Here is the letter." It was the last letter of Travis, concluding with the words: "God and Texas; victory or death." But when the messenger put the letter into the hands of Houston the Alamo had fallen two hours before.
The letter was laid before the convention, and the excitement was great and irrepressible.

The feelings of these stern men were moved deeply.
Many wished to adjourn at once and march to the relief of the Alamo, but the eloquence of Houston, who had been reelected Commander-in-chief, prevailed against the suggestion.

Then, with two or three men, he departed for Gonzales to raise a force, while the others elected Burnet President of the new Texas, and departed for Harrisburg on Buffalo Bayou.
"Deaf" Smith and Henry Karnes did not go just then with Houston.

They were scouts, hunters and rough riders, and they could do as they pleased.

They notified General Sam Houston, commander-in-chief of the Texan armies, that they would come on later, and he was content.
When the Texan government and the Texan army, numbering combined about a hundred men, followed by most of the population, numbering fifty or sixty more, filed off for Gonzales, the two sat once more on the same porch, smoking their cob pipes.