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Post by stuart on Jun 28, 2007 1:06:45 GMT -5
There is only one (known) Texian witness to James Grant's death at Agua Dulce on March 2; Reuben Brown
I'm aware for certain of three different (and differing) accounts which he left;
1. the earliest and probably most reliable was the one he told to our friend Reuben Potter while he was held at Matamoros and afterwards incorporated in Potter's article; "Prisoners of Matamoros". TRL forwarded me the relevant extract but I don't have the full article as it appeared in the Magazine of American History in May 1878, so if anyone knows of an on-line source I'd be grateful.
2. He himself wrote a very detailed and useful account for Lamar (no.1645)
3. There was then a very highly coloured article by himself in the Texas Almanac for 1858, which has subsequently been variously repeated and is available on-line on the DeWitt Colony site.
None of the three accounts make any reference to an exchange between Grant and Brown just before they entered the fight in which one of them said they might as well "Go in and die with the boys". This comes from the entry on Brown in Handbook of Texas but isn't referenced. I'm assuming however that there must be a fourth version of his story, perhaps contained in the statement of service he will have submitted for his bounty and donation grants after the war.
Has anyone any access to this?
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 28, 2007 9:33:21 GMT -5
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Post by stuart on Jun 28, 2007 11:13:32 GMT -5
Thanks, but horridly frustrating, it doesn't actually let me read it - just selected scraps containing search results - doubly frustrating because there does look like some useful information in there including what looks like confirmation he had some 56 men with him at Agua Dulce (this from a survivor remember) rather than the 20-odd Americans usually quoted.
Its also interesting that they are referred to as rangers!
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 28, 2007 11:53:39 GMT -5
Stuart: I'm able to access the entire document and download the complete magazine as a PDF file from that link. Maybe portions of it are blocked in the UK?
Jim
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 28, 2007 12:54:16 GMT -5
Stuart: Check you regular email. I printed out the article, then scanned it and converted it to PDF, so was able to email you a copy. The online article is missing three pages, though. Anyone else unable to access the page, drop me a line and I'll send you the PDF. Jim
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Post by stuart on Jun 28, 2007 13:21:12 GMT -5
Many thanks Jim, it got through the firewall safely and I'll try to find the time to prepare and post a transcript of the interesting bits. It has in fact exceeded my expectations. Although its publication date is late it was largely based on Potter's interviews with Brown and other survivors of the fight at Agua Dulce and contains some interesting detail not found in later accounts - apparently Grant's men were singing as they rode along just before the ambush!
Less poignantly but rather more significantly the account confirms that Grant had 56 men with him that morning - just as Urrea claimed - rather than the 22 so often quoted, which means that there was indeed a large Tejano/Mexican contingent as I postulated in my book.
Its also interesting that Johnson's force at San Patricio is given as being some 40 strong which again points to a larger Tejano/Mexican contingent than has previously been recognised by Texan historians.
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Post by TRK on Jun 28, 2007 20:15:32 GMT -5
I'm assuming however that there must be a fourth version of his story, perhaps contained in the statement of service he will have submitted for his bounty and donation grants after the war. Has anyone any access to this? I looked through the Republic of Texas Claims filed by Reuben R. Brown, with references to James Grant and Francis W. Johnson (http://www2.tsl.state.tx.us/trail/RepublicSearch.jsp) and found one document that gave Brown's own account of his service in the revolution, but it is pretty general, with no reference to the "die with the boys" quotation: tslarc.tsl.state.tx.us/repclaims/205/20500236.pdftslarc.tsl.state.tx.us/repclaims/205/20500237.pdfThere is also a statement in which several persons testified that Brown suffered wounds to the head and arm during the revolution: tslarc.tsl.state.tx.us/repclaims/205/20500230.pdftslarc.tsl.state.tx.us/repclaims/205/20500231.pdfThe documents in the Brown file are mostly affidavits, powers of attorney, etc., testifying to Brown's service record.
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Post by stuart on Jun 29, 2007 1:18:23 GMT -5
Thanks Tom; these are still useful and I've written to Tom Cutrer per his Handbook of Texas article
Its interesting by the way that one of those confirming Brown's 1874 claim was none other than that Samuel McKneely whom TRL "identified" as one of his Alamo reinforcements - claiming to have evidence he had died there
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