“4th. That it is discretionary with the troops to follow their general, remain, or go to such point as they may deem proper; but in case they should, all or any of them, separate, they are to have their arms, &c.

"5th. That all the public property, money, arms, and munitions of war, be inventoried and delivered to General Burleson.

"6th. That all private property be restored to its proper owners. "7th. That three officers of each army be appointed to make out the inventory, and see that the terms of capitulation be carried into effect.

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'8th. That three officers on the part of General Cos remain for the purpose of delivering over the said property, stores, &c.

"9th. That General Cos with his force, for the present, occupy the Alamo; and General Burleson, with his force, occupy the town of Bexar; and that the soldiers of neither party pass to the other, armed.

“10th. General Cos shall, within six days from the date hereof, remove his force from the garrison he now occupies.

"11th. In addition to the arms before mentioned, General Cos shall be permitted to take with his force, a four-pounder and ten rounds of powder and ball.

"12th. The officers appointed to make the inventory and delivery of the stores, &c., shall enter upon the duties to which they have been appointed forthwith.

"13th. The citizens shall be protected in their persons and property.

"14. General Burleson will furnish General Cos with such provisions as can be obtained, necessary for his troops to the Rio Grande, at the ordinary price of the country.

"15th. The sick and wounded of General Cos's army, together with a surgeon and attendants, are permitted to remain.

"16th. No person, either citizen or soldier, to be molested on account of his political opinions hitherto expressed.

"17th. That duplicates of this capitulation be made out in Castilian and English, and signed by the commissioners appointed, and ratified by the commanders of both armies.

"18th. The prisoners of both armies, up to this day, shall be put at liberty.

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"19th. The commissioners, José Juan Sanchez, adjutant-inspector, Don Ramon Musquiz, and Lieutenant Francisco Rada, and

interpreter Don Miguel Arciniega, appointed by the commandant and inspector, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, in connection with colonel F. W. Johnson, Major R. C. Morris, and Captain J. G. Swisher, and interpreter John Cameron, appointed on the part of General Edward Burleson; after a long and serious discussion, adopted the eighteen preceding articles, reserving their ratification by the generals of both armies.

"In virtue of which, we have signed this instrument in the city of Bexar, on the 11th of December, 1835.

(Signed,)

JOSE JUAN SANCHEZ,

RAMON MUSQUIZ,

J. FRANCISCO DE RADA,
MIGUEL ARCINIEGA, Interpreter,

F. W. JOHNSON,

ROBERT C. MORRIS,

JAMES G. SWISHER,

JOHN CAMERON, Interpreter.

"I consent and will observe the above articles.

"General Cos, sir, with his convicts and soldiers, retired to the west bank of the Rio Grande.

"Thus, sir, the citizens of Texas, east of the Rio Grande, had, so far, successfully resisted the change of government. The military despotism had no foothold remaining on this side of that stream. Up to this time we had been contending for the constitution, which had been overthrown, and not for a separate national existence.

"Santa Anna, bent upon the possession of absolute power, was not to be thus balked in his views. He immediately mustered a large and well-appointed army, and at its head, put himself en route, for our extermination. He could not remain quiet while a few freemen on this side of the Rio Grande were in the enjoyment of rational liberty, and would not bow and worship at the footstool of his power. The rest of Mexico had submitted; no response to the shout of constitutional liberty reached us from beyond the Rio

Grande. Santa Anna was rapidly advancing upon us, threatening extermination, and we had no alternative left but to assume a separate national existence. A convention was accordingly called in haste, to which the people between the Nueces and the Rio Grande sent delegates. We declared our independence-appealed to the civilized world for the justice of our cause, and trusting to the God of battles, put ourselves in position to defend our rights. Santa Anna advanced with great rapidity, and the first blood that flowed in this campaign was shed upon the territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. The Alamo was surrounded, and its brave defenders, to a man, perished by the sword. Fanning surrendered, and, in violation of the most solemn stipulations for the safety of his command, he and his gallant men were inhumanly butchered in cold blood. Most of the male inhabitants of the country west of the Nueces found bloody but honorable graves. Santa Anna continued his rapid advance, spreading ruin and devastation on his path. He was met at San Jacinto by seven hundred and eighty freemen, and the result is before the world; half of his force was slain, the remainder, including himself, captured.

