The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 23, July 1919 - April, 1920 Page: 136
319 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Soul! and above all, Could we have had a bold energetic and en-
terprising officer for our chief, what could we not have effected!
But we had all despaired of this, and as we had now been eleven
days on the Rio Grande, with a force deminished, discordant, and
weak, we thought that prudence required our return. Two hun-
dred of us returned with General Somervell, the others, three hun-
dred in number, marched down the river under the command of
Colonel Winm. S. Fisher, and General Thos. J. Green.lo The fate
of these unfortunate men is known by all. They marched down
the river as far as Mier, forty miles below Guerrero where they fell
in with and engaged a Mexican army of two thousand five hundred
or three thousand men, and their heroic conduct in the battle
which ensued, has given them immortality throughout the world.
They surrendered at last, it is true, but it was after nineteen hours
hard fighting, when their ammunition was expended, and after
inflicting on the enemy an admitted loss of more than one third
of their force. Not even then did they resign their arms, until
the most honorable terms were granted them, which have since been
most treacherously and basely violated by the Mexicans-a conduct
which must reflect eternal dishonor [upon] their name. Of this
gallant band some few have escaped; many have fallen by disease
or violence; and a mournful remnant yet survives in chains and
misery.
Our part of the army, after marching fifteen miles from the
"0"On the morning of the 7th, previous to our taking possession of
Laredo, Act'g Adjutant General Hemphill read an order from Gen. Som-
ervell, who assured the troops that of the property taken from the enemy,
there should be an equal distribution. I regret to state, however, that
Gen. Somervell forfeited his pledge so far as related to the horses and
mules which had been brought into camp. In some instances captains
of companies would allow their men to detach themselves in small num-
bers and acquire for their purposes any number of horses and mules they
could find, other officers denied their men this privilege, saying that all
property thus acquired should be procured by regular details of men,
and equally divided between officers and men; but when we commenced
this second retreat Gen. Somervell failed altogether to conform to his
pledge. The captains consequently, who had been most particular in
requiring and enforcing discipline and subordination from their men in
not allowing parties to leave camp, acquired no horses or mules to sup-
ply those of their companies whose horses were unfit for service. This
produced great dissatisfaction and increased the prejudice and contempt
almost universally entertained and openly expressed by the officers and
men towards Gen. Somervell, and in fact I heard many of the officers
and men declare their determination not to be commanded by and con-
ducted on their march home by an officer incompetent as he had proved
himself to be: consequently on the morning of the 19th, when Gen.136
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 23, July 1919 - April, 1920, periodical, 1920; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101075/m1/142/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.