Chapter Selection: 1 2 3

3.

McNelly an his men remained on the Mexican side of the river and around midday General Juan Flores Salinas, the ranch owner and an officer in the Rurales along with some of his followers rode towards the Rangers in an attack. McNelly ordered a counter attack with the result that the General Salinas was killed and the others were routed. McNelly and his men returned to the shelter of the river bank and placed guards on each flank, and leaving Lieutenant Robinson in charge returned to the north side of the river to try and get some assistance from the US Army and Capt. Randlett. McNelly reported that there were some 250 troops lined up against his men, so Capt Randlett sent some 40 men over to assist the Rangers , fearing that they would otherwise be wiped out by a superior force.. Once back on Mexican territory McNelly moved his men to a safer position opposite an open stretch of some 150 yards, (According to Callicott), over which they could see any approaching attack. Callicott relates how he was on guard duty when he saw five men approaching with a white flag. McNelly didn't want them to approach too close for fear they may realise how few Rangers there were. Two of the Men were named by Callicott as being The governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, ( Senor Alberretti), and "A white man from Arkansas"(the man was called Dr. Alexander Manford Headley) They had come for the body of Salinas, and addressed the Rangers as the forces invading Mexico. McNelly allowed them to collect the body of the Ranch owner, but refused to return to Texas until the Mexicans had returned the cattle they had stolen.

Most of the details of what happened next are contained in the letters of Ranger Callicott to Walter Prescott Webb. Although Jennings and Durham in their books also describe some of it.

The troops returned to the US side of the river after receiving orders to do so. Washington had been informed of the incident and had ordered the troops to not to take any further part in the proceedings. The news of McNelly`s fight had spread to Rio Grande City, and some of the citizens had come to watch the proceedings. They also brought food for the Rangers which was sent across to them. The Mexicans sent Dr. Headley to meet and parlay with the Rangers a further two times, but each time McNelly refused to move until the cattle were returned. The last time that Dr. Headley talked to the Rangers he said that there were now between 1400 and 1500 armed men and boys gathered nearby ready to defend Mexico against the Rangers, and he could not guarantee to be able to restrain them from attacking much longer.
Callicott maintains that the peace party approached three times while Jennings and Robinson maintain they only spoke once. Jennings also mentions that when Sgt Armstrong told Capt.McNelly that Lt Robinson had passed a message to him saying that the Mexicans were closing in and ready to open fire on the Rangers,( and this while the truce party was still talking to them,) McNelly ordered his Rangers to open fire on the truce party if anyone on the other side let off a single shot. Durham also mentions this incident, but as his story was written after Jennings wrote his it may well be that the story was copied.

Whether this threat was made or not the outcome of the parlay was that Dr. Headley made the promise that he would Guarantee the return of the cattle if McNelly and his men returned to the Texas side of the river. On the understanding that the cattle would be returned at 10:00 a.m. the following morning at The crossing at Rio Grande City, 15 miles away McNelly and his men returned to Texas. (In the San Antonio Daily Express of 22 August 1909 there is a version of this confrontation by Dr. Headley).

McNelly and 10 of his Rangers went on the 21st to Rio Grande City to oversee the return of the cattle at the agreed time, but they had to wait until long into the day before the cattle appeared. The Mexicans then said that the cattle would have to be inspected before they would be allowed to cross over into Texas. This was interpreted by McNelly as a delaying manoeuvre, so with his men he crossed over into Mexico to talk with the Mexicans pointing out that Dr. Headley had promised to deliver the cattle to them, and told Sullivan, the interpreter, to impress upon the Mexicans that the cattle had crossed into Mexico without an inspection , so it was incumbent upon them to cross the cattle into Texas without an inspection . When this met with the same excuse of needing an inspection first, McNelly lost his temper and supposedly ordered his men to load their guns and fall into ranks, and if the cattle were not crossed immediately then they were to shoot the Mexicans. Needless to say that the cattle were crossed into Texas in minutes! McNelly then sent a telelgram to Adjutant Steele:- "Mexicans delivered sixty-five beeves last evening. Promise more soon as captured and the delivery of the thieves. Have just received this assurance from the president of Jurisdiction of Camargo in accordance with cartel of twentieth."

