The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 83, July 1979 - April, 1980 Page: 49
464 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Letters of George W. Allen
you know that any one that dreams that way and believes in them can
not help being troubled at times. I had heard that James Gray8 had
joined Carters Regiment"--also Edward Mullins'o and John Evans.ll I
wrote to you about two weeks ago when I had the measels but I am well
now but the Dr wont let me go on duty. It looks disheartening to look
at our Regiment now; when we first arrived here we had 384 men able
for duty and now we have 2oo and half of them is not able to go ten
miles on a force march. Great many of our boys have died and I fear a
great many more will die before we get away from here.
Two of the boys of our Company have died lately, James H. Hurstl2
of Grimes County and William H. H. Howardl3 of same place. Howard
was one that was arrested at Virginia Point.?4 He died last night and I
fear that one of my Mess mates will never get well; it is John McFarlin; 15
he has relapsed with the Measels and is very low. I think we will be likely
to remain here until about the first of September until the boys regain
their health. You will hear from my other letter that we did not get in
any fight on White River." I believe I have no news of importance to
write to you. We get no news only War news and that is not relyable
often for it is now contradicted about McClennon17 and his army being
taken after being Affirmed so often. I am very tired of Arkansas and
want to get out of it very much for it is no place for Texians I assure you;
SAllen's uncle, who was one year younger than he, the son of Allen's grandmother and her
husband, James Gray. 186o Census of Washington County, 73.
9One of three cavalry regiments (not dismounted) that was organized in 1862 and sent
to Arkansas with G. W. Carter as colonel. Clement A. Evans (ed.), Confederate Mzlitary
History (12 vols.; Atlanta, 1899), XI, 64.
10Son. of N H. Mullins of Washington County, next door neighbor of Allen's. z86o Census
of Washington County, 73.
11Son of John P. Evans of Washington County, a neighbor of Allen's. Ibid., 68.
12James H. Hurst cannot be located in the 186o census of Grimes, Montgomery, Walker,
or Wanngton counties. No information could be found.
13Willian H. H Howard cannot be located in the 186o census of Grimes, Montgomery,
Walker, or Washington counties. However, a Pvt. W. H. Howard enlisted at Prairie Plains,
in Grimes County, on May 7, 1861, in a Light Infantry Company for Giimes, Montgomery,
and Walker counties, 17th Brigade No further information could be found. Records Di-
vision, Texas State Library, Texas Confederate Index, VIII, (no page).
14A large Confederate army camp was located at Virginia Point, near the old Galveston
causeway, 1861-1865. Webb, Carroll, and Branda (eds.), The Handbook of Texas, II, 845.
15Probably the son of William McFarlan of Washington County 186o Census of Wash-
ington County, 154.
1(iThe White River flows into the Arkansas River neai Arkansas Post. Redfield Proctor,
Stephen B. Elkins, and Daniel S. Lamont, Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the
Union and Confederate Armies, 186I-1865 (Washington, D.C., 18g91), Sheet XIX, Plate CLIV.
17Allen is referring to Major General John Alexander McClernand, commander of the
Union troops who captured Arkansas Post in January, 1863 Mark Mayo Boatner, III,
The Civil War Dictionary (New York, 1959), 525.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 83, July 1979 - April, 1980, periodical, 1979/1980; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101207/m1/69/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.