William Edward Martin

Born Jan. 3, 1828 --- Died December 21, 1886

William Edward Martin (James Marion Martin´s father) was born in Indiana and died in Old Bagdad, Texas which is just west of Leander, Texas. He is shown in the 1860 census as living in Montgomery County, Texas in the household of G. D. Martin and his young family.

The census entry prior to the Martins is the household of Drury Wilson and his family that included his 18 year old daughter Nancy Catherine . Drury Wilson had bought a lot in Danville, Texas in about 1849 and moved there from Robertson County, Tenn. in about 1850. Nancy Catherine Wilson and William Edward Martin were married in Montgomery County Texas on August 9, 1860.

The Confederate Act of April 16, 1862, called for enlistment of most men between the ages of 18 and 35. Those under and older than these ages were not required to serve. Records in Texas state archives show that he joined the "Travis Mounted Rifles, company Travis County, 26th Brigade, under the command of Capt. James A. Thompson on April 13, 1862. They were assigned to the 31st Texas Calvary Regiment, CSA.

His unit was moved to Galveston, Texas and remained there until late 1862.

The Federal blockade of Galveston began on July 2, 1861 with the arrival of U.S.S. South Carolina. Despite the patriotic fervor for the Southern cause, though, many people came to recognize that Galveston would be difficult to defend against an expected Union attack. Word got out that the Confederate military thought the city indefensible, and it was reported that the governor had suggested the city be burned rather than fall into Union hands intact. Many Galvestonians left the island for Houston and other cities inland, not to return until 1865. The Federal move on the island was long delayed, but when it finally came in October 1862 it was almost bloodless. Confederate forces evacuated the city and retreated to the mainland. Commander Jonathan M. Wainwright, commanding the Navy gunboat Harriet Lane, took possession of the city and raised the U.S. flag over the old U.S. Customs House.
(credit: Edward T. Cotham's Battle on the Bay: The Civil War Struggle for Galveston) (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998).

In the early hours of New Year’s Day, 1863, however, Confederate forces under the command of John Bankhead Magruder launched a bold attack to recapture the city. Confederate infantry moved into the city under the cover of darkness, taking advantage of the Federal troops’ habit of barricading themselves on the wharves at night, while converted riverboats mounting cannon and piled high with cotton bales attacked the naval vessels in the harbor. The attack ended with an almost complete Confederate victory. Harriet Lane and three Union transports were captured; another gunboat, U.S.S. Westfield, ran aground and was blown up by her own crew to prevent capture. Wainwright and the senior Union officer, Commander William B. Renshaw, were both killed.

After vacating Galveston the 31st Texas Cavalry Regiment was then moved to the Indian Territory. The regiment was placed under the command of Confederate General Thomas C. Hindman's Army of the Trans-Mississippi and participated in the battle of Prairie Grove in Northwestern Arkansas as well as operations against the union expedition over the Boston Mountains, Arkansas. They were involved in a skirmish at Dripping Springs and the union´s temporary capture of Van Buren, Arkansas.

During these campaigns, the confederate forces were operating short of rations, ammunition and with inferior artillery. "They were armed with a reasonably effective mix of rifles, smoothbores, and shotguns, but they carried only enough ammunition for a single day of combat. The artillery was unimpressive even by Confederate standards. Draft animals were emaciated due to a lack of forage, and the small number of rickety wagons that composed the train could not support the army in the field for more than a few days".
(http://www.civilwarbuff.org/prairie_grove.html) (http://www.geocities.com/civil_war_anderson/VanBuren.html)

After the battle around Van Buren, William Edward is shown on the daily company muster roll as "furloughed" on Feb. 28, 1863. A later document shows him in the hospital in Austin, Texas. Family oral history has him not ever recovering physically after the civil war.

On July 27, 1865 he was "paroled" by the union and "permitted to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States Authorities, so long as he observes his parole and the laws in force where he may reside" by order of major general Wesley Merritt, U.S.A.

After the Confederate surrender and before William Edward was able to return home, Nancy lived in Austin. Austin was occupied by yankee soldiers and one night a yankee banged on her door and demanded to be let in, she refused and he went away. The next day she complained to one of officers in charge and he said "shoot him". The next night he returned and started demanding to be let in, so she fired her rifle through the door and had no more trouble with the occupation army.
William was riding up to the house on his return from the war, Nancy saw him coming. She ran to greet him, and broke her arm trying to get over a fence. William Edward and Nancy Catherine Martin owned a farm with a log house about three miles west of Leander on Sandy Creek, L/H side of the road. This was the Martin home place where they raised their family.

William Edward died December 21, 1886 and is buried in Old Bagdad cemetery west of Leander. After leaving Leander, the cemetery is on the left side of the road and after entering the first entrance, his grave and headstone are the first one on the left.

His land was sold to Mr. Albert Williamson for $3.50 per acre.

On May 12, 1899 the State of Texas passed an act providing the indigent widows of soldiers and sailors of the late Confederacy pension benefits. On Oct. 10, 1899 Nancy Catherine applied for and recieved a pension for William´s Confederate service from Texas until she died in 1935.