Read the little known but true story of this Civil War Texas history in what is called a book of “faction -- fiction based on fact”. Live it through the heart of Emil Schellhase, the Son of Defiance, as he deals with what has become known as the Massacre at the Nueces River. 

SON OF DEFIANCE puts an authentic slice of Texas history before young readers…The True to the Union monument in Comfort honors those Germans whose loyalty to the Union cost them their lives at the Battle of the Nueces on August 10, 1862…  The monument deserves a visit, a touch of the hat, a nod of the head, to honor brave men, who, like San Houston, dared to stand up for their beliefs against a hostile majority… Details from fachwerk cabins to respect for education to war news  reported in the New Braunfels Zeituing convey a real sense of the lives of German settlers in the Hill Country… -- Reese Vaughn, Reviewer at the Victoria Advocate, July 16, 2004

 

Inset: True to the Union Monument

By an act of Congress in 1991, permission was granted to fly a period United States flag at half-staff in perpetuity at the Treue Der Union monument in Comfort, Texas. It is the only monument to the Union outside of National Cemeteries in what was Confederate territory during the Civil War. The monument is located in Comfort one block off State Highway 27 on High Street.

Son of Defiance is a fictional story that is based upon what this monument honors and how the lives of families are changed and affected by man’s constant determination to fight for freedom. This novel is from a fictitious teenager’s point of view. His  name is Emil Schellhase. Foreword for the book is by historian Gregory J. Krauter,  Comfort.

Excerpts from SON OF DEFIANCE:

It was past midnight, but sleep would not come.  Emil flipped from side to side and punched his fist into his pillow. His thoughts kept hammering away… I should just run away…    Papa just saddled his horse and rode off saying, “You are in charge now, Emil”… That’s not right, Papa! You didn’t have to take sides…  A good father should stay home were he belongs…

Karl Vater rode his horse along the banks of Cypress Creek. He was on his way to find the missing Herr Boerner. As he rode… thinking of tonight’s journey…   his heart raced as he remembered the incident with Sam Houston and his speech in Brenham…  From that day on, I knew what I must do: I must join the Union forces!

Sixty- five men from all over the Hill Country met many times in secret to receive messages and exchange information. Tonight’s meeting marked the final phase of their plot to leave Texas … via Mexico…  they would join the Union troops in New Orleans. It was a well-laid plan…

At the post office, Herr Goldbeck’s eyes locked with Emil’s in a long disbelieving stare. “Has no one been out to see you … to tell you the news? There was a spy in their midst, Emil. They were followed…they were ambushed at the western prong of the Nueces River.  Many of the men were killed…

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