- Joined
- Jul 12, 2015
http://russellcushman.blogspot.com/2013/11/major-george-w-durant-of-bryan-and.html
WAR!!
In Texas the "State Committee on Public Safety" did not authorize the organization of volunteer troops until the spring of 1861. But even before the vote for Secession from the Union, George Durant's outfit, known as the "Magnolia Rangers," had organized on Jan 17, 1861, in League City, Texas.The State of Texas voted to secede from the Union over a month later on February 23rd. Technically they were known to the Confederacy as state troops; Company B of the 1st Brigade of the Texas Militia. The Magnolia Rangers were made up of 66 volunteers from Galveston and Brazoria Counties, who originally hoped to serve in the Confederate Cavalry, but instead they found themselves guarding the South Texas Coast at the outbreak of the war, serving as "Home Guard." They elected officers, and mustered in with this list:
Galveston County August the 30th, 1861
A list of the names Magnolia Rangers a uniform company, organized Jan 17th, 1861
Officers
Capt G. W. Durant
First Lieut Mirandy Coward
2nd Lt.: John L. Lewis
3rd Lt.: John L. Fulghum (appears to be a relation to Ezekiel Wood Fulghum later in Madison's 3rd Cav)
1st Sergeant: Ralph Robertson
2nd Sgt.: C. Bundick
3rd Sgt.: M. Bundick
4th Sgt.: J. W. Grace
5th Sgt.: J. W. Coward
Ensign: William Coward
1st Corporal: Willis Coward
2nd Cpl.: J. W. Derrick
3rd Cpl.: John H. Kipp
4th Cpl.: M. D. Ray
Privates: (alphabetized by me)
Ben Allen
E. Allen
T. W. Allen
F. M. Baugh
Seth Biggs
William Biggs
Willis Butler
Green W. Butler
George W. Butler
Allen Coward
A. W. Coward
Heardy Coward
Richard Coward
Samuel Coward
Wedom Coward
J. H. Craig
George M. Fulghum (appears to be a relation to Ezekiel Wood Fulghum later in Madison's 3rd Cav)
Gillum Gilcrease
Nicholas Hammis
Henry J. Holms
John C. Jacobs
John L. Jvey?
C. W. Fairbanks
A. Greno
W. B. Grissom
Hugh Kelly
D. J. Hukins
Oliver F. Letitson
Thomas Lewis
J. E. Long
W. H. Long
F. G. Mayson
David McFaddin
Jacob Mims
Able Morgain
Charley Noland
Jonathan Owens
John Owins
M. C. Perkins
Samuel Perkins
Thomas Perkins
H. C. Philbert
D. Plesant
L. H. Roark
L. Rosengberge
Aron Savells
A. J. Savells
P. L. Savells (also later in Madison's 3rd Cav)
J. M. Staton
James Thompson
Charles Waller
J. M. Welborn
George M. Wilboan
Charles Willard
NOTE: The number of Cowards, with a capital C: Nine! I'm just saying... Filled with Cowards and Butlers, (3) no wonder they couldn't get any respect!This was very much a family affair. Also three Savells, three Perkins, three Allens, and a pair each of Biggs, Longs, Fulghums and Bundicks. These kinds of relationships guaranteed either incredible solidarity or chronic mutiny!
According to Confederate historian, James E. Williams of Milano, there was a Camp Durant during the war in Galveston County. We can assume this name was attached to Durant's Company which was stationed there.
Ranging between the various "Gulf Prairie Encampments," they took the name "Magnolia" from the creek that ran between the two communities that provided most members for their unit. Unfortunately, their eagerness to fight Yankees did not earn them any advantages when the State Militia formalized its organization. As a "Home Guard" unit, it fell to them to provide protection and security to the citizens in southeast Texas.
Originally, it was the general concept that the State of Texas would provide its own militia; "rangers" to fend off hostile Indians, Mexican bandits, Union sympathizers, Yankee spies, and even to police rebel deserters and slave uprisings. It turned out that there was a surplus of all the above, as the Magnolia Rangers began the discharge of their duties.
Major George W. Durant, Madison's Battalion, 3rd Texas Cavalry Regiment, (Arizona Brigade) C.S.A.
AN OSTENTATIOUS BANNER
According to my family legend, several enthusiastic ladies of Galveston and Harris counties sacrificed their petticoats and sewed the Magnolia Rangers a giant and impractical flag, and led by Lucrezia Coward and other ladies of Clear Creek and League City, they presented it to them at a Fourth of July picnic in 1861. A few years ago my family donated this tattered silk flag, which is one of the largest known authentic Confederate National Flags, to theUnited Daughters of the Confederacy.
.
