Val Verde Battery, C.S.A.
Fairfield, Freestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Six brass field guns taken by Lt. Joseph D. Sayers' Company in Civil War Battle of Val Verde, N. Mex., 1862, and brought back to Texas with incredible difficulty, armed a new unit of hand-picked men. Sound of the Val Verde guns in action set pace for other outfits, helped secure such victories as the recapture of Galveston, 1863. At Mansfield, La., April 1864, captured new, longer-range guns. Unwilling to lose their guns when the war ended, the men buried four. The last commander, T. D. Nettles, brought this one home to Freestone County.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Six brass field guns captured by Lt. Joseph D. Sayers' company at the 1862 Battle of Val Verde in New Mexico were hauled back to Texas at great difficulty to arm a hand-picked Confederate battery. The Val Verde guns saw action in the recapture of Galveston in 1863 and the Battle of Mansfield in 1864, where the men seized longer-range pieces. Rather than surrender them at war's end, the crew buried four, and last commander T. D. Nettles brought this one home to Freestone County.
Why it matters
The battery's captured guns embody the Confederate Trans-Mississippi campaign and the fierce attachment soldiers felt for the weapons that defined their unit's identity.
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Related people
- · Joseph D. Sayers
- · T. D. Nettles
Related events
- · Battle of Val Verde
- · Battle of Mansfield
- · Recapture of Galveston
Themes & tags
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