The Runaway Scrape

Subject: The Runaway Scrape Thu 07 Jun 2007, 12:20 pm

This is an event about which I've long wished to learn more. I'm doing a little reading now about the Runaway Scrape; will share some concerning this fearful trek, soon. If anyone has information to relate in the meantime, please do so.

Thank you,

Holly

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

Well, just what I recall from Texas History classes long ago, and more recently read LONE STAR (Ferenbach) and Hardin (A TEXIAN ILIAD). Basically - "everybody" heard the Mexicans were coming, there wasn't an Army fit or able to stop them, and better run unless you want to be shot. Possibly after rape and other degrading behaviors committed on your body.

Truth to tell - it probably wasn't the worst idea anybody had - until the news of San Jacinto got out...

Subject: Re: The Runaway Scrape Fri 08 Jun 2007, 3:19 pm

When I consider the words, 'Runaway Scrape,' Clyde, the fear is almost palpable. I've envied Janice Woods Windle (author of 'True Women') somewhat, as oral traditions of the 'Scrape' were passed down through her family .... while I'm aware of none such in mine. But I can learn about what took place through others' written words, as can we all.

I do have Fehrenbach's 'Lone Star' -- another one I haven't read! ... well, barring a bit of skimming here and there. Best get to it study

Holly

Subject: Mrs. Rosalie Kleberg; Mrs. Guadalupe Smith Tue 10 Jul 2007, 9:19 pm

Regarding the Runaway Scrape, it is stated by one Depression-era Texas school history:

"Almost every family between San Antonio and the Sabine had fled from home and farm. The woods were full of refugees. Thousands had crossed the Sabine and made their camps in Louisiana, awaiting news from Texas. It is said that there was a solid line of tents and camps for over twenty miles."

Reaching the eastern side of the Sabine River and probable safety from Santa Anna's army had been difficult. In the words of Mrs. Rosa Kleberg:

"We lived ten miles from San Felipe where there were four stores and thirty of forty houses. When news of the fall of the Alamo came my husband and brothers went to join the army and father stayed with us and we joined the runaways. Father and I drove our cattle and I rode horseback and carried my baby in my lap. When we reached San Felipe there was but one small ferryboat and hundreds were waiting to get across. I saw Deaf Smith's Mexican wife and her twins in a cart with two wooden wheels made out of cross sections of a tree. She had no team to pull the cart and was frantic in her cries for help. Someone hitched a horse to the cart and she got across the river."

Another participant and just a girl at the time of the Runaway Scrape related:

"We went down to Harrisburg to the Lynchburg Ferry. The planters from Brazoria and Fort Bend with their families and slaves were crossing. There were fully five thousand people waiting to cross in one ferryboat and it took three days for us to get over."

(C. R. Wharton, 'The Lone Star State: A School History,' ca. 1930, pages 130 & 131; 150)

There is a nice article in the Handbook of Texas Online about Rosalie Von Roeder Kleberg:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/KK/fkl12.html

Wikipedia contains the following regarding Erastus 'Deaf' and Guadalupe Ruiz Duran Smith:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/KK/fkl12.html

Question: the Wikipedia article states that the Smith's daughter, Simona, was born in 1829 at Mission Espada. Could this mean that the family was residing within the remains of the mission complex at that time. Also, there appear to be no twins born to deaf and Guadalupe Smith. Might these have been children born to Mrs. Smith in her first marriage?

Thank you,

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: The Runaway Scrape Thu 06 Mar 2008, 7:58 pm

As early as mid-January of 1836, Texas colonists had begun evacuating their homes and moving eastward in advance of the arrival of Santa Anna's army. Under the command of General Jose Urrea, Mexican forces arrived in San Patricio on February 27. Many of the English-speaking townsfolk already had departed, however. To settlers beyond the Nueces, a gentleman named Ayers

"... brought reliable news of the arrival of the Mexicans in that place, and of their mistreating all Americans there, bearing themselves with special insolence toward the women. By the 20th of February the people of San Patricio and other western settlements were fleeing for their lives." (Andrew A. Boyle.)

While Texian families were removing to safety in the east, Independence from Mexico was being declared by delegates in convention at Washington, on the Brazos. March 2 came and went in silence regarding the fate of William Barret Travis and the defenders of the Alamo garrison ~ at San Antonio de Bexar. On March 6, General Sam Houston -- Commander-in-Chief of the Texian army -- set out from Washington toward Gonzales. His intent was to join his men with those of Colonel James Fannin and to march from Goliad to Bexar .... whence they would come to the aid the Alamo forces.*

Yet, upon his arrival in Gonzales, Houston received bad news. The word from scouts Erastus 'Deaf' Smith, R. E. Handy and Henry Karnes was that the Alamo had fallen to the Mexican army. This dark fate was confirmed by Mrs. Susannah Dickinson. She had been present within the fortress along with her martyred husband, Captain Almeron Dickinson, and their small daughter, Angelina. In addition, Houston's extended 'eyes and ears' informed him that a division of the Mexican army, under the leadership of a General Sesma, was advancing upon Gonzales itself.

Before considering their own safety, the people of Gonzales began to mourn their dead. Only two weeks previously, the townsfolk had sent out thirty-two of their loved ones to assist the men stationed at the Alamo. These 'Immortals' had been victorious in passing through enemy lines to reach Travis and the others within. The result was that, in the words of witness, John M. Swisher:

" ... there was not a soul left among the citizens of Gonzales who had not lost a father, brother or son in that terrible massacre. I shall never forget the scene which followed the confirmation of the dreadful news. The mad agony of the widows and the shrieks of the childless and fatherless beggars all description, and though all the soldiers were making preparations for a hasty departure, one and all moved with bated breath and almost noiseless steps. The terrible massacre had, for a time, struck terror to every heart."

Yet another massacre was to follow that which occurred at the Alamo. As James Fannin shored up his defences at Presidio La Bahia and Sam Houston moved circuitously toward San Jacinto -- bearing their uneven fates along with their troops -- so the saga of the women and children and fathers-in-arms advanced toward the Sabine as the 'Runaway Scrape' .... each and all parts in the story of a Revolution called, 'Texas.'

*I'm uncertain of whether this truly was the planned sequence of the march.
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Joined : 09 Mar 2008 Posts : 5 Localisation : TEXAS

Panic tends to be very infectious. After news of Mexican victories spread, many a family took the precaution of leaving. Lurid stories of what the Mexican soldiers would do to the population fueled such a hasty flight. With the Texas army in shambles and strung out very thinly, it was the safest course of action.