WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1854
503
army in the campaigns of Monterey and Buena Vista. At this time he was a slender, quiet, modest man of about thirty-five, but he was the idol of his men and one of the most beloved characters in Texas. His own courage, and the daring and bravery of his men, caught the notice and admiration of the newspaper men of the time, and George W. Kendall of the New Orleans Picnyune, and other reporters made the fame of Ben McCulloch and his rangers known throughout the South. McCulloch came out of the Mexican War with the rank of major. He returned to Gonzales and to his profession of surveying. He spent most of his spare time reading history, and studying the campaigns of the great soldiers of the world. In 1849, he caught the "gold fever" and wentJ to California. There he became the sheriff of Sacramento Counl:Jy'; but he did not make-at least he did not save-a fortune, and by 1852, he was back again in Texas. In March, 1853, President Pierce appointed him marshal for the coast district of Texas, a position he continued to hold by reappointment by President Buchanan, until he decided to resign it in 1859. In the meantime, in 1858, he was appointed one of the two commissioners, who were sent to conciliate the Mormons in Utah, a task that was performed with success~ In February, 1861, with the rank of colonel, he was in command of the Texas troops which received the surrender of General Twiggs at San Antonio. Subsequently he was commissioned brigadier general in the Confederate army, and assigned to command troops in Missouri and Arkansas. Under General Price, he had chief command of the Confederates at the battle of Wilson Creek, Missouri, on August 10, 1861. This battle was reckoned an important Confederate victory. In the spring of 1862, under the conm1and of General Van Dorn, he led his brigade against the Union troops at the battle of Elkhorn Tavern, April· 8, 1862, and while reconnoitering the Federal lines at the opening of that engagement, he rode into a party of Union sharp-shooters, and was fatally wounded in the breast. His body was brought back to Texas and buried with military honors in the State cemetery at Austin. Later, McCulloch County was named in his honor. Ben McCulloch was never married, but many of his kinsmen, descendants of his brothers and sisters, live in Texas. For more detailed biographical materials see: Dixon and Kemp, H,n·oes of Sa,1L Jacinto, 81-83; Victor M. Rose, The Life and Se1'1Jices of Ben McCulloch (1888); Oran M. Roberts, "Texas," in C. A. Evans, Conf cderate Militmif History, XI, pp. 2.U-244; Dictiona,111 of Amc,-ican. Bioomvhy, XII, 5-6 (this is probably the best brief biography); H. H. Bancroft, History of Uta.h,, 1540-1880, 531; D. W. C. Baker, A Texas Scmv FJook, 271-272; Z. T. Fulmore, Th.e History cwd Geog- 1·avhy of Texas as Told fa Co1mty Names, 166; Sid Johnson, Texans Who Wore the Gray, 35-36; John H. Brown (ed.), The Enoyclo1>cdia. of tho Ne,v, West, 294-300; J. W. Wilbarger, Indian Depredations i1L Texas, 287-290: Bwgm7>hical Encyclopedia, of Texas (1880), 72-73; and many newspapers; also Ranger Papers, Texas State Library.
TO WASHINGTON D. MILLER 1
Senate Chamber, 2nd i?\Iarch 1854. My Dear Miller This morning so soon as I received your letter, I went to see Mr. Corcoranz and found him in n good humor.
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