Home of the Brave

by Jeffry Hepple

  September 29, 1845

  Van Buskirk Point, New Jersey

  Marina walked out onto the porch. “It’s freezing out here, John.”

  “I’m tired of being cooped up.” Yank was sitting in his rocking chair with a blanket across his legs. “This is no kind of life for us. I feel as if we’re just sitting around waiting to die.”

  “Let’s go to Mexico,” Marina replied. “President Polk is sending John Slidell to negotiate buying the disputed land in Texas. They want me to go along as an interpreter.”

  He looked surprised. “Why haven’t you mentioned it before now?”

  “I got the letter yesterday and wanted to sleep on it.”

  “And what have you decided after a night’s sleep?”

  “I’d like to go, if you’ll come with me.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t have any rapport with President Polk. He’s pure politician.”

  “You wouldn’t have to deal with him. I will.”

  “Why do I have to go at all?”

  She looked at him for several seconds. “You’d let me go without you?”

  “Let isn’t a word that I’d ever use when discussing what you might do, Marina. You’ve never sought or needed my permission for anything.”

  “You know what I meant.”

  “If you want to go, go.”

  “I’d like you to come with me.”

  “I’d rather not, but if you need me, I will.”

  “I don’t need you; I’d just like you to be with me.”

  “How about a compromise? You go to Mexico City with Slidell and I’ll meet you in El Paso or San Antonio on your way back and we’ll go together to spend some time with the children.”

  “Okay. I’ll write to John Slidell and you write to Thomas.”

  “You should write to Thomas. I write to him all the time. You haven’t in months.”

  “I don’t particularly like any of our children, John.”

  “Then write to Jane.”

  Marina opened the door. “I’ll write to Thomas. Come back inside before you catch your death.”

  “I’ll be in soon.”

  ~

  On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state in the United States of America.

  January 6, 1846

  Two Alone Ranch, Republic of Texas

  The arrival of the post rider was always a welcome event, so when Texas Ranger Captain Josiah Whipple accepted the mail and directed the rider toward the kitchen, he was met at the door of the main house by Thomas and Jane Van Buskirk and Anna Van Buskirk Lagrange. “One’s for Tom and the other’s for Anna.” Whipple said, handing one envelope to Thomas and the other to Anna.

  “Thank God,” Anna said. “I was beginning to think that we’d never get any more mail.”

  “This is from Mother,” Thomas said.

  “Mine’s from Nancy Vreeland,” Anna replied, storing the letter under her sweater. “I’ll read it tonight. What does Mother say?”

  “Okay. Let’s see.” Thomas opened the envelope.

  “When did she post it?” Anna asked.

  Thomas was skimming the letter and gave the envelope to Anna.

  Anna read the postmark. “September thirtieth. So let’s see, October, November, December.” She held up three fingers. “Three months ago.”

  “She’s coming to Texas,” Thomas said.

  “She should have been here by now.” Anna looked at the postmark again.

  Thomas shook his head. “She was going to Mexico City first.”

  “Alone?” Anna asked.

  “Yes. It looks that way.” Thomas finished reading and gave the letter to Anna.

  “Is your father ill?” Jane asked.

  “No,” Thomas answered. “Apparently Mother’s gone to Mexico City with John Slidell to act as his interpreter. She intends to come up this way afterward. Dad may join her but that’s not set.”

  Jane wrinkled her brow. “Is John Slidell the Senator from Louisiana?”

  “Yes,” Thomas replied. “He’s originally from New York. I think his family and my grandmother’s family may be related.”

  “How’s yer mother plannin’ to get from Mexico City to here?” Whipple asked. “The way things are, that might not be as easy as she thinks.”

  “I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “She’s very cryptic in what she says. Apparently Slidell’s trip is a government secret.”

  “He’s going to buy the disputed territory from Mexico,” Anna said confidently. She looked up at Whipple. “My mother seems to think she’ll cross the Rio Grande at Matamoras. Is there a fort or town on the Rio Grande across from Matamoras, Josiah?”

