★★★ Speight, Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren Speight
​

Born: May 31, 1825

Birthplace: Greene County, North Carolina

Father: U.S. Senator Jesse Speight 1795 – 1847

(Buried: Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, Mississippi)​

Mother: Mary Grimes "Polly" May 1795 – 1826

1st​ Wife: Josephine S. Prewett 1829 – 1867

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

2nd​ Wife: Mary A. Bolton Dockery 1841 – 1886

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

Children:

Florence Josephine Speight McKenney 1847 – 1922​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Rosa Speight 1849 – 1853​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Jessie Speight Jenkins 1851 – 1928​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Sallie Speight Kendall 1854 – 1918​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Josephine Speight 1856 – 1858​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Mary Speight Massey 1870 – 1950​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Maria Speight Sellers 1875 – 1940​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Elizabeth Speight 1877 – 1959​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

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Jesse Speight 1879 – 1958​

(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

Occupation before War:

Attorney in Aberdeen, Mississippi​

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Grandmaster of Mississippi Freemasons​

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Farmer near Waco, Texas​

Civil War Career:

1862: Lt. Colonel of 1st​ Texas Infantry Battalion​

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1862 – 1864: Colonel of 15th​ Texas Infantry Regiment​

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1864: Resigned as Colonel on April 15th​ due to bad health (diarrhea)​

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1864 – 1865: Cotton Agent in Texas​

Occupation after War:

Alderman in Waco, Texas​

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Bridge Owner in Waco, Texas​

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1865 – 1866: President of Waco University​

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Newspaper Owner in Waco, Texas​

Died: April 26, 1888

Place of Death: Waco, Texas

Age at time of Death: 62 years old

Burial Place: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas

 

[Pollaco]

Part of the Baylor University Campus in Waco sits on what was Speight's home grounds.

 

[Pollaco]

At the time of its building the Suspension Bridge in Waco was the longest single span bridge west of the Mississippi River.Steelwork on the bridge was from John A. Roebling and Son, later builders of the Brooklyn Bridge. 6 leading citizens were instumental in getting the legislature to charter the bridge but Speight was the one who introduced the project.

 

[Pollaco]

In January of 1863 the 15th Texas Infantry under Speight temporarily joined Camille de Polignac's Brigade.

 

[JimmerDog]

At the time of its building the Suspension Bridge in Waco was the longest single span bridge west of the Mississippi River.Steelwork on the bridge was from John A. Roebling and Son, later builders of the Brooklyn Bridge. 6 leading citizens were instumental in getting the legislature to charter the bridge but Speight was the one who introduced the project.

 

[ErnieMac]

From the 28 Apr 1888 edition of the Galveston Daily News:

 

[danny]

15th​ Tex Infy Regimental Field and Staff
Joseph W. Speight - Colonel. Organized the First Texas Infantry Battalion in the summer of 1861. He was an early citizen of Waco, Texas and was a Mason and educator.

February 18, 1862
Speight given command of a newly formed battalion, later the 15th Texas. Farmers constituted the largest majority of the regiment other occupations included; teachers, druggists, printers, tailors, carpenters, coopers, clerks, stage drivers, stockmen, shoemakers, bricklayers, blacksmiths, barbers, millers, merchants, mechanics, tinners, tanners, teamsters, an engineer, a hunter, and a carriage maker. (Muster Rolls)

Between March 26, 1862 and April 2, 1862
Speight's Battalion is increased in size and re-designated the 15th Regiment of Infantry

January - March 1863
Assigned to Speight's Brigade, Indian Territory

January 15, 1863
Brig. Gen. W.M. Steele writes from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to Colonel R.C. Newton that "Speight has arrived in this vicinity with his command". He described how snow was nearly one foot deep and this prohibited the further movement of the troops. "His animals are completely broken down, and there is not a particle of forage to be had in this vicinity", (WOR, vol. 22, pt. 2, 773).
February 1863
Returned to Ft. Smith where the Texans were in a horrible state. "lived for three weeks on cold flour (parched corn, ground to meal) and water. No tents, no blankets, hardly anything to keep life and soul together. Many and many of night have I slept with on the frozen ground with nothing around me but a blanket with a lump of ice for a pillow. By day I limp along in my rundown boots, holes wearing in my feet. At night, my feet swelled and I could not stand. Men died every day. They laid themselves down. They would not move and died." (Texas Military History II, 276)

