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Where Sam Houston was baptized. Standing at corner Lanana and Pilar street. See [page 22].
The Battle of Nacogdoches
For the real cause of the Battle of Nacogdoches, we must go back to Bustamente’s Law of April 6, 1830, forbidding further immigration from the United States, while permitting Europeans to come in unimpeded. Juan Antonio Padilla had been appointed as commissioner general for granting land titles in East Texas, assuming his duties on January 1, 1830. Upon the passage of the law of April 6th, Padilla was unwilling to enforce its provisions, and in the latter part of April he was ordered by Don Ramon Musquiz, political chief in Bexar, to be imprisoned and suspended on a trumped-up-charge of murder.
An outbreak was prevented in Nacogdoches only by prompt action on the part of Col. Piedras, while the people of Ayish Bayou and the Palo Gacho met and passed resolutions of an inflammatory nature. Stephen F. Austin refused to cooperate in this opposition and thus for a time the trouble was delayed.
The military force in Nacogdoches was doubled during 1830, and passports of all immigrants going through Nacogdoches for Austin’s colony, which was exempted by Bustamente’s Decree, were required to be signed by Austin in person.
Under the dictatorship of Bustamente the military comandantes continually encroached upon the power of the civil authorities, and finally, in June, 1832, the settlers at Anahuac rebelled and ousted Bradburn, Piedras arriving too late with troops from Nacogdoches and Fort Teran. Becoming alarmed at the rising tide of opposition, Col. Piedras, upon his return, ordered the people of Nacogdoches to surrender all their arms. This order was followed immediately by an appeal from the ayuntamiento in Nacogdoches, issued July 28, 1832, to the neighboring communities to present an united front against this action; copies of this resolution were sent to Ayish Bayou, the Palo Gacho, Tenaha and San Felipe de Austin and met immediate response from all except San Felipe. Two companies came from the Ayish Bayou settlement, commanded by Capts. Samuel Davis and Bailey Anderson, one from Sabine and one from Shelby and Capt. James Bradshaw’s company from the Neches settlement; while the people of Nacogdoches were led by Alcalde Encarnacion Chirino. On the morning of August 2, 1832, these forces met in the eastern outskirts of Nacogdoches and elected Colonel James W. Bullock as commander-in-chief of approximately 500 men.
Colonel Piedras commanded approximately the same number of Mexican soldiers, and proceeded to fortify the Stone House, the old Catholic church and the Red House. An Ultimatum from the settlers for Piedras to declare in favor of Santa Anna and the Constitution of 1824, or surrender at discretion to an officer to be selected by Colonel Bullock, brought forth the answer that none of the demands would be complied with, and that he was prepared to fight.
Colonel Piedras advanced to meet the Americans and the fighting commenced in the eastern part of town about eleven o’clock. By noon the Mexicans had retreated to the business part of town, around the Stone House. Alexander Horton, a member of the American forces, says: “We were armed with shotguns and various other guns such as citizens used for hunting purposes, while the Mexicans were armed with splendid English muskets; so we turned north and marched down North street. As we began our march we heard a French horn. When we had gotten about opposite the Stone House the Mexican cavalry made a furious charge upon us, pouring upon us a heavy fire of small arms; they advanced to within a few steps of our lines, but were forced back with considerable loss.” This cavalry charge met the American force near the Catholic church, which had been used by Piedras as quarters for his soldiers.
The Mexicans about mid-afternoon were driven out of the Stone House, and the main body of their army was concentrated in the cuartel or Old Red House, the older part of which was built of adobe, and almost as strong as stone; it also had the advantage of several dormer windows on the second floor, from which sharpshooters could better defend the building. The fighting continued with unabated fury until night separated the combatants. Colonel Piedras evacuated Nacogdoches during the night of the 2nd, under the protecting cloak of a heavy fog, retreating westward toward the Angelina river.
The next morning James Carter, with seventeen volunteers, set out in pursuit of the Mexican army, overtaking them at Durst lake, and after a skirmish at that point, Carter and his men went further south, crossing the Angelina at the Goodman Crossing, and marched northward to the West side of Durst’s Ferry to oppose the crossing of the Mexican troops. Here Piedras lost many of his men in an unsuccessful attempt to cross the river. It was from this event that the name Buckshot Crossing was given to this place.