terrific correcting. But if he knows that he was so wrong, then he should be ashamed, and not proud. He should know that men are responsible to God and their fellows for errors so gigantic. The only attitude for him should be contrition, deep humility, confession, and tearful entreaties for pardon. Of one thing we are sure, if we had committed so enormous a blunder and crime as Mr. Cable now says he committed in 1861, and that, after being so positive we were right, if we had persisted in our error four years, and sealed it with human blood falsely shed, when at last we found out our delusion, we should have hidden our heads and laid our hands on our mouths for the rest of our natural lives, and we should have never again presumed to teach a fellow citizen his civic duties. That is the only attitude for so fatal a blunderer.
A Sketch of Debray's Twenty-Sixth Regiment of Texas Cavalry.
By GENERAL X. B. DEBRAY.
PAPER No. 2 Conchision.
In November, 1863, the Federals effected an unexpected landing at the mouth of the Rio Grande, which was not defended. Thence, marching along the coast, they reached Indianola, which was in no condition for defence. General Magruder, suspecting an intention on the part of the enemy to move along the coast under the protec- tion of their gunboats to the mouth of Brazos, and thence to pene- trate into Galveston Island and attack the city in reverse, resolved to oppose their march at the mouth of the Caney River. All the available troops and levies of militia were concentrated at that point, and formed a small army of about six thousand men, in which De- bray's, Gould's and Terrell's regiments were brigaded under Colonel Debray, the senior officer.
Some weeks were passed in suspense, when the Federals took to their ships, as unexpectedly as they had landed, and disappeared from the coast of Texas. It was soon ascertained that their landing was a feint, intended to attract our attention to the coast, while General Banks, at New Orleans, was preparing to proceed to Alex- andria, on Red River, with 40,000 men and a large fleet of gunboats and transports; thence, moving up the western bank of that river, which was to become his base of supplies, to reach Shreveport, where he was to meet General Steele, coming from Little Rock with 10,000
