The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993 Page: 398
681 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Hzstorzcal Quarterly
weeds out. I am reading German with renewed zeal and energy, and
refreshing my memory with the collaterals of my profession Botany
Chemistry Geology etc.
I was painfully detained in New Orleans very much longer than I
desired and was happy when the hour arrived for my departure for
the frontier. With Genl. Brooke, Lieut Garnet and our very estimable
chaplain Mr. Fish I came to San Antonio.'3 At Indianola I found my
things had safely arrived from the Brasos, thanks again and weighty
obligations which I hope some day in some manner to repay profes-
sionally? No, God forbid! that your "comely proportions" &c should
ever require physicing. All had gone on, save and except one bay horse
with white saddle marks that had gone off or had been taken off to
someplace to me unknown, by, perhaps, another friend of mine just
for a joke being in a merry mood but unfortunately absent minded and
forgot to bring him back. I remained but a few days in San Antonio.
The weather was very warm, the streets very dusty, every body very
uncumfortable and I very ill natured. I didn't fall in love with your
friend Maj. Babbitt and I never shall."' I can't warp my affections into
such a narrow channel. I wish you could replace him. A wish that meets
a hearty response from many anxious souls along this unhappy line.
With Genl. Harry I went to Austin where I was stationed the remain-
der of the Summer till October.15 I think this the most pleasant post on
the line. I don't mean Fredericksburg. 'Tis delightfully situated and
contains some good society from the fact of its being the seat of Gov-
ernment and the residence of state officers. The inhabitants are hospi-
table social gay and polite, as the old geography would say, fond of
dancing and light amusements. My opinion, however, of Texians is
much the same as when I left the Rio Grande, and I have seen the best
products of their state. There are some good, among the much bad,
some excellent people, but they compose a very meagre minority.
"3George Mercer Brooke commanded the Eighth Military Department of Texas, headquar-
tered in San Antonio, when this letter was written He entered military service in 18o8, became
a major general during the Mexican War, and died on March 9, 1851 Webb, Carroll, and
Branda (eds ), Handbook of Texas, I, 248 Lt. Garnet is probably Robert Selden Garnett, whose
career included service as a brigadier general in the Confederate army He was stationed at
Rminggold Barracks in 1853 Heitman, Hutoncal Register, I, 447, M. L. Crinmmins (cd.), "W. G.
Freeman's Report on the Eighth Military Department," SIIQ, LII (Oct, 1948), 230. Chaplain
John F. Fish was stationed at Fort McKavett, Texas, after leaving San Antonio He died n 1878
Heitman, IhItorical Register, 1, 420.
"1Edwin Burr Babbitt, West Point '26, rose through the ranks of the quartermaster's depart-
ment and died in 1881 Heitman, HIstouc.al Register, I, 177-178
'"General" Harry Love was a lack-of-all-trades-sailor, scout, ranger, and Ai my express
rider-on the Texas frontier, where he arrived m 1846. He explored the upper Rio G(;ande
between March and August 1850 In 1851 he went to California, where he died at age fifty-
eight in 1868 Coker (ed.), The News fiom Bowmville, 347.398
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993, periodical, 1993; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101215/m1/456/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.