General Alison Nelson
Meridian, Bosque County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1822-1862) Soldier, statesman and Indian fighter. In his native Georgia, a legislator and mayor of city of Atlanta. General in Cuban liberation forces, 1850. On reaching Texas 1856, joined state troops fighting Indians. Elected 1859 to State Legislature; served as delegate to 1861 Texas Secession Convention. In the Civil War raised, trained and led 10th Regiment Texas Infantry. Sent into defense of Arkansas, repulsed Federal assault on Devall's Bluff, June 1862. Died of illness in camp near Austin, Ark., October 7, 1862. (1964)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Alison Nelson (1822–1862) packed several lives into forty years — Georgia legislator and mayor of Atlanta, a general in Cuban liberation forces in 1850, and, after reaching Texas in 1856, a fighter in the state's Indian campaigns. He served as a delegate to the 1861 Secession Convention, then raised and led the 10th Texas Infantry, repulsing a Federal assault at Devall's Bluff, Arkansas, before dying of illness in camp in October 1862.
Why it matters
Nelson's career embodies the restless, militant Southern nationalism that carried men from frontier Indian wars into the Confederate ranks of the Civil War.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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