The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 95
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Notes and Documents
In July, Duff's command returned to Fredericksburg and, as
a result, over sixty Unionists banded together to leave for
Mexico. On August o, a Confederate cavalry command of about
one hundred men caught up with the predominantly German
group, and defeated and scattered it by a surprise attack at the
Nueces River. No prisoners were taken. Similar activities were
under way throughout South Texas; and S. A. White, editor of
the Victoria A dvocate, who spoke out against martial law as tyran-
nical and oppressive, was arrested for his opposition.5
Amidst that atmosphere of conflicting views, suspicion, hos-
tility, and violence, General H6bert appointed a military com-
mission in San Antonio to hear cases arising under martial law,
including those of the men arrested by Duff. Apparently it was
one of several such commissions created in Texas during that
period. The military court was in session from July 2 to October
So, the day Hebert was forced to rescind martial law by order of
President Jefferson Davis.6 In three months it ruled on at least
fifteen cases, discharged several others after hearing the evidence,
and allowed some defendants to join the army as an alternative
to trial. Generally the commission seemed more favorable toward
the prosecution, although it allowed elaborate defenses to be
offered when available. Also General Bee moderated some deci-
sions after reviewing the evidence.
For over seventy-five years the commission's proceedings re-
mained unknown and its existence seldom noted in accounts of
Texas during the Civil War. Then in 1938, Ned C. Bell, son of
Jessup M. Bell-a member of Duff's command and apparently
secretary of the commission-discovered its record book in his
father's papers. In 1965, he presented it to the Texas State His-
torical Association, which in turned placed the manuscript in the
Archives of the University of Texas Library.7
aIbid., 235-259; Semi-Weekly News (San Antonio), July 14, 1862; San Antonio
Herald, July 12, 1862; Robert W. Shook, "The Battle of the Nueces, August 1o,
1862," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, LXVI, 31-42.
6S. Cooper to P. O. H6bert, September 12, 1862, Official Records, Series I, Vol.
IX, 735; H6bert to Cooper, October 11, 1862, ibid., Vol. LIII, 828-830; Jesse W.
Sparks to Horace Cone, August 20, 1862, ibid., Series II, Vol. IV, 857; C. S. West to
C. M. Mason, September 8, 1862, ibid., 872.
'San Antonio Express, October 16, 1938; H. Bailey Carroll, "Texas Collection,"
Southwestern Historical Quarterly, LXVIII, 496.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967, periodical, 1967; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101199/m1/113/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.