ry, tenderness, and patience of
these American soldiers is as much beyond credence as it is beyond
praise. The whole weeping, weary company were to guard, and to forage
for; yet the men were never too weary to help mothers still more
exhausted, or to carry some child whose swollen feet could no longer
bear its weight. On this terrible march many children were lost, many
died, and many were born; and the whole company suffered from
deprivations of every kind.

On March 23d Houston wrote to General Rusk, "Before my God, I have
found the darkest hours of my life! For forty-eight hours I have
neither eaten nor slept!" And just at this time came the news that
Fannin with 500 men had been massacred, after fighting until their
ammunition gave out, and surrendering as prisoners of war under
favorable terms of capitulation. This news was answered by a
passionate demand for vengeance, and Houston, gathering his men around
him, spoke words which inspired them with an unconquerable courage.
His large, bright face, serious but hopeful, seemed to sun the camp,
and his voice, loud as a trumpet with a silver tone, set every heart
to its loftiest key.

"They live too long," he cried, "who outlive freedom, and I promise
you a full cup of vengeance!" But in words not to be gainsayed, he
told them they _must_ put their women and children in safety first of
all. Then he explained the advantages they were gaining by every mile
they made the enemy follow them--how the low Brazos land, the
unfordable streams, the morasses, and the pathless woods were
weakening, separating, and confusing the three great bodies of
Mexicans behind. He declared the freedom of Texas to be sure and
certain, and bid them prepare to achieve it.

When they arrived at Harrisburgh they found Santa Anna had burned the
place. It was evident then, that the day and the hour was at hand.
Houston transported the two hundred families he had in charge across
the Buffalo Bayou, which was twenty feet deep, and the very home of
alligators. He then destroyed the only bridge across the dangerous
stream, and wrote the following letter, now in the archives of the
Texas Republic:

"This morning we are in preparation to meet Santa Anna. We will only
be about seven hundred to march, besides the camp guard. But we go to
conquest. The troops are in fine spirits, and now is the time for
action. I leave the results in the hands of an all-wise God, and I
rely confidently in His Providenc