Ehrenberg, Hermann:

$7,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

TEXAS UND SEINE REVOLUTION. The exceedingly rare first edition of this important Texas book by "the leading surveyor, map maker and explorer of the early Southwest" (Howes). At eighteen years of age, Hermann Ehrenberg emigrated from Germany to New Orleans, and joined the Louisiana Greys to fight in the Texas Revolution in 1835. He took part in the siege of Bexar, the battle of Coleto, and was one of only a handful of survivors of the Fannin (or Goliad) Massacre, from which he escaped."According to a translation of Ehrenberg's own account [of the Fannin Massacre], after the command to kneel was given and the shooting started, he jumped up, and, hidden by the gun smoke, dashed for the San Antonio River. On the way, a Mexican soldier slashed him in the head with his saber, but Ehrenberg managed to get by him and jumped in the river crying, "The Republic of Texas forever!" For several days he wandered the prairies, finding shelter in a couple of abandoned plantation houses along the way, finally reasoning that the only way to survive would be to surrender to the Mexican army. Ehrenberg posed as a Prussian traveler seeking protection, and General Urrea, admiring the boy's daring, took in the 'little Prussian'. Ehrenberg was taken with Urrea's troops to Matagorda, and when Urrea and his troops began their retreat to Mexico following news of the battle of San Jacinto and the capture of Sana Anna, Ehrenberg escaped and eventually reached freedom. He was discharged from the Texas army

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