The basic design for this flag and those that followed was adopted by the CSA in March of 1861, and we can only assume that it was feverishly sewn soon after, to be presented that summer. Even then it was believed to be the earliest and largest of its kind. Covering over 50 square feet, on the obverse side of the gargantuan flag, the ladies had sewn in big Roman letters the words"Instituted on Jan 17th, 1861", as if this date needed to be preserved for the future. They were proud to be the original rebels, the first to organize militia against the Abolitionist oppression.
Major Durant's granddaughters Daisy and Nell display the faded and tattered old flag, around 1920. It was time to box it up before it fell apart!
In 1989 the Magnolia Rangers Chapter 2544, Texas Division of the UDC at Humble, Texas, with corporate sponsorship and private donations, spent over fifteen thousand dollars restoring it. When I last saw it, it was on display at the Museum of Southern History in Sugarland. The early date still raises eyebrows with historians, and some have problems with it. They seem to think that the date indicates the making of the flag as well, which would have been impossible, since the design for that flag was not adopted until months after the date on the flag. "Experts" don't like aberrations, and want everything to fit nicely into their pigeon holes, but we make no apologies for the flag or the date, and testify that it is authentic and a family treasure, with a multitude of witnesses over several generations, which we were proud to share with the people of Texas. [You can purchase decent cotton reproductions of the flag, sans the date, on eBay] Some critics have suggested that it was a post-war artifact, used in reunions. But it is doubtful that this could be the case, as all of these men, including Captain Durant went on to other outfits and served more time in more serious service later. Read on and you will probably agree, the Magnolia Rangers were not much to celebrate or remember. In fact they would be totally forgotten EXCEPT for their huge flag.
Austin, Texas, 1989: Edith Williams, President of the Texas U.D.C. and restorer Fonda Thomsen unfold the old Magnolia Rangers flag... not gazed upon for almost eighty years.
I grew up occasionally peeking under my grandmother's bed at the pasteboard suit box that contained the flag. It was a forbidden icon that, along with Major Durant's sword in her closet, quietly shaped my interest in history and the family heritage they represented. Considered too fragile to handle even then, my grandmother refused to throw it away, holding on to this precious symbol of her grandfather. The shreds of silk under her bed were a constant and awesome reminder, and provided stubborn threads to our past.
The old Magnolia Rangers flag before restoration.
This thread is intended to serve as the location for general regimental history, photographs, stories, articles and any other relevant information about the Magnolia Rangers. Please do not start new threads - just add your content about the regiment under this existing thread so others can easily find it. Thank you so much for contributing information for this regiment.
WAR!!
In Texas the "State Committee on Public Safety" did not authorize the organization of volunteer troops until the spring of 1861. But even before the vote for Secession from the Union, George Durant's outfit, known as the "Magnolia Rangers," had organized on Jan 17, 1861, in League City, Texas.The State of Texas voted to secede from the Union over a month later on February 23rd. Technically they were known to the Confederacy as state troops; Company B of the 1st Brigade of the Texas Militia. The Magnolia Rangers were made up of 66 volunteers from Galveston and Brazoria Counties, who originally hoped to serve in the Confederate Cavalry, but instead they found themselves guarding the South Texas Coast at the outbreak of the war, serving as "Home Guard." They elected officers, and mustered in with this list:
Galveston County August the 30th, 1861
A list of the names Magnolia Rangers a uniform company, organized Jan 17th, 1861
Officers
Capt G. W. Durant
First Lieut Mirandy Coward
2nd Lt.: John L. Lewis
3rd Lt.: John L. Fulghum (appears to be a relation to Ezekiel Wood Fulghum later in Madison's 3rd Cav)
1st Sergeant: Ralph Robertson
2nd Sgt.: C. Bundick
3rd Sgt.: M. Bundick
4th Sgt.: J. W. Grace
5th Sgt.: J. W. Coward
Ensign: William Coward
1st Corporal: Willis Coward
2nd Cpl.: J. W. Derrick
3rd Cpl.: John H. Kipp
4th Cpl.: M. D. Ray
Privates: (alphabetized by me)
Ben Allen
E. Allen
T. W. Allen
F. M. Baugh
Seth Biggs
William Biggs
Willis Butler
Green W. Butler
George W. Butler
Allen Coward
A. W. Coward
Heardy Coward
Richard Coward
Samuel Coward
Wedom Coward
J. H. Craig
George M. Fulghum (appears to be a relation to Ezekiel Wood Fulghum later in Madison's 3rd Cav)
Gillum Gilcrease
Nicholas Hammis
Henry J. Holms
John C. Jacobs
John L. Jvey?
