Ebenezer Duvall Radford

Marriage: 28 Dec 1871 Freestone, Texas, USA

Ebenezer Duval married Betty Jane Brown raised a large family on a farm near the Donie Community. They later moved west of Fairfield with sons and daughters lived to adulthood and to see their own children branch out into areas of service beyond Freestone. The sons George Bradley, James William and John Richard lived most of their lived in Freestone County. Martie married Charlie Richardson and lived in Fairfield, Della married a Mr Fogarty, Emma married Will Henry and Ada married Hiram Richardson; the only surviving child of the family. She now lived in Denver City, TX and gave her niece most of this information.

FOREWARD: I have gleaned the following information from a variety of sources, part of which are hearsay. However, I believe most is factual. Some of the dates are estimates. I have visited the churchyard cemeteries at Wilson Chapel and on the mining property off Highway______in Fairfield Coounty. I have pictures of these graves and the History of Fairfield County Texas on file in Fairfield, Texas has a page devoted to the Radford family. Mrs. J. C. Moore (Iris Richardson Moore) has a copy of this publication.

Gay Richardson

The earliest story I ever heard about the Radford Family was related by my mother, Ada Richardson. She said her grandparents came from a town in Alabama named Radfordville. I have looked at maps of Alabama and can find no such place existing today. It was probably a small crossroads store and post office before the civil war. The story goes that her grandfather was a nere-do-well who did not look after his family very well. About 1860, his father gave him some money, a negro woman slave and a wagon and team of horses and told him to take his wife and four sons to Texas to avoid the war that was coming to the south. The story goes that somewhwere in Louisiana he gambled away his slave and money and disappeared, leaving his family to continue on to Texas alone. Amanda Radford must have been some tough lady. Her sons established a freight business, hauling freight from the backwoods to the railroad in Mexia, Texas. Three of these sons (George W., Elbert W., and W. T., Jr.) and one grandchild died from 1871 to 1877 and are buried in a private cemetery on mining property in Freestone County near Donie, Texas. The graves are cared for by a cousin, Eudeen Richardson (no kin to our Richardson family) who lives about five miles from Donie.

The more recent Radford family begins with Ebby D. Radford, who was the oldest of Amanda's sons. We know that he joined the Confederate Army, when he was 16 or 17 years old. He was a member of the Walker Division, 28th Texas Cavalry Regiment, Company "H", which fought in the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana. I think his leg was broken by cannon fire somewhere not far from Texas and he was returned home. He drove a freight wagon around East Texas as a young man. He also farmed around the Wilson Chapel community. In 1870, he married Betty J. Brown, daughter of George Brown and Elviria Cowart of Buffalo, Leon County, Texas. The Browns came to Texas from Georgia. This is all I know about them.

Betty bore E. D. Radford 12 children, of whom only 5 survived to childhood. Epidemics of influenza, distheria and other childhood diseases took the others. Della Fogarty, George Radford, Ada Richardson, Mertie (Mrs. Charles) Richardson and Jimmie Radford were the survivors. (NOTE: E. D.'s obituary lists seven children surviving him: George Radford, James, Richard, Della Fogarty, Emma Henry, Mertie Richardson, and Ada Richardson) All but Ada lived and died in the vicinity of Freestone County Texas.

I can remember making about three trips to Fairfield when I was a child and all these people were alive. Uncle George had only one hand. He blew his right hand off throwing a stick of dynamite in the Trinity River to kill fish. Uncle Charlie ran a service station and his son Bradley ran the movie theater. I saw my first movie there in 1936. Uncle Jim was a pharmacist and ran the drug store. I can remember sitting on a stool at that big old marble soda fountain, drinking frosted "Cokes". Aunt Dellas's husband, Tom, was Hiram Richardson's (Ada's husband) fishing partner. My grandmother Betty Radford lived with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Mertie in a big brick house that used to be the county jailhouse. This house is now a museum. A number of the next generation still live in this area of Texas. About 1900, E. D. and Betty Radford bought land near the community of Kervin, Texas. This consisted of 104 acres on Towakanee Creek between Fairfield, Texas and the Trinity River. I have tax receipts on this property dating back as far as 1907. Also living in this area during this time was the John W. Richardson family. Both Ada and Mertie Radford married brothers from this family. Ada married Hiram and Mertie married Charlie. The Richardson and Radford families were very close.

Ada Radford grew up in the Wilson Chapel community under what we would consider today very poor circumstances. However, she was probably as well off as most country peole around 1900. About 1900, her father moved the family to the Towakanee Creek place. I do not know where they went to school. About this time she met her future husband, Hiram. I do not know when a serious courtship began. i do know that Ada went to stay with older sister, Della, in Huntsville and attended some kind of teaching school, got her license to teach and returned to teach school at Donie, Texas. Hiram didn't do much of anything during this time but hunt and fish. Then about 1906, he went to Oklahoma to visit his older sister and I have seen postcards written back to Ada from there. The school teaching and the Oklahoma trip did not last long, for they were married in Fairfield, Texas on August 23, 1908. She was 19 and he was 27.

