Xavier Blanchard DeBray

Debray was born at Selestat, France, in 1818. He is often said to have attended St. Cyr, though it has no record of him. Naturalized at San Antonio in 1855, he later translated for the General Land Office, kept an academy and ran a strong but losing race for mayor of Austin in 1859. He helped retake Galveston on January 1, 1863, and the British observer Arthur Fremantle found him "a very good fellow." His 1864 promotion to brigadier general was never confirmed by Jefferson Davis.

What the plaque says

Xavier Blanchard DeBray Came to Texas from France 1848. Spanish newspaper publisher. Joined Confederate Army as 1st Lieutenant Tom Green's Rifles 1861. Served aide-de-camp Texas Governor Francis R. Lubbock. Major 2nd Regiment Texas Infantry. Colonel 26th Texas Cavalry known as Debray's Regiment, used extensively for frontier scouting, reconnaissance, attacking and fighting delaying actions. Commander Eastern District Texas and Galveston defenses. Made Brigadier General 1864 after Red River Campaign to prevent the invasion of Texas. Erected by the State of Texas 1963

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Cemetery — steps away
  A hill east of the Capitol that began with one general's grave in 1851 and now holds Stephen F. Austin, governors, Barbara Jordan and more than 2,000 Confederate veterans and widows.
• French Legation State Historic Site — 0.3 mi
  A raised pine house built in 1840 and 1841 for France's envoy to the Republic of Texas, who left Austin in a rage over a neighbor's pigs before it was finished.
• George Washington Carver Museum — 0.4 mi
  East Austin's museum of Black history and culture, grown from a segregated branch library moved across town in 1933, with a permanent exhibit on Juneteenth at its core.
• Texas State Capitol — 1.0 mi
  Austin's fourth statehouse, a Renaissance Revival capitol of 1888 that stands 311 feet to its Goddess of Liberty and was restored after the 1983 fire.

More markers nearby

• Daniel Shipman — steps away
• Thomas Jones Hardeman — steps away
• General Moseley Baker — steps away
• Bailey Hardeman — steps away