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

Not usually mentioned is the large numbers of Indians on the scene, fighting on the Mexican side.

John C. Duval, a member of his older brother's Kentucky rifle company, comes across as a firearms enthusiast, in as much as he takes the time to give us a description of the guns, range and shooting ability of their Indian opponents.

...there were with the Mexicans probably a hundred or so Carise Indians, who were much more daring and withal better marksmen. They boldly advanced to the front, and taking advantage of every little inequality of the ground and every bunch of grass that could afford them particular cover, they would crawl up closely and fire upon us,

In the age of smokeless powder these guys might have done more execution than they did (which execution was apparently significant at least), but of course every time they fired they advertised their position.

...and a description of their guns, such details always gratifying to modern-day reenactors who agonize over such things...

and now and then the discharge of their long single barrel shot guns was followed by the fall of some one in our ranks.

"Long single barrel shot guns" (as opposed to, one supposes the doubles already favored by mounted Americans) sounds like the classic form of an Indian trade gun. I dunno who Morgan's "Carises" were for sure, but another account tells us the Indians [resent were a mix of Lipan Apaches and Karankawas. Prob'ly not all that important, intermarriage between tribes and between Indians and Tejanos likely blurred tribal distinctions.

Here's two Berlandier portraits of flintlock-armed Texas Indians from just ten years earlier. While allowing for the effects of an increased inflow of Euro/American style clothing and trade cloth during the decade since, the Indians at the fight prob'ly still looked a lot like this...





"within eighty yards"... Seventy five?

A pity he ain't more specific. Replica trade gun shooters today can tell you that 100 yard hits on man-sized targets are a slam-dunk with a carefully loaded smoothie. OTOH Duval's report may be the longest distance on record of precision shooting with the same back then, presumably aimed at guys likewise laying down behind some amount of cover.

Four of them had crawled up behind some bunches of tall grass within eighty yards of us, from whence they delivered their fire with telling effect.

It is entirely in character for Indians to be skilled marksmen, when you look close enough you can find mention of the proficiency of Indians with their firearms all through our Frontier history.

On this occasion they do however have appeared to be outmatched by an American with a rifle (Abel Duval's older brother; one Burr H. Duval).

Capt. D-, who was using a heavy Kentucky rifle, and was known to be one of the best marksmen in his company, was requested to silence these Indians. He took a position near a gun carriage, and whenever one of the Indians showed his head above the tall grass it was perforated with an ounce rifle ball and after four shots they were seen no more....

When the Mexicans quit the field, we examined the locality where these Indians had secreted themselves, and found the four lying closely together, each one with a bullet hole through his head....

During this exchange, it seems Capt Duval very nearly fell victim to a head shot himself...

At the moment he fired the last shot Capt. D- had one of the fingers of his right hand taken off by a musket ball.

Birdwatcher