Michael,

Yes, that sounds like the good Lt C.D. McRae. Evidently , he forgot to mention that , apparently under orders from a Lt. Luck , "the defenseless prisoners were shot in cold blood" . This quote is from CSA BG Marcus Wright's " Texas in the War", edit'd by Col Harold Simpson. The quote is not referenced by Wright or Simpson ,so, who knows ? I think for those interested , a review of the magazine article I referred to in my earlier email to Ms. Chandler might shed some new light or references on this topic . I'm not going to get into this one !! I actually have friends in the Burton and Brenham , Texas area who are related to some of those good German folks who were involved in the "event" on the Nueces. It is still a sore subject in certain areas of Texas that were settled by the Germans. On the other hand, CSA BG Sibley's New Mexico Brigade contained many German immigrants that were recruited from basically the same part of Texas.Of course there was also Col Buchel's 1st Texas Cavalry , heavily made up of German /Texans. Go figure. My limited experience with war is that alot of what happens to the " average man ( or woman), now) on the ground" in a fight is hard to comprehend ( if not impossible ) and they only know what's going on right in front of them or what their officers or NCO's are telling them to do or what's happening to the left or the right of them.

After all these many years , more than ever, I believe in the old axiom that war brings out the best in some people and the worst in some people( sometimes it's the same people at different times).
Thanks for the report.
Regards, Craig