Land office acquires letters of Texas Confederate soldier

[tlopp]

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Confederate_Letters.html


Land office acquires letters of Texas Confederate soldier
AUSTIN — The Texas General Land Office said Friday it has obtained the private correspondence of a Texas Confederate soldier to add to the agency's archives.

Thirty-four handwritten letters of Texas Confederate private Dudley Ward were purchased at a Dallas auction for about $11,000 with private donations made through the Land Office's Save Texas History Program.

Land Office historians and archivists certified their authenticity before buying the documents, the agency said. There are some 35 million historical documents stored at the Land Office archives.

The recently purchased letters were written by Ward, who joined Company G, 2nd Texas Infantry of the Confederate Army at age 17.

Early in 1863, Ward became a prisoner of war at Vicksburg, Miss. Upon parole, Ward's unit returned to Texas and was ultimately assigned duty on Galveston Island. Ward died before the end of the war in the yellow fever epidemic of 1864.

"I am honored to preserve this important glimpse into Texas Confederate history," Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. He said the timing of his announcement of the acquisition was to coincide with Confederate Heroes Day on Saturday.

Patterson said the letters tell an important story.

"Whether or not you agree with the causes of the war, Ward put his life on the line for his family and for Texas, and his story should be shared with future generations of Texans," Patterson said.

In his letters, Ward offered a view of daily life for a Confederate soldier. In one letter written in 1864, Ward spoke of the high hopes of the South. Federal troops had been turned back at Mansfield, La., in their attempted invasion of Texas.

He wrote that if the Confederate Army could defeat the Union in Virginia, "the effect that it will have on the war will be immense in our favor, and it is fair to suppose that the Yankees will be willing and even anxious to close a campaign which has been so disastrous to them from beginning to end."

Ward's father was Thomas William Ward, the third commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. The elder Ward, known as "Peg-Leg," was a notable hero of the Texas revolution and a major player in early Texas politics.

As Land Commissioner, he enforced an executive order calling for the removal of governmental papers from Austin that sparked the infamous Archives War in 1842. During that skirmish, Ward, already missing an arm and a leg, single-handedly faced down an angry, heavily armed mob in front of the Land Office.

Maps, land grants, surveys and other documents are preserved at the state land office as part of its Save Texas History Program. After items are conserved, they are digitally preserved and made available on the Internet.

[mt155]

I work down here in Galveston where the 2nd Tx mustered in and trained before they left for Shiloh. Most of the men were from Galveston and Harris Counties. You can see a good many of their graves in the cemeteries along Broadway and 61st street in Galveston. It's nice to see something that is directly related to were I am from. Thanks for the post.

Mike T.

[tlopp]

I'll try to find more. I do alot of this stuff on my board.