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Henry Harrison High, Corporal, Company I,
15th Texas [Dismounted] Cavalry [Sweet's] Regiment, CSA

My paternal great-grandfather, Henry Harrison High, served in Company I, 15th Regiment, Texas Cavalry from 29 March 1862 to 20 March 1865. More than 35 months. The 15th Texas Cavalry was one of the regiments in Granbury's Texas Brigade, CSA.

Henry Harrison High was born 22 June 1842 in Somerville, Fayette County, Tennessee, and moved to Van Zandt County, Texas, in 1852, with his parents [Samuel A. and Permelia High] and eight other children in an ox drawn wagon. [HHHigh and 4 brothers served in Texas CSA regiments].

Henry H. High and Sarah Elizabeth Norman were married 16June1861 and built their home near the High Community school building and cemetery in Van Zandt County, Texas.

Henry H. High enlisted as a 2nd Corporal in the Confederate Army on 29March1862 and was assigned to the Company I [Captain James E. Moore's Company], 15th Texas Calvary regiment. He was sworn in at Canton, Texas, by his father-in-law, Alex Norman, and was sent to Clarksville, Texas. Records show that he took with him for duty a horse valued at $175 and a gun valued at $20. The pistol, an Eclipse, bought from a mail order firm in Illinois.

The 15th Regiment Texas Cavalry [also known as the 2nd Regiment Johnson's Brigade Texas Mounted Volunteers] was organized 10 March 1862. The regiment was reorganized on 20 May 1862 because of depleted ranks associated with the [Confederate] Conscription Act of April 1862. All soldiers under the age 18 or over the age 35 were discharged. This left many vacancies in the ranks; Henry H. High was reduced to ranks [Private].

The 15th Regiment Texas Cavalry was dismounted 24 July 1862, by Special Order No. 64, Headquarters Army of the West. [ This was typical for Texas Cavalry regiments; to wit, the CSA Army had
  • no difficulty raising Texas Cavalry regiment
  • difficulty raising Texas Infantry regiment
    The Confederate government solved this problem by allowing Texas Cavalry regiments to be raised and then to order them dismounted. Needless to say, the loss of their horses galled the ex-cavalry men.]

    From Clarksville, Texas, High's company marched toward Corinth, Mississippi. The unit never reached Corinth, but was engaged in the battle of Cotton Plant and Batesville, Arkansas. These engagements were parts of the general battle of Arkansas Post, Ark., 09 - 11January1863. At the time of the battle of Arkansas Post, a measles epidemic raged and some 1,200 Confederate soldiers died of the disease.

    Henry H. High was captured on 11January1863 with the surrender of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, Arkansas. After being captured, High was moved to Camp Douglas [Chicago], Illinois; a camp where many soldiers froze to death. He was paroled at Camp Douglas, Illinois, 03April1863 and delivered at City Point, Va., 10April 1863, and exchanged. Henry H. High was then sent to Camp Lee at Richmond, Virginia, via Petersburg.

    While Henry H. High was in service, the 15th Texas Cavalry [Dismounted] regiment was engaged in the following battles which had a direct impact on the course of the war and / or decisive influence on a campaign:
  • Chickamauga, Ga.,19-20 September 1863
  • Chattanooga_III, Tenn., 23-25 November 1863
  • Atlanta, Ga., 22 July 1864
  • Jonesborough, Ga., 31 August - 01 September 1864
  • Franklin_II, Tenn., 30 November 1864
  • Nashville, Tenn., 15 - 16 December 1864

    It is believed that Henry H. High was wounded at Nashville, Tennessee, and moved with the army to Tupelo, Mississippi. From that point he was taken with other wounded soldiers to a Mobile, Alabama, hospital for treatment. He went home on furlough 20 March 1865, and never returned to duty. He "was at home on furlough at time of surrender"; the surrender of General Lee and his army was on 09April1865.

    Henry H. High applied for a pension 05 July 1909. The pension was approved 31 August 1909; State of Texas Confederate Pension File number 16875. His application states in part that he:
  • was at home on furlough at the time of the surrender
  • was born in Fayette County, Tennessee
  • had resided in Texas 58 years
  • resided in Van Zandt County continually for 58 years on Texas Route 1
  • was a farmer by occupation
  • served in Company I, 15th Texas Cavalry, CSA, from 1862 to the close of the War
  • was never transferred to another command

    Henry H. High and his wife Sarah, lived in the High Community until 1912 when they moved to Myrtle Springs, Texas, to be near a son and a daughter.

    Henry Harrison High died 12April1931. Henry H. High and 29 other persons surnamed High are buried in the High Cemetery, High Community, a half miles southeast of Canton, Van Zandt County, Texas.

    Sources:
  • This Band of Heroes, Granbury's Texas Brigade, C.S.A., James M. McCaffrey, Texas A&M Press, 1996
  • Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Texas, Stewart Sifakis, 1995 Facts on File Books
  • HIGH FAMILY HISTORY, compiled by Alf A. Allen, personally published 1970
  • NPS CWSSS Regimental Histories
  • Texas State Archive, Confederate Pension File number 16875

    An expanded biography of Henry Harrison High is found on a separate webpage.
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