minister to Washington, M. E. de Gorostiza, demanded his passports and left. It is a "very singular coincidence," he said, "that only when the Mexican troops are advancing in Texas, these accounts of the excess of the Indians are invented or exaggerated, in order that they may, without doubt, reach the ears of General Gaines."[56]  On October 15, as he prepared to leave, Gorostiza wrote that the premeditated attacks on the American frontier had existed only in the minds of the Texans and their supporters in the United States. The early rumors of an Indian uprising were invented "solely for the purpose of inducing General Gaines to approach the Sabine, as he in fact did." After the Texan victory at San Jacinto the fear of an Indian uprising quickly disappeared and the volunteers were disbanded. When it became known that Mexico was preparing a new advance, "Immediately, as if by enchantment, the hostile Indians again appeared," declared the Mexican diplomat.[57] 

Idleness in the Texan army on the lower frontier of Texas gave an opportunity for venturesome spirits to create many problems, not the least of which were the interference with the government's plan to return Santa Anna to Vera Cruz, the demand that the erstwhile "Napoleon of the West" be sent to camp for trial by court-martial, the plot to kidnap President Burnet and members of his cabinet, and the talk of advancing on Matamoros.[58]  A secret traffic in ardent spirits made discipline difficult, and when several of the smugglers of liquor were arrested, a mutiny developed. About fifty men rushed upon the guard at midnight and freed the prisoners, thus making the camp a scene of riot and confusion. The next day, seven of the principal leaders were arrested and quiet was temporarily restored in camp.[59]  Towards the end of September the army began to disband, and when Houston became President in October, Rusk was named Secretary of War, Green became a member of Congress from Béxar County, and Huston succeeded to the command of the army. Shortly after inauguration, Houston learned with deep astonishment and regret that many officers