning,

Your communication of this
morning was received and is satisfactory in every respect
to myself & all others-

I sent in a demand today for a Surrender
Genl Cos stated that his duty would not permit him to receive
any Official Communication and of course it was returned unopened
unopened, --He in a Short time after Sent out Padre Garza
with a flag to Say to me, verbally, that he had absolute orders
from his Government to fortify Bexar & hold it at all hazards
& that as a military man his Honor and duty required obedience
to these orders, & that he would defend the place until he died, if he
had only ten men left with him-

This all that has passed between us-
I approached on this Side to day within cannon shot-they fired
four at us.-One shot (Ball) passed over our heads and one of grape
fell in the lines but fortunately injured no one-

From every information the fortifications are much Stronger
than has been Supposed and the difficulty of Storming of Course
much greater, [rest of line heavily crossed out]
[crossed out]-The system of alarms will be Kept up as much
as possible night & day and the place invested as closely as
practicable-For this purpose I expect to station the Adjutant
General with a Competent force at the old mill, a Short distance
from town-

I have no information yet of Travis-
A report reached Camp this afternoon through a person
from Bexar that an Express had just been received there,
Stating that Savariego had escaped from S. Felipe & had reached
the Irish on the Nueces, and in union with the troops at
that place had attacked Goliad-It is however only a report

The enclosed paper is from a confidential Source-
I had forgotten to mention that the Adjutant General
made a demonstration on the other Side with a Detachment.
[crossed out heavily]

S.F. Austin



Page last modified: March 9, 2016