Maj George Bruce Gerald - 18th Mississippi Infantry

lelliott19

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Texas Collection, Baylor University Library
George Bruce Gerald was born in 1836 in Yazoo County, MS. He attended Eureka College and Indiana State University. In 1855, he entered Cumberland University School of Law in Lebanon, TN; graduated and was admitted to the Bar in 1857. At the outbreak of the Civil War, George Gerald was a 25 year old lawyer in Yazoo MS.

Gerald organized a company called "McClung Rifles of Yazoo County" which was organized on May 30, 1861 as Co. F, 18th MS Infantry. The 18th MS was ordered to Virginia and mustered in June 7, 1861. The regiment was composed of companies which had previously been in the State service and was mustered into Confederate service for twelve months. The regiment was re-organized in April 1862 and assigned to Barksdale's Brigade, McLaws' Division, Longstreet's Corps, ANV.

On May 3, 1863, Gerald was promoted to Major. After Barksdale was killed at Gettysburg, Benjamin G Humphreys commanded the brigade. Following Humphreys' wounding at the Battle of Berryville in Sept 1864, carded records show that Major George Bruce Gerald signed as commanding officer of the regiment.

Now for the GOOD STUFF.....according to the December 18, 1863 diary entry of 20 year old William H. Hill, Co A 18th MS, Gerald challenged Major-General Lafayette McLaws to a duel.

Hill reports that Major Gerald was “demanding satisfaction for an insult that General McLaws had him [sic] last summer by endorsing on his application for a furlough that he was an inefficient officer and did not give satisfaction to his men....*" [Note: McLaws may have been right....Carded records show that Gerald was absent on furlough many times including at least three "furloughs of indulgence" and several instances of "absent without leave."] :frantic:

Hill's diary entry continues: "General McLaws refused to accept [the challenge] for the reason that he didn’t consider himself personally responsible for his official acts. Brig. General Kershaw is commanding the Division.*”
[end of diary entry] So apparently, there was no duel between Gerald and McLaws. :nah disagree:

BUT fast forward 34 years and shift to Waco TX. I guess some men just like to fight? Gerald and his wife moved to Waco in 1869. In 1873, he became editor of the Waco Examiner and, in 1874, purchased the Waco Advance. He sold the newspaper in 1875. He was elected county Judge in 1876 and held that office for 8 years. He was a member of the Texas State Senate and, in 1885, was appointed Waco postmaster by President Grover Cleveland. He resigned before the expiration of his term. On Nov. 19, 1897, Gerald was involved in a shoot-out with James W. Harris and William A. Harris, which resulted in the deaths of the two brothers. The shooting climaxed a disagreement between Gerald and J.W. Harris, editor of the Times-Herald, who refused to publish and return one of Gerald's communications concerning the William Cowper Bran affair. He was afterward elected county judge again serving from 1900 to 1904.

*Source for diary entry: https://13thmississippi.com/2012/04/14/longstreet-relieves-mclaws-who-is-challenged-to-a-duel/
@7th Mississippi Infantry @Podad did you know about this?
 
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Great post, @lelliott19 !

While reading I was thinking 'That sounds familiar - didn't we have that as a trivia question?' We sure did! Had I known earlier about this thread, I wouldn't have needed searching for the info. :rolleyes: And let me repeat here what a great poem you made out of this.

Found this newspaper article (The Times-Democrat, 20 Nov 1897):

Judge George Bruce Gerald - Waco Shooting.jpg

And another clipping from The Des Moines Register, 28 Jul 1898:

Judge George Bruce Gerald - Waco Shooting_more info.jpg


Note to all that find the text too small to read: Follow the links and click on the clippings. You'll find the entire newspaper page but can zoom in for better reading.
 
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