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| commands = [[2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment (Arizona Brigade)]]
| commands = [[2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment (Arizona Brigade)]]
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'''George Wythe Baylor''' (August 24, 1832 – March 24, 1916) was a [[Texians|Texian]] [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Cavalry in the American Civil War|cavalry]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]], and a veteran of many battles of the [[American Civil War]]. He was also a noted lawman and [[frontiersman]] with the [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]].
'''George Wythe Baylor''' (August 24, 1832 – March 24, 1916) was a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Cavalry in the American Civil War|cavalry]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] from Texas, and a veteran of many battles of the [[American Civil War]]. He was also a noted lawman and [[frontiersman]] with the [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]].


Born at [[Fort Gibson, Oklahoma|Fort Gibson]], Indian Territory, in 1832, Baylor came to [[Republic of Texas|Texas]] at the end of 1845 as a boy and was educated there. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the [[Confederate States Army]], and was elected first lieutenant, 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles. He witnessed the death of General [[Albert Sidney Johnston|Johnston]] at [[Battle of Shiloh|Shiloh]], and fought in many engagements of the [[Red River campaign]] in Louisiana in 1864. He was promoted to major, and later colonel, by President [[Jefferson Davis|Davis]], although his promised regiment of Texas rangers was never raised owing to the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865.
Born at [[Fort Gibson, Oklahoma|Fort Gibson]], Indian Territory, in 1832, Baylor came to [[Republic of Texas|Texas]] at the end of 1845 as a boy and was educated there. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the [[Confederate States Army]], and was elected first lieutenant, 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles. He witnessed the death of General [[Albert Sidney Johnston|Johnston]] at [[Battle of Shiloh|Shiloh]], and fought in many engagements of the [[Red River campaign]] in Louisiana in 1864. He was promoted to major, and later colonel, by President [[Jefferson Davis|Davis]], although his promised regiment of Texas Rangers was never raised owing to the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865.


After the war, Baylor commanded Texas Rangers in hunting [[Comanche]]s and [[Apache]]s in Texas and across the border into Mexico, often in pursuit of the Apache chief [[Victorio]] and his raiding band. He was also an elected representative of the Texas State Government, representing El Paso from 1887 to 1889. He later retired to [[Guadalajara]], Mexico, and lived there for some years, but was compelled to return to the United States in 1913 due to the [[Mexican Revolution]]. He died in San Antonio in 1916.
After the war, Baylor commanded Texas Rangers in hunting [[Comanche]]s and [[Apache]]s in Texas and across the border into Mexico, often in pursuit of the Apache chief [[Victorio]] and his raiding band. He was also an elected representative of the Texas State Government, representing El Paso from 1887 to 1889. He later retired to [[Guadalajara]], Mexico, and lived there for some years, but was compelled to return to the United States in 1913 due to the [[Mexican Revolution]]. He died in San Antonio in 1916.


== Early life ==
== Early life ==
George Wythe Baylor was born at [[Fort Gibson]], in the [[Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)|Cherokee Nation]], [[Indian Territory]], on August 24, 1832.<ref name=":1">Daniell 1887, p. 104.</ref> His father, an army surgeon in the [[7th Infantry Regiment (United States)|7th Infantry Regiment]],<ref>Webb 1993, p. 395.</ref><ref>Waller 1943, p. 23.</ref> was John Walker Baylor, eldest son of Major Walker Baylor, of [[Bourbon County, Kentucky]], whose wife was Jane, {{Nee|Bledsoe}}, a sister of [[Jesse Bledsoe]], of [[History of Kentucky#Antebellum period (1792–1860)|Kentucky]].<ref name=":1" /> His mother was Sophia Maria, {{Nee|Weidner}}, of [[History of Baltimore#Baltimore City before the Civil War: 1797–1861|Baltimore]], Maryland, her father being Henreich Weidner, of [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel|Hessen Cassel]], Germany, and her mother being Marie Chartelle, of an old [[Huguenots#North America|Huguenot]] family.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> He was their fifth son and eighth child.<ref>Baylor; Baylor 1914, p. 31.</ref>
George Wythe Baylor was born at [[Fort Gibson]], in the [[Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)|Cherokee Nation]], [[Indian Territory]], on August 24, 1832.<ref name=":1">Daniell 1887, p. 104.</ref> His father, an army surgeon in the [[7th Infantry Regiment (United States)|7th Infantry Regiment]],<ref>Webb 1993, p. 395.</ref><ref>Waller 1943, p. 23.</ref> was John Walker Baylor, eldest son of Major Walker Baylor, of [[Bourbon County, Kentucky]], whose wife was Jane, {{Nee|Bledsoe}}, a sister of [[Jesse Bledsoe]], of [[History of Kentucky#Antebellum period (1792–1860)|Kentucky]].<ref name=":1" /> The Baylor lineage traces their origin to [[Devon, England]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Genealogy of the Fitzhugh-Knox-Gordon-Sevier families |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0tMAAAAMAAJ&dq=Robert+E.+B.+Baylor++ancestry+england&pg=PA16 |page=16 |publisher=Foote & Davies |date=1932}} </ref> His mother was Sophia Maria, {{Nee|Weidner}}, of [[History of Baltimore#Baltimore City before the Civil War: 1797–1861|Baltimore]], Maryland, her father being Henreich Weidner, of [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel|Hessen Cassel]], Germany, and her mother being Marie Chartelle, of an old [[Huguenots#North America|Huguenot]] family.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> He was their fifth son and eighth child.<ref>Baylor; Baylor 1914, p. 31.</ref>


His father moved from Bourbon county, Kentucky, to Fort Gibson, with his young family, going down from [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]] to the mouth of the [[Arkansas River]] on a [[Keelboat|keel boat]], and this boat was dragged up the river to Fort Gibson.<ref name=":2">Daniell 1887, p. 105.</ref> His mother took along a lot of fruit trees, roses and plants.<ref name=":2" />
His father moved from Bourbon county, Kentucky, to Fort Gibson, with his young family, going down from [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]] to the mouth of the [[Arkansas River]] on a [[Keelboat|keel boat]], and this boat was dragged up the river to Fort Gibson.<ref name=":2">Daniell 1887, p. 105.</ref> His mother took along a lot of fruit trees, roses and plants.<ref name=":2" />


