Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. I, Part 48

Author: Brown, John Henry, 1820-1895
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Austin : L.E. Daniel]
Number of Pages: 922

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He then repaired to Fort Smith, tendered his resig- nation to the President of the United States, and on the 12th of April left for the seat of the Confeder- ate Government, at Montgomery, Ala. . He reached Montgomery on the 19th of the month and imme- diately offered his services to President Davis. He received at the same time the acceptance of his resignation, signed by President Lincoln, and was commissioned as Major in the Confederate army.

He was married July 22, 1856, to Miss Harriett A., daughter of Maj. Elias Rector. They have reared a family of children who have been an honor to their name. They are: Benjamin E., Kate Dos- well, John Joseph, Lawrence Duval, Lewis Rector, Pocahontas Rebecca, and William Lewis. Mrs. Cabell died April 16, 1887. She was a woman of rare virtues and greatly beloved by those who were in a position to know her many merits.

On being appointed Major, Cabell left for Rich- mond, Va., under orders from President Davis, to organize the quartermaster's, commissary, ord- nance and medical departments of the army. IIe remained there until the first of June, when he was ordered to Manassas to report to Gen. Beaure- gard as Chief Quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac. After the battles of the 18th and 21st of July, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumed command. Maj. Cabell served on his staff until the 15th of January, 1862, when he was ordered to report to Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston in Kentucky (then commanding the Army of the West) for service under Gen. Earl Van Dorn in the Trans-Mississippi department. He crossed the Mississippi into Ar- kansas with Gen. Van Dorn, who established tem- porary headquarters at Jacksonport, and soon thereafter was promoted to the rank of Brigadier- General and was assigned to the command of the troops on White river, to hold in check the forces of the Federal General Steele, then menacing that section from Missouri, while Gen. Van Dorn pro- ceeded to Northwest Arkansas and assumed com- mand of the army then under the command of

W. L. CABELL.

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Generals McCulloch and Price. The battle of Elk Horn was fought and lost on the 6th and 7th of March, resulting in the transfer of that army to the east side of the Mississippi river very soon afterwards.

The following extract is from a sketch of Gen. Cabell's services, written in 1878. The writer says :-

"Gen. Cabell proved his ability as a commander, in this emergency, and twice drove Steele's army, which largely outnumbered his, back into their camp in Missouri, and had control of that section of the country until Van Dorn and Price returned to White river previous to their leaving for Corinth, Miss. The entire removal of this large body of inen, including McCulloch's Ark- ansas, Louisiana and Texas troops and his own command, the furnishing of supplies for them and the regulation of their transportation, devolved upon Gen. Cabell, and how well the labor was per- formed, within a single week, those in authority can bear witness. It was accomplished without the slightest delay or accident of any kind.

" After arriving in Memphis, Van Dorn's corps was continued on to Corinth and Cabell assigned to command the brigade, composed of the Tenth, Eleventh and Fourteenth Texas Regiments, Crump's Texas Battalion, McRea's Arkansas Regiment and Lucas' Battery, which were in several engagements around Corinth and at Farmington; and on the retreat to Tupelo, this and Moore's Brigade, brought up the rear of Van Dorn's army. When Gen. Bragg was ordered to Kentucky, Gen. Cabell was ordered to the command of an Arkansas brigade, which he commanded at Iuka, Saltillo, at Corinth on the 2d and 3d days of October, and at Hatchie bridge on the 4th. Here he was badly wounded and carried from the field. These, with the wounds from the previous day, received while leading the charge on the breastworks at Corinth, disabled him from further handling his command, or rather that portion of it left, and his troops were united with the First Missouri Brigade, Gen. Bowen. Upon his partial recovery, Gen. Cabell was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi depart- ment, to allow time for recuperation and the gen- eral inspection of the Quartermaster's department there."

Gen. Cabell's old soldiers say that on the field he was the soul of courage, a constant inspiration to his troops, and that with him it was always " Come on " and not " Go on" and that he was the first to go into danger.

