They had chosen a course that lay directly away from the Mexican army, but they did not expect to escape without an alarm, and it came in five minutes.

A Mexican horseman, one of the patrol, saw the dark file, fired a shot and gave an alarm.

In an instant all the sentinels were firing and shouting, and Urrea's army in the wood was awakening.
But the Texans now pressed forward rapidly.

Their rifles cracked, quickly cutting a path through the patrol, and before Urrea could get up his main force they were gone through the forest and over the prairie.
Knowing that the whole country was swarming with the Mexican forces, they chose a circuitous course through forests and swamps and pressed on until daylight.

Some of the Mexicans on horseback followed them for a while, but a dozen of the best Texan shots were told off to halt them.
When three or four saddles were emptied the remainder of the Mexicans disappeared and they pursued their flight in peace.
Morning found them in woods and thickets by the banks of a little creek of clear water.