28th Texas Cavalry by M. Jane Johansson

Colonel Horace Randal, an 1854 graduate of the United States Military Academy, organized the 28th Texas Cavalry. The unit began its organization at a camp three miles east of Marshall, TX. In April 1862, Companies “B” and “E” from Cherokee County arrived at the camp, followed by companies “A”, “C”, “D”, “F”, and “G” in May. In June, Company “K” was formed by surplus men from companies “A” and “C”. The remaining companies (“H”, “I”, “L”, and “M”) joined the regiment in July.

The unit traveled to Shreveport, LA, in July 1862 where they remained until 18 July 1862. The soldiers then traveled northward and arrived in Austin, AR, on 3 September 1862. By late September, the unit was dismounted (i.e., the unit was converted to infantry). The 28th Texas Cavalry was dismounted because of a surplus of cavalry units in Arkansas and because of a lack of forage for the horses. The men refused to call themselves “infantry”, preferring instead the term “dismounted cavalry” as though it were a temporary condition. Much to the disappointment of the men, the 28th Texas was never remounted. During this time period, companies “L” and “M” were removed from the unit. Company “L” remained mounted and became part of Lt. Colonel Charles L. Morgan’s Texas Cavalry Regiment. Company “M” became part of the 14th Texas Infantry, a unit that often served in the same brigade as the 28th Texas.

In September 1862, the unit was brigaded with the 11th, 14th, and 15th Texas infantry regiments, and the 6th Texas Cavalry Battalion (Dismounted). Colonel Horace Randal became commander of this brigade, and Lt. Colonel Eli H. Baxter, jr., became commander of the 28th Texas.

The 28th spent the entire war in the Trans-Mississippi Department and campaigned extensively in Arkansas and Louisiana. By December 1862, the unit became part of Major General John G. Walker’s Division. This division was comprised of three brigades made up entirely of Texas units. The major campaigns that the 28th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) served in were the following:

           •Attempt to Relieve Vicksburg, Mississippi (November 1862 - July 1863). The unit was held in reserve at the battle of Milliken’s Bend. Walker’s Division traveled about 1,600 miles during this campaign.

•Repulse of Major General William B. Franklin’s army (fall of 1863). Randal’s Brigade (including the 28th Texas) went on an expedition from Alexandria toward Harrisonburg, LA. The men were probably involved in light skirmishing and lost two men captured. In addition, the unit was involved in a skirmish near Moundville, LA, on 24 October 1863. Walker’s Division then spent much of November bombarding enemy transports on the Mississippi River.
•Red River Campaign (March-April 1864). Portions of Company “D” and Company “I” were stationed at Fort DeRussy, LA, when Union forces started their advance up the Red River. Twenty-three soldiers, from a detachment of thirty-five men, escaped capture at the fort. The 28th Texas fought at the battles of Mansfield (April 8th) and Pleasant Hill (April 9th). Casualties for the 28th Texas at Mansfield were: 4 killed and 17 wounded; and at Pleasant Hill: 9 killed and 44 wounded, with 2 missing.
•The March to Arkansas (April 1864). With little rest, the men of Walker’s Division marched into Arkansas in an attempt to destroy a Federal army under the command of Major Gen’l Frederick Steele. Along with Confederate troops from Missouri and Arkansas, Walker’s Division attacked Steele’s army near Jenkins’ Ferry on 30 April 1864. The 28th Texas lost 20 killed and 40 wounded at this battle. Horace Randal was mortally wounded at this battle and died on 2 May 1864.
•The Last Year (May 1864-May 1865). Further marches took place in Arkansas and Louisiana in this last year, but the unit saw no fighting. In March 1865, the division returned to Texas where they disbanded in May 1865. Field and staff officers:Col. Horace Randal (mortally wounded, Jenkins' Ferry; died, 2 May 64); Lt. Col. Eli H. Baxter, jr. (wounded slightly in the arm at either Mansfield or Pleasant Hill); Majors Henry Gerard Hall, and Patrick Henry; Surgeons Leonard Randal (resigned, 9 June 63), Edward W. Cade (resigned, 6 July 64); M. J. Birdsong; Asst Surgeons William P. Smith (resigned, 20 Oct 63); T. Y. T. Jameson; John C. Rosser; W. W. McCartney (dropped); Adjutants George T. Howard; William Neal Ramey; QM Alfred M. Truit (resigned, 27 Aug 63); Asst QM Nathan P. Ward; Commissary John A. Harris (resigned, 4 May 63); and Chaplain Frank J. Patillo.
Captains and counties from which the companies came:

