Nueces massacre The Nueces Massacre was a violent confrontation between Confederate soldiers and German Texan s on August 10 , 1862 in Kinney County , Texas . Many first - generation immigrants from Germany settled in Central Texas in a region known as the Hill Country . They tended to support the Union and were opposed to the institution of slavery . Because of these sentiments , the Confederate States of America imposed martial law on Central Texas . A group of Germans , fleeing from the Hill Country to Mexico and onward after that to Union - controlled New Orleans , was confronted by a company of Confederate soldiers on the banks of the Nueces River . This ensuing German defeat represented an end to overt German resistance to Confederate governance in Texas , but it also fueled outrage among the German - Texan population . Disputes over the confrontation and the efficacy of Confederate actions after the battle , according to historian Stanley McGowen , continue to plague the Hill Country into the 21st century . Background . Germans immigrated to Texas as early as 1836 . By 1860 , the German population in Texas , predominantly first - generation immigrants , reached an approximate level of 20 , 000 across the entire state . They settled heavily in an area known as the Hill Country . The exact dimensions of Hill Country are not concrete , but historian Robert Shook describes it as mostly existing in a “ geographic triangle ” between San Antonio , Seguin , and New Braunfels in South - Central Texas . Germans settled so heavily in this area , that the counties of Gillespie , Kerr , Kendall , Medina , and Bexar comprised a “ German Belt ” . During the antebellum period , Germans displayed a complex set of opinions on slavery and secession . There were several Germans who owned slaves , and some eventually supported Texas secession from the United States . Most Germans , however were apathetic to slavery . A vocal minority of Germans was actively antagonistic to the institution of slavery . These antagonistic Germans included liberal and republican - minded Germans known as " Achtundvierziger " or Forty - Eighters . Many Forty - Eighters supported federal authority and opposed slavery . Most Anglo Texans found this to be an affront to a legal institution . German opposition to slavery led to an animosity between the two groups throughout the 1850s . These disputes were magnified by Texas secession from the United States in March 1861 and the start of the American Civil War on April 12 , 1861 . Upon the commencement of the war , Germans projected an outward appearance of passivity toward the conflict . Confederate officials , however , saw the German population as an internal threat . The most adamant supporters of the Union were Tejanos and the German Texans both from Central Texas and the counties of the Texas Hill Country . They had some evidence for that suspicion . During the state - wide vote on secession , German - heavy counties represented some of the few to garner a majority vote against secession . Several reports in the beginning of 1862 even alleged that German communities celebrated Union victories . The state government also feared German - run local militias . The Union Loyal League , organized by several Forty - Eighters , was one such militia . The actual purpose of the league is still a debated issue . Historians Robert Shook and Stanley McGowen acknowledge , as German Texans maintained at the time , that the group ’ s expressed purpose was to defend the Hill Country from Indians and outlaws . Confederates , they confirm , considered the Union Loyal League the enforcement arm of German - Unionist sentiment . Confederate officers even implicated the organization in strategies to free Union soldiers from Camp Verde . With a need for more soldiers , the Confederacy established a draft . The Germans did not want to fight against the Union and objected to being drafted . Buildup to this event began in the spring of 1862 with the initiation of a Confederate conscription for Texans , to which many German Texans voiced their objection . The Confederate Conscription Act of 1862 turned general German objection into open opposition . Because of this opposition , General Hamilton Bee dispatched Captain James Duff to Gillespie County . In late May 1862 , Captain Duff imposed martial law . While in Gillespie County , Captain Duff arrested and executed two Germans . The harsh conduct convinced several Germans to leave Texas . Frederick “ Fritz ” Teneger and his Union Loyal League associates planned a departure . Their goal was to enter Mexico , and then to make their way to Union - controlled New Orleans . Flight and Battle . Between August 1 , and August 3 , 1862 , sixty - one German Texans , led by Fritz Teneger , departed from Turtle Creek headed southwest for the Mexican border . Informed of their intentions , Captain Duff dispatched Lieutenant Colin McRae with approximately 96 men in pursuit on August 3 , 1862 . After six days , Lieutenant McRae and his men spied the German Texans in a small prairie along the Nueces River on August 9 . Lieutenant McRae then formulated an attack plan to commence later in the evening . He divided his force into two companies to surround the camp . At approximately 1 : 00 a . m . on August 10 , 1862 , the Confederates closed into the camp . At first , however , even surprise and planning did not favor the Confederates . Two Germans wandering from the camp encountered the force . The Confederates fired on these two Germans , which alerted the camp to the assault . Thus alerted , the Germans beat back the first Confederate charge . Several Germans , however , were disheartened by the Confederate presence , and fled the field . Numbers vary , but Stanley McGowen estimates that twenty - three to twenty - eight Germans fled throughout the early morning hours . This reduced the German contingent by over a third . A second charge closer to dawn routed the Germans and led to the flight ( at least five Germans fled near the end of the battle , including Teneger ) , serious incapacitation , or death of all German combatants . Casualties and Aftermath . The Confederate losses , out of the 96 - man force , counted two soldiers dead and eighteen wounded , including Lieutenant McRae . Reports on the casualties for the vanquished Germans were sparse and inconclusive . In 1962 , historian Robert Shook tallied the German casualties at thirty killed and twenty wounded . A more recent conclusion in 2003 , made by historian Randolph Campbell , is that 19 Germans died outright in the assaults on the camp . That , however , was not the final tally for German Texans ’ losses . Following the battle , Confederate soldiers killed nine badly - wounded Germans outright ; cavalrymen pursued nine more to the Rio Grande where they likewise killed the fleeing Germans . The total German casualty report then comes to approximately thirty - seven killed and unknown totals for wounded among those who fled and survived . Several Germans did survive the engagement and ensuing manhunt . These combatants either hid out in Texas , fled to Mexico and California , or eventually joined Union forces in New Orleans as member of the Union First Texas Cavalry . More importantly , however , was how the incident affected the German community in Texas for the rest of the war . Though Confederate actions met with some ire and loud objections from other German Texans , the incident marked the general end to overt German Unionism in Texas for the remainder of the war . Legacy . Upon cessation of hostilities in 1865 , Germans emerged as some of the most exuberant celebrants of Union victory . The German - language Treue der Union Monument ( loyalty to the Union ) , in Comfort , Texas , was dedicated on August 10 , 1866 to commemorate those who died at the 1862 Nueces massacre . With the exception of those drowned in the Rio Grande , the remains of the deceased are buried at the site of the monument . It was the only monument to unionism dedicated by locals in former Confederate territory . Battle or Massacre ? The proper title for the incident , the Battle of Nueces or the Nueces Massacre , has been a contested issue since the engagement itself . Recently , historian Stanley McGowen has addressed both sides of the debate . He recognizes that the Germans were , judging by their ability to repulse a superior force , well - armed . Furthermore , they were actively supporting what was at the time an enemy cause . The initial engagement , he affirms , can be called the Battle of the Nueces . But the execution of Germans following the battle , he states , lends credence to the title Nueces Massacre . No name has garnered definitive support , and McGowen admits the debate on Confederate and German actions still goes on among descendants on both sides of the incident .