When sufficiently recovered from his wounds he was placed in command of the forces in Northwest

Arkansas, with instructions to angment the number as much as possible by recruits, in which he was very successful, so much so that what became known as Cabell's Cavalry Brigade was chiefly organized in this way. It did gallant service on numerous battle-fields in Arkansas and during the last great raid into Missouri, on the final retreat of which Gen. Cabell was captured on the 24th of October, 1864, in Kansas. This period of serv- ice covered the battles and skirmishes of Backbone Mountain, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Poteau River, Boonsboro, Elkins' Ferry, Wolf Creek, Antoinia, Prairie de Ann, Moscow, Arkadelphia, Poison Springs, Marks' Mill, Jenkins' Ferry, Glass Village, Pine Bluff, Current River, Reeves' Station, Pilot Knob, Franklin, Jefferson City, Gardner's Mills, California, Boonville, La Mine, Lexington, Osage River, Big Blue, Independence, Westport, Little Santa Fe, Marie de Cygne, and Mine Creek, where he was captured. .

The Southern Illustrated News, under date of November 29, 1862, stated that "Gen. Cabell was the first official representative of the Confederate government in Richmond and to his untiring energy the Southern people are indebted, in a great measure, for the prompt organization of our army."

Referring to the first Manassas, the News said : " Maj. Cabell behaved with great gallantry, and on several occasions exposed himself to the enemy's fire to such a degree that Gen. Beauregard ordered liim to desist, at the time saying: 'Maj. Cabell, your life is too valuable to the Confederacy to be thus endangered.'"

An army correspondent, as quoted in the same paper, of November 29, 1862, in describing the battle of Corinth, says: "On Saturday morning, Cabell's Brigade, of Maury's Division, was ordered to charge the formidable fort on College Hill. They advanced unhesitatingly at charge- bayonets to within thirty yards of the position be- fore they were fired upon, when they were awfully slaughtered. Still onward they went, after return- ing the first fire, their commander at their head. When they reached the works, Gen. Cabell boldly mounted the enemy's parapet, closely followed by his command. The first man he encountered was a Federal Colonel, who gave the command to ' kill that rebel officer.' Cabell replied with a right cut with his sabre, placing the officer hors de combat."

They were compelled, however, to retire with fearful loss.

Gen. Cabell was confined in the Federal prisons on Johnson's Island and Fort Warren, Boston, until the 28th of August, 1865. Being released on that

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day, he sought to find his wife and chilren at Aus- tin, Texas, where they had refugeed with Mrs. Cabell's father, and where he arrived without a farthing, after a three days' fast, on the 12th of September, to find that they had left and were en route to their home in Fort Smith, Ark. He overtook the loved ones in Bonham, Texas, and soon after reached Fort Smith, where he resided until December, 1872, when he came to Texas to remain permanently, and settled at Dallas, of which place he has sinee been a eitizen. During 1866 Gen. Cabell tried cotton planting on the Arkansas river and the commission business at Fort Smith. The high price of provisions and labor, combined with the cotton tax, prevented these ventures from proving successful. In 1867 he worked as a civil engineer, farmed on a small scale, and studied law at leisure moments. In 1868 he was admitted to practice in the United States Court for the Western Distriet of Arkansas.

He was an acknowledged leader of the Demo- cratie party and fought the Arkansas Republicans and carpet-baggers with all the skill, energy and determination that he could command. In 1872 the Arkansas State Convention sent him as the chairman of the delegation to east the vote of that State for Horace Greely for President, and during the campaign he canvassed all of North and West Arkan- sas. The result was a triumph for the Demoeraey.

Ile brought his family to Dallas in 1873. Ile at onee took a position as leader in all matters of importance and was afterwards repeatedly eleeted

Mayor of the city. When he located at Dallas he was agent for the Carolina Life Insurance Company, of which Hon. Jefferson Davis was president. He afterwards engaged in various pursuits in which he was financially suecess- ful but is now retired from active business. As a Demoerat his views have always had much weight with the people of Texas and he has. had much to do with shaping the policies of the party and in assisting in seeuring party victories, and good government for the State. He is Lieu- tenant-General of the United Confederate Veter- ans' Association and devotes much timeand thought to the interests of that organization. He is a very popular speaker and is in constant demand to ad- dress his old comrades at their reunions and eamp- fires. Ile has written much upon the subject of the late war and is regarded as an authority upon all matters pertaining thereto. True to every obligation as a eitizen and soldier, both in time of war and peace ; a patriot of great purity of aet and purpose, a man of the most sterling qualities, he is a fine representative of the typical Southern gentle- man. No man, certainly, is dearer to the people of Texas and of the whole South. His name de- serves a place upon the pages of her history among the South's noblest and best. His life has been in keeping with those of other members of the Cabell family, all of whom have been true to their country, their friends and themselves, and none of whom have cast a stain upon the grand old family name.

