The Killing of General J. J. Byrne

Byrne had been colonel of the Eighteenth New York Cavalry and was brevetted brigadier and then major general for the Red River campaign of 1864; the Fort Worth Democrat called him the youngest general in the army. Andrew Johnson made him United States marshal for the Northern District of Texas. After Grant replaced him he turned to surveying and became chief engineer of the Texas and Pacific. At Ysleta in August 1880, knowing Victorio was raiding, he wrote his wife Lilly a farewell and his will, then went on to survey railroad lands.

What the plaque says

The Killing of General J. J. Byrne One of the final acts of violence in raiding led during 1880 by the feared Apache chieftain, Victorio. Just prior to this incident, Victorio's band--100 to 200 strong-- had finished a sanguinary two years of raiding in southwest Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. His brilliant guerrilla tactics baffled his U. S. Army pursuers and earned their grudging admiration. J. J. Byrne, a surveyor and retired military man, had fought in U. S. Army in the Civil War (1861-65), having been cited both for gallantry and meritorious conduct. At the time of his death, he was the lone passenger on the stage bound for Fort Davis. Drawn by small, swift Mexican mules, the coach left Fort Quitman, a former Army post on the Rio Grande, August 13, 1880. As it entered a steep canyon Victorio's men attacked. Gen. Byrne was killed almost at once but the driver, Ed Walde, turned the stage and raced back to the fort for safety. Later in 1880 the United States and Mexico fielded 5,000 soldiers to hunt down Victorio, who was finally killed in Mexico. Thus ended the career of one of the most notable Indian chiefs in the southwest. Byrne, born in Ireland about 1842, was buried near Fort Quitman but later reinterred in Fort Worth. (1973)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hudspeth County Courthouse — 0.4 mi
  The only courthouse in Texas built entirely of adobe, in the Sierra Blanca railroad town where Southern Pacific and Texas and Pacific crews met in 1881.

More markers nearby

• Hudspeth County — steps away
• America's Second Transcontinental Railroad — steps away
• Fort Quitman, C.S.A. — 0.3 mi
• August Fransal — 0.6 mi