B
efore Chance McQuade did anything else, he chose the rest of the men he needed for the initial attack on Monclova's camp. To the surprise of Houston and his lieutenants, men eagerly sought to become part of the force McQuade would lead. Remembering his promise to the Burkes, he included Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Creeker, Haymes, and Doc Puckett had gone for the necessary materials to create the black-powder bombs. Into the fort they brought two kegs of black powder, coils of fuse, and a large wooden box of pint bottles that had once contained whiskey. Many men had gathered around to watch the preparation of the bombs. Somewhere Doc had found a funnel that fitted the necks of the bottles, and began filling them from the kegs.
“We could use some corks,” said McQuade, as he dug through the whiskey bottles.
“With some soft pine and a sharp knife, I could make some,” Creeker said.
“Some of us can do that,” said Matthew Burke. “We'll bring in some pine limbs.”
Half a dozen men joined the Burkes, and soon they were all busy fashioning stoppers of wood to fit the necks of the bottles.
“Cut them to fit tight,” McQuade said. “Then we'll want to cut away a channel along one side for the fuse.”
Puckett had begun helping Creeker fill the pint bottles, and when all had been filled, there were thirty of them. Some of the wooden corks were ready, and using a thickness of fuse as a guide, McQuade whittled a groove down the side of one of the stoppers.
“Groove the rest of them like this one,” said McQuade.
With many helping, the task was soon finished. Sam Houston looked on with some appreciation, as McQuade talked to the assembled men about what lay ahead of them.
“I like your plan, us attackin' their camp and leadin' 'em into an ambush,” said Elgin Summerfield, “but suppose they don't foller us?”
“It'll be up to us to raise enough hell so they can't resist,” McQuade replied. “We'll gun down some of them, and that should be enough to get the rest after us. This will be a hit and run. We'll spread out in a skirmish line like we're about to ride right through the midst of them. Just shy of the camp, before we're in range of their rifles, we'll split our force, half of us riding to either side of their camp. Swingin' in close, we can use our revolvers for greater fire power and accuracy.”
Despite his obvious dislike for McQuade, Joshua Hamilton had drifted back to the outer fringes of the group that had gathered.
“The danger will be much greater,” Hamilton observed, “for the enemy will also be able to rely on revolvers.”
“Hamilton,” said McQuade, “from the back of a running horse, accuracy is impossible with a rifle. This will be a surprise attack at dawn, and we don't know that this bunch will be armed with hand guns. Do you buckle a pistol on over your drawers, when you first wake up?”
That drew thunderous laughter, much of it from the women who had gathered around, and Hamilton turned away. But he found himself looking into the stern eyes of Houston.
“Joshua,” Houston said, “we have been friends for a long time. Chance McQuade is on our side, yet you obviously do not trust him. May I ask why?”
“He has been here only a few days,” said Hamilton stiffly, “yet he has virtually taken over command of this post.”
“He has assumed nothing that you or any other man within this command couldn't have,” Houston said. “Have you forgotten that it was McQuade and Creeker who alerted us to the possibility of a Mexican sailing ship arriving at Matagorda Bay?”
“No,” said Hamilton, “I haven't forgotten, and I presume that you haven't forgotten that no such ship has been sighted.”
“Whether the ship arrives or not,” Houston replied, “it was an obvious oversight on our part. I believe Mr. McQuade is about to distinguish himself with his planned attack on the Monclova camp.”
“As I recall,” said Hamilton, “the original purpose of that was to seize the ship's cargo for our own use. If there is no ship, why the attack on Monclova's camp?”
“Joshua, I fear that your dislike for McQuade has overridden your better judgment,” Houston said. “You are overlooking or choosing to ignore the ominous fact that the three hundred men riding in from Matamoros will increase Monclova's forces to probably four hundred and fifty. That makes ours the smaller force. Would you suggest that we do nothing, allowing Monclova to attack us?”
“Of course not,” said Hamilton. “I would never advocate that.”
“I'm sorry,” Houston replied, “but I believe you just did. Ship or not, McQuade's surprise attack, followed with an ambush, could virtually wipe out the enemy. It is beyond me how you can find fault with that.”
The conversation ended on a sour note, with Joshua Hamilton walking away. Houston stood there, his heart heavy with regret, crumpling his old hat in his big hands.
Monclova's camp was on the south bank of the Rio Colorado, less than a mile from Matagorda Bay. In the distance, the blue of the Gulf of Mexico stretched as far as the eye could see. There was excitement in the camp, as Monclova met with his lieutenants Pedro Mendez, Hidalgo Cortez, and Antonio Hermosillo. Far away, barely visible to the naked eye, was the tip of a sail, first sighted through a spy glass.
“The General Santa Anna, he not forget,” Miguel Monclova exulted. “Food, medicine, ammunition, and soldiers.”
“Si,”
Hermosillo said.
“Por dios,
we surprise the
Tejanos
, no?”
“SÃ,”
said Monclova. “With the cannon, we knock down the walls of their foolish fort and squash them like mice as they run away.”
But several miles north of Monclova's camp, other eyes had observed the distant sail, and men mounted their horses. Sam Houston's suspicions had come to pass, and he must be told.
“Riders comin',” somebody shouted.
By the time the riders had reined up, Houston was there to greet them.
“We seen a sail last night, just 'fore sundown,” said one of the men.
“Have any more men ridden up from the south to join Monclova?” Houston asked.
“None that we seen,” said one of the men who had just ridden in from Matagorda Bay. “Just the same bunch that rode downriver.”
The newly arrived horsemen were now surrounded by many other men, anxious to hear any new developments. Houston spoke loudly enough for all to hear.
“A sail has been sighted off Matagorda Bay, and it has to be the Mexican sailing ship we have been expecting.
