sentences:  The Texians held their own against the Mexican soldiers, but their fatalities mounted after the cannons came within range.The battle lasted just over an hour, resulting in 36 Texians dead and 15 captured in what Texans called the Dawson Massacre.On November 25, 1842, Alexander Somervell, a Texan customs officer from Matagorda Island, left San Antonio with 700 men under his command on a military expedition to punish the Mexican Army for raids in Texas.