C. W. Fairbanks
A. Greno
W. B. Grissom
Hugh Kelly
D. J. Hukins
Oliver F. Letitson
Thomas Lewis
J. E. Long
W. H. Long
F. G. Mayson
David McFaddin
Jacob Mims
Able Morgain
Charley Noland
Jonathan Owens
John Owins
M. C. Perkins
Samuel Perkins
Thomas Perkins
H. C. Philbert
D. Plesant
L. H. Roark
L. Rosengberge
Aron Savells
A. J. Savells
P. L. Savells (also later in Madison's 3rd Cav)
J. M. Staton
James Thompson
Charles Waller
J. M. Welborn
George M. Wilboan
Charles Willard
NOTE: The number of Cowards, with a capital C: Nine! I'm just saying... Filled with Cowards and Butlers, (3) no wonder they couldn't get any respect!This was very much a family affair. Also three Savells, three Perkins, three Allens, and a pair each of Biggs, Longs, Fulghums and Bundicks. These kinds of relationships guaranteed either incredible solidarity or chronic mutiny!
According to Confederate historian, James E. Williams of Milano, there was a Camp Durant during the war in Galveston County. We can assume this name was attached to Durant's Company which was stationed there.
Ranging between the various "Gulf Prairie Encampments," they took the name "Magnolia" from the creek that ran between the two communities that provided most members for their unit. Unfortunately, their eagerness to fight Yankees did not earn them any advantages when the State Militia formalized its organization. As a "Home Guard" unit, it fell to them to provide protection and security to the citizens in southeast Texas.
Originally, it was the general concept that the State of Texas would provide its own militia; "rangers" to fend off hostile Indians, Mexican bandits, Union sympathizers, Yankee spies, and even to police rebel deserters and slave uprisings. It turned out that there was a surplus of all the above, as the Magnolia Rangers began the discharge of their duties.
Major George W. Durant, Madison's Battalion, 3rd Texas Cavalry Regiment, (Arizona Brigade) C.S.A.
AN OSTENTATIOUS BANNER
According to my family legend, several enthusiastic ladies of Galveston and Harris counties sacrificed their petticoats and sewed the Magnolia Rangers a giant and impractical flag, and led by Lucrezia Coward and other ladies of Clear Creek and League City, they presented it to them at a Fourth of July picnic in 1861. A few years ago my family donated this tattered silk flag, which is one of the largest known authentic Confederate National Flags, to theUnited Daughters of the Confederacy.
.
The basic design for this flag and those that followed was adopted by the CSA in March of 1861, and we can only assume that it was feverishly sewn soon after, to be presented that summer. Even then it was believed to be the earliest and largest of its kind. Covering over 50 square feet, on the obverse side of the gargantuan flag, the ladies had sewn in big Roman letters the words"Instituted on Jan 17th, 1861", as if this date needed to be preserved for the future. They were proud to be the original rebels, the first to organize militia against the Abolitionist oppression.
Major Durant's granddaughters Daisy and Nell display the faded and tattered old flag, around 1920. It was time to box it up before it fell apart!
In 1989 the Magnolia Rangers Chapter 2544, Texas Division of the UDC at Humble, Texas, with corporate sponsorship and private donations, spent over fifteen thousand dollars restoring it. When I last saw it, it was on display at the Museum of Southern History in Sugarland. The early date still raises eyebrows with historians, and some have problems with it. They seem to think that the date indicates the making of the flag as well, which would have been impossible, since the design for that flag was not adopted until months after the date on the flag. "Experts" don't like aberrations, and want everything to fit nicely into their pigeon holes, but we make no apologies for the flag or the date, and testify that it is authentic and a family treasure, with a multitude of witnesses over several generations, which we were proud to share with the people of Texas. [You can purchase decent cotton reproductions of the flag, sans the date, on eBay] Some critics have suggested that it was a post-war artifact, used in reunions. But it is doubtful that this could be the case, as all of these men, including Captain Durant went on to other outfits and served more time in more serious service later. Read on and you will probably agree, the Magnolia Rangers were not much to celebrate or remember. In fact they would be totally forgotten EXCEPT for their huge flag.
Austin, Texas, 1989: Edith Williams, President of the Texas U.D.C. and restorer Fonda Thomsen unfold the old Magnolia Rangers flag... not gazed upon for almost eighty years.
I grew up occasionally peeking under my grandmother's bed at the pasteboard suit box that contained the flag. It was a forbidden icon that, along with Major Durant's sword in her closet, quietly shaped my interest in history and the family heritage they represented. Considered too fragile to handle even then, my grandmother refused to throw it away, holding on to this precious symbol of her grandfather. The shreds of silk under her bed were a constant and awesome reminder, and provided stubborn threads to our past.
The old Magnolia Rangers flag before restoration.
This thread is intended to serve as the location for general regimental history, photographs, stories, articles and any other relevant information about the Magnolia Rangers. Please do not start new threads - just add your content about the regiment under this existing thread so others can easily find it. Thank you so much for contributing information for this regiment.
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Bringing the