The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960 Page: 511
684 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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rhe ecorgia attalion i the rezas
RevoltioH: A Critical StKud
JEWEL DAVIS SCARBOROUGH
T HE GEORGIA BATTALION in the Texas Revolution is the
unit most neglected by Texas historians, perhaps because
of the fact that most of the men were massacred at Goliad,
and many of the muster rolls were destroyed at the burning of
San Felipe. Fannin's last muster roll was destroyed at this time,
but Dr. Joseph H. Barnard, assistant surgeon of Fannin's com-
mand who escaped, attempted to make a list from memory, sup-
plemented by reports of various men who survived or whose heirs
received bounty and donation grants. There were many omissions,
but the legislature passed an act requiring that an official list be
drawn up from data available, which was done, and this list is on
file in the General Land Office in Austin, Texas. There is little
to be found, even concerning the officers, in the official records
of Texas, and the enlisted men are practically unknown to Texas
historians. This is especially unfortunate since the Georgia Bat-
talion was the only unit in the Texas Revolution that furnished
its own arms and ammunition, doing so with the help of the
arsenal of the state of Georgia.1
'The data in this article have been secured by patient search of the governors'
letters, memorials to the legislature, and public debt papers in the Texas State
Archives; the existing muster rolls in the General Land Office, and the index there
to the bounty and donation certificates awarded to the men or their heirs; and
extensive correspondence with the late great historians of Texas, L. W. Kemp and
Harbert Davenport. This research was followed by personal visits to the counties
where the men received their land, and a study of the court records where there
were suits over the property. In many cases the names of the men were misspelled,
and where there were two men of the same name, their records were confused. Of
course the records were written out in long hand, making it difficult to get the
correct spelling or the correct initials for the names.
In correspondence relative to the research, L. W. Kemp commented: "Mrs.
Scarborough, if I had a feather I'd send it to you to put in your cap for furnishing
information regarding Fannin's Command that Mr. Davenport and I did not have."
-L. W. Kemp to J. D. S., October 7, 1954 (MS., in possession of Mrs. Jewel Davis
Scarborough, Abilene, Texas). In later correspondence, Kemp further stated: "I
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960, periodical, 1960; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101186/m1/639/?rotate=90: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.