free dixie,sw
Still having trouble with that "original" spelling, huh?
Rather than post a bunch of links, just Google "Nueces Massacre" and "Great Gainesville Hanging."
Meanwhile, I'm still trying to find a trace anywhere of that "Yachts Against Subs" book you cited. The World Catalog, which searches thousands of library catalogs, doesn't have it. Except there is that magazine article...
Governor Murrah was representative of this changed sentiment and he was in constant controversy with the Confederate government and the military authorities in an effort to preserve some of the powers of the state and the rights of the people. His messages to the legislature are filled with complaints of usurpation of the state’s powers and violation of the people’s rights. The truth was that the situation was becoming so desperate for the South that extreme measures were frequently adopted, such as the last conscript law of the Confederate government, which did not show a too scrupulous regard for either the powers of the state or the rights of the people. Everything was being subordinated to the main task of "winning the war." Indeed, it soon became the task of postponing defeat. http://www.kwanah.com/txmilmus/wortham/4345.htm
Before I close out this area, I am compelled to mention the so called "Battle of The Nueces In Kinney County, Texas" which occurred on August 10, 1862. The Handbook of Texas describes this event as follows:
"In this battle sixty-five German Unionists, attempting to reach Mexico and then New Orleans to join the Union Army, were attached by a Confederate force of ninety-six men. Nineteen were killed in the battle, and thirty-seven escaped. The rest were captured and then executed by the Confederate force (Handbook of Texas Online)."
A different view of this event can be found in the book Civil War in Texas and New Mexico Territory by Steve Cotrell:
"When the Confederacy initiated the conscription in the spring of 1862, many citizens objected so strongly that the situation nearly developed into a serious rebellion in Texas. Among the most adamant Union supporters opposed to the draft in the State were German immigrants located primarily in the six counties along the west coast. Confederate authorities declared the counties in a state of rebellion and sent a dispatchment of cavalry to apprehend the ringleaders. In August a party of sixty-one German Americans planning to flee to Mexico was overtaken by the Texas cavalrymen on the Nueces River. The troopers opened fire on the refugees and massacred thirty-four German men in cold blood, taking no prisoners (Cottrell 74)."
Support for a reality closer to that as described by Cotrell (and further from the view presented by the Handbook of Texas) can be found in the book Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans by T. R. Fehrenbach:
"In the summer of 1862, one group of Germans, who were actually neutralist in sentiment fled this region for Mexico. They armed themselves, under the command of Major Tegener, but their purpose was to flee the state rather than fight the Confederacy. Tegener rode south with some 65 men and boys. When Duff learned he had gone, he dispatched a force under Lieutenant McRae in pursuit.
The refugees camped on the Nueces River, about two hundred miles from where they started. They did not expect close pursuit. On the night of August 9, under a full moon, Tegener and the group held a lively discussion about the meaning of 'fatherland,' 'citizenship,' 'Civil War,' and Mexico. According to the statements of John William Samson, who was there, most of the German farmers were deeply confused as to what the war was all about.
McRae rode down upon the camp while the Germans lay sleeping. He surrounded it and opened fire indiscriminately. The result was a massacre. Nineteen Germans were killed by gunfire, and six more trampled to death by McRae's cavalry. Nine surrendered. McRae ordered them shot, and they were executed on the spot. In his report to Duff, the lieutenant stated he met 'determined resistance', hence I have no prisoners to report (Fehrenbach 363 - 364)."
http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/texasczech/Studies/Settlement%20PatternThree.htm
No need to respond, the facts speak for themselves.
No doubt you will respond with some meaningless rant about Lincoln being a tyrant.