D. M. PRENDERGAST,

MEXIA.

Judge Prendergast is a descendant of Irish an- cestors. His great-grandfather Prendergast came from the old country to America in colonial times and settled in North Carolina, where John Baker Prendergast, the father of the Judge, was born. Jolin B. Prendergast went to Tennessee when a young man, and there married Miss Rhoda King, of Sumner County, that State. She died in Mad- ison County, West Tennessee, when the subject of this sketch was a boy. Years afterward Mr. Pren- dergast came to Texas and his death occurred in Limestone County in 1816, about a month after his ' arrival there. He was a plain substantial farmer,

a man of good judgment and of quiet, unassuming ways. They had a family of four children that reached maturity, the gentleman under consider- ation being the only one of that number now living. An older brother, Judge Luke Baker Prendergast, an early settler of Limestone County, died there some years ago. A younger brother died in that county in 18.16, shortly after moving to it, and an older one, Samuel, died in Tennessee before the father's removal to Texas.

Judge D. M. Prendergast was born in Shelby- ville, Bedford County, Tennessee, December 26, 1816, and was reared in Madison County, that

D. M. PRENDERGAST.

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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEX.IS.

State, from his eighth year. Hc received his pre- liminary education in local select schools and took a collegiate course at the East Tennessee Uni- versity, at Knoxville, graduating in the spring of 1841, with the degree of A. B. In January, 1842, be came to Texas and began reading law at Old Franklin, Robertson County, under the instructions of James Raymond. He was admitted to the bar at Boonesville, Brazos County, before Judge R. E. B. Baylor, in 1845, having read law, taught school, and hunted Indians during the preceding four years. Hc was elected Chief Justice of Brazos County under the old regime and held the office for one year. In the spring of 1846 he returned to Tennessce and brought his father to Texas, settling, in December of that year, at Springfield, then the county seat of Limestone County, and then and there entered upou the practice of his profession. lle was elected Chief Justice of Limestone County in 1848 and filled the office one term. He con- tinued in active practice until the opening of the war.

In the fall of 1861 he raised a company in Lime- stone County, was elected its Captain and, as a part of the North Texas Infantry, entered the Confed- erate army, serving until the fall of 1862, when, on account of an injury received, he was compelled to resign and come home. He was honorably discharged from the service on account of this disability.

Resuming the practice of his profession, he became deeply engrossed in the same, also giving some atten- tion to farming, until 1873, when he was appointed by Governor Coke to fill a vacancy in the office of District Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District, which vacancy was caused by the death of Judge Banton. He completed this term, about three years, at the end of which time the district was changed, a new one being created ont of the counties of Navarro, Limestone and Freestone, of which he was elected Judge and served as such four years. .

At the close of this term of office Judge Pren- dergast retired from public life and gave up the practice of his profession, to which he had been suchi an ornament. He then became interested in the banking business with Jester Brothers, at Corsicana, and in February, 1882, in company with L. P. and J. L. Smith, J. W. Blake and W. B. Gibbs, he bought out the banking interest of Oliver & Griggs at Mexia and entered actively into the business,

becoming the senior member of the private banking house of Prendergast, Smith & Com- pany. He has since that time given almost his exclusive attention to this business. He owns considerable property in Mexia and some in Groes- beck. He has taken an active interest in all local enterprises in Mexia and is looked upon as one of the public-spirited men of the place.

At an early day Judge Prendergast was some- what active in politics in Limestone County, being a prominent Democrat. He was a member of the Seeession Convention in 1861, and was in the Tenth and Thirteenth Legislatures of Texas. He left the Democratic party, however, in 1887, on account of its position in reference to the whisky question, and cast his fortunes in the political line with the Pro- hibitionists. He is an ardent friend of temperance and in 1892 was the nominee of the Prohibition party for Governor of Texas.

Judge Prendergast was married May 16th, 1848, to Miss Mary E. Collins, who was born in Lincoln County, Tenn., in November, 1829, daughter of George and Mary (Hudspeth) Collins, natives of Virginia. Her mother, left a widow, came with her family to Texas in November, 1841, and settled on the Little Brazos river in Brazos County. She had nine children, two sons and seven daughters. Seven of the number reached maturity. In order to educate her children she moved to Wheelock, Robertson County, where she spent the residue of her life. Mrs. Prendergast was the third daughter of this family, and her sisters have all passed away. Her brother, C. C., is a farmer in Harrison County, and T. B., a farmer, lives in Bryan, Brazos County. The Judge and his wife have had eight children, five of whom survive, as follows: Ada R., widow of Dr. J. H. McCain, of Mexia ; Fannie, wife of Dr. R. C. Nettles, of Marlin, Texas ; Albert C., a lead- ing attorney of Waco ; Mary, wife of S. H. Kelley. of Mexia; and Annie, wife of J. R. Neece, of Mexia.

