A Grown Man Recalls a Childhood Incident in the Texas Revolution

Refuge

As we continue to remember the history of Texas as she was about to become an independent nation, I found a letter from a man, Henry B. Andrews, who, as a child was a witness to what was going on in Texas after the fall of the Alamo. Word spread quickly across Texas that General Santa Anna was moving eastward toward the populated areas of Texas. The people of Texas were in a state of panic at the mere thought that the powerful Mexican Army would soon be their town. They quickly picked up all they could carry with them and left the rest of their belongings behind and fled their homes seeking safety elsewhere.

Henry B. Andrews was a small boy at that time all this was going on. Over forty years later, he wrote this letter to woman whose father was killed in service to the cause of freedom for Texas and its people. The letter:
Miss. Maggie Falvel ζ
     Galveston ζ
In answer to your letter
of the 25. Last.  I can cheerfully testify
to the fact that your father Capt. Luke
Falvel was in the service of the Republic
of Texas.  I remember distinctly when
President David G. Burnet ordered your father
who was in command of the Schr. Flash
to remove all the women and children from
New Washington to Galveston which he did.
I was but a boy at the time and was
on the vessel myself, with President Burnet
and others. -  I think there should
be no doubt about your mother obtaining
the Land, and I shall be glad to be
of any service in my power to aid her
in doing so.
Respectfully,
H. B. Andrews

It never ceases to amaze me what the people of that time in Texas History would do in order to help others who had family members who gave their lives so that Texas could be free. They were, without question, forged of a hotter fire.