“Santa Anna now occupied a delicate position. His life justly forfeited to us, was held by a doubtful tenure. His government at home was unpopular with the great mass of the people. The only support upon which he could rely for political existence, was the army at different points in Texas, now reduced to some five thousand men, under the command of General Filisola. To save his own life, the remnant of his army, and his government, were important objects. Only the day before, he was the government of Mexico, now he was a prisoner. He obtained permission and wrote to General Filisola, who, in his answer, promised to obey implicitly all orders which he should give him. Santa Anna at once proposed to General Houston and the secretary of war, then in camp, to acknowledge the independence of Texas extending to the Rio Grande. They declined to enter into negotiations, and turned Santa Anna over to the civil government, (which consisted of a president and cabinet, ad interim, elected for the emergency, by the convention.) Santa Anna urged them to enter into negotiations with him, which they did, and which treaty, (here a senator remarked that it was not a treaty.) I think it was a treaty, sir, and I shall have occasion further to remark upon it hereafter." (See Appendix G.)

T.

AN ACT

TO DEFINE THE BOUNDARIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.

"SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, the civil and political jurisdiction of this Repubic be, and is hereby, declared to extend to the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Sabine River, and running west along the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, to the mouth of the Rio Grande; thence up the principal stream of said river to its source, thence due north to the forty-second degree of north latitude, thence along the boundary line, as defined in the treaty between the United States and Spain, to the beginning; and that the president be, and he is hereby, authorized to open a negotiation with the government of the United States of America, so soon as, in his opinion, the public interest requires it, to ascertain and define the boundary line as agreed upon in said treaty.

FIXING THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN THE COUNTIES OF BEXAR AND

SAN PATRICIO.

"Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress assembled, That a direct line running from the junction of the Cibolo or San Bartolo Creek to the Rio Frio, at a point thirty miles above its junction with the Nueces, thence in a direct line to the town of Loredo, shall be considered the dividing line between the counties of San Patricio and Bexar, and shall be respected as such by the surveyors of the respective counties. Provided, That this act shall not affect rights previously acquired by surveys legally made by the surveyors of the county

of San Patricio below the old. road from San Antonio to the Presidio of the Rio Grande.

"JOSEPH ROWE,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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Approved, May 24, 1838.

"MIRABEAU B. LAMAR,

President of the Senate.

SAM. HOUSTON."

U.

MINUTES OF AN INTERVIEW

Between Brigadier-General W. J. Worth, United States Army, and General Romulo Vega, of the Mexican Army, held on the right Bank of the Rio Grande, 28th March, 1846.

"On exhibiting a white flag on the left bank of the Rio Grande, a boat, with two officers, (represented as cavalry officers,) with an interpreter, the same who appeared at the crossing of the Colorado, and a fourth person, crossed from the right bank of the river.

"It was stated through an interpreter, (Mr. Mitchell,) that a general officer of the United States army had been sent by his commanding general, with despatches to the commanding general at Matamoras, and the civil authorities, and an interview requested.

"After some conversation explanatory of the above, the Mexican party recrossed the river, to report to the commanding general at Matamoras, and return with his reply. An open note for the American consul at Matamoras, with an indorsement on the back in pencil, was delivered to the Mexican officer by General Worth, who replied that he should hand it to the commanding general. 'Certainly, of course,' was General Worth's remark in reply.

"On the return of the same party, General Mejia sent word that, if the commanding general of the American forces desired a conference with the commanding general of the Mexican forces, it would readily be complied with; but as the American commander had designated a subordinate officer to meet General Mejia, the commanding officer of the Mexican forces, General Mejia, could not entertain such a proposition, but that an officer of corresponding rank and position in the Mexican forces would be designated to receive any communication sent by General Taylor.