Arthur Pendleton Bagby

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Arthur Pendleton Bagby. Born May 17, 1833, and he lived all the way to February 21, 1921. That right there is a life that stretched across an extraordinary sweep of American history, and Bagby was in the middle of more of it than most men ever dreamed of.

He came into this world in Alabama, a native son of that state, but Texas would claim him in the end. He's buried in the city cemetery in Hallettsville, right here in Lavaca County. Now let's back up, because the story of how he got there is something else entirely.

Bagby was a West Point man, class of 1852, and when he passed in 1921, he was the last surviving member of that class. The last one. Let that settle for a moment.

He outlived every single man who graduated alongside him. After West Point he studied law, became an attorney, and when the Civil War came, he went in deep. He was a colonel in the 7th Texas Confederate Cavalry, and he did not sit out the hard assignments.

He took part in Sibley's New Mexico campaign, which tells you something about the ambition and the reach of what the Confederacy was attempting out west. Then came the Battle of Galveston, and here's a detail that catches you off guard: Bagby commanded volunteer land troops on board a Confederate ship, the Neptune. A cavalry officer, a lawyer, on the water, in the fight.

He was wounded in an engagement near Berwick Bay in Louisiana, and commended for his role in it. Wounds and commendations, that's the kind of résumé a war writes on a man. And he wasn't done.

He led a brigade at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, both in Louisiana. He rose all the way to major-general in the Confederate Army. From Alabama to West Point, from the New Mexico territory to the waters off Galveston, from Berwick Bay to Mansfield to Pleasant Hill, and finally to a quiet resting place in Hallettsville.

Arthur Pendleton Bagby, the last man standing from the class of 1852, had seen enough history for several lifetimes.

What the marker says

(May 17, 1833 - February 21, 1921) Star and Wreath Native Alabamian, last surviving member of West Point class of 1852, lawyer, colonel in 7th Texas Confederate Cavalry, participant in Sibley's New Mexico campaign, commanded volunteer land troops on board Confederate ship Neptune during Battle of Galveston, wounded and commended for role in engagement near Berwick Bay in Louisiana, led brigade at battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill in Louisiana, major-general in Confederate Army. Buried in city cemetery, Hallettsville. 1963