Nicholas Descomps Labadie (1802-1867), a physician and an army surgeon during the Texas Revolution, published his reminiscences in the Texas Almanac in 1859. These reminiscences included an account of war crimes committed by Nacogdoches judge and mayor, John Forbes. Labadie claimed that during the Texas Revolution Forbes murdered several Mexican women, took prisoners without justification, and stole a gold snuffbox from a dead Mexican officer after the battle of San Jacinto. Forbes filed a civil suit in the Nacogdoches court against Labadie for libel. The suit remained active until Forbes won in 1867 and had his reputation restored.
R. B. Blake transcribed ninety-seven volumes of official records and personal papers found in the records of the Office of the County Clerk of Nacogdoches, in the Nacogdoches Archives, located in the Texas State Archives. The John Forbes vs. Nicholas Labadie Transcript, 1858-1866, is one of these transcripts and concerns John Forbes’ libel suit against Nicholas Labadie relating to statements Labadie made about Forbes in his reminiscences. The transcript is composed of two volumes of pleadings and witness depositions from 1858 to 1866.
This collection is open for research use.
John Forbes vs. Nicholas Labadie Transcript, 1858-1867, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
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Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.