Ms. Chandler,

I did a little more checking and what I find is this , the USNational Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Data base shows that Pvt L.C.Mayes was a member of the 33rd Texas Cav( which had been Duff's 14th Texas Cav Battalion , which had been Duff's Partisan Rangers ) . The information shows that Mayes was in Company C , as was "your" man. There were a couple of other Mayes men in the regiment. I know there are some inconsistencies such L.C.Mayes instead of your L.M. Mays ; however, there are also several key consistencies. I have since learned that Duff's Partisan Rangers , did in fact, become Duff's 14th Texas Cavalry Battalion.
There is some controversy concerning Duff's role in a fight on the Nueces River in south Texas with some Pro Unionist German - American settlers from the Fredericksburg, Texas area. The long and the short of it is that many ( if not most) of the Germans were killed and very few escaped .The allegation has always been that the CSA troops shot and killed the wounded Pro-Unionists and other prisoners after they had surrendered . I have since read a "fairly recent" article ( within last 2-3 years !) in either the Civil War Times or America's Civil War that seemed to shed some more light on the battle or massacre , depending on who is telling the story. Certainly ,the German American Pro Unionists , who were trying to make their way to Mexico to get away from the forthcoming fracas ( Civil War) , got the short end of the stick in the altercation. As with most engagements of this type , post-event story tellers from both sides put their own spin on the situation. Having some limited personal knowledge ( US Military 1966-1992) of how green, undisciplined troops can react in this type of situation , my take on it is this ; the German Americans were not nearly as poorly armed as has been previously thougth. In fact , some of their weapons ( excellent Jaeger Rifles brought from Germany ) would have been superior to what most of the Confederate "troops " would have been carrying , that is mostly shotguns and smoothbore muskets. There seems to be little doubt that the Pro Unionist put up a pretty good fight , eventhough that got "jumped" by the Confederates. After all, it is entirely possible that some of these German American men had fled Germany following the collapse of the German revolution just before our Civil War. Union General Franz Siegel (sp?) was one such refugee. So, some of these men may have been soldiers at one time or another before they came to America.

However, there does seem to be enough evidence that after the battle/massacre a group of Confederate troopers , caught up in a kind of "ugly lynch mob behavior" took out their anger , frustration , adrenaline or what ever and decided to "dispatch" ( kill) the prisoners. There are conflicting reports about whether Duff or other Confederate officers were present at the final killing of the defenseless prisoners . We'll never know. At this point in the war, things were a little crazy ( as if they are ever sane in war) , you saw all kinds of strange behaviour, both ultra chivalrous ( especially back east)and incredibly murderous ( especially in the border states) . During this turbulent time in America, european immigrants were not always held in high esteem and were not always welcomed in some places; north or south. In Texas , Germans brought a strange language, different religious practices , often very different political views and cultural practices than those of their neighbors . They also had different ways of working the land ( usually with better results)than the Texians . In my reading ,it appears that many early anglo saxon , protestant, Texians ( of which I am descended from) were not very tolerant of any "immigrants", even if that meant the hispanic peoples who originally settled and owned the land . Before I get all my Texan brethern "on my case" , let me quickly add that this type of treatment of "foreigners" was fairly universal across America, it wasn't just a Texas or a Southern thing.Check the history books and see how the Irish were treated back east . During the War , they were often "cannon fodder" for the Union Army .The Germans did not fair any better in the east than they did in Texas. The ridicule the Union XI Corps ( heavily made up of european immigrants) received for the Union Army's debacle at Chancellorsville , was not fully deserved. They just made a good target to cover up for the utter incompetence of Union high command Generals Hooker and Howard and their respective staffs who scoffed at the frequent reports of their pickets that Confederate troops moving on their right flank .Thanks to their indifference to these reports , Stonewall Jackson gave the Union Army one of the most ( if not the most) sound thrashings they ever received from the Army of Northern Virginia. Wow, sorry for the book . In summary , I think we may have found your man ( if he was a Texan).
Warmest Regards, Craig Morin