By Gelene Simpson
I had never been west of Fort Worth until I married Harrell Simpson in 1957. But I soon found myself wrapped up in the history of McCulloch County and the War between the States as it affected the McMillan, Simpson and Vance families.
On one of our many trips to Brady, we picked up a copy of the Handbook of McCulloch County History, Vol. I compiled by Wayne Spiller in Brady in 1976. This book is a goldmine of information. It has kept me occupied many hours just looking at the names Harrell marked. Camp San Saba was one place of great interest. Clarence Snider took notes on the soldiers stationed at Camp San Saba during the 1860s. He refers to the “West Texas Historical Society Year Book, Vol. X” June 4, 1928, as his immediate source. However, W.C. Holden wrote “Frontier Defense in Texas During the Civil War.” He is quoted in the above account.
It seems that the State of Texas formed the Texas Frontier Regiment on Dec. 23, 1861. This must have seemed like a Christmas present to the area at the time. The two commanders of the regiment were Col. James M. Norris followed by Col. J.E. McCord. But my interest centers around one Capt. N.D. McMillan, who had one-half of his company located at Hall’s Spring situated on Richland Creek in 1862. However, the other half was located at Camp San Saba: ‘Where the road from Camp Colorado, in Coleman County, to Fort Mason crossed the San Saba River.”
I am pretty sure that the reason Harrell underlined this name was that his mother was a McMillan and he recognized this name from his family research. The other names he marked were all in the Simpson and Vance lines which I know myself. His grandfather, John Tyler Simpson, a Confederate veteran, was at one time located near Camp San Saba. Several relatives of the McMillans and Simpsons are well acquainted with the region so that I have often heard about Mason and San Saba.
Snider provides many details in the words of Dr. Holden. For instance, he tells the hardships of the early months of the regiment’s stay in the area. As in some other groups of rangers, each man had to provide his own weapons and didn’t have the best of horses to choose from, most having been fed only grass. Early medical problems like measles broke out and spread quickly during the spring months. Of course, the troops had no medicine, and many lacked even cooking utensils. At first they had no departments to take care of provision for ammunitions and food. In other words, the men were on their own to forage. However, later they had more provided, and they used the summer to procure tents and build huts before winter set in.
Still, they had trouble getting “a good quality of powder” and often did not have lead or caps in sufficient supply. Col. Norris is supposed to have remarked that they would not have enough defense against an Indian attack because of this lack of a lead supply and that the powder they had ‘would not kill a man at ten steps from the muzzle.’
When Col. Norris resigned Jan. 10, 1863, Lt. Col. J.E. McCord took command. McCord changed the regulations and method of defense so that the soldiers were inspired to be more loyal and responsible. By conducting surprise scouting expeditions in out-of-the-way parts of the area, he hoped to catch Indian raiding parties by surprise. But the situation became more complicated when in 1864-65 deserters began congregating in the western sector.
Snider had notes and files which told of interviews with early settlers of McCulloch County. One account tells of a road which went from Fort Mason to Camp Colorado. This road crossed the San Saba River and was called Hardee Crossing. It is thought that it was named for William Joseph Hardee, a well-known officer in the Mexican War who entered the Confederacy as a colonel and became a lieutenant-general. At one time he was commandant of West Point Military Academy, and he wrote “Hardee’s Tactics,” which was a standard for military tactics during the War between the States.
Capt. O’Brien’s company was impressed into the Confederate Army then sent to Harrisburg. During their time at Camp San Saba, these rangers captured a number of deserters and service dodgers who “escaped” and some of the rangers with them. The soldiers passing up and down the road added to the establishment of settlements along the way. One of the prominent citizens and county officials who came from Camp San Saba was P.A. Vance, another ancestor Harrell marked in our copy of “McCulloch County History, Vol. I.”
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Gelene Simpson is a Daily Sun columnist. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
