True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young. Page: 142
244 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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,142
TRUE STORIES OF OLD
all about him, but he seemed to have a charmed life, for none
of them struck him.
"'Why don't you charge?' he called out. 'Get up and go at
them.'
"The question and command were so absurd that nobody
thought of paying any attention to him. Then the climax came.
"'If your officers are a lot of cowards I will lead you,' he
said and spurring his horse he leaped the low wall. The regiment
rose to a man and made a dash forward. The next moment
the ground was strewn with dead and wounded, I being
among the latter with my thigh shattered. Human blood and
bone could not stand against that wall of lead and the regiment
broke, and what few were able to do so got back to the shelter
of the fence. The boy was unhurt and rode up and down the
line trying to get the men to make another charge. I shall
never forget the conflicting emotions that wrenched my soul and
body at that time. One moment I prayed that the young fool
would get his head shot off and the next moment I was so afraid
that he would get hurt that my heart almost stood still. There
must have been thousands of bullets fired at him, yet not one
touched him or his horse. Seeing that his efforts to move the
men were hopeless the young fellow waved his hatp put spurs
to his horse and rode away. I was left on the field and afterwards
fell in the hands of the enemy, and when I came out of
prison I could never learn who the boy was or anything about
him."
That was the story Judge Duncan told me, and since the only
hero mentioned was an unknown and foolish boy, your readers
may be wondering where Judge Duncan's heroism comes in.
That was the part of the story told me by Judge George Goldthwaite,
who' was the judge's confidential friend and attorney, after
the death of Judge Duncan.
Judge Duncan was practicing law here in Houston and was
apparently starving to death when his friends interested themselves
and got him elected city recorder. The salary was not
a princely one, but ft was about $1800 a year, and the judge's
friends expected him to live a little more comfortably than he
had been doing. It was at this time that he earned the name
of miser. He had a little office and an old lounge. He made this
lounge his bed and took his meals at some cheap.restaurant
near the market. He made no explanations to any one and all
the people knew was that he was too close-fisted to spend a cent.
Finally he died and after his death Judke Goldthwaite told me
this part of his story:
After he was shot down, as I have described, the Confederate
army fell back, and the judge, having had his leg amputated,
was left in a house near the roadside, with a lady whose husband
was away in the Confederate army. This lady nursed and
cared for him, although the commanding general in Missouri had
issued a proclamation announcing that anyone who harbored a
"rebel" would be put to. death.
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Young, Samuel Oliver. True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young., book, 1913; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24646/m1/142/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.