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chapter 11 The Alabama Settlement at War In 1836, war with Mexico began. Lying directly in the path of the advancing Mexican army, the Alabama Settlement began to organize the defense of its families and homes. Having heard how brutally Santa Anna dealt with the uprisings in Yucatán and Zacatecas, the colonists feared that they would be similarly treated. They also were intimidated by the size of the Mexican army with its cannons, fine cavalry, and uniformed soldiers. Historians today would argue that the Mexican army was not as formidable as the settlers supposed. José Enrique de la Peña documents the many strategic and, in his opinion, stupid errors made by the officers that contributed to the downfall of the army.1 Since dissension about tactical procedure also cropped up among the officers, the Mexican army had problems of its own making. However, the families in the Alabama Settlement were aware of what had happened to their relatives at the Alamo and thus viewed the Mexican army as a fearsome force bearing down on them. The organization of the defense of the settlement fell to George Sutherland , family patriarch and the man with the most experience of battle. The young males immediately formed a company under his command. They did not need to be trained or instructed to follow their leader’s orders. They all had grown up together and migrated to Texas as a unit under Sutherland’s direction. They had worked together in their fields and helped each other’s families build their first cabins. Their families gave one another aid and comfort when food was short or people were sick. They shared the same religious beliefs and had all gone through the transforming experience of the Methodist Excitement in Tennessee. They were already a solidly united, mutually supportive clan. Forming a disciplined fighting regiment was merely a matter of extending family practice into military practice. BecauseofSutherland’sshippingbusinessatCox’sPointinMatagordaBay, his company was assigned to help supply the Texas army, which, at the time, was under the command of Stephen Austin. Their job was to highjack Mexican ships bringing supplies for the Mexican garrisons in Texas. The Mexican army had a fort on the Lavaca River, but as hostilities became imminent, this The Alabama Settlement at War 95 defense force was moved to the Velasco garrison to reinforce the troops there. As soon as they left, George Sutherland and his men outfitted a private ship to attack any arriving Mexican supply vessels that would be unaware that the troops had suddenly left. The first ship to arrive from Mexico was immediately boarded and overtaken by Sutherland’s company. They confiscated the supplies—bacon, flour, and coffee—intended for the Mexican stronghold. However, they did not take the vessel itself, returning it to its captain because this was not a war against the ship’s owners. Some of the provisions were distributed among the men to send to their families, and the rest was kept to feed the crew of the Texas ship. Hugh L. White (nephew of George Sutherland) was one of the relatives in Sutherland’s company. His portion of the booty was half a sack of flour, half a side of pork, and a pound or two of green coffee beans. In a dugout he paddled these supplies the eighteen miles upriver to his family , who, in his absence, were scraping by with very little to eat.2 Soon afterward, the citizens of Gonzales, who were in even greater danger since they were close to the garrison at Bexar, decided to oust the Mexican soldiers stationed in their town and capture their cannon. During this period of fighting, the people of Gonzales requested help from the Alabama Settlement. On September 3 and again on October 1, William Wharton, a leader in the DeWitt colony, sent messages to George Sutherland , urging him to send reinforcements. Men from the Alabama Settlement responded and joined the volunteers at Gonzales. On October 2, the day after the action at Gonzales, George Sutherland, F. T. Wells (another relative in the Alabama Settlement), and others wrote to the colony from the “camp of volunteers,” pleading for more men to join them “armed and equipped for war even to the knife.”3 After the Mexican forces were ousted from Gonzales, Sutherland and his company, again because of their links to the port at Matagorda Bay, were put in charge of supplying goods to the Texas army, which was...

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