May 16, 1863
A letter from Lt. Gen. E. Kirby Smith to Lt. Gen. T.H. Holmes stated that Speight's brigade arrived in Shreveport in May 15, 1863. This letter gave a different report of strength claiming there was 1400 men, of which 460 were unarmed. Smith went on to say that deserters went home and were reported by Speight as determined to stay unless removed by armed force. Smith also wrote that Speight's command, with exception of the Fifteenth Texas and one other battalion, was an "unruly mob" and the officers worthless. The officers were disbanded and put in the ranks, and the men were separated and divided up into Brig Gen Walkers division (WOR, vol. 22, pt. 2, 841-832).

October 14, 1863
Speight's Brigade, consisting of 15th Infantry and 31st Dismounted Cav. turned over to Polignac. Speight was very bitter. The two regiments had a total of 700 men due to desertion. (Kinard, Jeff Lafayette of the South p. 111)

March & Apr 1864
Mc Nuts Hill

Engaged the gunboats 5 in number at Trinity on the 1st​ March & had another engagement at Harrisonburg on the 2nd​. Took up the line of march the 10" for Alexandria. arrived there on the 15th​. Distance travelled 87 miles & crossed the river & marched from there to Mansfield distance of one hundred seventy (170) On the 8" of Apr had an engagement with the enemy & drove them back to Pleasant Hill. On the 9" fought them again & continued following them up until the 26" at Montgomery's Landing. Had an engagement with the gunboats 29 marched in the direction of Mc Nuts Hill arrived there the 29" Total distance travelled three hundred & ninety-two miles (392)
From Company "I" Muster book

April 08, 1864
Battle of Mansfield
April 09, 1864
Battle of Pleasant Hill
April 15, 1864
Speight resigned. (Kinard, Jeff Lafayette of the South p. 157)

Compiled service records
April 15, 1864, Shreveport S O #92
The resignation of Col J W Speight, 15th Texas Infantry, upon surgeon's certificate...is accepted to take effect from this date, subject to approval of President.







Journey to Pleasant Hill: The Civil War Letters of Captain Elijah P. Petty, Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A., ed. Norman D. Brown, intro by O. Scott Petty, U.T. Institute of Texan Cultures, 1982.



Polignac's Texas Brigade by Alwyn Barr
...Recommended by K Smith for promotion in Nov 1863, but he resigned in the spring of 1864, apparently having never returned to active duty. Later, there were rumors about possible misbehavior in battle, but ill health would appear to have been the basic cause for his resignation.


Muster Rolls, Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, 15th Texas Infantry, Texas Historical Collection, Baylor University

 

[DaveBrt]

Just before WW2, my father and his parents lived on Speight St. while he was in Baylor. 25 years later, my wife and I lived on Speight St, three blocks from where my father had lived, while we were in Baylor.

 

[JimmerDog]

It should be noted that the underlying purpose of Gen. Kirby Smith's letter of May 16,1863 to Gen T. H. Holmes was to discourage General Thomas from his attempt to have Speight, and his 15th Infantry transferred, into Holmes regiment. Smith did not want to lose Speight because he was such an excellent field commander, although he had no military training, so he painted a dark picture of Speight's background. In fact, at that same time, Smith had submitted a letter of promotion to President Davis, a letter for the promotion of Speight to the rank of Brigadier General. Unfortunately, Speight was already making preparations for his resignation. His health was failing; he had "consumption", plus numerous unhealed wounds and injuries that were racking his body to the point that he was physically unable to ride his horse and command his men. Consequently, Speight was never officially given the appointment, although the news of his nomination had been published locally in Waco, and the population celebrated that fact so much so, the people began to address him as "General". At the time of his death, his obituary noted him as "General"!