His father dying when he was four years old, his mother, then living on Second Creek, Mississippi, near [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]], went to [[Pine Bluff, Arkansas]], then to [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]], and finally to Fort Gibson again.<ref name=":2" /> In December 1845, Baylor came to [[Republic of Texas|Texas]] while still a boy, stopped at [[Ross Prairie, Texas|Ross Prairie]], [[Fayette County, Texas|Fayette county]], and went to school for a while to Professor William Halsey at [[Rutersville College|Rutersville]], and afterwards was sent by his uncle, Judge [[Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor|R. E. B. Baylor]], to [[Baylor University]], at [[Independence, Texas]], then under the control of [[Henry Lee Graves|Henry Graves]].<ref name=":2" />[[File:Richardsons new map of the state of Texas, including part of Mexico. LOC 86691331.jpg|thumb|250x250px|''Richardson's New Map of the State of Texas, Including Parts of Mexico'', 1859|left]]He went from school to [[History of San Antonio#Annexation of Texas by the United States|San Antonio]], and, lured by the [[California Gold Rush|gold rush]], left there in March 1854 for California, five months being required to make the trip.<ref name=":2" /> He remained in California five years, and, although brought out by the [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)#North and South pull apart|Democratic party]] in 1859 for the [[California State Legislature|Legislature]], he preferred to come back to Texas.<ref name=":2" /> Returning to San Antonio in May 1859, he left for [[Parker County, Texas|Parker county]].<ref name=":2" />
His father dying when he was four years old, his mother, then living on Second Creek, Mississippi, near [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]], went to [[Pine Bluff, Arkansas]], then to [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]], and finally to Fort Gibson again.<ref name=":2" /> In December 1845, Baylor came to [[Republic of Texas|Texas]] while still a boy, stopped at [[Ross Prairie, Texas|Ross Prairie]], [[Fayette County, Texas|Fayette county]], and went to school for a while to Professor William Halsey at [[Rutersville College|Rutersville]], and afterwards was sent by his uncle, Judge [[Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor|R. E. B. Baylor]], to [[Baylor University]], at [[Independence, Texas]], then under the control of [[Henry Lee Graves|Henry Graves]].<ref name=":2" />[[File:Richardsons new map of the state of Texas, including part of Mexico. LOC 86691331.jpg|thumb|250x250px|''Richardson's New Map of the State of Texas, Including Parts of Mexico'', 1859|left]]He went from school to [[History of San Antonio#Annexation of Texas by the United States|San Antonio]], and, lured by the [[California Gold Rush|gold rush]], left there in March 1854 for California, five months being required to make the trip.<ref name=":2" /> He remained in California five years, and, although brought out by the [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)#North and South pull apart|Democratic party]] in 1859 for the [[California State Legislature|Legislature]], he preferred to come back to Texas.<ref name=":2" /> Returning to San Antonio in May 1859, he left for [[Parker County, Texas|Parker county]].<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Scalping lithograph circa 1850s.jpg|thumb|208x208px|''The Death Cry'', {{Circa|1852}}]]
In 1860 he commanded a company of rangers in what was known as the Buffalo Hunt.<ref name=":2" /> There were some 300 men in the expedition,<ref name=":2" /> and Baylor he was leader of a company of 33 frontiersmen.<ref name=":4" /> The [[Comanche]]s generally gave them a wide berth, although Baylor's men killed some Comanche men.<ref name=":2" /> The rangers discovered the [[Scalping|scalps]] of a babe and a woman with braided hair, both adorning the shield of a chief whom they had killed.<ref>Marshall 1990, p. 108.</ref> The campaign lasted six weeks and was the first extended service which Baylor saw.<ref name=":4">''El Paso Herald'', April 2, 1916. p. 7.</ref> In the same year, Baylor's profession was listed on the Parker county tax records and the United States census as "Indian killer".<ref name=":2" /> The rangers also practiced scalping, and, as Baylor later explained, for the benefit of his "eastern friends", this was to manipulate the Comanches' fear of losing their scalps—without which they could not hope to enjoy the best pleasures of their afterlife.<ref>Marshall 1990, p. 112.</ref>
In 1860 he commanded a company of rangers in what was known as the Buffalo Hunt.<ref name=":2" /> There were some 300 men in the expedition,<ref name=":2" /> and Baylor he was leader of a company of 33 frontiersmen.<ref name=":4" /> The [[Comanche]]s generally gave them a wide berth, although Baylor's men killed some Comanche men.<ref name=":2" /> The rangers discovered the [[Scalping|scalps]] of a babe and a woman with braided hair, both adorning the shield of a chief whom they had killed.<ref>Marshall 1990, p. 108.</ref> The campaign lasted six weeks and was the first extended service which Baylor saw.<ref name=":4">''El Paso Herald'', April 2, 1916. p. 7.</ref> In the same year, Baylor's profession was listed on the Parker county tax records and the United States census as "Indian killer".<ref name=":2" /> The rangers also practiced scalping, and, as Baylor later explained, for the benefit of his "eastern friends", this was to manipulate the Comanches' fear of losing their scalps—without which they could not hope to enjoy the best pleasures of their afterlife.<ref>Marshall 1990, p. 112.</ref>

