{⋆★⋆} BG Granbury, Hiram B.

Hiram Bronson Granbury

:CSA1stNat:
Granbury.jpg


Born: March 1, 1831

Birth Place: Copiah County, Mississippi

Father: Norvell R. Granbury 1805 – 1850

Mother: Nancy McLaurin 1809 – 1850

Wife: Fannie Sims Granbury 1838 – 1863
(Buried: Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama)​

Education:

Attended Oakland College​

Occupation before War:

Attorney in Waco, Texas​
Chief Justice of McLennan County, Texas​
1856 – 1858: Chairman of McLennan County, Board of Supervisors​

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1862: Major of 7th Texas Infantry Regiment
Granbury 1.jpg
1862: Captured and Imprisoned at Fort Warren Boston Massachusetts​
1862 – 1864: Colonel of 7th Texas Infantry Regiment​
1863: Wounded during the Battle of Chickamuga​
1864: Brigadier General of Confederate Infantry Regiment​
1864: Killed during the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee​

Died: November 30, 1864

Place of Death: Franklin, Tennessee

Cause of Death: Killed in battle

Age at time of Death: 33 years old

Burial Place: Granbury Cemetery, Granbury, Texas
 
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You look at the difference between the two pics of Granbury, you see the difference war makes on a person! The top one I understand was made in the late 1850's, the second one in 1862 while imprisoned.

Kevin Dally

Granbury 1.jpg


Granbury.jpg
 
I can't believe I missed this one!
Granbury was one of Cleburne's Own, as I like to dub Cleburne's division. He was a fantastic brigade commander, and was involved in Cleburne's greatest victories at Ringgold Gap and Pickett's Mill. He was killed in the Charge at Franklin, alongside Cleburne. Despite the loss of their beloved commander, as well as most of their line officers, the men of Granbury's Texas Brigade would hold Granbury's Lunette in the only successful Confederate action at Nashville.
 
His capture was at Fort Donelson on Feb. 16, 1862 along with his regiment, the 7th Texas. It is said that while He was imprisoned at Fort Warren he was allowed to visit Baltimore on parole to visit his wife while she was undergoing an operation. He was exchanged on August 27, 1862 for 2 Lieutenants and promoted to colonel. But a colonel without a command until January 1863 when the 7th Texas became available again. The 7th Texas had been paroled in Nov. 1862 and consolidated with the 49th and 55th Tennessee regiments under Colonel J.E. Bailey.
 
I can't believe I missed this one!
Granbury was one of Cleburne's Own, as I like to dub Cleburne's division. He was a fantastic brigade commander, and was involved in Cleburne's greatest victories at Ringgold Gap and Pickett's Mill. He was killed in the Charge at Franklin, alongside Cleburne. Despite the loss of their beloved commander, as well as most of their line officers, the men of Granbury's Texas Brigade would hold Granbury's Lunette in the only successful Confederate action at Nashville.

Would agree with that assessment of Granbury's abilities as a Brigade commander.

Granbury's hard-hitting Texas Brigade (like many other fine Brigades) was decimated at Franklin, suffering 36% casualties. Tragically too, Granbury was one of the many talented Confederate Brigade commanders and other senior officers, who were lost in this ill-conceived ordered suicide assault.

His body was found the following day and was one of four Confederate Generals whose bodies were laid out on the back porch of the McGavock House, ready for transportation.
 
Granbury's Texas Brigade: Diehard Western Confederates by John R. Lundberg

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John R. Lundberg's compelling new military history chronicles the evolution of Granbury's Texas Brigade, perhaps the most distinguished combat unit in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Named for its commanding officer, Brigadier General Hiram B. Granbury, the brigade fought tenaciously in the western theater even after Confederate defeat seemed certain. Granbury's Texas Brigade explores the motivations behind the unit's decision to continue to fight, even as it faced demoralizing defeats and Confederate collapse. Using a vast array of letters, diaries, and regimental documents, Lundberg offers provocative insight into the minds of the unit's men and commanders. The caliber of that leadership, he concludes, led to the group's overall high morale. Lundberg asserts that although mass desertion rocked Granbury's Brigade early in the war, that desertion did not necessarily indicate a lack of commitment to the Confederacy but merely a desire to fight the enemy closer to home. Those who remained in the ranks became the core of Granbury's Brigade and fought until the final surrender. Morale declined only after Union bullets cut down much of the unit's officer corps at the Battle of Franklin in 1864. After the war, Lundberg shows, men from the unit did not abandon the ideals of the Confederacy -- they simply continued their devotion in different ways. Granbury's Texas Brigade presents military history at its best, revealing a microcosm of the Confederate war effort and aiding our understanding of the reasons men felt compelled to fight in America's greatest tragedy.


