The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker. Page: 55
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A SOLDIER S QUARTERS. 55
nish men to bear an express to Matamoras, and accordingly five
men, under Sergt. Gibson, were detailed for this duty. This
reduced our party to about twenty-five men. The rainy season
in Mexico had now set in; our camp, which was near the river
bank, was soon ankle deep in mud; the heavy rain continued to
fall incessantly; we were unable to cook our food, or to sleep with
any degree of comfort, for our clothes and blankets were thoroughly
saturated with water night and day. Lieut. McMullen
represented the unpleasantness of our situation to Col. Wilson,
and entreated him to allow us to occupy some of the untenanted
sheds in the outskirts of the town. " My orders are positive, sir,"
replied the colonel, "and I cannot suffer any Mexican domiciles
to be encroached upon. The quarters.of a soldier, sir, in time of
war, is the field." And having delivered himself of this pertinent
speech, the colonel walked into his quarters, a comfortable stone
house-the best one in the place.
We remained in our miserable. quarters, which were now partially
overflowed, for another day and night, and which we christened
"Camp Nasty," when the men became mutinous, and
swore they would remain there no longer to please Col. Wilson,
or anybody else. Lieut. McMullen went up again to the colonel
to inform him that there was a large and comfortable cotton-gin
shed on the opposite side of the town, which belonged to a colonel
in the Mexican army, which was at that time unoccupied, and
capable of giving ample shelter to ourselves and horses. Col.
Wilson replied that , he could not think of allowing us to take
possession of any thing that belonged to the Mexicans, unless they
consented to it, as it was directly contrary to the policy of the
government." McMullen then desired that he would suffer him
to remove the company ten or fifteen miles into the country, to
find a higher and drier camping place. This he said was too
hazardous, as we might be cut off; besides, he wanted our services
in case the town should be attacked. After, however, a
formal demand, in writing, for quarters, the cotton-gin shed was
reluctantly granted to us. We marched into it in triumph, and a
few days afterwards we had the pleasure of swimming our horse
over the very spot where we were formerly encamped.
A three weeks' rain continued to deluge the earth; the Rio
Grande overflowed its banks, and the country around Reynoso
was one vast sheet of water. But we cared very little for the
rain, as we were now posted in the most comfortable quarters that
had been enjoyed by any Texian troops since the commencement
of the campaign. The gin-shed was large, dry, and commodious,
and amply sufficient to shelter us from sun and rain; and during
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Reid, Samuel C., Jr. The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker., book, 1859; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38096/m1/59/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.