Recollections of Early Texas by John Holmes Jenkins

upon the small band of Texans! First shots were high, then lower and lower, till sweeping the ground the little force fell thick and fast all around. With saber and lance the Mexicans fell uponthe few who escaped death in the volleys of shot, and cut them down.
    Only two out of the brave but unfortunate company escaped and lived to give details of the cruel butchery—Alsey Miller* and Gonsolvo [Henry Gonzalvo] Woods. The latter escaped by an almost miraculous combination of bravery, skill, vigilance, and fortitude. Receiving a wound in the shoulder, and several hacks over the head with sabers, he knew he could not cope with the merciless foe, who were every instant cutting down his comrades around him, so he concluded to surrender and place himself at their mercy, as vanquished. He tried to make his way with gun and ammunition to the commander, who was none other than Juan N. Seguin, the traitor.
    The wildest disorder and confusion reigned, and only one rule was the order of the day, and that was death to the Texans. The snap of a Mexican gun which had been drawn upon him convinced him that surrender or escape was almost impossible, but in his desperation he broke into a run, with a Mexican horseman at his heels. Death seemed inevitable, but as “fortune sometimes favors the brave,” so did it to Woods. The Mexican attempted to strike him with his lance, but missed him. With wonderful quickness he snatched the weapon with such force as to jerk the astonished soldier to the ground, whereupon he ran the lance through him and sprang upon the Mexican’s horse and made his escape.
    Riding full speed about two miles he saw two men, one of whom seemed to be his fellow soldier, Alsey Miller, whom he had seen make a desperate run from the scene of battle, and he turned to join them, but they were two Mexicans, who immediately rushed upon him, firing as they came. Seeing a pistol attached to the horn of the saddle, Woods snatched it to fire, but as he did so the cartridge fell to the ground, thus leaving him once more powerless to defend himself. They,however, did not know the pistol was empty, so he managed to bluff them until he reached a hollow. Dismounting, he hid himself and finally made his escape.
    His father, an old man sixty-two years old, 4 was killed and his brother Norman was wounded on this campaign, and died a prisoner.
    The next morning Woll commenced a retreat, camping that night on the Medina River, where our forces under Caldwell, John H. Moore, and James S. Mayfield came in sight of him. In the meantime, we had captured five stragglers from Woll’s army and these were now tied, so that even the guards might take part in the battle which seemed impending. Our spies went out under cover of the night almost into their camps, and returned and described their position and strength. We then advanced to within a mile and a half of them and awaited daylight. We awoke the next morning to find that the enemy had retreated during the night. We marched in pursuit at once, but after following them about fifteen miles we heard shots being exchanged between our advanced guards and the rear guards of Woll’s force. We were immediately ordered to halt, and our scouts returned from the firing and brought back one of our men, who was shot through the lungs. 5 Our army was composed of about five or six hundred men, and instead of advancing as a majority thought best, we were ordered to fall back three or four hundred yards into a dry creek in the prairie, near the Hondo River, where with a strong position we awaitedattack. After waiting a half-hour without any sign of the enemy, we were ordered to mount and advance.
    A march of about a mile brought us in sight of their pickets and we could distinctly hear the yells and cheers of their forces. Now after another halt, Captain Jack Hays was ordered to take his company and make a challenging charge, while Captain William M. Eastland was to support him with one hundred