Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 2, May 1999 Page: 63
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Reminiscences of the Old Brigade
Platner, in the agonies of death with eighteen
bullets in him, thrown across a Mexican Burro
like a dead hog, taking him to the calaboose.
We made them take him off of the burro and
put him on a mattress when they took him on to
the calaboose, we going with them. They said
that Platner had assaulted or insulted a Mexi-
can woman in her house, that she ran out of the
house screaming when they gathered their force
and started to the house,-met Platner, ordered
him (in Mexican and Platner did not understand
a word of Mexican) to halt, he kept on and
they fired upon him. This was their statement
and shows, if it all had been perfectly true, that
the shooting was wholly unnecessary and done
merely to wreak their vengeance on an unarmed
(we were not allowed to take arms across the
river) American, or rather Texan. Of course,
Platner did not stop when they ordered him to
because he did not understand a word they said;
but suppose he did understand them and re-
fused to stop, where is the necessity of 20 armed
men with 3,000 at their back, shooting one
unarmed man to make him stop? But the woman
failed to identify Platner, but "pienao" (thought)
that the man that was in her house was a smaller
man. Platner was a very large man, one of the
largest in the brigade. I know that Platner was
not the man that went into her house, if any
man did, for the reason that at the very time
she says the man went into her house I met
Platner over 200 yards from there walking
slowly in that direction, and he happened to get
there about the time the police did; besides, the
woman herself settled the matter, for in describ-
ing the man that went into her house she said
he was, "Un muy chiqueto hombre, "these were
her identical words, and they mean: "A very
little man," but the Mexicans shot first and in-
vestigated afterwards. I immediately sent a man
across the river to Col. Green, and he came
over and stayed several hours with Platner, who
suffering terribly and wholly unconscious; thus
we have missed taking our Christmas dinner in
63Texas, and with Texans, but we made out on a
few tamales. Near night I came back on the
American side of the river. The advance of the
7th was just getting in, and the whole brigade
was in a terrible state of excitement, and threats
loud and deep were frequent to go over and
burn the town, but owing to the fact that the
South and, especially Texas, was then in no
condition to raise a rumpus with Mexico, bet-
ter counsel prevailed. Platner died on the 26th.
January 1, 1862, finds the whole brigade
together. And now we will start by regiments
up the Rio Grande, but it will be some time yet
(51 days) before we have any fighting. We've
got a good deal further to march; we've got to
linger around Fort Thorn; we've got to have
the small-pox and measles before we get into
any battle.
But we are at El Paso at last, if we had
been furnished with a pack mule to every six
men, and each company sent forward in that
way as we arrived at San Antonio, we would
have got here by the 1st of October; would have
pushed on and have taken Arizona and New
Mexico, and would be taking our New Year's
dinner with Gen. Price, but as it is we are here
in good health and spirits, and be it said to the
credit of Gen. Sibley, our grub is good. Gen.
Sibley will provide for his men if it can be done.
Here we have been joined by a lot of men,
a company who have left their homes in Ari-
zona and New Mexico. George Madison, Capt.
Phillips, Maj. Hunter and a man by the name
of Kirk are among the number.
Kirk got away with about thirty wagons and
one hundred and fifty mules from the Federals
and ran them into our lines and turned them
over to Col. Baylor, who was commanding our
advance, this is a big haul from the Federals.
In our next chapter we will take up the line
of march across the Texas line, bid farewell to
Texas soil and go to Fort Thorn. In the way of
suffering, while some of us have thought this
winter march over rugged mountains and arid
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 2, May 1999, periodical, May 1999; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151406/m1/15/?q=nesbitt%20memorial%20library%20journal: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.