The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 83, July 1979 - April, 1980 Page: 20
464 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
ture of the execution of a mutinous captain who refused to cross to the
east bank of the Mississippi River revealed the sensitive nature of this
young soldier.
I stood in ten steps of this Captain, and could see him well, and every
thing that passed. He spoke a few words, to several friends, and then knelt
in prayer. When he was through he got upon his feet and said that he was
ready, a man then advanced to blind folded [sic] him, but he beged [sic]
that they would not do it. The space was then cleared and we all held our
breath waiting for the command to fire. I kept my eyes upon the man[;]
he seamed [sic] calm and collected, but pale as death; he kept his eyes turned
up toward heaven as if in prayer. The officer in command gave the order-
Ready-Aim--Fire-and he was no more, he fell a corpse, with six bullets
through him. The crowd rushed up to him to look at him. I had seen
enough and turned away from the sad, and horrid sight, and went back to
camp, thinking about what I had seen, and whether I too might not soon
die by a bullet, not as he had, in disgrace, but as a soldier on the battle
field; and whether I could look at the future with as much unconcern as
he did.41
Even though conditions both on the home front and war front.de-
teriorated during the fall and winter of 1864-1865, Dunnie continued
to have the services of a Negro slave. Alex, a young black man of seven-
teen years, accompanied Affleck while he worked at army headquarters
in Houston during the winter of 1863-1864. When Dunnie rejoined
the cavalry in the early summer of 1864, he took Alex with him to help
prepare meals and perform chores around camp. Apparently Alex per-
formed his work satisfactorily as various letters from Dunnie back to
Texas indicate. Several of these letters close with a postscript "Alex
send howde does [sic] to his parents and all." Occasionally, Alex's par-
ents, slaves Louis and Jane, returned the greetings to their son through
letters from the older Afflecks to their son, Dunnie. And like Dunnie,
Alex sometimes asked for supplies from home through his master's let-
ters.42
In early December, 1864, Wharton's cavalry moved from Arkansas
back into Texas. For the remaining months of the war Dunnie was in
41Affleck to Mrs. Affleck, Oct. 18, 1864, Affleck Letters.
420n one occasion the company commander attempted to assign Dunnie, who remained
a private, to a woodchopping detail, but Dunnie refused to go. "I was detailed to chop
wood . . . something I have never done in my life before and I told the Captain that I
could not do it, but was willing to allow Alex to go and chop in my place; he saw I was
determined, and he told me to send Alex there." Ibid., Oct. 18, 1864. See also ibid., Sept.
18, Nov. 11, 21, 1864; Mrs. Affieck to Affleck, Nov. 2, and [date torn], 1864, Affleck Letters.
Alex's age is given in a statement by Thomas Affleck to the Enrolling Officer of Washing-
ton County, Oct. 17, 1864, Affleck Papers.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 83, July 1979 - April, 1980, periodical, 1979/1980; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101207/m1/40/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.