Durham tells the story a bit differently. He names the 10 men who crossed over with McNelly into Mexico as; Lt. Robinson, Sgt. Hall, Sgt. Armstrong, Cpl. Rudd, and Rangers Pitts, Callicott, Maben, McGovern, Durham, and Wofford. He claims that McNelly clubbed the head of the Mexicans to the ground when he tried to delay the crossing, and took him hostage to ensure that the cattle were crossed in the shortest time. Durham also maintains that they got more than 400 cattle returned, with just about every brand that was registered between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. Captain Kings Flying W brand was on thirty-five of these cattle, So Cpl. Rudd, Durham, Pitts, and Callicott returned these thirty-five to the Santa Gertrudis ranch. Capt King was surprised to get his cattle returned and ordered his ranch hands to saw off the left horns of those cattle that had been to Mexico and back and they were to be turned out to pasture and left as a reminder to other rustlers that they were no longer immune from reprisals from the Texas Rangers.

Did McNelly risk his life and those of his Rangers for a few Cattle, or was he trying to show the thieves that they were no longer immune from justice even in their own country? Did he bluff Headley and the Mexican troops or did Headley save the lives of the Rangers by holding back the troops and promising to return the cattle?
The Army was ordered not to cross into Mexico and those orders came from Washington, as the two countries were at peace and Washington had no wish to open old sores, but this didn't seem to trouble McNelly because when he was made aware of Washingtons views and the order to the Army not to support him in any way, he is reported to have cabled the Army that they, and the Secretary of War could "Go to Hell!"

Footnotes.
The rifles used by the Rangers in this battle were Sharps carbines, and were standard issue in 1874, whereas the Winchester 1873 was not in standard use until 1877, although there may well have been individual Rangers that would have bought one from their own pay. The Rangers Sharps were their saving grace as they could outrange anything the Mexicans had, and so keep them at a safe distance.

Durham married Mrs Kings Niece Caroline and stayed and worked on the King Ranch after retiring from the Rangers. Lt. Robinson returned to Virginia in March 1876 to settle a score with the brother of a one-time girl friend of his. (The reason he relocated to Texas in the first place) In a shoot-out with this man, Jesse Mitchell both men were shot. Robinson died from his wounds on April 3rd, while Mitchell survived. The girl that Robinson had loved was the sister of Mitchell, Pidgie E. Mitchell.

Jennings was born in Philadelphia January 11th 1856. Joined the Rangers in May 1876 and served until February 1877, and admits in a letter to Mrs McNelly from New York in July 1899 that he made himself a member of the Rangers in his biography, a year before he actually enrolled. His reason for this was that a story told in first person was more interesting. Callicotts version of the Las Cuevas fight was written to Walter Prescott Webb, and a full account of his writings can be seen on the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Web site@ www.texasranger.org in the Dispatch section. It has been well collated by Chuck Parsons. The original papers are in the Centre for American History in Austin Texas.

Dr. Headley. Was born Alexander Manford Headley in England in 1836, served in the British Navy and then travelled to Louisiana. Attended the medical school of Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated as a doctor in 1859. He then moved to Arkansas, joined the Confederate Army at twenty-five and served during the civil war as a surgeon At the end of the war he joined Brigadier General J.O.Shelby and his group of "undefeated rebels" and moved to Mexico. He practiced medicine on both sides of the border while being the Military Commandant of Camargo. He died in 1912.

Sources
The scources for this story are from :-
A Texas Ranger. By N.A.Jennings Published by Graphic Ideas Inc. Austin Texas
Taming the Nueces Strip. By George Durham (as told by Clyde Wantland) University of Texas Press. Austin Texas.
Pidge, A Texas Ranger from Virginia by Chuck Parsons Privately Published.
Texas State Archives. Adjutant Generals Papers.

Chapter Selection: 1 2 3