DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it down the road to you. March 3, 1863. President Abraham Lincoln puts his name to an act calling for all able-bodied men to join the National Forces.
The country is at war with itself, and it needs every man it can get. The following February, William Barnes answers that call. He joins the Union Army.
He's stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, and for a time that's where his story lives — until September 29th and 30th of 1864, when it nearly ends. The Battle of New Market Heights. Barnes is wounded there.
But whatever he did in that fight, it was enough. Enough that the United States government awarded him the Medal of Honor for his efforts. Now here's where the story takes a turn toward Texas.
July of 1865 — Barnes is stationed along the Texas border, and he earns a promotion to the rank of Sergeant. Assigned to the U.S. Colored Troops, Sergeant William Henry Barnes becomes vital to the protection of the Texas government and its coastal and southern border.
The man who survived New Market Heights is now standing watch over a coastline. But war has a long reach, and so does hardship. Barnes died of consumption in December of 1866.
He was buried at Indianola — a name that carries its own weight in Texas history — and later reinterred in San Antonio National Cemetery. A man who answered the call, crossed a continent, earned the Medal of Honor, and ended up laid to rest in Texas soil. The marker stands in Calhoun County, making sure nobody forgets the name Sergeant William Henry Barnes.
What the marker says
On March 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act calling for all able-bodied men to join the National Forces. William Barnes joined the union army the following February. He was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia and six months later was wounded in the Battle of New Market Heights on September 29-30, 1864. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts. In July of 1865, Barnes was stationed along the Texas border and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Barnes, assigned to the U.S. Colored Troops, was vital to the protection of the Texas government and its coastal and southern border. Barnes died of consumption in December 1866. He was buried at Indianola and then reinterred in San Antonio National Cemetery.