== Civil War ==
== Civil War ==
[[File:George Wythe Baylor feud.jpg|thumb|Baylor in [[Uniforms of the Confederate States Armed Forces|uniform]], 1861–65|253x253px]]
[[File:George Wythe Baylor feud.jpg|thumb|Baylor in [[Uniforms of the Confederate States Armed Forces|uniform]], 1861–65|253x253px]]
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Baylor was present at the capture of the United States regulars near [[Fort Fillmore]] in New Mexico, and in the following fights in the Louisiana [[Red River campaign]]: [[Battle of Mansfield|Mansfield]], [[Battle of Pleasant Hill|Pleasant Hill]], [[Battle of Monett's Ferry|Monett's Ferry]], Marksville, [[Battle of Mansura|Mansura]] and Yellow Bayou.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":0" /> He took part in the pursuit of Union General [[Nathaniel P. Banks|Banks]].<ref name=":6" /> Since Colonel [[Walter P. Lane]] was wounded at Mansfield, Baylor took command of the brigade until the close of the [[Red River campaign]].<ref name=":6" /> Baylor's brigade captured the ''City Belle'' and the troops aboard on May 3, 1864. His brigade destroyed the {{USS|Covington|1863|6}}, and captured the {{USS|Signal|1862|6}} and transport ''John Warner'' on May 5, 1864.<ref>Smith 2010, pp. 214–216.</ref>{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|pp=203–204}} His troops captured the ''Warren'', a steamboat loaded with supplies and troops going up the [[Red River of the South|Red River]] in Louisiana.<ref name=":6" /> At the battle of Mansfield his regiment was in Lane's brigade which struck the right wing of the Union force.{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|p=91}} Mansfield was a smashing Confederate success, with the victors capturing 1,541 Union soldiers, 20 cannons, and 175 wagons.{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|p=104}} However, Confederate losses were substantial, including General [[Alfred Mouton]] killed.{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|p=97}} At the [[battle of Monett's Ferry]], Baylor was assigned to take command of the left flank of the Confederate force.<ref>Scott, ed. 1891, p. 616.</ref>{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|pp=179–181}}
Baylor was present at the capture of the United States regulars near [[Fort Fillmore]] in New Mexico, and in the following fights in the Louisiana [[Red River campaign]]: [[Battle of Mansfield|Mansfield]], [[Battle of Pleasant Hill|Pleasant Hill]], [[Battle of Monett's Ferry|Monett's Ferry]], Marksville, [[Battle of Mansura|Mansura]] and Yellow Bayou.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":0" /> He took part in the pursuit of Union General [[Nathaniel P. Banks|Banks]].<ref name=":6" /> Since Colonel [[Walter P. Lane]] was wounded at Mansfield, Baylor took command of the brigade until the close of the [[Red River campaign]].<ref name=":6" /> Baylor's brigade captured the ''City Belle'' and the troops aboard on May 3, 1864. His brigade destroyed the {{USS|Covington|1863|6}}, and captured the {{USS|Signal|1862|6}} and transport ''John Warner'' on May 5, 1864.<ref>Smith 2010, pp. 214–216.</ref>{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|pp=203–204}} His troops captured the ''Warren'', a steamboat loaded with supplies and troops going up the [[Red River of the South|Red River]] in Louisiana.<ref name=":6" /> At the battle of Mansfield his regiment was in Lane's brigade which struck the right wing of the Union force.{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|p=91}} Mansfield was a smashing Confederate success, with the victors capturing 1,541 Union soldiers, 20 cannons, and 175 wagons.{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|p=104}} However, Confederate losses were substantial, including General [[Alfred Mouton]] killed.{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|p=97}} At the [[battle of Monett's Ferry]], Baylor was assigned to take command of the left flank of the Confederate force.<ref>Scott, ed. 1891, p. 616.</ref>{{sfn|Brooksher|1998|pp=179–181}}
[[File:Maj. Gen. John A. Wharton.jpg|left|thumb|236x236px|John A. Wharton, 1863–65]]
[[File:MAJ. GEN. JOHN A. WHARTON (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|236x236px|John A. Wharton, 1863–65]]
While the promised regiment of Texas rangers was never raised, because of the coming of the close of the Civil War, Colonel Baylor retained his rank, and it was a dispute over this that led him to kill General [[John A. Wharton]] during a heated quarrel on April 6, 1865,<ref name=":4" /> at the headquarters of General [[John B. Magruder]] in the Fannin Hotel in [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]].<ref name=":0" /> They argued, reportedly about "military matters" related to the reorganization of the [[Trans-Mississippi Department]], and Wharton repeatedly struck Baylor in the face, calling him a liar; then Baylor drew his revolver and shot Wharton, who was unarmed and died instantly.<ref name=":0" /> Baylor was tried three times before he was finally acquitted after the war.<ref name=":4" />
While the promised regiment of Texas rangers was never raised, because of the coming of the close of the Civil War, Colonel Baylor retained his rank, and it was a dispute over this that led him to kill General [[John A. Wharton]] during a heated quarrel on April 6, 1865,<ref name=":4" /> at the headquarters of General [[John B. Magruder]] in the Fannin Hotel in [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]].<ref name=":0" /> They argued, reportedly about "military matters" related to the reorganization of the [[Trans-Mississippi Department]], and Wharton repeatedly struck Baylor in the face, calling him a liar; then Baylor drew his revolver and shot Wharton, who was unarmed and died instantly.<ref name=":0" /> Baylor was tried three times before he was finally acquitted after the war.<ref name=":4" />


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# Mary Courtenay, born June 11, 1874.<ref name=":7" />
# Mary Courtenay, born June 11, 1874.<ref name=":7" />


Of the foregoing children, Helen was married three times: first, to [[James B. Gillett|James Gillett]]; second, to Captain [[Frank Jones (Texas Ranger)|Frank Jones]] of the Texas rangers, who was killed in a skirmish with a band of outlaws; third, to Captain Merwin Lee.<ref name=":7" /> By her first husband, she left one son, Harper Gillett, and also a son by her second husband, Frank Jones.<ref name=":7" /> She died at Monterey, Mexico, on May 25, 1903.<ref name=":7" /> Colonel Baylor's wife, Sallie, died in Guadlajara, Mexico, in 1904, and was buried there.<ref name=":7" />
Of the foregoing children, Helen was married three times: first, to [[James B. Gillett|James Gillett]]; second, to Captain [[Frank Jones (Texas Ranger)|Frank Jones]] of the Texas rangers, who was killed in a skirmish with a band of outlaws; third, to Captain Merwin Lee.<ref name=":7" /> By her first husband, she left one son, Harper Gillett, and also a son by her second husband, Frank Jones.<ref name=":7" /> She died at Monterey, Mexico, on May 25, 1903.<ref name=":7" /> Colonel Baylor's wife, Sallie, died in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1904, and was buried there.<ref name=":7" />


