Historical Marker
Home Town of Texas Confederate General H.P. Mabry
Fort Worth, Tarrant County · Texas
Erected 1964
Mabry's war ended; his violence at home did not. The Handbook of Texas says he led the Knights of the Rising Sun, a Klan-type group in Jefferson, and fled to Canada after the notorious murder of George Washington Smith. A Union veteran and Republican, Smith was shot in the jail in October 1868 by a masked mob. A Wikipedia account adds that two Black men held with him, Lewis Grant and Richard Stewart, were also killed. Those who killed Smith escaped significant punishment, the Handbook says, and Mabry returned to practice law.
What the plaque says
Home Town of Texas Confederate General H.P. Mabry A Georgian. Came to Texas 1851. Admitted to bar. Texas Legislator 1856-60. With Confederate expedition capturing Forts Washita and Arbuckle, Indian Territory, April-May 1861. June 1861 joined 3rd Tex. Cav. Helped win Wilson's Creek battle, in campaign to keep Missouri in Confederate fold. Late 1861 scouted U.S. Gen. Fremont's Army, Springfield, Mo. Had arm shattered in Bowie knife fray with 7 out to take him as spy. Led regiment at Pea Ridge, Ark., March 1862. At Luka, Miss., Sept. 1862, lost a third of unit, was shot 3 times and was taken captive. BACK OF MARKER: Exchanged at Vicksburg late 1862, Mabry refused to sign parole until slur on Confederacy was removed. In command of Mississippi Cavalry, led patrols repulsing Federals from rich Yazoo Valley breadbasket 1863-64. Guarded food, forage for supplying Confederacy. Commanded Calvary that took, dismantled, burned U.S. Gunboat "Petrel" on Yazoo River. Attached to Gen. Forrest's Division, helped bottle enemy in Memphis, formed rear guard for offensives, destroyed Sherman communications, fought pitched battles. Spies would report Mabry's horsemen in 3 different spots hundreds of miles apart on same day. Assigned to move Texas cattle, men, supplies across tightly guarded Mississippi River. 1866 was elected District Judge, but removed by Radical Reconstruction authorities. 1879-1885 practiced law Fort Worth. Buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Jefferson. Erected by the State of Texas 1964
Where it stands
32.77237, -97.47465 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame — 6.5 miA hall of fame begun in Hereford in 1975 to honor rodeo women, widened in 1977 to Western heritage, and housed in Fort Worth's Cultural District since 2002.
- Kimbell Art Museum — 6.6 miLouis Kahn's cycloid-vaulted museum of 1972, built from Kay Kimbell's bequest and joined in 2013 by Renzo Piano's pavilion for the exhibitions the Kahn galleries could not hold.
- Fort Worth Stockyards — 7.5 miThe brick-street cattle market where Armour and Swift built packing plants in 1902, now a National Register district with a Coliseum, a museum and a longhorn drive twice a day.
- Tarrant County Courthouse — 8.3 miA pink-granite courthouse of 1895 on the bluff where the Army set up Fort Worth in 1849, in a county named for the man who led the 1841 attack on the Native villages of Village Creek.