The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 363
641 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Diamond's Account of the Great Hanging
cused was discharged. It was observed while his trial was pending
that an unusual assemblage gathered around the marshal's office,
unwarranted by any ostensible object, there being no cause for
public excitement at that period. It was also a mysterious and
noticeable fact that nearly all who assembled on that occasion
"happened to bring their guns along."
And when it was discovered that the prisoners were so confi-
dently relying upon their friends to rescue them, the people could
look back to the trial of Cottrell" before the Provost Marshal and
connect them with the strange popular assemblage of that day.
And by this circumstance the fact was plainly developed that if
Cottrell had been ordered to prison, the Society was then ready
and able to rescue him.
A dispatch had been sent to Fort Washita calling upon the
Commander of that post for assistance. And other neighboring
commands [were] promptly notified of the situation of affairs in
Cooke County. These commands having readily responded to the
call made upon them and the citizens having organized for safety
and defense, the excitement and anxiety was measurably allayed.
The following commands soon reached Gainesville, in the
order in which they are named: A militia company from Grayson
County, commanded by Capt. Russell;27 one company from Col.
Charles DeMorse's"2 Regiment, CSA, commanded by Capt. [Nick]
Wilson; the entire militia of Denton County, commanded by Col.
Patton;2' two Companies from Fort Washita, C.N., under Capts.
26John Cottrell was one of two Cooke County soldiers in Captain James D.
Young's company of Major J. S. Randolph's battalion, Partisan Rangers, who were
subsequently arrested in connection with the "Peace Party Conspiracy." Insisting
upon a court martial, they were convicted by such a court and hanged.
'7Probably John Russell, since a John Russell served as a captain in the 'ith
Texas Cavalry and three John Russells are listed in the U. S. Eighth Census, 186o
(Returns of Schedule i, Free Inhabitants, for Grayson County, Texas, microfilm,
Dallas Public Library).
28Charles DeMorse was the founder and long-time editor of the Northern
Standard at Clarksville. He took up arms in behalf of the Confederacy after stren-
uously opposing the secession of Texas and its adherence to the Confederate States
of America. In 1862 he organized the 29th Texas Cavalry, of which he became
colonel. He had been born in Leicester, Massachusetts, on January 31, 1816,
and had come to Texas in the summer of 1836. He died at Clarksville in 1887.
Ernest Wallace, Charles DeMorse: Pioneer Editor and Statesman (Lubbock, 1943) .
29Probably S. P. C. Patton, who served as a captain in Bourland's Cavalry
Regiment and is listed in the U. S. Eighth Census, 1860 (Returns of Schedule 1,
Free Inhabitants, for Denton County, Texas, microfilm, Dallas Public Library).363
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963, periodical, 1963; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101196/m1/389/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.