  “There’s been some talk of needin’ a fort across from Matamoras, but I got no idea if one’s been built there recent or not.”

  “That’s in disputed territory,” Anna replied. “Mother must be thinking that buying it from Mexico is likely, but I think she’s wrong.”

  “Why?” Thomas asked.

  “The Mexican government is in such confusion that they can’t possibly negotiate a complex treaty right now,” she answered. “In the last year the presidency’s changed hands four times, the war ministry’s changed six times, and the finance ministry’s changed sixteen times.”

  Thomas looked worried. “I hope Mother isn’t planning to try to make her own way here, without Dad.”

  “If anyone could, it would be your mother,” Jane chuckled. “She crossed Texas several times when it was an empty, dangerous wasteland. Once, when she was eight months pregnant with your brother Jack.”

  “When she was twenty,” Thomas agreed, “but she’s a bit long in the tooth for that kind of adventure now, especially given the political situation.”

  “Does she say when?” Whipple asked.

  Thomas shook his head.

  “Well,” Whipple said, “I’m supposed to take that Mexican bandit, Jesus Vasquez, down to Houston for trial. I wasn’t plannin’ to go fer a while but I might as well get ‘er done.”

  “What are you thinking?” Thomas asked.

  “I’m thinkin’ that I’ll start out in the mornin’, nose around in Houston and see if there’s a new fort near Matamoras. If there is, I’ll ride on over to make sure yer mother don’t get left in the middle of nowheres.”

  “That’s a long trip into a dangerous area,” Jane observed.

  Whipple smiled. “It’s getting’ too civilized up here for me anyways.”

  Anna chewed her fingernail nervously. “If the United States builds a fort on this side of the Rio Grande across from Matamoros without buying the land first, there could be real trouble.”

  Thomas nodded. “Most people expected that the annexation of Texas into the Union would be the spark to set off the war.”

  “There ain’t nothin’ we can do about it, so why worry?” Whipple asked.

  They all looked up as Charlie Lagrange came in. “Are you ready, Anna?” he asked.

  “Yes. Let me get my coat. We got some news. Josiah will explain.”

  “Hurry up,” Charlie said. “I left Quincy all alone at the house.”

  “I’ll just be a minute.” Anna hurried toward the stairs.

  Charlie took off his hat and looked at Thomas, Jane and Whipple. “What’s this news?”

  “I’m a going south for a bit,” Whipple replied. “Y’ want me to get ‘em to send a replacement up here from Austin?”

  “Why are you going to Austin?” Charlie asked.

  “My mother’s headed our way from Mexico City,” Thomas explained. “Josiah’s going to escort her.”

  “If I can find her,” Whipple added. “I’m also gonna take Jesus Vasquez, down to Houston for trial.”

  “How long will you be gone?” Charlie asked.

  “A few months, I reckon,” Whipple said. “Maybe more.”

  Charlie looked at his hat. “I’ve been promising Anna that I’d retire from the Rangers for nearly fifteen years now and every time I get ready to do it, someth
ing else comes up. This time I swore to her I wouldn’t be put off.”

  Whipple nodded. “I know. That’s how-come I asked you if you wanted a replacement.”

  Charlie waited as Anna came down the stairs. “What do you think, Anna? Should Josiah have them send a replacement captain up here or should I stay on until he gets back?”

  “You have to decide,” she replied.

  Charlie examined his hat again before looking at Whipple. “Have them send somebody. I’ll stay on until he gets here and knows the ropes but then I’m retired.”

  Whipple nodded. “Okay, Charlie. I’ll do ‘er.”

  “Be careful, Josiah.” Anna kissed him on the cheek then took Charlie’s hand. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah.” Charlie nodded at Thomas and Jane then shook Whipple’s hand before leading Anna out and helping her into the buckboard. “I didn’t know what else to do,” he said, as he climbed up beside her.

  “There wasn’t anything else you could have done.”

  “Damn Josiah. He knew I intended to retire this spring.” He kicked the brake.