== See also ==
== See also ==
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* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1914 |title=Children of John W. Baylor, First Son of Walker Baylor |encyclopedia=Baylor's History of the Baylors, 1550–1914 |publisher=LeRoy Journal Printing Company |url=https://archive.org/details/baylorshistoryof00bayl/page/28/mode/2up?view=theater |last1=Baylor |first1=Orval Walker |pages=29–32 |last2=Baylor |first2=Henry Bedinger}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1914 |title=Children of John W. Baylor, First Son of Walker Baylor |encyclopedia=Baylor's History of the Baylors, 1550–1914 |publisher=LeRoy Journal Printing Company |url=https://archive.org/details/baylorshistoryof00bayl/page/28/mode/2up?view=theater |last1=Baylor |first1=Orval Walker |pages=29–32 |last2=Baylor |first2=Henry Bedinger}}
* {{cite book |last=Brooksher |first=William Riley |title=War Along the Bayous: The 1864 Red River Campaign in Louisiana |publisher=Brassey's |year=1998 |isbn=1-57488-139-6 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=131, 179, 180, 220}}
* {{cite book |last=Brooksher |first=William Riley |title=War Along the Bayous: The 1864 Red River Campaign in Louisiana |publisher=Brassey's |year=1998 |isbn=1-57488-139-6 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=131, 179, 180, 220}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe (1832–1916) |encyclopedia=[[Handbook of Texas|Handbook of Texas Online]] |publisher=Texas State Historical Asssociation |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/baylor-george-wythe |access-date=April 5, 2023 |last=Cutrer |first=Thomas W. |date=January 31, 2017}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe (1832–1916) |encyclopedia=[[Handbook of Texas|Handbook of Texas Online]] |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/baylor-george-wythe |access-date=April 5, 2023 |last=Cutrer |first=Thomas W. |date=January 31, 2017}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Doyle |url=https://archive.org/details/cryunheardstoryo0000doyl/page/60/mode/2up?view=theater |title=A Cry Unhead: The Story of Indian Attacks In and Around Parker County, Texas, 1858–1872 |publisher=Annetta Valley Farm Press |year=1990 |location=Aledo, TX |pages=68, 108, 112–113}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Doyle |url=https://archive.org/details/cryunheardstoryo0000doyl/page/60/mode/2up?view=theater |title=A Cry Unhead: The Story of Indian Attacks In and Around Parker County, Texas, 1858–1872 |publisher=Annetta Valley Farm Press |year=1990 |location=Aledo, TX |pages=68, 108, 112–113}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=George Wythe Baylor |encyclopedia=Personnel of the Texas State Government, XXth Legislature |publisher=Press of the City Printing Company |url=https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/members/bios/Personnel_of_the_Texas_state_government_1887.pdf |last=Daniell |first=L. E. |date=1887 |publication-place=Austin, TX |pages=104–106}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=George Wythe Baylor |encyclopedia=Personnel of the Texas State Government, XXth Legislature |publisher=Press of the City Printing Company |url=https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/members/bios/Personnel_of_the_Texas_state_government_1887.pdf |last=Daniell |first=L. E. |date=1887 |publication-place=Austin, TX |pages=104–106}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077700288&view=1up&seq=638 |title=The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies |date=1891 |publisher=Government Printing Office |editor-last=Scott |editor-first=Robert N. |series=Series I |volume=XXXIV. Part I |publication-place=Washington, D.C. |pages=112, 167, 616, 625}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077700288&view=1up&seq=638 |title=The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies |date=1891 |publisher=Government Printing Office |editor-last=Scott |editor-first=Robert N. |series=Series I |volume=XXXIV. Part I |publication-place=Washington, D.C. |pages=112, 167, 616, 625}}
* {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Myron J., Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmWLppXvSVoC |title=Tinclads in the Civil War: Union Light-Draught Gunboat Operations on Western Waters, 1862–1865 |publisher=McFarland & Co. |year=2010 |location=Jefferson, NC |pages=216|isbn=9780786457038 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Myron J. Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmWLppXvSVoC |title=Tinclads in the Civil War: Union Light-Draught Gunboat Operations on Western Waters, 1862–1865 |publisher=McFarland & Co. |year=2010 |location=Jefferson, NC |page=216|isbn=9780786457038 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Waller |first=John L. |date=June 1943 |title=Colonel George Wythe Baylor |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42865033 |journal=The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=23–35 |jstor=42865033 |no-pp= |via=}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Waller |first=John L. |date=June 1943 |title=Colonel George Wythe Baylor |journal=The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=23–35 |jstor=42865033 }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1912 |title=Col. George Wythe Baylor |encyclopedia=Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray |publisher=Smith & Lamar |url=https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesofbv1year/page/n109/mode/2up?view=theater |author-link= |editor-last=Yeary |editor-first=Mamie |editor-link=Mamie Ann Yeary |publication-place=Dallas, TX |page=45}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1912 |title=Col. George Wythe Baylor |encyclopedia=Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray |publisher=Smith & Lamar |url=https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesofbv1year/page/n109/mode/2up?view=theater |editor-last=Yeary |editor-first=Mamie |editor-link=Mamie Ann Yeary |publication-place=Dallas, TX |page=45}}
* {{Cite news |date=April 2, 1916 |orig-date= |title=Col. George Baylor Pioneer, Is Dead |pages=7 |work=[[El Paso Herald]] |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth137565/m1/7/}} {{Source-attribution}}
* {{Cite news |date=April 2, 1916 |title=Col. George Baylor Pioneer, Is Dead |page=7 |work=[[El Paso Herald]] |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth137565/m1/7/}} {{Source-attribution}}
* {{Cite web |title=George W. Baylor |url=https://www.texasranger.org/texas-ranger-museum/hall-of-fame/george-w-baylor/ |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=[[Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum]] |publication-place=Waco, TX}}
* {{Cite web |title=George W. Baylor |url=https://www.texasranger.org/texas-ranger-museum/hall-of-fame/george-w-baylor/ |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=[[Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum]] |publication-place=Waco, TX}}
* {{Cite web |title=George Wythe Baylor |url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeleaders/members/memberdisplay.cfm?memberID=3941 |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=Legislative Reference Library of Texas}}
* {{Cite web |title=George Wythe Baylor |url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeleaders/members/memberdisplay.cfm?memberID=3941 |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=Legislative Reference Library of Texas}}
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* {{Cite book |last=Gillett |first=James B. |url=https://archive.org/details/sixyearswithtexa00gill/page/192/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881 |publisher=Von Boeckmann-Jones Co. |year=1921 |location=Austin, TX |pages=148, 197–325 |author-link=James B. Gillett}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gillett |first=James B. |url=https://archive.org/details/sixyearswithtexa00gill/page/192/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881 |publisher=Von Boeckmann-Jones Co. |year=1921 |location=Austin, TX |pages=148, 197–325 |author-link=James B. Gillett}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gillett |first=James B. |date=February 6, 1926 |title="Injun Fightin'" with the Texas Rangers |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030081114&view=1up&seq=388 |journal=[[The Literary Digest]] |volume=88 |issue=6 |pages=41–50}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gillett |first=James B. |date=February 6, 1926 |title="Injun Fightin'" with the Texas Rangers |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030081114&view=1up&seq=388 |journal=[[The Literary Digest]] |volume=88 |issue=6 |pages=41–50}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/trackingtexasran0000unse/page/276/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Tracking the Texas Rangers: The Nineteenth Century |publisher=University of North Texas Press |year=2012 |editor-last=Glasrud |editor-first=Bruce A. |location=Denton, TX |pages=268, 276 |isbn=9781574414653 |editor-last2=Weiss |editor-first2=Harold J., Jr.}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/trackingtexasran0000unse/page/276/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Tracking the Texas Rangers: The Nineteenth Century |publisher=University of North Texas Press |year=2012 |editor-last=Glasrud |editor-first=Bruce A. |location=Denton, TX |pages=268, 276 |isbn=9781574414653 |editor-last2=Weiss |editor-first2=Harold J. Jr.}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/majorproblemsint0000unse/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Major Problems in Texas History |publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning |year=2002 |editor-last=Haynes |editor-first=Sam W. |location=United States |pages=272, 281–284 |isbn=9780395858332 |editor-last2=Wintz |editor-first2=Cary D.}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/majorproblemsint0000unse/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Major Problems in Texas History |publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning |year=2002 |editor-last=Haynes |editor-first=Sam W. |location=United States |pages=272, 281–284 |isbn=9780395858332 |editor-last2=Wintz |editor-first2=Cary D.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hudgins |first=Merle Reue |title=War Between the States Changed Texas Forever: A Study of Pre Civil War, Civil War and Post Civil War |publisher=Kemp & Company |year=2017 |volume=2 |location=Harvard Houston, TX |pages=563}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hudgins |first=Merle Reue |title=War Between the States Changed Texas Forever: A Study of Pre Civil War, Civil War and Post Civil War |publisher=Kemp & Company |year=2017 |volume=2 |location=Harvard Houston, TX |page=563}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/CIVIL%20WAR%20MARINE%20%20A%20Diary%20of%20The%20Red%20River%20Expedition,%201864%20PCN%2019000317000.pdf |title=Civil War Marine: A Diary of the Red River Expedition, 1864 |publisher=USMC History and Museums Division |year=1975 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=James P. |location=Washington, D.C. |editor-last2=Keuchel |editor-first2=Edward F.}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/CIVIL%20WAR%20MARINE%20%20A%20Diary%20of%20The%20Red%20River%20Expedition,%201864%20PCN%2019000317000.pdf |title=Civil War Marine: A Diary of the Red River Expedition, 1864 |publisher=USMC History and Museums Division |year=1975 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=James P. |location=Washington, D.C. |editor-last2=Keuchel |editor-first2=Edward F.