Judge Prendergast was made a Mason at Spring- field, forty-odd years ago, and has been a zealous member of the order over since. He is a prom- inent member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and was one of the founders of Trinity University, at Tehuacana Hills, the educational in- stitution of this Church in Texas, and has been a member of the Board of Trustees ever since it was founded.

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GEORGE N. ALDREDGE,

DALLAS.

George N. Aldredge was born in Lee County, Ga., April 14, 1846. His father was Dr. J. F. Aldredge, who married Mary Oglesby, daughter of George S. Oglesby. They lived for some years in Russell County, Ala., and then moved to Pitts- burg, Camp County, Texas, in 1856. In 1862, when less than sixteen years of age, he entered the Confederate army as a volunteer soldier in Walker's division, Randall's brigade, Clark's regi- ment. After serving two years in Clark's regi- ment he was transferred to Chisholm's regiment of cavalry, Major's brigade, with which he remained until the close of hostilities, participating in all the engagements in which his command took part. At the close of the war between the States he returned home and entered McKinzie College, Red River County, Texas, where he remained two years. He then read law under Judge O. M. Roberts, at Gil- mer, Upsliur County, Texas, was admitted to the bar and practiced one year with Col. John L. Camp at Gilmer and then moved to Dallas ; remained one year in Dallas; moved to Waxahachie, Ellis County, where he stayed two years and then re- turned to Dallas, where he has since remained. In 1875 lie was elected County Attorney of Dallas County and filled that office until 1878. He was then elected District Judge and remained on the bench ten years, during which time he signalized himself as a fine lawyer and man of superior judicial

ability. After retiring from the beneli he engaged in the practice of law with Judge A. T. Watts and J. J. Eckford, with whom lie is now in copartner- ship. In 1869 he married Miss Betty W. Hearne, daughter of Horatio R. Hearne, of Hearne, Texas. Three children have been born of this union, George E., H. R., and Sawnie R. Aldredge.

Judge Aldredge by reason of his legal ability and. his political speeches in behalf of good government and sound money, is known in every nook and corner of Texas. He is also known throughout the Union through his great speceh at Atlanta, Ga., on October 16th, 1895, before the American Bankers' Association, on the subject of Sound Money. It was telegraphed to all the leading journals, and elicited highest commendation from almost every one. It was published in neat pam- plilet forin, for general distribution, by the Sound Currency Committee of the New York Chamber of Commerce. On January 30th, 1896, Senator Caffery, of Louisiana, introduced it in the United States Senate as part of his speech on the same subject, and it is printed in full in the " Con- gressional Record," of date January 31st, 1896.

Judge Aldredge's style is peculiarly cogent and logical, his power of illustration unequaled, and his wit keen and irresistible. As a debater he has had few equals and no superior in Texas.

HENRY MARTYN TRUEHEART,

GALVESTON.

Henry Martyn Trueheart, one of the leading citizens and finaneiers of Galveston, was born in Louisa County, Va., March 23, 1832, and came to Texas with his father and family in 1845, landing at Galveston on the 5th day of May of that year. His father, John O. Trucheait (of German lineage), was born in Hanover County. Va. Mr. John O. Trucheart was a graduate of Princeton College and a lawyer by profession. His ancestors took part in the Revolution of 1776

in various capacities, serving in each instance with distinction, some of them in the ranks of the Con- tinental army as soldiers and officers. His first trip to Texas was made in a wagon in 1838. He re- mained in the Republic some time, during the period assisting in the defense of the frontier tikler the famous ranger, Col. John C. Hays. Ile was united in marriage to Miss Ann Tomp- kins Minor, a daughter of Col. Launeelot Minor, of Louisa County, Va., whose sister was the mother

Geo. M. aldridge

HI. M. TRUEHART.

