Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 3, September 1999 Page: 134
[68] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal
moralized by bad company, falling upon his knees
and crying aloud to God for mercy and forgive-
ness. Others attempted to plead with their inhu-
man captors, but their pleadings were in vain;
and upon their faces no gleam of pity was seen
for the defenceless men who stood before them.
On my right hand stood Wilson Simpson, and on
my left Robert Fenner. In the midst of the panic
of terror which had seized our men, and while
some of them were rending the air with their
cries of agonized despair, Fenner called out to
them saying: "Don't take on so, boys! If we have
to die, let's die like brave men!" At that moment,
I glanced over my shoulders and saw the flash
of a musket. I instantly threw myself forward on
the ground, resting on my hands.
Robert Fenner must have been instantly
killed, for he fell with such force upon me as
almost to throw me over as I attempted to rise,
which detained me a few moments in my flight,
so that Simpson, my companion on the right, got
the start of me as we ran towards an opening in
the brush fence, which was almost in front of
us. Simpson got through first, and I was immedi-
ately after him. I wore at the time a small, round
cloak, which fastened with a clasp at the throat.
As I ran through the opening, an officer charged
upon me and ran his sword through my cloak,
which would have held me, but I caught the clasp
with both hands, and tore it apart, and the cloak
fell from me. There was an open prairie about
two miles wide, through which I would have to
run before I could reach the nearest timber, which
was a little southwest of the place from where
we started. I gained on my pursuers, but saw
between me and the timber three others, who
were after Simpson. As I neared the timber, I
commenced walking, in order to recover my
strength, before I came near them. When we
first started we were all near together, but as
Simpson took a direct course across the prairie,
I, in order to avoid his pursuers, took a circuitous
course. There were two points of timber pro-
jecting into the prairie, one of which was nearer
134to me than the other. I was making for the far-
thest point, but as soon as Simpson entered the
timber, his pursuers halted, and then ran across
and cut me off. I then started for the point into
which Simpson had entered, but they turned and
cut me off from that. I then stopped running, and
commenced walking slowly between them and
the other point, slightly diverging towards them.
They, no doubt thinking that I was about to sur-
render myself, stopped, and I continued to walk
until within about sixty or seventy yards of them,
when I suddenly wheeled and ran into the point
for which I had first started. They did not at-
tempt to follow me, but just as I was about to
enter the timber they fired, the bullets whistling
over my head, causing me to draw my head down
as I ran. As soon as I entered the main body of
the timber, I saw Simpson, waiting and beckon-
ing to me. I went towards him, and we ran to-
gether for about two miles, when we reached
the river. We then stopped and consulted together
as to the best mode of concealing ourselves. I
proposed climbing a tree, but he objected, saying
that, should the Mexicans discover us, we would
have no way of making our escape. Before we
arrived at any conclusion, we heard some one
coming through the underwood, which frightened
us so that I jumped into the river, which was
swimming at the time while Simpson ran a short
distance up it, but seeing me, he also jumped in.
The noise proceeded from the bank almost im-
mediately above the spot where Simpson was,
and I could see the place very plainly, and soon
discovered that two of our companions had made
their escape to this place. They were Zachariah
Brooks and Isaac Hamilton. Brooks was
wounded in the hip, and Hamilton in the fleshy
part of both thighs-one a gunshot and the other
a bayonet wound.
We all four swam the river, traveling up
it a short distance until we arrived at a bluff bank,
in front of which was a thick screen of bushes,
where we concealed ourselves. The place was
about five miles above the fort. We did not dare
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 3, September 1999, periodical, September 1999; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151407/m1/6/?q=nesbitt%20memorial%20library%20journal: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.