The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 3, July 1899 - April, 1900 Page: 213
294 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Capture and Rescue of Mrs. Rebecca f. Fisher. 213
and with his escort conveyed me to Victoria where I was afterwards
joined by my brother. As General Johnston was crossing a swollen
stream I was shocked by the appearance of some so-called friendly
Indians wading in the water just below where we were crossing.
The very sight so alarmed me that I screamed with fright, and it
was some time before the general could calm my over-taxed and
almost paralyzed nerves.
General Johnston placed me under the care of a Presbyterian
minister, Dr. Blair, and of his good wife, in whose charming family
we remained some time. Dr. Blair was to us a father indeed, 'whose
tender sympathy for his orphan charge can never be forgotten. His
home was our home, where we were affectionately cared for and
surrounded with everything possible to comfort us in our desolate
condition. IThe shock and sorrows through which I had so recently
passed had left .a fearful impression. Parents gone, home with all
it contained, everything taken from us, as though swept from the
face of the earth. I have never been able to ascertain where my
parents were buried--if at all--or my youngest brother, 'Thomas
Battle Gilleland, who died somewhere out West.
,My brother William McCalla Gilleland, although pierced through
the body by the Indians, miraculously recovered. Soon after the
Civil War broke out he was accidently shot by a citizen of Austin
and his hip bone was so shattered that for months he was lashed
down to a litter, his life being frequently despaired of. 'That wound
was also pronounced one of the worst ever known, and yet he sur-
vived them both many years, but suffering from their effects all
through life.
I was seven years of age when my parents were murdered.
Palsied with fear as I was, terrified beyond human expression, com-
pelled to witness the death struggles of my parents, andJ the life
blood flowing from their ghastly wounds, that heart-rending scene
can never be described by tongue or pen. Fifty-nine years have
passed since then, and yet my heart grows faint as that awful time
passes in review. It is indelibly stamped upon memory's pages and
photographed so deeply upon my heart that time with all its vicis-
situdes can never obliterate it.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 3, July 1899 - April, 1900, periodical, 1900; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101015/m1/226/?rotate=270: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.