sition but let them argue. Finally they came to an standstill, and he dismissed the council with the conjecture that perhaps they ought to wait until the next day to attack. The apprehension of the men was so high that mutiny seemed to threaten. It was then that the general told the men to get their dinners, then he would lead them into battle(Hoyt 155).The Texans were ready--rested, fed, their weapons primed, every nerve on edge. A soldier recalled: Around 20 or 30 campfires stood as many groups of men, all unwashed and unshaved, their long hair and beards matted, their clothes in tatters and plastered with mud. A more savage looking band could scarcely have been assembled." The sun was high and warm, the breeze was light; it was a good day(Nevin 133).At 3:30 in the afternoon, while the Mexican camp still slept, General Houston mounted his white horse, Saracen. Then he formed his army into battle array. They set out across no-man's land in three columns with the Twin Sisters, the Texans' two famous cannons. Then formed a long line that extended across the field, two men deep. Every soldier carried a rifle or a musket with bayonetand every man had a sword or a Bowie knife and two or three pistols stuck in his belt. The Twin Sisters were in the middle of the line; General Houston, on his white stallion, was in the center. Sword in hand, he waved the army forward. The men had been told to hold their fire, and for once they obeyed the order. The few musicians in the group struck the popular tune of the day, "Will You Come to the Bower," a somewhat ribald tune for such a grim business(Knowles 46).In the Mexican camp a bugler of the Matamoros battalion sounded the alarm, and his company fired their muskets. The Golden Standard shot a load of grapeshot at the Texas line. But in their hurry, they fired high. But it was already too late; the Texans were on them. When Houston's army reached the edge of the rise in the middle of no-man's-la...