}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1898 |title=The Texas Ranger Service and History |encyclopedia=A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 |publisher=William G. Scarff |location=Dallas, TX |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth587006/m1/340/ |last=King |first=Wilburn Hill |author-link=Wilburn Hill King |editor-last=Wooten |editor-first=D. G. |volume=2 |pages=329–367}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1898 |title=The Texas Ranger Service and History |encyclopedia=A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 |publisher=William G. Scarff |location=Dallas, TX |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth587006/m1/340/ |last=King |first=Wilburn Hill |author-link=Wilburn Hill King |editor-last=Wooten |editor-first=D. G. |volume=2 |pages=329–367}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lea |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HtHKAAAACAAJ |title=Ranger Escort West of the Pecos |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1965 |isbn=9780292770034 |author-link=Thomas C. Lea III}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lea |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HtHKAAAACAAJ |title=Ranger Escort West of the Pecos |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1965 |isbn=9780292770034 |author-link=Thomas C. Lea III}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Mangum |first=Neil C. |date=1997 |title=[Review of Into the Far Wild Country] |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41696389 |journal=[[The Journal of Arizona History]] |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=408–409|jstor=41696389 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Mangum |first=Neil C. |date=1997 |title=[Review of Into the Far Wild Country] |journal=[[The Journal of Arizona History]] |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=408–409|jstor=41696389 }}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Matthews |first=James T. |title=Major's Confederate Cavalry Brigade |date=August 1991 |degree=MA |publisher=Texas Tech University |url=https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/59975/31295007044984.pdf?sequence=1}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Matthews |first=James T. |title=Major's Confederate Cavalry Brigade |date=August 1991 |degree=MA |publisher=Texas Tech University |url=https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/59975/31295007044984.pdf?sequence=1}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Second Texas Cavalry, Arizona Brigade |encyclopedia=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Asssociation |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/second-texas-cavalry-arizona-brigade |access-date=March 18, 2023 |last=Matthews |first=James T. |date=April 11, 2011}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Second Texas Cavalry, Arizona Brigade |encyclopedia=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Asssociation |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/second-texas-cavalry-arizona-brigade |access-date=March 18, 2023 |last=Matthews |first=James T. |date=April 11, 2011}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1898 |title=History of Green's Brigade |encyclopedia=A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 |publisher=William G. Scarff |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth587006/m1/772/ |last=McLeary |first=J. H. |editor-last=Wooten |editor-first=D. G. |publication-place=Dallas, TX |volume=2 |page=737}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1898 |title=History of Green's Brigade |encyclopedia=A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 |publisher=William G. Scarff |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth587006/m1/772/ |last=McLeary |first=J. H. |editor-last=Wooten |editor-first=D. G. |publication-place=Dallas, TX |volume=2 |page=737}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofla0000metz/page/16/mode/2up?view=theater |last=Metz |first=Leon Claire |date=2003 |publication-place=New York, NY |pages=17–18}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofla0000metz/page/16/mode/2up?view=theater |last=Metz |first=Leon Claire |date=2003 |publication-place=New York, NY |pages=17–18}}
* {{Citation |last=Noirsain |first=Serge |title=The Arizona Brigade: The Legion That Never Set Foot in the Desert |url=http://www.chab-belgium.com/pdf/english/Arizona%20Brigade.pdf |work= |pages=8–9, 16 |access-date= |publisher=Confederate Historical Association of Belgium |translator-last=Hawkins |translator-first=Gerald}}
* {{Citation |last=Noirsain |first=Serge |title=The Arizona Brigade: The Legion That Never Set Foot in the Desert |url=http://www.chab-belgium.com/pdf/english/Arizona%20Brigade.pdf |pages=8–9, 16 |publisher=Confederate Historical Association of Belgium |translator-last=Hawkins |translator-first=Gerald}}
* {{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Charles M., III |url=https://archive.org/details/menwhowearstarst00robi/mode/2up?view=theater |title=The Men Who Wear the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers |publisher=Random House |year=2000 |location=New York, NY |pages=241|isbn=9780679456490 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Charles M. III |url=https://archive.org/details/menwhowearstarst00robi/mode/2up?view=theater |title=The Men Who Wear the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers |publisher=Random House |year=2000 |location=New York, NY |page=241|isbn=9780679456490 }}
* {{Cite web |last=Selcer |first=Richard F. |date=December 31, 2019 |title=In the Confederacy's Last Days, Two Texans Face Off in Futile Feud |url=https://www.historynet.com/in-the-confederacys-last-days-two-texans-face-off-in-futile-feud/ |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=[[HistoryNet]]}}
* {{Cite web |last=Selcer |first=Richard F. |date=December 31, 2019 |title=In the Confederacy's Last Days, Two Texans Face Off in Futile Feud |url=https://www.historynet.com/in-the-confederacys-last-days-two-texans-face-off-in-futile-feud/ |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=[[HistoryNet]]}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe |encyclopedia=Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDBzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |last=Smith, Jr. |first=Myron J. |date=2015 |publication-place=Jefferson, NC |pages=19|isbn=9781476616988 }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe |encyclopedia=Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDBzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |last=Smith Jr. |first=Myron J. |date=2015 |publication-place=Jefferson, NC |page=19|isbn=9781476616988 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Thrapp |first=Dan L. |url=https://archive.org/details/victoriomimbres00thra_0/page/254/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1974 |publication-place=Norman, OK |pages=252–255, 293–300|isbn=9780806110769 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Thrapp |first=Dan L. |url=https://archive.org/details/victoriomimbres00thra_0/page/254/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1974 |publication-place=Norman, OK |pages=252–255, 293–300|isbn=9780806110769 }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography |publisher=The Arthur H. Clark Company |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaoffr0001thra/page/74/mode/2up?view=theater |last=Thrapp |first=Dan L. |date=1990 |publication-place=Spokane, WA |volume=1}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baylor, George Wythe |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography |publisher=The Arthur H. Clark Company |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaoffr0001thra/page/74/mode/2up?view=theater |last=Thrapp |first=Dan L. |date=1990 |publication-place=Spokane, WA |volume=1}}
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* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1898 |title=Texan Troops in the Confederate Army |encyclopedia=A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 |publisher=William G. Scarff |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth587006/m1/649/ |editor-last=Wooten |editor-first=D. G. |publication-place=Dallas, TX |volume=2 |page=614}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1898 |title=Texan Troops in the Confederate Army |encyclopedia=A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 |publisher=William G. Scarff |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth587006/m1/649/ |editor-last=Wooten |editor-first=D. G. |publication-place=Dallas, TX |volume=2 |page=614}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Marcus J. |title=Texas in the War, 1861–1865 |last2=Simpson |first2=Harold B. |publisher=Hill Junior College Press |year=1965 |location=Hillsboro, TX}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Marcus J. |title=Texas in the War, 1861–1865 |last2=Simpson |first2=Harold B. |publisher=Hill Junior College Press |year=1965 |location=Hillsboro, TX}}
* {{Cite news |date=December 30, 1886 |title=Governmental |pages=6 |work=[[Austin American-Statesman|Austin Weekly Statesman]] |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth278059/m1/6/}}
* {{Cite news |date=December 30, 1886 |title=Governmental |page=6 |work=[[Austin American-Statesman|Austin Weekly Statesman]] |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth278059/m1/6/}}
* {{Cite news |date=March 28, 1916 |title=Indian Fighter Is Called to Reward / Col. G.W. Baylor, Veteran of Many Battles, Is Dead |pages=10 |work=[[San Antonio Express-News|San Antonio Express]] |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth434417/m1/10/}}
* {{Cite news |date=March 28, 1916 |title=Indian Fighter Is Called to Reward / Col. G.W. Baylor, Veteran of Many Battles, Is Dead |page=10 |work=[[San Antonio Express-News|San Antonio Express]] |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth434417/m1/10/}}
* {{Cite journal |date=April 1898 |title=Of a Noted Military Family |url=https://archive.org/details/confederateveter06conf/page/164/mode/2up?view=theater |journal=[[Confederate Veteran]] |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=164–165}}
* {{Cite journal |date=April 1898 |title=Of a Noted Military Family |url=https://archive.org/details/confederateveter06conf/page/164/mode/2up?view=theater |journal=[[Confederate Veteran]] |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=164–165}}
* {{Cite magazine |date=October 13, 1961 |title=Texas Lawmen / Major George Wythe Baylor |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_texas-observer_1961-10-13_53_28/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater |magazine=[[The Texas Observer]] |pages=6}}
* {{Cite magazine |date=October 13, 1961 |title=Texas Lawmen / Major George Wythe Baylor |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_texas-observer_1961-10-13_53_28/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater |magazine=[[The Texas Observer]] |page=6}}
* {{Cite journal |date=April 1905 |title=Wife of Colonel G. W. Baylor |url=https://archive.org/details/confederateveter13conf/page/176/mode/2up?view=theater |journal=Confederate Veteran |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=176}}
* {{Cite journal |date=April 1905 |title=Wife of Colonel G. W. Baylor |url=https://archive.org/details/confederateveter13conf/page/176/mode/2up?view=theater |journal=Confederate Veteran |volume=13 |issue=4 |page=176}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
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[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives]]
[[Category:People of Texas in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:People of Texas in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:19th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:19th-century American legislators]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American people of French descent]]
[[Category:American people of French descent]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Mexico]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Mexico]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:People acquitted of murder]]
[[Category:American people acquitted of murder]]