The additional men riding in from Matamoros have not arrived.”
It was all coming to pass, just as Chance McQuade had predicted, and while many men shouted their excitement, others turned skeptical eyes on Joshua Hamilton. McQuade stood beside Houston, talking to the men who had brought the news. Creeker, Haymes, and Doc Puckett awaited some decision from Houston or McQuade. Houston spoke first.
“Mr. McQuade, I believe we should hold fast another day. We must allow these men riding from Matamoros to join Monclova, give them time to unload the cargo from the ship, and to move it to a permanent camp.”
“I agree,” said McQuade. “We want the ship unloaded and long gone, before we attack Monclova's camp. We want Santa Anna told that the reinforcements reached Monclova, and that supplies from the ship were safely unloaded.”
While none of them relished another day of inactivity, the delay seemed justified, and they prepared to make the best of it. There had been no rain for a while and an increasing cloudiness to the west suggested that a change was in the making. Men patched wagon canvas, stretching it tight over the bows, while women rearranged their belongings to allow room for sleeping. Over a small fire, McQuade had placed an iron pot three-quarters full of hardened paraffin. When it became liquid, using tweezers, McQuade began dipping the prepared loads for his revolver. Other men watched the procedure, and when McQuade had finished, he spoke to them.
“It's a good idea to dip the loads for your revolvers in wax. It keeps the powder dry, and there's rain on the way.”
They took turns preparing their ammunition. McQuade used the extra day to speak to the men who would be riding downriver for the fight with Monclova. It seemed much like old times, as the emigrants again depended on their circled wagons. By early afternoon, the big gray
thunderheads had swept in from the west, and a rising west wind brought the pungent smell of rain. Canvas shelters had been strung up between wagons, providing dry areas for cooking and eating. The rain began just before dark, driving Houston's men into the fort. On two of the inside walls there was an enormous fireplace a dozen feet wide, for cooking during bad weather. Here, coffee pots bubbled far into the night, for the men were restless, and few of them slept. Sometime before daylight, the rain ceased, and in the predawn darkness, breakfast fires blossomed. As the men prepared to ride, McQuade and Houston made the rounds, seeking to head off any problems. As Houston spoke to the men who would ride with him, McQuade thought it significant that Joshua Hamilton wasn't one of them. McQuade found Doc Puckett at the wagon with Maggie.
“How are you feeling, Doc?”
“Frankly, a little scared,” said Puckett. “I've never shot, or shot at, a man before. I'm sure that will take some getting used to.”
“You never get used to it,” McQuade replied, “and only a damn fool is never afraid.”
“Don't let him do anything foolish, McQuade,” said Maggie. “I've already lost one man and I'm too old and tired to find and break in a third one.”
“Maggie,” McQuade said, “you'll never be old. Tired, maybe, but old, never.”
McQuade found Riley Creeker and Will Haymes hunkered beside a breakfast fire, having first cups of coffee.
“Suppose we reach Matagorda Bay and those Mexican reinforcements still haven't shown up,” Will Haymes said. “Will we wait for them and ambush the lot, or hit Monclova and the smaller force?”
“I'm not opposed to jumping Monclova's bunch and taking the ship's cargo from them,” said McQuade, “provided the ship's departed. We want it to take months for word of this to get back to Santa Anna. We can always bushwhack that bunch of soldiers riding in from Matamoros,
after we've beaten Monclova and taken the ship's cargo. When we get to Matagorda Bay, we'll change our plans, if need be, but I'm expecting the reinforcements to be there.”
Two hundred strong, they rode downriver an hour after first light. Sam Houston led out, and in a column of fours, the others followed. Directly behind Houston rode Creeker, McQuade, Haymes, and Puckett. They stopped only to rest their horses, and seldom did anybody speak. Near sundown they stopped for the night, eating cold food they carried in their saddlebags. Men stood watch in two-hour shifts, and after a cold breakfast, they rode on. Only once, while they rested their horses, did Houston speak to them as a group.
“At this point, we will ride several miles north of the river, and then eastward, until we sight the Gulf. We don't know that they haven't unloaded the ship, moved inland, and set up camp. If they haven't, when they do, they could hardly miss the tracks of our two hundred horses. We must avoid them until we're ready to attack. If we do not, then the surprise could be ours.”
They rode north of the river a good two miles before again riding eastward. It was a wise move, as they soon learned, for they eventually had an excellent view of the Gulf and Matagorda Bay without being seen. The ship lay anchored a hundred yards from shore, its sails furled. The Mexican flag fluttered from the mast, and as Houston and his forces sat their horses and watched, men poled a raft toward the anchored craft.
“The boat's still here,” said Elgin Summerfield, “but we don't know if the soldiers have rode in.”
“We'll know tonight,” Houston replied. “Soon as it's dark, some of us will take their measure. I'd say the soldiers are here, and that they haven't chosen to help unload the ship's cargo.”
They watched the men pole the raft alongside the ship. To their surprise, men on deck removed a canvas, revealing a loaded wagon. Secured by ropes or chains to a
hoist, it was swung over the side of the craft and slowly lowered to the waiting raft. Once the raft had been poled to shore, horses were hitched to the wagon. The raft was then poled back to the ship and another loaded wagon was lowered over the side.
“Well, by God,” said Shanghai McLean, “I been wonderin' how we was goin' to move all them goods back to the fort. They done made it easy on us.”
After a third wagon had been brought to shore, the raft didn't return to the ship. It appeared all the cargo had been unloaded.
“Now,” Will Haymes said, “if that ship will hoist anchor and sail, we can get down to the business of claiming that cargo.”
There was some activity on deck, and it soon became evident that the vessel was preparing to sail. The anchor was raised and slowly the sails were unfurled.