In The Saddle With The Texans

Riding With the 19th Texas Cavalry in the War West of the Mississippi 1862-1865 is the story of William Hardy Bennett’s Confederate military service as a Private in Co. B of the 19th Texas Cavalry Regiment during the War for Southern Independence and his experiences during Reconstruction that followed the war. He enlisted with the Mesquite Light Horse Militia in Dallas County, Texas on 8 January 1861 some one and a half months before the citizens of Texas ratified the State’s Ordinance of Secession. Some fourteen months later on 21 March 1862, he enlisted with Captain Allen Beard’s Company, Burford’s Texas Cavalry in Dallas, Texas to defend his family, Dallas County, and the State of Texas against a Yankee army determined to invade and destroy the State. Beard’s Company became Co. B of the 19th Texas Cavalry Regiment and was an important part of Colonel William Henry Parsons’ Texas Brigade that fought with distinction in the Trans-Mississippi Department. Hardy fought in some fifty engagements and was often in harm’s way, but he survived and returned to Dallas County, Texas after the war and prospered despite the economic and political problems that plagued the county during Reconstruction.

This book is a transcription of the original, hand written Order Book of Parson's Texas Cavalry, and gives the day-by-day account of the actions and movements of the unit during the War Between the States.

Examines the contributions of the veteran Texas Rangers to the Civil War as "horse soldiers," and highlights their confrontations, in which they were often outnumbered but frequently managed to turn the tide of battle.

Englishman Frank Collinson went to Texas in 1872, when he was seventeen, to work on Will Noonan’s ranch near Castroville. He lived the rest of his life in the southwestern United States, and at the age of seventy-nine began writing about the Old West he knew and loved. He had a flair for writing, a phenomenal memory, and a passion for truth that is evident in what he wrote and said. His writings for Ranch Romances, his letters, and transcriptions of his conversations have been arranged here in roughly chronological order, so that their importance for frontier history is readily apparent. Collinson ranged the West in his writings as he did in person, telling of the last tragic days of buffalo hunting on the Plains; clashes between hunters or cowboys and the Plains Indians; the character of trail drivers; and the definitive nature of violence, particularly at gun-point. J. Frank Dobie said of Collinson: "In the realm of frontier chronicles, the writing of educated Englishmen. . . men with the perspective of civilization, with imagination, and a lust for primitive nature, stand out. To this class of men belongs Frank Collinson."

Elizabeth Bacon Custer aimed to glorify her "martyred" husband, George Armstrong Custer's memory through this incredible history. It is a recounting of the times that Custer spent in Kansas and Texas as told by a devoted wife. In addition, this book presents the readers with a vivid picture of the army a year after the civil war.

One widower's marriage of convenience might turn into something more in New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer's Long, Tall Texans: Connal, originally published as Connal in 1990. For just about as long as she can remember, Penelope Mathews has worshipped the elusive C. C. Tremayne from afar. The gorgeous but aloof loner doesn't want anything to do with her—or, in fact, with any woman since his wife's tragic death years before. But one night changes everything, when, trying to protect C.C. from landing in trouble, Pepi seeks refuge in a wedding chapel—and emerges as Mrs. Connal Cade Tremayne! When C.C. realizes what happened, he's outraged and plans to end their “arrangement” immediately. Yet the more time he spends with his beautiful new bride, the more he realizes he doesn't want their marriage to end….

Authors Bob Alexander and Donaly E. Brice grappled with several issues when deciding how to relate a general history of the Texas Rangers. Should emphasis be placed on their frontier defense against Indians, or focus more on their role as guardians of the peace and statewide law enforcers? What about the tumultuous Mexican Revolution period, 1910-1920? And how to deal with myths and legends such as One Riot, One Ranger? Texas Rangers: Lives, Legend, and Legacy is the authors’ answer to these questions, a one-volume history of the Texas Rangers. The authors begin with the earliest Rangers in the pre-Republic years in 1823 and take the story up through the Republic, Mexican War, and Civil War. Then, with the advent of the Frontier Battalion, the authors focus in detail on each company A through F, relating what was happening within each company concurrently. Thereafter, Alexander and Brice tell the famous episodes of the Rangers that forged their legend, and bring the story up through the twentieth century to the present day in the final chapters.

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. Equaling the massive size of the state, the WPA Guide to Texas is just as expansive at 716 pages. From the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley, The Lone Star State’s landscape is as varied as its political and cultural past. Having been under the control of six different nations’ flags, the history section is particularly rich. The guide also includes a helpful list of books about the state.