The Dallas Journal, Volume 42, 1996 Page: 32
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The remainder of the force under Baylor and Gano withdrew to nearby Marlin's Ranch.
On the morning of May 23, 1859, the Indians from the reservation attacked the ranch
and a battle was fought which would later be known as the Battle of Marlin's Ranch.
After several hours of bitter fighting, Chief John Hatterbox was killed in an assault on the
ranch schoolhouse and the Indians withdrew from the battle.
In respect of his actions, Dr. Gano was presented with a sword by the citizens of
Tarrant County.9
During the time Dr. Gano was fighting the Indians in West Texas, his wife
Mattie, who was expecting their fourth child, was very frightened. A family tradition has
it that she gathered her three boys around her in her large bed and assigned an armed
slave to sleep on the dog run outside her door for protection.'
Dr. Gano was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1861 and served until 1862
when Texas left the Union. Even though he opposed secession, Dr. Gano recruited 180
men, principally from Tarrant, Dallas, Collin and Hill counties, and served as their
captain while marching to Bowling Green, Kentucky. He eventually joined General John
Hunt Morgan and served with him for 18 months. After serving in 72 engagements, he
was promoted to Brigadier General of the Texas Brigade in the Trans-Mississippi
Department (Arkansas, Indian Territory, Missouri) in March of 1865.1
Following the disastrous destruction of Morgan's Raiders in Ohio in 1863,
General Gano took command of the Fifth Texas Cavalry Brigade, then operating in
Arkansas and Indian Territory. He brought with him the remnants of his original Texas
cavalry squadron, now reduced to less than company size in numbers. This unit was
renamed Gano's Guards and continued to operate as a unit. At the close of the war, he
was solicited to join ranking Confederate officers in Mexico in their effort to reorganize
the Confederate army, but he refused, and returned to his family in Kentucky.12
The Gano family occupied its Grapevine home for 10 years before moving back
to Kentucky at the end of the Civil War in 1866. Some accounts say General Gano
returned to rebuild his broken fortunes, or perhaps the reason was to return the freed
slaves to their home.
While in Kentucky he studied for the ministry and in July 1866, he preached his
first sermon at Leesburgh, Bourbon County, Kentucky.13 He was one of the founders of
the present-day East Dallas Christian Church and baptized more than 4,000 people into
the Church of Christ.
During the family's absence, the Gano home apparently remained unoccupied. In
1872, on a visit to Dallas, he wrote the following to his wife:
"...the place has gone to wreck very much...I left 150 acres under fence,
there is not now more than 100 under fence. The porch and stables,
granary and dairy are gone. The entire paling [fencing] around the yard
and garden destroyed."DGS Jornal 2 199
DGS Journal
32
1996
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Dallas Genealogical Society. The Dallas Journal, Volume 42, 1996, periodical, December 1996; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth186855/m1/38/: accessed May 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Genealogical Society.