Battle on the Nueces, 1862 - By: Mary Arnold

This article examines the events that led to the confrontation
between German unionists and Confederate soldiers on the banks
of the Nueces River. Stanley McGowen presents evidence that the
German settlers were heavily armed and, therefore, not massacred
as some later generations have claimed. However, the German
unionists who were captured in the battle were killed later
under suspicious circumstances, and they could be said to have
been massacred.

German settlers did not initially participate in unionism
after Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency. They
organized the Union Loyal League in 1861, and earned the title
of traitors and insurrectionists from secessionists. Although
many people assert that the Union's purpose was to maintain
neutrality in the war and prevent animosity between Union and
Confederate sympathizers, McGowen contends that soon after Texas
seceded the Union Loyal League organized militias in eighteen
German communities to actively oppose the Confederacy. Members
of the militia swore oaths never to betray the United States of
America and were well armed with rifles and ammunition. McGowen
presents the testimony of a Union Loyal League member as to the
Union's purpose, which was to join the Federal troops as soon as
they invaded Texas. Some of the actions taken by the German
unionists were to write letters of an insurrectionist nature to
Northern newspapers, establish an underground communication
system between themselves and the United States, and to
intimidate anyone who supported the Confederacy.

Soldiers were sent to Fredericksburg to control the situation,
and martial law was declared in Gillespie County. After learning
of plots to attack the Confederate troops, Captain James Duff
arrested several local citizens and executed two German
immigrants that he considered to be troublemakers. These
incidents caused many German unionists to decide to flee to
Mexico.

Informants told Duff of this exodus, and he sent ninety-six
soldiers in pursuit of them. They located the German unionists
on August 9 at the Nueces River. The soldiers planned to attack
at 1 a.m. while the Germans were asleep. The soldiers split into
two forces to attack from two directions. However, two Germans
ran into one of the Texas forces, and the battle was begun
prematurely. The Germans took what cover they could and fought
back, killing and wounding twenty-one men, but were overrun by
superior forces. About twenty-three men escaped early in the
battle, and six others escaped after the Confederates overran
the camp. What happened after the Confederates took the camp can
be considered a massacre; nine or eleven of the wounded Germans
were dragged into the woods and shot in the head.

The Battle of the Nueces resulted in a bushwhacker war between
Unionists and Confederate sympathizers. Ambushes from both sides
were so common that many features of the surrounding terrain
were named Bushwhacker. Many homes and farms were set on fire,
and sometimes the occupants were shot. These incidents created
animosity between the two factions and it continues today among
the descendants of German unionists and Confederate
sympathizers.

This article examines the events that led to the confrontation
between German unionists and Confederate soldiers on the banks
of the Nueces River. Stanley McGowen presents evidence that the
German settlers were heavily armed and, therefore, not massacred
as some later generations have claimed.

Mary Arnold graduated from University of Houston-Clear Lake with
a B.A. in literature and history. She is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.