DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and here's my telling of it — every word earned. Now if you want a life that sounds like somebody made it up, pull up a chair and let me tell you about William P. Hardeman.
Indian fighter. Frontiersman. Explorer.
The marker doesn't even slow down before it gets started, and neither did this man. Hardeman was a veteran of the Texas Revolution. After that, the Cordova Rebellion.
After that, the Mexican War. By the time most men were settling into something comfortable, Hardeman was just getting warmed up. When 1861 came and the Confederacy was forming its ranks, Hardeman entered the Confederate Army as Captain of the 4th Texas Mounted Volunteers.
Then came 1862, and a campaign that doesn't get talked about nearly enough — the New Mexico campaign, with the specific aim of securing gold and gaining access to the Pacific. High stakes doesn't begin to cover it. It was at the Battle of Valverde where something happened that the marker calls — and I love this word — brilliant.
A cavalry charge. Hardeman's role in that brilliant cavalry charge at Valverde was enough to make him a Colonel. The battlefield has a way of doing the promotin' when the paperwork can't keep up.
From there, he led a brigade during the Red River campaign — the campaign designed to stop the invasion of Texas. And in 1865, William P. Hardeman was promoted to Brigadier General.
When the war was over and the men who'd fought it needed somewhere to land, Hardeman became the first president of the State Confederate Home. He was an Aggie. A fighter.
And by all accounts, a Southern gentleman. The people who knew him best didn't call him General, though. They called him Old Gotch — affectionately, the marker is careful to say.
A man who fought in that many wars, rode in that many campaigns, and still got a nickname that sounds like something your favorite uncle goes by — that's a Texas life if I've ever heard one.
What the marker says
Indian fighter, frontiersman, explorer. Veteran of Texas Revolution, Cordova Rebellion and Mexican War. Entered Confederate Army 1861 as Captain 4th Texas Mounted Volunteers. Served 1862 New Mexico campaign to secure gold and access to Pacific. Role in brilliant cavalry charge Battle Valverde made him Colonel. Led brigade Red River campaign to stop invasion Texas. Promoted Brigadier General 1865. First president State Confederate Home. Known affectionately as "Old Gotch." An Aggie, fighter, and Southern gentleman.