General John Gregg

The county's name changed on the way through the legislature. The Handbook of Texas says the bill creating it first called the county Roanoke, and Gregg was substituted during passage. The Handbook's biography says Gregg, after Fort Donelson and the Vicksburg campaign, was wounded at Chickamauga, then transferred to Virginia and given command of Hood's Texas Brigade, which he led in most of the Army of Northern Virginia's battles. He was killed on October 7, 1864, near Richmond, in the fighting on the New Market Road.

What the plaque says

General John Gregg (1828-1864) Star and Wreath Born Alabama. Came to Texas 1854. Judge, Confederate congressman. Organized 7th Texas Infantry as colonel 1861. Captured at Fort Donelson, Tenn. 1862. Promoted brigadier general after exchange. Commanded brigade Vicksburg Campaign 1863. Severely wounded Battle of Chickamauga Oct. 1863. Returning to action 1864 led Hood's Texas Brigade in heavy fighting in Virginia. Killed in action near Richmond, Oct. 7, 1864. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy; erected by the State of Texas 1963 Texas Secession Convention This meeting, which had John Gregg as a key member, was extra-legal governing body of delegates from over Texas, held January-March 1861. Drew up secession ordinance - ratified by 3 to 1 popular vote. Selected delegates to convention of southern states in Montgomery, Ala. Declared office of Anti-secessionist governor Sam Houston vacant, putting in Lt. Governor Edward Clark. Ratified C.S.A. Constitution. Raised troops to seize U. S. property, getting $3,000,000 worth by surrender. Placed troops at outposts to protect frontier. (1963)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• East Texas Oil Museum — 11 mi
  A Kilgore College museum that rebuilds the 1930s oil boom in a full-scale Boomtown with a general store, drugstore and newspaper office, plus dioramas, films and antiques given by East Texans.
• New London Museum and Cenotaph — 21 mi
  A volunteer-run museum beside the pink granite cenotaph for the March 1937 school gas explosion, holding a model of the school, a blackboard from that day and an odorizer device.
• Starr Family Home State Historic Site — 22 mi
  Maplecroft, the 1871 Greek Revival house Frank Starr built in Marshall, with Ruth Starr Blake's glass and china, an 1880s kitchen restored in 2019 and a retirement home built for a formerly enslaved person.
• Harrison County Historical Museum — 22 mi
  Galleries in Marshall's 1901 courthouse that run from the Caddo to the present, with Wiley College, Lady Bird Johnson's inaugural gown and a military gallery across the square in Memorial City Hall.

More markers nearby

• O. H. Methvin, Sr., Founder of Longview — steps away
• The Courthouses of Gregg County — steps away
• 1919 Longview Race Riot — steps away
• First Methodist Church of Longview — steps away