The Mexicans about mid-afternoon were driven out of the Stone House, and the main body of their army was concentrated in the cuartel or Old Red House, the older part of which was built of adobe, and almost as strong as stone; it also had the advantage of several dormer windows on the second floor, from which sharpshooters could better defend the building. The fighting continued with unabated fury until night separated the combatants. Colonel Piedras evacuated Nacogdoches during the night of the 2nd, under the protecting cloak of a heavy fog, retreating westward toward the Angelina river. The next morning James Carter, with seventeen volunteers, set out in pursuit of the Mexican army, overtaking them at Durst lake, and after a skirmish at that point, Carter and his men went further south, crossing the Angelina at the Goodman Crossing, and marched northward to the West side of Durst’s Ferry to oppose the crossing of the Mexican troops. Here Piedras lost many of his men in an unsuccessful attempt to cross the river. It was from this event that the name Buckshot Crossing was given to this place. During the following morning Colonel Piedras surrendered the command to Captain Francisco Medina, who in turn declared for Santa Anna and surrendered to James Carter the entire Mexican force of some four hundred men. Col. James Bowie, who reached Nacogdoches a few days after the battle, agreed to convey the Mexican troops to San Antonio, and in his report stated that there were 33 Mexicans killed and 17 or 18 wounded; the Americans losing three men killed and seven wounded. The Battle of Nacogdoches was the opening gun in the Texas Revolution, and resulted in the expulsion of all Mexican troops from the territory east of San Antonio, giving the Texans an opportunity to hold their Convention without military interference of the enemy. [Illustration: Peter Ellis Bean Home Built 1829. Standing 4½ miles east of Nacogdoches near Old King’s Highway. See page 21.] Growth of American Influence