Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire After the Fall of the Alamo

Sure sounds like here, if not in the old mission campo santo (cemetery, in this case right in front of the church door) then somewhere esle on what already was or what would become the mission grounds.

You can see in the background the curve markers pointing left towards the bridge which is right there beyond the treeline....



The church was built on the foundation of the ruin of the old mission chapel. It was not easily apparent during my visit but back in the days the specific real estate the mission had been set on was by accounts a long-used camping area. So it could presumably have been a colonial-era or purely native burial or burials they came across.

Anyways, back to the main account, or at least a sideshow of the main account; a notorious Tejano named Jesus Cuellar otherwise AKA "El Comanche". Distrusted by both sides, but here doing his best to set up a battle somewhere on the prairie between Goliad and San Patricio.

First, from Andrew O'Boyle, of Fannin at Goliad....

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/archives/documents/survived.html

... a report brought in by a scout named "Comanche," of the advance of the Mexican army under General Urrea, toward San Patricio....

Our commander, by the advice of "Comanche," determined to march to San Patricio, leaving one company in garrison at Goliad. The character of the scout was notoriously bad, and Colonel Fannin was informed of the fact, but gave no heed of the warning, although two of us volunteered to go to San Patricio and ascertain the truth of the report. Three days ration were distributed, and everything was in readiness to commence the march the next morning...

Meanwhile, from the account of Col. Garay at San Patricio, of El Comanche and a carefully contrived ambush....

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/goliadurrea.htm

On the night of the 7th, Jesus Cuéllar, known as el Comanche, presented himself in San Patricio claiming that he had abandoned Fannin's force to throw himself upon the clemency of the Mexican government.He was very likely sent by Fannin to observe our force and position.... His brother, Salvador, who had accompanied our forces ever since we left Matamoros, pledged himself for his brother's loyalty.

[Cuellar] told General Urrea that Fannin had decided to attack him and that by this time he had probably effected a juncture with the force at the mission. Consequently he promised to take us to a spot where we could lay in ambush while he went and brought the enemy into our hands....

General Urrea, confiding in his sincerity, ordered 200 men, 1 cannon, and 150 cavalry to set out early in the morning of the 8th of March for Las Ratas, 8 leagues away, on the San Refugio road.

Anyways, back in Goliad fate intervened at one o'clock in the morning of the planned departure, and the fight El Comanche had sought to arrange never did take place...

everything was in readiness to commence the march the next morning, when an American named Ayres arrived from the Old Mission [Refugio], some fifteen miles distant in the direction of San Patricio, and brought some reliable news of the arrival of the Mexicans at that place.

...and the last Mexican mention of El Comanche....

When our destination was reached, Cuéllar left us and Gen. Urrea proceeded to arrange the small force to carry out his plan.

Coming across mention of this guy I thought, "Well hey, Blue Duck". But, as it turns out things were more complex than that.

Turns out El Comanche had served under Cos at the Battle of Bexar in December of '35 (wherein in the Texians had first won control of the Alamo), serving as his guide and actually being given a commission as a Lieutenant in the Mexican army. El Comanche had deserted then and gone over to the Texian side, providing information about Cos' deployment and actual strength useful to the Texians going into that fight.

In return the Texian interim government, such as it was, had given him a rank of Captain in the Texian Army.

The stated reason for El Comanche's original split with Mexico had allegedly been Santa Anna's mistreatment of a brother, tho I dunno where this reportedly occurred since Santa Anna was still 600 miles away down in Mexico at that point. Cuellar had some time previously been taken captive by Comanches and had lived with them for some years, hence the name. Such prolonged acquaintance and even intermarriage between Tejano and Indio was nothing unusual, the dividing lines being decidedly blurred after all, but in this case Mexican and Texian alike judged El Comanche to be el hombre muy malo.

If we had the likes of a John Glanton running loose somewhere down there, they had the likes of an El Comanche, a good reason for decent folks of all sorts to bear arms.

Only other thing I can find on the guy is that he would die at Goliad five years later during the years when that area had become a decidedly lawless place, whether El Comanche eventually met a violent end like John Glanton or was felled by a germ like Mustang Gray I cannot tell, the cause was not given.

Birdwatcher