DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job's just to do it justice. Now, some men drift into history quiet-like. Sidney Sherman was not that kind of man.
He was born in Massachusetts, July 23, 1805 — about as far from the Texas sun as you can get. But something pulled him southwest, and in February of 1836 he came to Texas as captain of a company of volunteers he had recruited himself, all the way up in Kentucky and Ohio. He didn't just show up — he brought people with him.
At San Jacinto, Sherman commanded the Second Regiment of Texas Volunteers. And when that battle opened — when the moment came that everything balanced on a knife's edge — it was Sidney Sherman who first sounded the war cry that would echo through Texas history for generations. Remember the Alamo.
Remember Goliad. Those words, first shouted by this Massachusetts man commanding Texas volunteers on a field that would decide a nation. You think about that for a second.
After San Jacinto, Sherman didn't fade into a rocking chair. He served in the Congress of the Republic from 1842 to 1843. He rose to Major General of the Militia, holding that rank from 1843 to 1846.
And when the War Between the States came, he served as Commandant of the Port of Galveston for the Confederacy from 1861 to 1862. But here's the line on Sidney Sherman that might outlast all the rest — the marker calls him the father of railroads in Texas. He built the first railroad west of the Sabine River.
In a state that would one day be threaded end to end with iron rail, somebody had to lay down that first stretch. That was Sherman. He died in Galveston, Texas, on the first day of August, 1873.
Born in Massachusetts, buried in Galveston — and somewhere in between, he hollered the words that opened the battle that made Texas. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936, with funds appropriated by the federal government, to commemorate one hundred years of Texas independence. Seemed like the least they could do.
What the marker says
[back] Born in Massachusetts July 23, 1805. Came to Texas February 1836 as captain of a company of volunteers he had recruited in Kentucky and Ohio. Commanded the Second Regiment of Texas Volunteers at San Jacinto. First to sound the immortal war cry opening the battle. Remember the Alamo. Remember Goliad. Member of the Congress of the Republic 1842-1843. Major General of the Militia 1843-1846. Commandant Port of Galveston C.S.A. 1861-1862. Father of railroads in Texas, having built the first one west of the Sabine River. Died in Galveston, Texas, on the first day of August 1873. [base] Erected by the State of Texas 1936 with funds appropriated by the federal government to commemorate one hundred years of Texas Independence