later to have been brought to trial and condemned to execution by a firing squad.[9]

A Mexican party of between fifty and sixty soldiers under Rodríquez[10]  left Matamoros on December 14 with orders from Arista to take the property left at Corpus Christi by Canales. This was apparently the party to which Captain Thompson had reference. When the party reached Corpus Christi it did not find the property it had been sent to take possession of, for that had already been appropriated by sundry private parties; so Rodríquez left without disturbing or destroying anything at the rancho.[11]

Two days after Rodríquez left Matamoros, Juan Ignacio started from there, too, for Texas. He brought word that a large expedition was being prepared for a renewal of the Texas campaign. James Campbell informed Burnet, Acting President, that he had talked to Ignacio, upon whose statements reliance could be placed. Ignacio reported about six thousand troops on this side of the mountains, and said that he had heard that others were on their way to make up an invading force of twenty thousand men, but believed that not more than fifteen thousand men could be brought into the field against Texas. The Mexican government had already obtained a loan of two or three million dollars, and General Adrián Woll had recently been to New Orleans to obtain supplies. Ignacio declared that four hundred men had left Matamoros for San Patricio on December 12 and that another eight hundred were on the way from Mier. Campbell further said reports arriving at San Patricio confirmed Ignacio's statements.[12]  In preparation for the invasion, all the cattle this side of the Río Grande had been collected "low down by Matamoros," where they were being guarded by two hundred troops. The number of cattle was estimated at 100,000 head. Most likely, these cattle were concentrated near Matamoros to protect them from the Texas cowboys.[13]