General W. H. King
Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Star and Wreath) Home county of Texas Confederate. (1839-1910) Georgian. Moved to Texas 1861. Rose to rank of colonel, 18th Texas Infantry. Led regiment in Red River Campaign of 1863 to prevent split of South along Mississippi. Commanded the 18th in Red River Campaign 1864 to stop invasion of Texas. Wounded Mansfield, La. and made brigadier general. Recovered to lead Walker's Division for a time and brigades in Louisiana and East Texas. Texas adjutant general 1881-91. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the state of Texas 1963. Texas in the Civil War: Texas made an all-out effort for the Confederacy after a 3 to 1 vote for secession. 90,000 troops, famous for daring and mobility, fought on every battlefront. A 2,000 mile frontier and coastline was successfully defended from Union troops and savage Indians. State and private industry produced war goods. Cotton - life blood of South - traded thru Mexico for medicine and military supplies. Texas was storehouse of Western Confederacy. Citizens made sacrifices to produce food and clothing for Texas fighting men.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This memorial honors General William H. King, a Georgian who moved to Texas in 1861 and rose to command the 18th Texas Infantry. He led his regiment through the Red River campaigns of 1863 and 1864 that helped keep Union forces from splitting the Confederacy or invading Texas, was wounded at Mansfield and promoted to brigadier general, and later served as the state's adjutant general. The marker doubles as a broader tribute to the roughly 90,000 Texans who fought for the Confederacy.
Why it matters
King's career frames Texas's heavy commitment to the Confederate war effort and the state's role as the "storehouse" of the western Confederacy.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
William H. King moved to Texas in 1861, the year the state left the Union. Texas voters had approved secession by roughly three to one. Like the other seceding states, Texas made the protection of slavery central to its decision. Within months, men across the state were forming regiments, and many of them ended up in the Confederacy's Trans-Mississippi theater.
The war west of the Mississippi River had its own goals. For the Union, control of the Mississippi meant splitting the Confederacy in two. For Confederate Texas, the fighting in Louisiana was about keeping Union armies from reaching Texas itself. In spring 1864, Union forces pushed up the Red River in Louisiana. Confederate troops, including many Texans, turned them back after battles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.
This marker was put up in 1963, during the Civil War centennial. That period produced many Confederate memorials across Texas, and their wording reflects how the war was commonly remembered then. This one describes Texas's war effort in heroic terms and refers to Native Americans as "savage Indians," language that historians today see as a product of its time. Reading the marker as a primary source from both the 1860s and the 1960s adds a layer to the visit.
People & events
William H. King was born in Georgia in 1839 and came to Texas as a young man in 1861. He joined the Confederate cause and rose to colonel of the 18th Texas Infantry. The regiment served in Louisiana as part of the Texas infantry division commanded by John G. Walker. The division moved so far on foot that it became known as "Walker's Greyhounds."
The marker credits King with leading his regiment in campaigns in 1863 and 1864. In 1864, the Union army moved up the Red River toward Shreveport, the gateway to Texas. At the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana, Confederate forces stopped the advance. King was wounded there and afterward promoted to brigadier general. After he recovered, he commanded Walker's Division for a time, along with brigades in Louisiana and East Texas.
King's public career continued long after the war. From 1881 to 1891 he served as adjutant general of Texas, the state's top military administrator. In those years the office oversaw state forces, including the Texas Rangers. He died in 1910. This marker stands in Hopkins County, where he made his home, and it also serves as a memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy.
Its place in the American story
King's career ties a Texas county to one of the key struggles of the Civil War: the fight for the Mississippi Valley and the western Confederacy. The Union captured Vicksburg in 1863, which gave it control of the river and cut the Confederacy in two. After that, the Trans-Mississippi was largely isolated, and Texas became even more important as a source of men, food, and supplies.
The marker points out that Texas cotton was traded through Mexico for medicine and military supplies. That trade moved across the Rio Grande to get around the Union naval blockade, and it was one of the war's notable economic stories. Texas's size and distance from major battlefields meant its home front felt the war differently from states where armies marched through.
The marker's own story matters too. Memorials like this one, erected at the centennial, shaped how generations of Texans understood the war. Today, historians and visitors read them alongside a fuller record: the role of slavery in secession, the experience of enslaved Texans, and the Union loyalists within the state. That reading helps explain why Civil War memory is still debated nationally.
If you visit
The marker stands in Sulphur Springs, the county seat of Hopkins County in northeast Texas. The town is a pleasant stop, and the marker is a good place to think about how one man's life ran from a Georgia childhood to Louisiana battlefields to a state office in Austin.
Read both parts of the inscription carefully. The first tells King's personal story. The second offers a 1963 summary of Texas's role in the war. Together they show both the history they describe and how that history was being told in the 1960s. For families with older children, comparing the marker's language with how we'd describe the same events today can start a good conversation.
If the Red River Campaign interests you, it's worth extending your trip east into Louisiana, where the battlefield at Mansfield is preserved. Following King's path from Hopkins County to the Louisiana battlefields turns one roadside marker into a journey through the western Civil War.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · William H. King
Related events
- · Red River Campaign
Themes & tags
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