BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
OF
GENERAL J. W. WHITFIELD.
General J. W. Whitfield was born in Williamson county,
such limited education as the "log school-house"
of the time afforded. Early in life he pursued the calling of
a farmer, but his strong individuality, and marked
character, soon called him to public station; and, for
eighteen years with scarce an intermission, he represented his
district in both branches of the State
Legislature. He served, with marked gallantry, through the Mexican
war, and upon its cessation, was
appointed Indian Agent to the wild tribes in
inception of the slavery troubles attendant upon the
application of that State for admission into the
espousing the pro-slavery side of the controversy. Whitfield
was the first delegate sent from
Federal Congress, defeating the anti-slavery
candidate, Reeder, by a handsome majority. In the turbulent era of murder and
pillage that ensued, the greater portion of his property was swept away; and
when, finally,
resumed the avocation of a farmer. The rude blast of
internecine war however, soon broke upon the quiet
scene of his pastoral life, and the brave old veteran
responded by buckling on his sword, and summoning his neighbors to follow him.
Starting out as a captain of a company, his command was augmented to a
battalion of four companies by the time he reached General McCulloch’s
quarters. During, and after the campaign that culminated in the battle of Elk
Horn, his battalion was increased to a legion of twelve companies, than which,
there was not a braver, or more efficient, organization in the Confederate
army. General Whitfield relinquished the command of the brigade in 1863, and
retired to the Trans-Mississippi Department. In personal appearance, General
Whitfield was marked, being over six feet in height, and straight as an arrow—he
looked every inch the soldier. Of his service in the Trans-Mississippi
Department, the author has no data upon which to predicate a narrative.
After the termination of the war, General Whitfield
continued to reside on his farm, near the village
of
autumn of 1879, when he responded to the summons of the
specter with the hour-glass and scythe, and took
up his solitary march across the river into that
undiscovered country in which his departed comrades had
pitched their silent camp. There, with Van Dorn, McCulloch,
McIntosh, Jones, and others, he awaited the
arrival of the rear-guard upon the scene to complete the
grand re-union of the Texas Brigade, in the shade of the lotus-trees of the
Summerland.
Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/WW/fwh38.html
Whitfield’s Legion
Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/WW/qkw3.html