Latest revision as of 04:40, 11 November 2024

George Wythe Baylor
George W. Baylor
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 80th district
In office
January 11, 1887 – January 8, 1889
Preceded byJohn Bailey
Succeeded byGeorge B. Stevenson
Personal details
Born(1832-08-24)August 24, 1832
Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory
DiedMarch 24, 1916(1916-03-24) (aged 83)
San Antonio, Texas, US
Political partyDemocratic
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States
Branch Confederate States Army
Rank Colonel
Commands2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment (Arizona Brigade)
Battles

George Wythe Baylor (August 24, 1832 – March 24, 1916) was a Confederate cavalry officer from Texas, and a veteran of many battles of the American Civil War. He was also a noted lawman and frontiersman with the Texas Rangers.

Born at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, in 1832, Baylor came to Texas at the end of 1845 as a boy and was educated there. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate States Army, and was elected first lieutenant, 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles. He witnessed the death of General Johnston at Shiloh, and fought in many engagements of the Red River campaign in Louisiana in 1864. He was promoted to major, and later colonel, by President Davis, although his promised regiment of Texas Rangers was never raised owing to the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865.

After the war, Baylor commanded Texas Rangers in hunting Comanches and Apaches in Texas and across the border into Mexico, often in pursuit of the Apache chief Victorio and his raiding band. He was also an elected representative of the Texas State Government, representing El Paso from 1887 to 1889. He later retired to Guadalajara, Mexico, and lived there for some years, but was compelled to return to the United States in 1913 due to the Mexican Revolution. He died in San Antonio in 1916.

