May 6, 2010 - Depending on your own interpretation, the Battle of the Nueces was either a bona fide battle or a lopsided massacre. As a battle, it wasn't much. A group of German-Americans, fed up with this whole Civil War business, were heading to Mexico when they were attacked by Confederate cavalry. Of the 65 or so Unionists who set out for the Mexico, 34 were either killed at the battle or later captured and killed.
The incident on the Nueces River, about 20 miles from Bracketville, happened on August 10, 1862, and was part of a growing conflict between German-Texans and their neighbors. German immigrants had been settling in Texas since the latter days of Mexico's sovereignty. Many of them came because of a strong belief in individual freedom, and the slavery issue did not strike a lot of these people as the proper expression of a freedom-loving people. At the annual Staats-Saengerfest meeting in 1845, delegates from the German political club adopted resolutions declaring that slavery was evil and Texas should get the federal government to help abolish it. Though German sentiment toward Texas' role in the Civil War was diverse and included many who fought for the Confederacy, declarations such as the one in 184,5 led to suspicion and downright hostility toward German-Americans as the Civil War descended on Texas.
In Comfort, an enclave comprised of mostly German intellectuals and free thinkers, news of the impending Civil War and Texas' role as a Confederate state was met with open opposition. Along with like-minded immigrants from Kendall and Gillespie counties, the men of Comfort formed the Union Loyal League to protect the German settlements not only from Indian raids, but also from Confederate attacks. In the days following Texas' secession from the Union, many an unsuspecting and undeserving German farmer was murdered and his farm burned or otherwise destroyed by Confederate renegades. Some reports have it that as many as 150 people were killed in such a manner. Confederate authorities declared Kerr and its contiguous counties -- Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Edwards and Kimble -- to be in open rebellion and subject to martial law. Texas Rangers were sent to the area to order all males older than 16 to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy.
This became the point where the men around Comfort decided that enough was enough. They disbanded the Union Loyal League and on Aug. 1, 1862, gathered at Turtle Creek in Kerr County to begin a trip to Mexico. They took guns and ammunition but, since they did not see themselves as part of a military expedition, didn't seem to expect any serious military resistance. They were simply fleeing the country to sit out the war in Mexico rather than give into rebel rule.
They made it to the Nueces River on Aug. 9, and set up camp at a spot that no self-respecting military outfit would have chosen. Guard duty was treated as more of a formality than a life-or-death task. Into this apparently relaxed and indefensible camp rode 94 Confederate cavalry on the morning of Aug.10. Nineteen Unionists were killed on the battlefield and nine others later surrendered and were shot. Eight others were killed by Confederate soldiers on Oct. 18 while they tried to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico. Twenty of the men made it to either Mexico or California and 11 made their way back home.
The soldiers who were killed on the banks of the Nueces were not buried. Not until after the war were their bones gathered and taken back to Comfort to be interred. A monument was erected on Aug. 10, 1866 to commemorate the German-Americans and one Hispanic who were killed at the battle and in subsequent actions. The monument was named Treu der Union, or True to the Union.
The flag that graces the monument has 36 stars -- the number of states in the Union when the monument was dedicated -- and is one of only a handful of sites allowed the privilege of permanently flying its flag at half mast. It is also the only Civil War monument in a former Confederate state dedicated to the Union cause.