  “As much as I’d like to blame him, I don’t think he’s doing this to keep you in the Rangers, Charlie. He’s just responding to circumstances.”

  “Come on, horses.” He whipped the reins. “Let’s go home.”

  Anna scooted closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. “How long will it take for your replacement to get here?”

  “God knows,” he grumbled. “The army’s taking so many Rangers that we’re short handed.”

  “The army? What does the army have to do with it?”

  “There’s a Texas Ranger’s Division and several scattered companies among the volunteers.”

  “Why didn’t I know that?”

  He shrugged.

  She sat up. “Well. If I had known I might not have been so quick to agree to this.”

  “What choice do I have?”

  She shrugged. “Anybody other than you could just quit. But you seem to think that you owe your life and soul to Texas.”

  April 25, 1846

  Rio Grande, Republic of Texas (Disputed)

  A company of seventy U.S. cavalry halted and a captain rode forward to speak to a dusty man who sitting on a weary horse.

  “Good day, sir. I’m Captain Seth Thornton, United States army.”

  “How do? I’m Captain Josiah Whipple, Texas Rangers. Are y’all comin’ from Fort Texas?”

  “That would be classified.”

  “Classified?’ Whipple shifted the rifle he was holding across his saddle. “What’s that mean?”

  “It means that I can’t tell you where we’re coming from.”

  “Well then can you tell me how far it is to Fort Texas? This horse is about wore out and if it’s too far, I better rest.”

  “I’m not here to dispense information, sir; I’m here to gather it.”

  “Now that’s good to know.” Whipple spit a stream of tobacco juice. “I’ll be sure not to ask y’all nothin’ else in that case. Good day.”

  “Hold on a minute,” the captain reached for Whipple’s reins but got slapped with a quirt. “Damn you, sir,” he snarled, withdrawing his hand quickly and reaching toward his pistol.

  “Yer about a second from bein’ a dead man, sonny,” Whipple replied, cocking the rifle and adjusting the muzzle slightly so that it was pointed at the captain’s chest.

  “I could arrest you for that.”

  “Never seen no dead man arrest nobody before. ‘Should be right interesting.”

  The captain continued to glare but moved his hand away from his holster.

  “If you got something to ask, go ahead on,” Whipple said after several seconds. “But be polite and try to remember that I’m the law in Texas and y’all are trespassin’ here.”

  The young captain swallowed then took a breath to try again. “We heard that units of the Mexican army had crossed the river near here,” the captain said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Have you seen any Mexican forces around here? Sir.”

  “No, I was working too hard at being sure that they didn’t see me.”

  “Are you saying that there are Mexican troops on this side of the river?”

  “I seen me some tracks in the mud at the ford about a half mile back that-a-way.” Whipple pointed over his shoulder. “Shod horses; prob’bly Mess-kin. Looked to me like a whole army crossed, so I come up the long way, around this resaca to stay clear of ‘em.”

  “Tracks going in what direction?”

  “Well, north, o’ course. If they was goin’ south they’d of been goin’ to Matamoros.”

  “Is there some kind of identifiable terrain feature?” the captain asked, obviously exasperated.

  “A terrain feature?”

  “A landmark. Something we can see without having to expose ourselves on the riverbank?”

  “Well, they crossed the Rio Grande at Rodriguez Ford and was headed toward the abandoned Rodriguez Hacienda. If y’all got a halfway decent Texas map y’all should be able t’ find the Rio Grande and Rodriguez Ford on it easy enough.”

  “Would it be too much to ask for a simple, straight-forward answer?”

  “Try askin’ a simple, straight-forward question and we’ll see.”

  “How many troops would you estimate crossed there?”

  “Two thousand, thereabouts.”

  The captain looked amused. “I seriously doubt that, sir.”

  “No skin off my backside if you seriously doubt it, but I’m through dispensin’ information.” Whipple touched his hat in an informal salute and urged his horse to a walk. Ten minutes later, he heard the sound of a fierce gun battle erupt, but he continued riding. “Stupid bastard,” he muttered. “Guess that’ll learn y’ to seriously doubt a Texas Ranger.”

