DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Spring of 1862. The war is young, and a man named Thomas N.
Waul has work to do. Born in 1813, Waul is no spring colt himself by this point — but he rides out across Washington County and the surrounding counties with a mission: recruit men, build something formidable, and build it fast. And formidable is not too strong a word.
What Waul pulls together is a legion. Twelve infantry companies. Six cavalry companies.
Two artillery companies. When the counting is done, some two thousand soldiers are standing in formation. Now, they've got to learn to be an army before they can go be one.
And this stretch of ground — right here along New Year's Creek — is where that happens. The organizational and training encampment of Waul's Texas Legion sits right on this creek, and the men dig in for the long work of turning themselves into soldiers. On May 13, 1862, Waul is commissioned colonel of the legion.
He has his rank. He has his men. And through the summer — all the way through the heat of a Texas summer — the companies hold in camp here along New Year's Creek, drilling and waiting.
Then, August 18, they depart for active duty. Just like that, the creek goes quiet. What follows is not quiet at all.
Part of the legion heads to Mississippi in 1862 and 1863. They find themselves at Vicksburg — in the defense of it — and they are still there when the siege ends and the surrender comes. That is not a small thing to carry.
Other units fan out to Arkansas and Louisiana, fighting their own separate chapters of the same brutal war. The story doesn't end there, though. The legion is later reorganized and returned to Texas, serving at Galveston and along the Gulf Coast until the war finally burns itself out.
All told, throughout the war, the legion performed notably — and that word, notably, covers a lot of ground — in numerous battles, sieges, and skirmishes. And then the war is over, and Thomas N. Waul has to figure out what comes next, same as everybody else.
He is elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866 — the Reconstruction Convention, as it's known. After that, he practices law in Galveston. He lives a long life, long enough to see the century turn, and when he dies in 1903, it's on his farm in Hunt County.
Two thousand men, trained right here on New Year's Creek. Some of them surrendered at Vicksburg. Some of them held the Gulf Coast.
All of them answered the call of a man who rode out in the spring of 1862 and asked. That creek still runs. The ground still remembers.
What the marker says
In the spring of 1862 Thomas N. Waul (1813-1903) recruited men from Washington and the surrounding counties to form a legion for Confederate service. Composed of twelve infantry companies, six cavalry companies, and two artillery companies, the legion numbered some two thousand soldiers. The organizational and training encampment of Waul's Texas Legion was located here along New Year's Creek. Waul was commissioned colonel of the legion on May 13, 1862, and the companies remained in camp here until August 18, when they departed for active duty. Part of the legion served in Mississippi in 1862 and 1863. They participated in the defense of Vicksburg and surrendered there following the siege. Other units served in Arkansas and Louisiana. The legion was later reorganized and returned to Texas to serve at Galveston and along the Gulf Coast until the end of the war. Throughout the war, the legion performed notably in numerous battles, sieges and skirmishes. After the Civil War Waul was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866 (Reconstruction Convention). He later practiced law in Galveston. He died on his farm in Hunt County in 1903. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986