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Informationen zum Autor By William Preston Stapp Klappentext In late 1842, Private William Preston Stapp and about three hundred other citizens of the Republic of Texas took it upon themselves to invade Mexico. They intended to retaliate for a recent Mexican attack on San Antonio and to humiliate President Sam Houston, who had been hesitant to seek revenge.Stapp provides a closely observed, day-by-day narrative of the disastrous adventure later known as the Mier expedition. While his style might be described as "elegantly restrained" in comparison to the literary excesses of that early Victorian age, Stapp's flair for drama and description makes for colorful reading.In response to the public outrage prompted by the San Antonio incident, Houston issued a presidential proclamation inviting volunteers for a retaliatory expedition across the Rio Grande. After the bloodless "capture" and pillage of two Mexican border towns, he called the volunteers back home. Most were relieved to comply, but some felt compelled to pursue the honor of the Republic further, and the Mier expedition was launched on December 20, 1842. On the day after Christmas, all save a forty-man camp guard were captured outside of Mier, a few miles across the Mexican border.The prisoners faced a brutal forced march to Mexico City. Stapp was one of a large group that escaped along the way, became lost in the mountains, and suffered badly from hunger and thirst before recapture. He survived the notorious Black Bean Episode in which 17 of the 176 returned escapees were shot after drawing black beans in a lottery. The Texans were delivered to Perote Prison near Mexico City in September 1843, where a few of them tunneled to freedom and many more died in captivity. Mexico released the last of the prisoners in 1844, and Stapp was among them.First published in 1845 and later issued in pamphlet form in 1933 by the La Grange Journal, The Prisoners of Perote is a fascinating view of a painful episode in Texas history.The foreword by Joe B. Frantz provides a perspective on the Texas-Mexico relations during this period "when both countries were shaking down and had not yet found their way." He points out that The Prisoners of Perote provides some clues to the reasons behind the inherent tenseness that exists between Texas and Mexico today. Inhaltsverzeichnis Foreword Book I Chapter I. Texas Independence · Rapid advance in improvement · Santa Anna · Alarms on the frontier in 1842 · Incursion of General Bascus · Affairs of Davis and Candles on the Nueces · Capture of Bexar by General A. Woll · Affair of the Salado · Massacre of Dawson’s Company · Retreat of Woll, and his conduct whilst at Bexar · Rendezvous of Sommerville’s expedition Chapter II. San Antonio de Bexar · The Alamo · The Missions · The Desert of the Nueces · Organization of the Army · March to the Nueces · Prairie Bog · Capture of Rancheros · Loredo · Pillage of Loredo · Sedition amongst the Troops · Retreat and Division of the Forces · Council of War · Departure of Colonel Bennett’s Command · Capture of Guerero Chapter III. Guerero · Presents to Officers · The Requisition · Discontents of the men · Return home of General Somerville and Companions · Election of Colonel Fisher to the command · March upon Mier · Successful stratagem of Ampudia · Battle of Mier · Surrender of the Texans Book II Chapter IV. Texan and Mexican forces in the battle of Mier · Killed and wounded · Intention of the Mexicans to retreat · Our prisons · Escape of our camp guard · Mysterious conduct of our captors · March for Matamoras · Numbers and appearance of the guard · Arrival at Camargo · Entrée into Reinosa · Dr. W. M. Shepherd and the Padre Chapter V. Mass at Reinosa · Fare on the march · Approach to Matamoras · Preparations of the guard · Spectators from the town · Reception from the citizens · Runaway negroes · Humanity of the citizens · J. P. Schatzell · Detention at Matamoras · Ampudia...