This Band of Heroes: Granbury's Texas Brigade, C. S. A by James M. McCaffrey

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Brigadier General Hiram Bronson Granbury led a brigade of Texans, fighting in the Army of Tennessee, for only nine months. Others had preceded him, and others would follow—only to be snatched away by death, transfer, or promotion. But Granbury remained the most popular of the brigade's lengthy list of commanders—so much so that after Granbury's death and well after the end of the Civil War, men referred to themselves as members of Granbury's Brigade, one of Texas' most famous fighting units. James M. McCaffrey traces the history of the brigade, from the formation of the individual regiments by Texas' citizen-soldiers to the last days of the war, when heavy losses had reduced the brigade to a single regiment. The brigade's involvement in early confrontations, such as the Battle of Arkansas Post, are discussed. First published in 1985, This Band of Heroes is now once again available to readers drawn to Civil War history and researchers and historians interested in Texas' military heritage. McCaffrey supplements his text with maps, drawings, historical photographs, and appendixes that describe the flags and weapons of Granbury's Brigade. Of particular interest to genealogists researching the period is a comprehensive list of the men who served in the brigade.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Just interesting things you don't really need to know: Granbury attended Oakland College (1830-1861) in Lorman, MS. After the war the State bought it and renamed it Alcorn, the nation's first Black Land-grant college. Only Oakland Chapel remains of the original Oakland. The wrought iron stairs attached came from Windsor Plantation which burned around 1890. Elizabeth Taylor posed on those stairs in a movie.
 
It was a lot worse than that. According to Lundberg's book on the brigade, it seems the command lost 60% casualties out of around 960 to 1100 men.

These are staggering casualties and would not surprise me, given the carnage that occurred in this suicidal frontal assault.

However, according to Eric A. Jacobson, whom I regard as the preeminent writer on Franklin, in his authoritative work, 'For Cause & For Country', he says (referring to Granbury's Texas Brigade) at page 411,

..."Out of roughly 1,100 men who were present at the onset of the battle, some 400 became casualties during the fighting"...
 
These are staggering casualties and would not surprise me, given the carnage that occurred in this suicidal frontal assault.

However, according to Eric A. Jacobson, whom I regard as the preeminent writer on Franklin, in his authoritative work, 'For Cause & For Country', he says (referring to Granbury's Texas Brigade) at page 411,

..."Out of roughly 1,100 men who were present at the onset of the battle, some 400 became casualties during the fighting"...
I have not gotten to the Franklin portion of Jacobson's work, though I get the feeling that he wasn't as thorough as Lundberg regarding the losses suffered by the unit. For one, the math does not add up. On December 10th, the brigade numbered 344 men effective for duty; if they had only lost 400 men out of 1100 who went into action, then the brigade would have numbered around 700 men; and this would mean that the brigade lost half its men some time between Franklin and December 10th. Lundberg cites Lt. Robert Collins of the 6th/15th Texas, who also gives the prebattle strength of the brigade at 1100, but with a final postbattle strength of 460 after subtracting casualties.
Could the brigade have actually suffered more, or were there still stragglers on the march to rejoin the brigade even to December 10th? Hard to say.
 
I can't believe I missed this one!
Granbury was one of Cleburne's Own, as I like to dub Cleburne's division. He was a fantastic brigade commander, and was involved in Cleburne's greatest victories at Ringgold Gap and Pickett's Mill. He was killed in the Charge at Franklin, alongside Cleburne. Despite the loss of their beloved commander, as well as most of their line officers, the men of Granbury's Texas Brigade would hold Granbury's Lunette in the only successful Confederate action at Nashville.
Granbury's Brigade took part in the siege of Chattanooga. On Nov 25th, the Bgde was at the center of Sherman's Flank assault on Tunnel Hill. The Texans performed admirably, though BG Smith & Col Mills were both wounded in a counterattack, resulting in Col Granbury taking command of the Bgde. Cleburne's men held, but the remainder of the army fled the field.

Thus, Cleburne's Div held the army's rear guard at Ringgold Gap. Here, on the 27th, the Texans held the right Flank against Woods' Union Bgde, holding their own alongside Polk's & Lowrey's Bgde against the Union assault, before the wagon train passed out of danger & Cleburne withdrew his Div. The Texans suffered a mere 62 casualties, while helping inflict 507 upon the union troops to their front.

Granbury, for his capable leadership in both battles, would be promoted to BG in March of the next year. In the Dec 1863 reports, the Bgde numbered 1502 men & 1079 arms.
 
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