The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 12, July 1908 - April, 1909 Page: 305
332 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Reminiscences of Jno. Duff Brown.
305
with no baggage, and not a tent, save once when a man joined
us sick and died. The flies were so intolerably bad that it re-
quired a detail of two men, one at his head and the other at his
feet, to, protect him. Even then, his blankets were flyblown. This
was at "Camp Maggot," opposite Matamoros. We used the river
water, and some days were forced to wade out fifty or sixty yards
to get it clear of maggots. We were below the slaughter pens,
where the beeves were prepared for the army. The refuse was
thrown into the river, and often much of it, not clearing the
banks, was blown by the immense swarms of flies. During the
two or three weeks we remained at this camp, it rained twice or
thrice every twenty-four hours. The rains were fortunately but
brief, and the sun was so, hot that it dried us between them. After
a time, we were ordered to occupy some deserted houses above Fort
Brown. Here we fared sumptuously on roasting ears, 'which,
added to our rations, made our meals most enjoyable. At this
encampment we were free from the dreadful annoyances incident
to life at "Camp Maggot."
Our company was composed of quite a variety of characters and
professions. There were two generals, Ham P. Bee, and another
whose name I have forgotten; three to five doctors; and one news-
paper man, W. Kendall of the New Orleans Picayune. He wrote
up our scouting expeditions, etc. I do not recall any ministers
of the gospel in our party. We had six or seven Mier prisoners.
One of them was our first lieutenant, John McMullen. He was
a boy when the expedition occurred, as was young Hill, who had
been adopted by Santa Anna and educated at the College of Mines.
James W. Allen, a Kentuckian, was our second lieutenant and
commissary. He carried a bag of silver on all our scouts to pay
for supplies, for we paid for all requisitions. One of our men who
was from the eastern shore of Maryland was wounded and died
at Monterey.
Captain McCulloch was ordered not to fight, but to survey vari-
ous sections of the country and to report. He was well known as
a reckless fighter; but he knew how to obey orders, and he cer-
tainly did so. We begged him to give us a brush with the enemy,
but he simply answered "orders."
I returned to Texas with Jim Lytle, a lawyer named Cunning-
ham from Victoria, Breckinridge of Kentucky, Mason Foley, the
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 12, July 1908 - April, 1909, periodical, 1909; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101048/m1/343/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.