By Wednesday August 5th at least some of the Indians had travelled more than forty miles since passing by the site of present-day San Marcos and were now about ten miles east of Gonzales or about fifty miles east of San Antonio
From Savage Frontier....
The first notice that the Comanches were on the move came on August 5, 1840. Dr. Joel Ponton and Tucker Foley were en-route westbound to Gonzalez. The two were attacked by a band of 27 mounted Comanches. The two men wheeled their horses and raced for their lives.
The Indians chased them for about 3 miles discharging arrows along the way. The Comanches raced after Dr. Ponton, one arrow passed through his hat and two lodged in his back. Once his horse became too badly wounded to run, he abandoned the dying creature and hid in a dense thicket.
The Indians continued their pursuit of Foley. He tried to hide but was discovered and captured by the Indians. They immediately cut off the soles of his feet and made him walk barefoot on the rough ground back to the spot where they knew Ponton was hiding.
They forced him to call to Ponton to emerge from his hiding spot, but Ponton did not. The Comanches tortured and slowly mutilated poor Foley, as Ponton silently listen to his friend’s agonize screams. Finally the Indian speared and scalped Foley and left his mutilated body.
Although painfully wounded, Ponton managed to crawl through the bottomland thickets and made his way back home to the Lavaca settlements during the night. The site of Dr. Ponton and the tale he told of the murder of Tucker Foley was enough to energize the community.
Captain Adam Zumwalt was elected to take command of the Lavaca River settlers’ volunteer pursuit party. Zumwalt organized 36 men and the following morning they would set out towards Gonzales to the scene of the attack.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
