Massacre on the Nueces River; story of a Civil War tragedy. Page: 20 of 39
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THE MASSACRE ON THE NUECES RIVER
17
and a heavy thud told that one at any rate was killed. One of
our party ran out and brought in the dead man's arms, a Colt's
six-shooter and a Yeager rifle.
From where we lay to the cedar-brake round the mott, or
clump of timber, was about fifty yards of open ground, and we
were now ordered to double across this independently, and then
find what cover we could. In the darkness, made more in-
tense by the shadows of the great trees, all got across safely and,
taking cover at varying distances from the camp, opened fire
on its defenders. Some of the men blazed away in great excite-
ment, and didn't do much execution, but suffered some loss
through foolishly exposing themselves; one of our party getting
a bullet through his arm and one through each thigh.
The defenders still showed a bold front, and dared us to
come on. They even threatened to charge out on McRae's
party, some of whom were inclined to bolt, but were promptly
rallied by Harbour.
On our side the 'bullets were whistling pretty thickly over
the heads of six or seven of us who were fighting together, and
from our position it was difficult to return the fire with much
effect. Very cautiously then, now crawling, now dodging be-
hind trees, I worked my way up to the edge of the mott in
which the camp stood, followed by my comrades. There for
a brief space we kept up a galling fire on the defenders, but
when four of our party had dropped, one with a bullet through
his head, and others severely wounded, we, the three survivors,
had to retire the way we came.
The defenders by this time had lost very heavily, and began
to make off in small parties through the thick brush. From
our side a few of us pursued one of these, but soon lost them
and when we got back the camp had been taken, with a loss on
our side of twelve killed and eight wounded.
The defenders 'suffered very severely in comparison with
ourselves, fighting as they did in close formation in the center
of their camp, while we were more or less behind cover. In
the narrow space inside the mott lay sixty dead and twenty
wounded. One poor creature, with yet a little life in him, but
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Williams, R. H. & Sansom, John W. Massacre on the Nueces River; story of a Civil War tragedy., book, Date Unknown; Grand Prairie, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2409/m1/20/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .