"MORNING ORDER, EAST BANK OF SABINE,

November 6th, 1806.

"His excellency, General Herrera, the military chief immediately opposed to this corps, having agreed to withdraw his troops to Nacogdoches, and to prohibit their re-crossing the Sabine River pending the negotiations between the United States and Spain, the objects of this expedition are accomplished, and the camp will be,.of course, evacuated to-morrow or next day, and Colonel Cushing will lead the troops to Natchitoches.

66

Signed,

WALTER BURLING, Aid-de-Camp."

This sudden termination of the campaign was not satisfactory to the American soldiers There was a suspicion that General Wilkinson had acted dishonestly, in reference to the project of Burr. "It was impossible," says Monette," for him to divest himself of the suspicion that settled over him that he had extorted money from the Spanish Governor by exciting his fears as to the powerful invasion contemplated by Burr, and which could be arrested only by the most energetic intervention of the American commander-in-chief, with the whole of the army and means at his disposal. His troops retired indignantly from the Sabine, many of them fully convinced that they had been robbed of their anticipated laurels by the cupidity of their commander, who had entered into dishonorable negotiations, and that money, and not the sword, had terminated the campaign.”

It was boldly asserted at the time, and has been often repeated, though an investigation failed to verify the assertion, that Herrera agreed to give Wilkinson $300,000 for his influence in defeating the scheme of Burr; and further that $120,000 was paid at the time, having been

transported from San Antonio on mules. Ten days later, Burling was dispatched to Mexico on a secret mission; rumor said it was to receive the other $180,000.

The scenes which followed the retreat from the Sabine, when viewed from our present stand-point, have a strangely ludicrous aspect. The reader will please remember that, at this time, about the only force under the control of Burr was a few score of men and boys encamped on Blennerhassett's Island, near Parkersburg, West Virginia; and that the arms of this company consisted, mostly in implements of husbandry; and that they were preparing to descend the river in flat boats, and open a new plantation for Burr and his unsuspecting, but dishonored friend, Blennerhassett, on the lands purchased from Baron de Bastrop by Burr.

On arriving at New Orleans, Wilkinson commenced the most vigorous preparations for defending the city against Burr. He prepared a flotilla to meet the flatboats of the latter up near Vicksburg; and dispatched Lieutenant Swan to Jamaica to detach the commanders of the British navy at that station from the Burr movement. He put the forts near New Orleans in a thorough state of defence, and supplied them with a great quantity of ammunition and munitions of war. He called out the militia of Louisiana and Mississippi; and proclaimed martial law. He arrested and held in military custody every one suspected of sympathy with Burr; and especially every stranger from Ohio, where Burr was supposed to have unbounded influence. The whole country was patrolled by Wilkinson's guards, and every one who could not give a satisfactory account of himself was thrust into prison. A true and life-like description of these scenes must be reserved for the pen of some future Cervantes. Albeit, Wilkinson was not another knight of La Mancha. He

had been in actual war; had proved himself a brave and gallant soldier; nor was he carried away with groundless fears. His views were clear, and his mind well-poised. All this bluster was not to defeat Burr; but to affect De Nava at Monterey and his royal master in the halls of the Montezumas. It was useless. The viceroy refused to listen to Burling, and referred him, for the payment of the money, to the intendant at Vera Cruz, for which place he ordered him immediately to depart. Upon his arrival there, the intendant refused to furnish him with anything but a guard, and ordered him to take passage immediately for New Orleans. The arrest of Burr, and the return of Burling, produced a wonderfully tranquilizing effect, not only upon the commander, but also upon the New Orleans public. (See Burr, Wilkinson and Herrera, in biography.)

CHAPTER V.

MAGEE'S EXPEDITION—BERNARDO GUTIERRES-MARCH TO GOLIAD-DEATH OF VICTORIOUS REPUBLICANS, ON THE

MAGEE-DESPERATE FIGHTING-THE

WAY TO SAN ANTONIO, GAIN A SPLENDID VICTORY AT THE ROSILLO CREEK -SHAMEFUL MASSACRE OF SPANISH OFFICERS-BATTLE OF ALASANREPUBLICANS DEFEATED AT THE BATTLE OF MEDINA-WHEN THE ROYALISTS AVENGE THE DEATH OF THEIR BROTHER OFFICERS.

THE

HE"neutral ground " became the favorite resort of a band of lawless freebooters, who lived by depredating upon caravans. It was an important part of the duty of the soldiers stationed at Natchitoches to protect travellers and traders in passing through this dangerous territory. Lieutenant Augustus W. Magee, a graduate of West Point, was one of the officers employed in this work. At this time, the Republicans in Mexico had been defeated and many of them driven into exile. Bernardo Gutierres, who had been engaged with Hidalgo in the revolutionary movements in Mexico, had taken refuge at Natchitoches. In long interviews between Magee and Gutierres, the former conceived the idea of reviving the project of Burr; rescuing Texas from Spanish domination, and organizing a republic. He enlisted a number of the leading "heroes" of the neutral ground, who, with their followers, were ready for any enterprise that promised excitement and booty. With the assistance of John M'Farland and Samuel Davenport, who had been Indian agents, an alliance was formed with some of the Indian tribes in the neighborhood. Bernardo secured the co