Co. "A", (Shelby): Alfred M. Truit (promoted, QM, 17 May 62); Levi M. Truitt (resigned, 26 Oct 63); Jesse W. Fuller; 1st Lt. James M. Clardy (resigned, 26 Oct 63); 2nd Lts. Thomas J. Todd; Samuel C. Heath (resigned, 26 Nov 62); John B. Dorman; William A. Nail (resigned, 18 April 63); and Newel N. Yeary (wounded slightly, in the leg, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill) Co. "B", (Cherokee): Patrick Henry (promoted, Major); W. A. Jameson; 1st Lt. Allen Jones (resigned, 10 June 63); 1st Lt. James H. Cannon; 2nd Lts. James R. Rowe; J. C. Clark (resigned, 28 May 63); Israel P. Smith (resigned, 27 Feb 63); L. D. Sessions; and I. K. Dalby Co. "C", (Panola): A. W. DeBerry (resigned, 27 Aug 63); P. W. Clements; 1st Lt. P. W. Clements (promoted, Capt.); 2nd Lts. David N. Walker; John O. Thomas (died, 22 Aug 63); H. G. Hooker; and E. J. Newton Co. "D", (Rusk, Smith, and Wood): Martin V. Smith (resigned, 24 Oct 63); A. L. Adams (wounded slightly, in the hand, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill); 1st Lts. Edward W. Cade (promoted, Surgeon); John R. Scales (resigned, 25 Feb 65); 2nd Lts. Frank M. Hays (resigned, 25 Nov 62); James B. Allen (KIA, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill); and C. N. White (wounded slightly, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill) Co. "E", (Cherokee): Orlands M. Doty; 1st Lt. W. J. Thompson; 2nd Lts. W. D. Wolfe (resigned, 26 Nov 64); S. G. Wolfe (resigned, 25 Feb 65); W. A. Muckleroy; and T. J. Dillard Co. "F" (Harrison): Eli H. Baxter, jr. (promoted, Lt. Col.); Phil Brown (died, 5 July 63); Theophilus Perry (mortally wounded, 9 April 64; died, 17 April 64); James S. Wagnon; 1st Lts. Theophilus Perry (promoted, Capt.); A. T. Agnew (wounded slightly, in the side, Jenkins' Ferry); 2nd Lts. James S. Wagnon (promoted, Capt.); Rene Fitzpatrick, jr. (KIA, Jenkins' Ferry); G. W. George; David G. Clark (wounded slightly, in the leg, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill) Co. "G", (Anderson): William H. Tucker (resigned, 7 Nov 63); W. F. Roberts (wounded slightly, in the shoulder, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill); 1st Lts. William B. Key (resigned, 13 Dec 62); George B. Campbell (wounded slightly, in the knee, Jenkins' Ferry, 30 April 64); 2nd Lts. W. F. Roberts (promoted, Capt.); James H. Gee; H. M. Warren Co. "H", (Freestone): J. C. Means; 1st Lts. L. J. Hale (resigned, 13 Dec 62); Jesse Sheffield (resigned, 1 Aug 64); W. A. Cobb; 2nd Lts. William G. Blain (wounded slightly, in the thigh, Jenkins' Ferry); H. P. Daviss Co. "I", (Houston): John A. McLemore; 1st Lt. William R. Vaughn; 2nd Lts. Charles Stokes, resigned 3 December 1862); James L. Hallmark (discharged); Morgan Rye (wounded slightly, in the arm and leg, Jenkins' Ferry); John N. Garner (resigned, 26 Oct 63); S. G. Vaughn Co. "K", (Panola and Shelby): Pat H. Martin (died); William Neal Ramey (wounded slightly, in the finger, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill); 1st Lts. Marion T. Haskins (resigned, 24 Dec 62); James M. Trosper; 2nd Lts. William Neal Ramey (promoted, Capt.); M. M. Sample (wounded severely, in the arm, Jenkins' Ferry); Thomas M. Lambright (wounded slightly, in the body, Mansfield or Pleasant Hill) Co. “L”, (Houston) [became part of Lt. Col. Charles L. Morgan’s Texas Cavalry Regiment, fall, 62]: David A. Nunn; 1st Lt. Henry G. McDaniel (resigned, 18 July 63); 2nd Lts. A. H. Casteel; and W. J. Foster Co. “M”, (Polk) [became part of the 14th Texas Infantry, a unit that often served in the same brigade as the 28th Texas, fall 62]: L. B. Wood; 1st Lt. William Harrison (reduced to ranks, transferred to Co. “D”); 2nd Lts. F. N. Jones; and John F. Sharp (died, 3 Dec 62) Historical Resources:

Bibliography Casualty lists [Deaths in the regiment, July-Dec 1862] Muster roll, via email Other websites: [Capsule history, officer list, muster roll of Co. "I", "L"] [Capsule history, bio: Horace Randall] [Bio: Horace Randall] [Muster roll, Co. "I"] [Photo, officer list] [DeSoto Parish, LA, soldiers in 28th TX Cavalry]

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1677&h=110...