Stephen F. Austin State University

Retreating Mexican soldier left artifact behind near Bastrop, historian says

As Mexican troops camping near Bastrop retreated after the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, one soldier left behind a sword.

Cotton farmer Jube Templeton found the two-foot-long saber a century later, while plowing his fields in Garfield. His family has kept it ever since.

Now, the saber, which at least one historian believes was used at the Battle of the Alamo, will be auctioned off Sunday at the Retama Park Race Track in San Antonio.

Templeton's grandson, Charles McCullough, said he and his wife have no children and want to pass on the sword to someone who values its history.

"It represents the best of Texas — the liberation of Texas from Mexican tyrants," said McCullough, 64, of Anthony, Texas.

The sword was found amid other artifacts, such as uniform buttons and helmet plates, which belonged to Mexican regiments that fought at the Alamo, said Tom Burks, the auction manager and a former curator at the Texas Ranger Museum.

Burks, who said he has studied Texas history for 40 years, thinks a Mexican soldier took the saber from a slain Alamo defender because the sword has a less ornate handle than those of Mexican soldiers.

The sword was found in an area where Santa Anna's cavalry, led by General Antonio Gaona, camped after the Alamo as they pursued Sam Houston's troops, Burks said.

The Mexican soldiers had intended to head off Houston at the Colorado River, but he crossed the river further south. After the loss at San Jacinto, Mexican general Santa Anna ordered all Mexican forces to retreat.

"That is likely where the sword was lost," Burks said. "At that point, they were a dispirited army, and things — like a sword — wouldn't have mattered much. They just needed to get out of there."

Archie McDonald, a history professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, said it is rare to hear about an Alamo artifact that is not yet known about publicly.

"Considering the time that has passed since [the Alamo] and the intensity of the historical interest in it, for the sword to have survived and not be known or in general circulation by now would be unusual," he said.

The sword will be auctioned off by Randall Hill Auctions on Sunday at 1 p.m.. Potential buyers can preview it at the race track today from 1 to 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m., or visit www.1bid2.com.