General Richard Harrison

Duane's take

Here's the marker's own account, the way I'd tell it around a late fire. Now if the name Harrison rings a bell when you're talking about American presidents, well, hold that thought, because it's going to matter. Richard Harrison was born in 1821, and when the Civil War came calling, he wasn't some green recruit looking for adventure.

He was already a physician and a statesman. A man who'd built a life with his hands and his mind before he ever put on a uniform. But here is where the story gets genuinely remarkable.

Richard Harrison was one of three brothers, and all three of them, every single one, rose to the rank of general in the Confederate Army. Three brothers. Three generals.

Same family, same war, same gray uniform. You'd be forgiven for thinking that kind of thing only happens in tall tales, but the marker says what it says. And there's one more thread to pull on.

These three brothers were great grand-nephews of William Henry Harrison, president of the United States. That's the lineage running through this family. Three generals, and a president somewhere back in the branches of the family tree.

Richard won his general's commission in January of 1865, in Mississippi. The war was nearly spent by then, grinding toward its close, and he earned that rank in the final, hard chapter of it. When it was over, he moved to Texas in 1866, settling near his older brother, General James E.

Harrison, and his younger brother, General Thomas Harrison. Three brothers who had scattered across the battlefields of a whole war, pulling back together on Texas soil. And then Richard Harrison did what he'd always done.

He practiced medicine. He farmed. He helped rebuild the Texas economy in the difficult years that followed the war.

He was a church leader. And he served as a trustee of Waco University, an institution the marker names as a forebear of Baylor University. Richard Harrison died in 1876.

Physician, statesman, general, farmer, church leader, and trustee. One brother of three, each one a general, all of them sons of the same remarkable family. Some legacies don't need any embellishment at all.

What the marker says

(1821-1876) One of a trio of brothers--great grand-nephews of U.S. president WM. Henry Harrison--who all gained rank of general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Richard Harrison was a physician and statesman prior to Army service. Won his general's commission in Jan. 1865 in Mississippi. Moved to Texas, 1866, settling near older brother, Gen. Jas. E., and younger brother, Gen. Thos. Harrison. Practiced medicine, farmed, helped rebuild Texas economy, was a church leader. A trustee of Waco University, a forebear of Baylor University.