William Steele
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born New York. Graduate West Point. In Seminole and Mexican Wars. Resigned U.S. Army to serve Confederacy. Colonel 7th Texas Cavalry. In New Mexico campaign General. Commander Indian Territory 1863 and Galveston defenses 1864. Led cavalry division Red River campaign. Gave distinguished service various Louisiana actions against invasion of Texas. As Texas Adjutant General after reconstruction rebuilt Texas Rangers to restore order and control Indians. Erected by the State of Texas, 1963
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A New York-born West Point graduate, William Steele fought in the Seminole and Mexican Wars before resigning from the U.S. Army to serve the Confederacy, rising to general and commanding troops from New Mexico and the Indian Territory to the defenses of Galveston. He led cavalry in the Red River campaign and other Louisiana actions against Union invasions of Texas. After the war he served as Texas Adjutant General, rebuilding the Texas Rangers during the turbulent Reconstruction years.
Why it matters
Steele's career spans the frontier army, the Confederacy, and Reconstruction-era Texas, embodying the tangled loyalties and law-and-order struggles of the nineteenth-century Southwest.
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Related people
- · William Steele
Related events
- · Red River Campaign
Themes & tags
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