Captain W. A. Bridges of the Seventh Cavalry was wired orders from Austin to protect Lige Daniels from the threat of mob violence. His excuse for failing to follow orders was the inability to "find any members of his company in time for mobilization."

One thousand men stormed the Center, Texas, jail, battered down the steel doors, wrecked the cell, chose a courthouseyard oak, and lynched Lige Daniels.

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