There's a small Hill Country town called Comfort where the street signs still carry German names, and one quiet stone monument tells a story most Texans never learned in school. 🕊️
Comfort was founded in 1854 by German immigrants known as Freethinkers, or Freidenker, who rejected organized religion and came to Texas in search of personal and political freedom. When the Civil War broke out, many of these Hill Country Germans refused to swear loyalty to the Confederacy. In August 1862, a group of about 68 men, mostly Unionist sympathizers, tried to flee toward Mexico and were ambushed by Confederate troops at the Nueces River. Nearly 40 were killed.
Their remains were eventually gathered and buried in Comfort, marked by the Treue der Union monument, German for true to the Union, which still stands today as the only monument to Union soldiers located in the former Confederacy. The town itself kept its limestone buildings and quiet, deliberate character for over 170 years.
Have you ever heard about the Nueces Massacre, or is this a piece of Texas Civil War history that's new to you?