Colonel B. F. Terry and Terry's Texas Rangers
Brownfield, Terry County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Native of Kentucky. Came to Texas 1831. Member Secession Convention. Commanded reinforcements of state troops sent to Rio Grande for the capture of Federal arms, property at Fort Brown. Went to Virginia hoping to be in first battle of war. Cited for valuable volunteer service in first Battle of Manassas. Returned to Texas with orders to raise cavalry regiment which soon attained fame as Terry's Rangers. Accepted his commission only when men elected him Colonel. Killed Woodsonville, Kentucky leading unit's first charge. His loyal Rangers carried his name until war's end. Buried Glenwood Cemetery, Houston. Terry's Texas Rangers - Ten companies of the "Kid Glove" gentry of Texas enlisted for the duration of the Civil War, forming the famed Terry's Texas Rangers. With their able leaders, this 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment joined Johnston's command in Kentucky. History finds it easy to call these Texas men fighters. They were excellent horsemen, marksmen, utterly reckless. Individual heroism was not uncommon. Their deeds were praised at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Bragg's Raid into Kentucky and their last charge at Bentonville, N.C. Called upon to cover retreats, to invade enemy lines to get information, harass the enemy and to lead charges.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A Kentucky-born Texan and secession delegate, Colonel B. F. Terry raised the cavalry regiment that won fame as Terry's Texas Rangers, the 8th Texas Cavalry. He accepted command only when his men elected him, then fell leading their very first charge at Woodsonville, Kentucky. His Rangers carried his name to the war's end, earning a reputation as reckless horsemen and marksmen at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and their final charge at Bentonville.
Why it matters
Terry's Texas Rangers became one of the most storied Confederate cavalry units of the Civil War, embodying both the daring and the devastating cost of Texas' commitment to the Southern cause.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · B. F. Terry
Related events
- · First Battle of Manassas
- · Battle of Shiloh
- · Battle of Murfreesboro
- · Battle of Chickamauga
- · Battle of Bentonville
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Terry County
Brownfield, TX
Carved from Young and Bexar territories and created in 1876, Terry County was not formally organized until 1904, when settlers finally arrived in numbers to work its farmland. It honors Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry, the planter who raised the celebrated Terry's Texas Rangers cavalry regiment and fell early in the Civil War in 1861. Brownfield became its county seat at the heart of this farming country.
Lubbock County
Lubbock, TX
Created in 1876 and organized in 1891, Lubbock County honors Colonel Thomas S. Lubbock (1817-1862), a soldier of the Texas Revolution and Republic. Lubbock marched with the New Orleans Greys at the storming of Bexar, joined the ill-fated Santa Fe and Somervell expeditions, and in 1861 helped organize the famous Terry's Texas Rangers before his death. The county he named became the anchor of the South Plains.
Colonel T. S. Lubbock and Texas in the Civil War
Lubbock, TX
Thomas S. Lubbock, for whom the city and county are named, came to Texas in 1835 and lived a frontier life as Indian fighter, soldier, and businessman before the Civil War called him east. He won commendation as a scout at First Manassas, then helped raise the 8th Texas Cavalry—the legendary Terry's Texas Rangers—rising to colonel before typhoid fever took him in 1862. The marker pairs his story with Texas's broader Confederate war effort, from cotton wagon trains to Mexico to home-front production by families and enslaved people.
City of Brownfield
Brownfield, TX
Brownfield began in 1903 as a promoter's gamble on the open plains of Terry County, laid out by developers W. G. Hardin and A. F. Small—famously using only a hundred feet of wire to measure a townsite out of raw pasture. To draw settlers they offered a free lot to every voter in the county, and a store, hotel, and school quickly followed. In 1904 the fledgling town narrowly beat neighboring Gomez for the county seat, securing its future.