Cover of The Freebooters: A Story of the Texan War

The Freebooters: A Story of the Texan War

  • Free to read
  • 7 hours to read
  • 26 chapters
  • Reading level: 8th & 9th grade

"The Freebooters: A Story of the Texan War" by Gustave Aimard is a historical novel likely written in the mid-19th century. The narrative captures the tumultuous era of the Texan War, highlighting themes of bravery, conflict, and survival amidst the backdrop of a struggle for independence. The opening introduces a range of characters, including Fray Antonio, who finds himself at the mercy of the Apaches after narrowly escaping a dangerous encounter, bringing to life the complexities of the human experience during war. The beginning of "The Freebooters" sets the stage for Fray Antonio’s journey and the challenges he faces in the wild, portrayed as a plump, somewhat cowardly monk who must grapple with his fate after fleeing an attack by Redskins. His initial fears transform into survival instincts as he rallies himself to seek shelter from the lurking dangers of the night. Soon after, he encounters a group of Apaches who, rather than treating him as an enemy, surprisingly offer him hospitality. This initial encounter with the Apaches hints at underlying themes of courage and cultural misunderstandings, setting a tone for further narratives of tension and camaraderie that will unfold as the story progresses.

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  • Texas · History · Revolution, 1835-1836
  • Western stories

Read the opening

Chapter I

FRAY ANTONIO.

All the wood rangers have noticed, with reference to the immense virgin forests which still cover a considerable extent of the soil of the New World, that, to the man who attempts to penetrate into one of these mysterious retreats which the hand of man has not yet deformed, and which preserve intact the sublime stamp which Deity has imprinted on them, the first steps offer almost insurmountable difficulties, which are gradually smoothed down more and more, and after a little while almost entirely disappear. It is as if Nature had desired to defend by a belt of thorns and spikes the mysterious shades of these aged forests, in which her most secret arcana are carried out.

Many times, during our wanderings in America, we were in a position to appreciate the correctness of the remark we have just made: this singular arrangement of the forests, surrounded, as it were, by a rampart of parasitic plants entangled one in the other, and thrusting in every direction their shoots full of incredible sap, seemed a problem which offered a certain degree of interest from various points of view, and especially from that of science.

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Contents

Show all 26 chapters
  1. Preface
  2. Chapter I
  3. Chapter II
  4. Chapter III
  5. Chapter IV
  6. Chapter V
  7. Chapter VI
  8. Chapter VII
  9. Chapter VIII
  10. Chapter IX
  11. Chapter X
  12. Chapter XI
  13. Chapter XII
  14. Chapter XIII
  15. Chapter XIV
  16. Chapter XV
  17. Chapter XVI
  18. Chapter XVII
  19. Chapter XVIII
  20. Chapter XIX
  21. Chapter XX
  22. Chapter XXI
  23. Chapter XXII
  24. Chapter XXIII
  25. Chapter XXIV
  26. Chapter XXV

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About this edition

This free edition of The Freebooters: A Story of the Texan War by Gustave Aimard comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #40602, released 2012-08-28. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Historical Novels, Adventure.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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