Early life

[edit]

George Wythe Baylor was born at Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, on August 24, 1832.[1] His father, an army surgeon in the 7th Infantry Regiment,[2][3] was John Walker Baylor, eldest son of Major Walker Baylor, of Bourbon County, Kentucky, whose wife was Jane, née Bledsoe, a sister of Jesse Bledsoe, of Kentucky.[1] The Baylor lineage traces their origin to Devon, England.[4] His mother was Sophia Maria, née Weidner, of Baltimore, Maryland, her father being Henreich Weidner, of Hessen Cassel, Germany, and her mother being Marie Chartelle, of an old Huguenot family.[1][5] He was their fifth son and eighth child.[6]

His father moved from Bourbon county, Kentucky, to Fort Gibson, with his young family, going down from Louisville to the mouth of the Arkansas River on a keel boat, and this boat was dragged up the river to Fort Gibson.[7] His mother took along a lot of fruit trees, roses and plants.[7]

His father dying when he was four years old, his mother, then living on Second Creek, Mississippi, near Natchez, went to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, then to Little Rock, and finally to Fort Gibson again.[7] In December 1845, Baylor came to Texas while still a boy, stopped at Ross Prairie, Fayette county, and went to school for a while to Professor William Halsey at Rutersville, and afterwards was sent by his uncle, Judge R. E. B. Baylor, to Baylor University, at Independence, Texas, then under the control of Henry Graves.[7]

Richardson's New Map of the State of Texas, Including Parts of Mexico, 1859

He went from school to San Antonio, and, lured by the gold rush, left there in March 1854 for California, five months being required to make the trip.[7] He remained in California five years, and, although brought out by the Democratic party in 1859 for the Legislature, he preferred to come back to Texas.[7] Returning to San Antonio in May 1859, he left for Parker county.[7]

In 1860 he commanded a company of rangers in what was known as the Buffalo Hunt.[7] There were some 300 men in the expedition,[7] and Baylor he was leader of a company of 33 frontiersmen.[8] The Comanches generally gave them a wide berth, although Baylor's men killed some Comanche men.[7] The rangers discovered the scalps of a babe and a woman with braided hair, both adorning the shield of a chief whom they had killed.[9] The campaign lasted six weeks and was the first extended service which Baylor saw.[8] In the same year, Baylor's profession was listed on the Parker county tax records and the United States census as "Indian killer".[7] The rangers also practiced scalping, and, as Baylor later explained, for the benefit of his "eastern friends", this was to manipulate the Comanches' fear of losing their scalps—without which they could not hope to enjoy the best pleasures of their afterlife.[10]

Civil War

[edit]
Baylor in uniform, 1861–65

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Baylor enlisted in the Confederate States Army, joining Captain Hamner's company (Company H, 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles) at Weatherford on March 17, 1861, and was elected first lieutenant, the company being attached to Colonel John S. Ford's regiment of cavalry.[7][11] He enlisted for three years and was sworn in as first lieutenant of his company in San Antonio in May 1861.[8][11] His brother, John R. Baylor, was lieutenant colonel of the regiment.[8] He went with his company to Fort Clark, and from there went to El Paso as his brother's adjutant.[8]

Ford's regiment had four companies.[11] It went to El Paso, there became Pyron's regiment and enlisted more men and companies, and then went to Louisiana under General Thomas Green.[11]

Shortly after his arrival in El Paso the first regiment of the Union Army Baylor was called upon to fight was that to which his father had been attached during his lifetime, the 7th Infantry, and he and his brother had relatives and a large number of friends in its ranks.[8] Though there were 750 men in the Union forces and a little over 300 in those of the Confederates, after a short struggle the entire Union regiment was captured.[8]

Henry Mosler's drawing of the death of Johnston at Shiloh

From this time Baylor's advancement in rank was rapid.[8] After being stationed for a short time at San Augustine Springs, in New Mexico (afterwards Cox's ranch), he received an appointment from General Albert Sidney Johnston as his chief aide-de-camp and went to join Johnston's staff at Bowling Green, Kentucky.[8] He remained on Johnston's staff until the general was killed at Shiloh, and held his head in his dying moments.[8][7]

After General Johnston's death Jefferson Davis promoted Baylor to the rank of major, with authority to raise a battalion of Texas rangers for service in the Confederate cause.[8] The battalion was later increased to a regiment and Baylor's rank raised to that of colonel (2nd Arizona Regiment) by President Davis's order.[8][11]

Covington and Signal, disabled by Baylor's men on May 5, 1864

Baylor was present at the capture of the United States regulars near Fort Fillmore in New Mexico, and in the following fights in the Louisiana Red River campaign: Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, Monett's Ferry, Marksville, Mansura and Yellow Bayou.[11][5] He took part in the pursuit of Union General Banks.[11] Since Colonel Walter P. Lane was wounded at Mansfield, Baylor took command of the brigade until the close of the Red River campaign.[11] Baylor's brigade captured the City Belle and the troops aboard on May 3, 1864. His brigade destroyed the USS Covington, and captured the USS Signal and transport John Warner on May 5, 1864.[12][13] His troops captured the Warren, a steamboat loaded with supplies and troops going up the Red River in Louisiana.[11] At the battle of Mansfield his regiment was in Lane's brigade which struck the right wing of the Union force.[14] Mansfield was a smashing Confederate success, with the victors capturing 1,541 Union soldiers, 20 cannons, and 175 wagons.[15] However, Confederate losses were substantial, including General Alfred Mouton killed.[16] At the battle of Monett's Ferry, Baylor was assigned to take command of the left flank of the Confederate force.[17][18]

John A. Wharton, 1863–65

While the promised regiment of Texas rangers was never raised, because of the coming of the close of the Civil War, Colonel Baylor retained his rank, and it was a dispute over this that led him to kill General John A. Wharton during a heated quarrel on April 6, 1865,[8] at the headquarters of General John B. Magruder in the Fannin Hotel in Galveston.[5] They argued, reportedly about "military matters" related to the reorganization of the Trans-Mississippi Department, and Wharton repeatedly struck Baylor in the face, calling him a liar; then Baylor drew his revolver and shot Wharton, who was unarmed and died instantly.[5] Baylor was tried three times before he was finally acquitted after the war.[8]

By his own account, Baylor was never wounded or made prisoner, but was badly scared by being hit on the nose at Shiloh on April 6, 1862, and had a horse shot under him at Yellow Bayou, Louisiana, in 1864.[11]

Texas Rangers

[edit]
Léon Trousset: View of El Paso, 1885 (El Paso Museum of Art)

After the close of the war Baylor lived in Galveston, Dallas and San Antonio, and in 1879 was sent out as second or junior lieutenant of Company C (Harrington's company), Texas Rangers, to El Paso, by Governor Roberts.[19][8] Baylor left San Antonio on August 2, 1879, with his wife, two young daughters, and sister-in-law, two fully laden wagons, a piano, and a game cock with four hens.[5]

The Rio Grande Frontier, 1883

This was just after Mexicans had killed a number of Americans at San Elizario, El Paso County, and there was much excitement along the border.[8] His first fight with the Apaches was on October 7, three weeks after he got to his post,[19] when the Apaches made a raid.[8] One Mexican had been killed by the Apaches and a party of Mexicans went along with the Rangers in pursuit of them across the Rio Grande into Mexico.[8] Overtaking the band at 11 am, they fought with them until dark, killing three Apaches.[8] One horse killed was the Rangers' total loss.[8]