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of Commodore Matthew F. Maury. John B. Minor (now deceased), for fifty years professor of law at the University of Virginia; Lucian Minor, late professor of law at William and Mary College, Va., the late Dr. Chas. Minor, of Alber- marle County, Va., and Dr. William Minor, of Alabama, all eminent in their respective callings, were brothers of Mrs. Ann Tompkins Trueheart. She died at Galveston in 1886, and her husband, Mr. John O. Trucheart, at Galveston in 1874.

Of their children, nine in number, six are now living : Dr. Chas. W. Trueheart, Mrs. Fanny G. Sproule, Mrs. John Adriance and Miss Mildred D. Trueheart, of Galveston, the subject of this memoir, and Mrs. Elvira S. Howard, of San Antonio, Texas. Henry Martyn Trueheart had few school advan- tages, but this deprivation was more than compen- sated for by the careful training that he received at the hands of one of the best of Christian mothers and liis daily association with refined and cultured people. Long before reaching his majority he was thrown npon his own resources and found it necessary not only to earn a support for himself, but to contribute to the maintenance of the family.

In 1857 he was appointed by the Commissioners' Court of Galveston County Assessor and Collector of taxes for the county, a position that he sub- sequently filled for a period of about ten years.

He took part in the battle of Galveston, January 1, 1863, and, upon the recapture of the city by the Confederates, was appointed Assistant Provost- marshal, with the rank of Captain.

Several months later, feeling that every able- bodied man ought to be at the front, whether ex- empt from military duty or not, he proceeded to Virginia, where he was attached to Stuart's cavalry until wounded in a skirmish near Orange Court House, from whence he was carried to the University of Virginia, where he was nursed at the home of his uncle, John B. Minor. Upon recovery, a month later, he joined regularly an independent company, of about one hundred men, commanded by Capt. J. Hanson McNeil, of Hardy County, W. Va., with which he served until the surrender. In the early part of 1865, as a member of this company, he was a participant in one of the most remarkable exploits that marked the course of the war.

McNeil marched his men on the occasion referred to, eastward to Cumberland, Md. (a town of four thousand inhabitants), situated ninety miles in ad- vance of the main Confederate forees, and, although it was garrisoned by several thousand Federal troops and protected by three lines of picket4, captured a picket, forced the countersign, boldly entered the town under cover of night,

marched to the respective quarters (guarded by sentinels ) of Maj .- Gen. George Crook and Maj .- Gen. Kelly, took those officers out of their beds, retired as quietly as he came, marching his men through nearly the entire Federal infantry camp, and later delivered the Union Generals to the Con- federate authorities at Riebmond, this, too, without being under the necessity of firing a gun. After the elose of the war Mr. Trueheart returned to Texas, like Confederate soldiers generally, without a dol- lar. He had to begin life anew. This he did, nothing discouraged, and in the years that have followed has amassed an independent fortune and played an active part in the affairs of the city in which he has so long resided.

In Hardy County, W. Va., in 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Annie Vanmeter Cun- ningham, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mr. William Streit Cunningham, of that county. They have five children : Sally, Henry M., Ann V., Rebecca, and Elvira.

Mr. Trueheart is now serving his second term as a trustee of the Galveston eity public free schools and has for a number of years been a member of the board of directors of the Southern Cotton Press Company, the Galveston & Western R. R. Co., the Texas Trust & Guarantee Co., and the Galveston Land and Improvement Co., and for several years was a director and vice-president of the Galveston Wharf Co. Besides being a director, he is also treasurer of the Galveston Land & Improvement Co. This company owns nearly seven hundred acres in the western portion of the city of Galves- ton. He has built up probably the largest land agency business in Texas. He is a Democrat and, while in no sense a politician, has always taken a deep interest in public affairs, city, county, State and national, using his influence for the attainment of those beneficent ends, the hope of the ultimate accomplishment of which through the medium of popular government, led our forefathers to estab- lish the institutions under which we live -institu- tions to be preserved and further perfected by this generation and then handed down, unimpaired, to those that will succeed it. He has been faithful to every duty as a citizen and no man occupies a higher place in the affections of those who know him. He is a Presbyterian, has been a member of the Galveston church for a number of years, and continues his active work in the Sunday-school, of which he is at present, and has been for a number of years, superintendent.

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Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. I, Part 48

Author: Brown, John Henry, 1820-1895 Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Austin : L.E. Daniel] Number of Pages: 922

Author: Brown, John Henry, 1820-1895
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Austin : L.E. Daniel]
Number of Pages: 922