Massacre on the Nueces River; story of a Civil War tragedy. Page: 11 of 39
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8 THE MASSACRE ON THE NUECES RIVER
rolling prairie, green with lush grass after the rains, and dotted
with clumps of timber, like some vast park in the old country;
a veritable paradise of Nature's own making, "where only man
was vile"-and pretty vile too some of us were! Mightily we
enjoyed ourselves for a time, for the weather was beautiful and
fish and game of all sorts abundant.
Presently, however, sinister rumors as to Dunn's (Duff) inten-
tions began to spread, and it was said amongst other things, that
he had given certain of his followers to understand that he want-
ed no prisoners brought into camp. The majority of the men,
especially those who were Southern born, were utterly opposed to
such deeds; and many of us, myself amongst the number, openly
declared we would do all in our power to put a stop to them.
But amongst the command there were many "whitewashed"
Yankees, and even, I am ashamed to say, some Scotsmen, who
were ready tools for Dunn's infamies, and believed in convert-
ing Union men to the true faith by means of the halter.
I soon noticed that neither I, nor any of those who thought
with me, were sent out on scout. It was very suspicious, as pre-
sently many parties were detailed to scour the country who
rarely, if ever, brought in any prisoners, and were very reticent
about their doings. Amongst these two parties of twenty-five
each were sent out with wagons to bring in from the scattered
ranches the wives and children of those who had taken to the
mountains, and I fear, to harry their homes. In four days they
returned with the wagons full of prisoners-four or five men,
and eight women with their little ones. The latter were sent
on to Fredericksburg, and the former confined in the guard
tent.
It was a pitiable sight to see all those poor folks stripped
of their property, such as it was, earned by hard toil and ex-
posure on a dangerous frontier; and I could not but contrast
their treatment with that of well-known Abolitionists in San
Antonio, who, because they were wealthy, and made friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness, were not only unmolested but
specially favored in all sorts of ways. Many of these were Ger-
man Jews, who did nothing for the South, but monopolized
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Williams, R. H. & Sansom, John W. Massacre on the Nueces River; story of a Civil War tragedy., book, Date Unknown; Grand Prairie, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2409/m1/11/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .