The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-09-19
A Iexns War Incident.

Asbevnle. y. c.. sept u, 1924.
ration Times: The recent death OF
General StOneman recal7 To- ny nor eI-
tnrid,nt which occurred shoIuy Illel
tt'D 't'.seiou of Texas In which he bore
49,, in,uortanf part. Colonel John >. OF u,
urrhaps better known 10y MS sopiique. va
hOld Rip" Ford. had been conllnSslOieu
nv Tho State Of Texas 10 organize an
1nedition 10 take charge Of the posts
eIdnp me line Of tho Rio Grande, AS 'hty
were vacated 10y the federaI uOoI7' ~
accordance with the agreement mace 10y
General TNiges who commanded tAe I'c-
rartrnsnt of Texas when tina state Sc
cedcd Several companies OF infantry
and three companies OF cavalry "ei e
rnised for FOrd's expedition huinneIlhb III
all perhaps 1000 men, all poorly armed
the cavalry particularly. The writer De-
longed 90 one OF the cavalry companies
ar tanners as We were called, ana my
arms consisted u a small five shooter, o1
an Indifferent pattern. Many had SIX
shooters and bowie knives. some hIi
rifles and carhires. All, however, had
the pluck and courage for which Texans
are noted Fort Brown, opposite Mata-
mCras. was our destination, ana on ar
riVing there We found II garrisOned by
one company each of infantry ana heavy
artillery under the command Of a Major
Hin. ID the river about two miles
were two companies Of the Second cav
airy. commanded by General dhen Cap
tain StOneman.
Ford ana Stoneman were old friends
and fellow soldiers. having fought togeth-
err against the Indians. and during the
Cortina war. which happened year or
two before secession. The two met and
weut together TO call on Major Hin. 20 ar
range about evacuaung. Hin requested
Ford to wait a few days, until the troops
that had garrisoned the posts up the river
arrived and thrn. I'm a body. they would
march down 20 Point Isabel. and embark
on the steamer which the Government
had there awaiting them. To this Ford
readily consented, and ne and StOneman
left.
Ne were encamped on the old Resaca de
In Palma. where General Taylor fought
the second battle In the Mexican war.
1t was about six miles from BrOWnSVllie
CFort Brown. and during the delay We
troops came I'm from up the river we
heard whispers that Major Hi had de-
cided not to cVacuate the post. ana 10
give us fight. il We tried 80 take II. We
were all spelling for Tight but as
HiH now had over 500 men, not counting
StOneman's cavalry, and they well armed.
beside having a heavy. as well as two
light batteries. the result would have been
disastrous 10 us When these rumors
came 10 FOrd's ears, he sought Stone
man. and requested him TO go with him
to make the demand for evacuation on
Hid. lie went. and sure enough. Hin
declined TO eYacuate the post. Ford. be-
ing hot tempered, denounced Hill In un-
measured terms. and Hlil spoke Of put
ting him in irons. This aroused stone
man. who said.
Major Hill an officer and soldier
should always be n gentleman, ana his
word should be invioahle. In my pres
ence. You promised Colonel Ford that II
he would wait until the troops came
down the river. that you would march
down TO Point Isabel and embark. Now
you refuse 10 do it, am no party to
this My two companies. r and q. are
composed largely OF Southern men. every
one OF whom will desert. and take their
horses and arms with them, at me first
ilring OF gun, and by Cd. sir. / would
not blame them. DO not count on me
or my command II you violate Your
word This brought Hill 10 his senses
and the next day the Federal trooDs
marched out. 'and we took possession.
DRT-NNEP