Jefferson J. Lamar, Esqr.
Macon
State of Georgia, US
Harrisburg, 10th April 1836
Dear Brother
I leave this morning for the army; a dreadful Battle is to be fought in three or four days on the Brazos, decisive of the fate of Texas; I shall of course have to be in it. Wm. D. REDD of Columbus is with me. Texas is in a dreadful state of confusion; the Mexicans thus far are prevailing. St. antonio has been retaken by them and every man in the fort murdered - CROCKET was among the number. FANNIN's army is entirely destroyed. After fighting four or five hours, the enemy held out the white flag and proposed terms of capitulation to which FANNIN yielded. The terms of surrender was that they were all to be transported to New Orleans, not again to engage in the war; they were about four hundred, including WARDS's men, and Capt. MILLER's first arrived & taken at Copano. They were kept prisoners 9 days, then marched out and fired upon & all butchered with the exception of two or three who escaped by flight. Almost the whole of the Americans from Georgia and Alabama have perished. The citizens of Texas are flying in every direction; houses, farms & c. are deserted and every thing left behind. HOUSTON's Army has retreated from the Colorado to the Brazos; the Mexican army is in San Fillipe, ours 20 miles from them; they will come together in a few days. I shall reach HOUSTON day after tomorrow, a distance from this place about 50 miles - In the event of my falling in Battle, you will find my trunks, papers &c in the posession of Mrs. Jane LONG who has temporarily fled from Brazoria to Boliver point at Galveston Bay. The money brought by me to be laid out in Lands, I have of course, in the present confused state of things, not been able to lay out. Govt has no authority to sell lands, and from individuals no purchase can be yet made with safety. I have therefore been much embarrassed to know what to do with so large a sum of money; it is too dangerous to keep it about me, especially as I am going in to Battle. After due consideration, I have placed it in the hands of Lorenzo ZAVALO, the vice President of the Government, the most responsible and probably the most honest among them. His receipt for the money, I know not how to dispose of other than to keep it about me with instructions to Wm D REDD to take it to you in the event of my falling & his escaping - The amt placed in ZAVALO's hands is six thousand dollars; REDD, the president D. G. BURNET, POTTER & others saw me give the money to him, and can be evidence of the fact if I should loose the receipt. I hope the gentleman for whom I am acting will believe that I have acted for the best; it is true, I might fly precipitately to the U. S. and return them their money without trusting it with any one here, or exposing my self to danger, but a course so unpatriotic and disgraceful, I know they would not require of me; if in addition to the facts of envolving an equal amt with each of them, and also peril my life, I am confident they will acquit me of any selfish disregard of their interest -
If I fall I shall leave either with ZAVALO something in the shape of a will which you will have to execute; I shall leave it either with ZAVALOE or Mrs. LONG. If not drawn up with the formalities of law, I know that it will nevertheless be fulfilled.
My health at present is good. I feel much solicitude for my mother; If she was well and cheerful & could bear affliction with more fortitude I should be happy - Tell Rebecca Ann, that she must learn to write read & spell well, and that is the best education - I have petitioned to Govt for my League of Land as a citizen of Texas in 1835; but the Govt will do nothing in it; I think however the testimony of Hoxey & Christman, the surveyor, of my intention to return to the Country as a citizen will hereafter secure the Land when the war is over.
I write in Great haste.
Your affectionate Brother
M. B. Lamar
[Endorsed]
This letter was provided by Mary DeLashmit, descendant of Loretto Rebecca Lamar and Col. Absalom Chappell.
| [address on envelope:] | [canceled:] |
| Col. Absalom Chappell | Jan. 19, New Orleans, LA |
| Macon, GA |
Dear Sir,
I have just arrived at this place in good health, but rather in low spirits in consequence of finding the country in a more prostrate condition, moral, political & pecuniary, than I had expected. I am sure that Texas is in a more depressed, degraded, and unpromising situation than she has been at any former period. Poverty and corruption prevail throughout the land. The government is radically rotten in all its departments, and the people at large wholly insensible to everything except their own private & individual interests. Truth, Justice, law, patriotism are all laughed to scorn; indeed almost all the principles that hold society together and attached a man to his country are dissolved; and every body seems to be animated by but one passion - an insatiate rapacity, that seeks to plunder the gov. & to prey upon one another - I must confess that I am disgusted with everything that I see and hear, & by which I am surrounded. And almost all the evils that are blasting the character and destroying the prosperity & happiness of the country, are to be traced entirely to the baneful influence which Gen. Houston has hitherto, and still continues to exercise among the people.
It is all a mistake about his being unpopular at this time. He is stronger than any man in the country, and I believe could be re-elected to the Presidency notwithstanding his ineligibility by the Constitution. He is indeed Dictator. The Congress is little else than his instrument - he has a majority in that body that sustains him in everything, whilst the press is equally subservient, and devoted to his interest. How long this state of things will last I cannot conjecture; probably as long as he lives, or until the present inhabitants shall be outnumbered by the influx of a more virtuous population. I find that I have been an object of his Excellency’s special vengence ever since I left the Republic last spring. In almost every document which he has issued during his present administration, he has either assailed me by name or made some insulting allusion to me. I shall leave Galveston tomorrow for Washington, where the Congress is still in session, and shall probably have an interview with the President, and whether I shall take any steps to rebut his calumnies & redress my wrongs, will depend on circumstances upon my arrival there. At present, I feel that I cannot bear with his insolence and injustice much longer - my patience & forebearance are nearly exhausted -
I should like to hear from you -
Mirabeau B. Lamar