Tom Lea: Ranger Escort West of the Pecos, 1965

It was shortly after this that Baylor had his first experience with Victorio and his band of Apaches.[8] The band had killed 33 of the citizens of the town of Carrizal (near what is now Villa Ahumada) in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.[8][19] A party of 15 had gone out against the Apaches, and had all been killed, and a relief party of 18 that had gone out in search of the first party had also been killed by the Apaches.[8] The citizens of El Paso del Norte (now Juarez) organized and asked Baylor and his Rangers to join their party to go in pursuit of Victorio.[8] Baylor consented, and when the two parties got together the Mexicans wanted him to take full charge of the expedition.[8] Baylor, however, objected that, they being on Mexican soil, a Mexican ought to command, whereupon an old pioneer Mexican, Francisco Escajeda, was made leader, and Baylor served as second in command.[8] Nothing came of the expedition, however, for, upon scouring the neighborhood of the raid, it was found that the Apaches had crossed over again into New Mexico, and could not be located.[8][5] Thirty-two bodies of the Mexicans were found and buried.[8] A number of saddles were also found.[8]

Apache prisoners and scalps from Tres Castillos, October 1880

Another expedition into Mexico that came to naught for the Americans, soon followed.[8] In the meantime Baylor had been made captain of Company A, Texas Rangers.[8][5] With 20 rangers under his command, Baylor joined Colonel Joaquin Terrazas, described by the El Paso Herald as "an old Indian fighter", in Chihuahua.[8] The United States army sent Lieutenant Parker with 68 Chiricauhua Apache Scouts also to join Terrazas, and 20 black soldiers under Lieutenant Manney, to aid in the campaign against the Apaches.[8] After following the trail of the Apaches for some time, they succeeded in locating them, but the Mexicans became uneasy because of the presence of the Chiricauhua Apaches in the party and expressed the fear that they would side with Victorio should he make a good showing in a fight.[8] "For they are relatives," said the Mexicans.[8] On the other hand, they argued if Victorio was defeated the Chiricauhua Apaches would want all the saddles.[8] For these and probably other reasons, Terrazas announced that he had orders to not allow the Americans to remain on Mexican soil, and so the rangers and the United States troops withdrew, while Terrazas and his Mexicans met Victorio at Tres Castillos, and killed a great number of the Apaches, nearly annihilating the band.[8]

"The Indian's Story of the Killing of Victorio's Band", 1919

The final extermination of Victorio's band came about as the result of the Apaches attacking a stage coach in Quitman canyon,[a] killing the driver, whose name was Morgan, and a passenger named Crenshaw.[8][20] Baylor went to the scene with 15 men and took up the trail of the Apaches.[8] He followed them for three days into Mexico and then back again into the United States.[8][20] He then telegraphed to Lieutenant Charles Nevell, who afterwards served as sheriff of El Paso County, and Nevell met him with 10 men at Eagle Springs.[8] The joint party again took up the trail, and overtook the Apaches at daybreak.[8] A small but bloody fight ensued on the morning of January 29, 1881,[20] in which all of the Apaches were either killed or wounded.[8] A woman[b] and two children, a boy and a girl, were captured.[8] This was the last such raid in Texas, and was the end of Victorio's band.[8][20]

Baylor was then placed in command of the Texas Rangers, with the rank of major, in command of a battalion to put down fence-cutting during the trouble which resulted from this practice.[8][5] He saw active service in that capacity, making a raid on an organized band in Nolan County which resulted in nine arrests.[8][19]

Later life

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Colonel Baylor in old age, in or before 1916

After this his active fighting service ended.[8] He resigned from the ranger service in 1885.[5] He was a member of the Texas state Legislature, elected in 1886 from El Paso (80th district), where he had lived for many years and was well known, to serve in the Texas House of Representatives, and was a prominent member in the House.[21][19] He served from January 11, 1887, to January 8, 1889.[21] He was also clerk of the district and circuit courts for some years.[20]

At some point Baylor left El Paso, and went to Guadalajara, Mexico, which was his home prior to the disruption of the Madero revolution, and where, except for visits to the United States and short residence in El Paso, he lived until ordered to leave the country by President Wilson in 1913.[8] While living in El Paso and after he went to Mexico, he was a frequent contributor of early reminiscences of the border to the El Paso Herald.[8] He died at San Antonio, Texas, on March 24, 1916, aged 83 years.[8] He was interred beside fellow Civil War veterans in the Confederate Cemetery in San Antonio.[20] A subordinate once called him "a hardy frontiersman who cared nothing for discipline … one of the best shots with firearms I ever saw."[22]

Personal life

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Sergeant J. B. Gillett, 1879

Baylor married Sallie (Sally) Garland, née Sydnor, of Houston, Texas, in 1863.[23] Their children were:

  1. Hel(l)en, born December 10, 1865;
  2. Sophie Marie, died in infancy;
  3. Mary Courtenay, born June 11, 1874.[23]

Of the foregoing children, Helen was married three times: first, to James Gillett; second, to Captain Frank Jones of the Texas rangers, who was killed in a skirmish with a band of outlaws; third, to Captain Merwin Lee.[23] By her first husband, she left one son, Harper Gillett, and also a son by her second husband, Frank Jones.[23] She died at Monterey, Mexico, on May 25, 1903.[23] Colonel Baylor's wife, Sallie, died in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1904, and was buried there.[23]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In some sources called "Whitman canyon".[8]
  2. ^ In the source called a "squaw".[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Daniell 1887, p. 104.
  2. ^ Webb 1993, p. 395.
  3. ^ Waller 1943, p. 23.
  4. ^ Genealogy of the Fitzhugh-Knox-Gordon-Sevier families. Foote & Davies. 1932. p. 16.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cutrer 2017.
  6. ^ Baylor; Baylor 1914, p. 31.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Daniell 1887, p. 105.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba El Paso Herald, April 2, 1916. p. 7.
  9. ^ Marshall 1990, p. 108.
  10. ^ Marshall 1990, p. 112.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Yeary, ed. 1912, p. 45.
  12. ^ Smith 2010, pp. 214–216.
  13. ^ Brooksher 1998, pp. 203–204.
  14. ^ Brooksher 1998, p. 91.
  15. ^ Brooksher 1998, p. 104.
  16. ^ Brooksher 1998, p. 97.
  17. ^ Scott, ed. 1891, p. 616.
  18. ^ Brooksher 1998, pp. 179–181.
  19. ^ a b c d e Daniell 1887, p. 106.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum.
  21. ^ a b Legislative Reference Library of Texas.
  22. ^ Allardice 2008, p. 57.
  23. ^ a b c d e f Baylor; Baylor 1914, p. 32.

Sources

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Further reading

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