Neill, Col James

Today in Texas History On the trail to Texas independence. Oct 17, 1835 - Austin moves his army to Salado Creek, ~5 miles (~8.0 km) from Béxar. Over the next several days, reinforcements and supplies arrived from various English-speaking colonies. One of the new companies, commanded by James C. Neill, brought 2 new six-pounder cannons with them. The reinforcements brought the Texian official strength to 453 men, although only about 384 of them were available for duty. Meanwhile, Cós worked to fortify the town squares in San Antonio and the walls of the Alamo, a mission-turned-fort near the town and sent scouts out to recon and others to take messages to Santa Anna requesting more men and materials. Oct 17 through November 1, 1835 - Thirty-one members of The Consultation assembled at San Felipe de Austin and recognized the legitimacy of a Permanent Council. The Consultation was not completely representative of all of Texas - no delegates served from the war zone districts of Béxar, Goliad, Refugio, Victoria, or San Patricio, and less than half of those elected attended from Bevil, Mina, and Matagorda. A total of fifty-eight of the ninety-eight credentialed delegates attended the Consultation. These factors weakened the influence of Stephen F. Austin, who remained with the Texas army, because several of the absent delegates had strong affiliations with him. The average delegate had resided in Texas longer than seven years and was thirty-eight years old, but many of those who had been identified with the land-speculating scandals in the Coahuila and Texas state legislature or those who had strongly favored conciliation with Mexico failed to win election. Most of the representatives were from the moderate movement that had sought a course between submission and revolution. Images: Stephen F. Austin, Salado Creek, James C. Neill, General Martin Perfecto de Cós, The Alamo, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, The Consultation at San Felipe de Austin.