  April 25, 1846

  Fort Texas, Republic of Texas (Disputed)

  In early March, troops in the command of General Zachary Taylor had constructed an earthen star-fortress on the north bank of the Rio Grande and nicknamed it Fort Texas. Inside the fort, U.S. Army Major Jacob Brown strode into the stables. “Where’s that Texas Ranger that came in yesterday, Corporal?”

  “He’s a-sleepin’ in that stall with his horse, sir.” The corporal pointed. “You might wanna be careful. That danged horse o’ his bites like a sum-bitch.”

  Brown walked to the stall door, and keeping out of the horse’s reach, kicked the bedroll that was in the straw.

  Josiah Whipple opened one eye. “You kick me again and I’ll blow yer balls off.” He showed his big Walker-Colt pistol to the major.

  “One of Captain Thornton’s men just came in,” the major replied calmly. “He says that Thornton and his entire company were wiped out by a large force of the Mexican army yesterday afternoon. He estimated their number at over two thousand.”

  “Y’all must of had shit in yer ears yesterday evenin’ when I was tellin’ y’all that yer cavalry was under attack.” Whipple put his hat on and began pulling on the boots that Jane had bought him in New Orleans.

  “We thought your estimate of two thousand men was a bit fanciful at the time and we discounted your report. I apologize for that, and I promise that in the future you’ll be treated with the respect that you’re due.”

  “Well I gotta give you credit fer that fine speech. It must have been right hard fer y’ to say.”

  “The apology was easy. I’m going to have to live with the guilt of not heeding your warning for the rest of my life.”

  “I doubt you could o’ made any difference,” Whipple said. “You in command here?”

  “Temporarily, while General Taylor is away. Can you tell me anything else about the force?”

  “I never did see ‘em but I’d bet big money that they’re part of a brigade of General Mariano Arista’s Northern Army.”

  “What makes you think it’s Arista and not the garrison from the fort at Matamoros?”

  “Too many men and horses crossed the river. They wouldn�
��t leave them cannons at the fort unprotected.” Whipple stood up and stamped his feet then he opened the stall door and walked out. “Didn’t we just have that discussion?”

  “Yes, but I was prepared to defend this fort against the Matamoros garrison, not against the entire Mexican Army of the North, so I keep hoping that you were wrong, Captain. That doesn’t mean that I doubt your word or judgment, only that I wish you were wrong.”

  “Well I ain’t wrong and I backtracked Thornton’s cavalry from Rodriguez Ford to here real easy. If I can do it, so can Arista. You’re gonna be facin’ him in a few days - soon as he gets some more troops and maybe a cannon or two from Matamoros.”

  “We’re expecting the return of General Taylor soon. Perhaps he’ll arrive before Arista.”

  “Where’s he at?”

  “On the coast. Port Isabel.”

  “Just seein’ the sights, is he?”

  “We’re short of supplies. Port Isabel has them. The guns have stopped which probably means that he’s taken the city. I’m hoping that he’s on his way back by now.”

  “Arista only had part of a brigade with him on this side of the Rio Grande yesterday. That means he’s still got another three or four thousand men in Matamoros or somewhere else over here on this side o’ the river. Zach Taylor might be facin’ the whole army, which’ll leave you suckin’ hind tit and still facin’ Arista.”

  “This fort is stronger than it looks.”

  “I’m right familiar with star forts, Captain. Even built and spent some time in one with Zach Taylor down in Florida a few years back. I was a full colonel in the regular army back then and a brevet brigadier general.” He cut a sliver of tobacco from his plug and popped it into his mouth.

  Brown raised his hands. “No offense, Captain. I didn’t know that. Can you offer me any advice?”

  “Y’all might wanna look to improvin’ yer earthworks that face the guns at Matamoros. And you sure as hell should be quick about getting’ in water, food and fodder and plannin’ for a long siege.”

  Brown nodded. “Speaking of food, did we feed you last night?”