This Day In Texas History - July 12
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:58 am
1856 - Camp Sabinal, on the west bank of the Sabinal River one mile west of Sabinal, was established by Capt. Albert G. Brackett on July 12, 1856, to provide protection for commercial traffic and travelers from San Antonio to El Paso. Among the people to settle nearby were John Kenedy, who built a store near the camp, Louis Peter, and Peter Rheiner, future father-in-law of Vice President John Nance Garner. Remnants of structures built by these settlers were still in evidence when the Texas Centennial Commission placed a marker at the site in 1936. By the summer of 1856 the Second United States Cavalry, commanded by Col. Albert S. Johnston and stationed at Fort Mason, was the lone mounted unit left in Texas.
1863 - On July 12–13, 1863,the Fourteenth Texas Infantry Regiment took part in engagements at Cox's Plantation, Donaldsonville, and Bayou LaFourche. These engagements along the low country of the Mississippi River wreaked havoc on the unit in terms of various fevers and digestive disorders. The surgeon of the Fourteenth Texas recorded 260 illnesses among the 319 men in the regiment. He attributed this high rate of illness to the fact that the men were forced to "drink Bio [bayou] water with a perfect scum on it." The Fourteenth Texas Infantry Regiment was organized and mustered in the early summer of 1862. The original commander of the regiment was Edward Clark, a former lieutenant governor of Texas under Sam Houston. Clark decided to organize the regiment after having been narrowly defeated by Francis R. Lubbock in the 1861 Texas gubernatorial election. The original unit consisted of officers and men principally recruited from six Northeast Texas counties: Harrison, Polk, Rusk, Smith, Titus, and Upshur. Throughout the Civil War, the Fourteenth Texas served in numerous higher commands in Louisiana and Texas.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qkf16 ]
1870 - At the battle of the Little Wichita River, Capt. Curwin B. McClellan and a force of fifty-five troopers of the Sixth Cavalry attacked a camp of Kiowa Indians under Chief Kicking Bird. The Indians had crossed the Red River into Texas and terrorized white settlers across Wichita, Archer, Young, and Jack counties. McClellan caught up with them on the Little Wichita River in what is now Archer County. He soon realized that he was outnumbered by two to one, and that the Indians were equipped with Spencer rifles, superior to his equipment. His men were attacked from all sides, and three died during a retreat. After cowboys from the Terrell Ranch and twenty troopers reinforced McClellan, Kicking Bird broke off the engagement. In his report McClellan praised Kicking Bird's generalship and called for larger forces to protect the frontier. This was the last time Kicking Bird was ever involved in hostilities. He dedicated the rest of his life to establishing better relations between the Kiowas and the whites.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qfl01 ]
1892 - Rutersville, Texas born Robert Sylvester Munger perfected his system of pneumatic handling of cotton and patented his system machine on July 12, 1892. He invented and patented several improvements of ginning machinery in the United States.
1943 - Baylor College of Medicine opened in a former Sears, Roebuck store in Houston. The school, the only private medical school in the southwest, was founded in Dallas in 1900 as the University of Dallas Medical Department, even though the University of Dallas did not yet exist. Baylor University assumed control three years later, and awarded 1,670 M.D. degrees between 1903 and 1943. In the latter year, however, a severe conflict arose between civic leaders and physicians in Dallas and Baylor's Baptist administrators over the denominational character of the school. In exchange for fiscal support and new quarters in a proposed medical center to be erected on Hines Boulevard in Dallas, the school was expected to relinquish administrative control and denominational affiliation. Under longtime dean Walter H. Moursund, a Presbyterian, the school extricated itself from this dilemma by accepting an invitation from the M. D. Anderson Foundation and other Houston benefactors to relocate to that city instead.
1863 - On July 12–13, 1863,the Fourteenth Texas Infantry Regiment took part in engagements at Cox's Plantation, Donaldsonville, and Bayou LaFourche. These engagements along the low country of the Mississippi River wreaked havoc on the unit in terms of various fevers and digestive disorders. The surgeon of the Fourteenth Texas recorded 260 illnesses among the 319 men in the regiment. He attributed this high rate of illness to the fact that the men were forced to "drink Bio [bayou] water with a perfect scum on it." The Fourteenth Texas Infantry Regiment was organized and mustered in the early summer of 1862. The original commander of the regiment was Edward Clark, a former lieutenant governor of Texas under Sam Houston. Clark decided to organize the regiment after having been narrowly defeated by Francis R. Lubbock in the 1861 Texas gubernatorial election. The original unit consisted of officers and men principally recruited from six Northeast Texas counties: Harrison, Polk, Rusk, Smith, Titus, and Upshur. Throughout the Civil War, the Fourteenth Texas served in numerous higher commands in Louisiana and Texas.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qkf16 ]
1870 - At the battle of the Little Wichita River, Capt. Curwin B. McClellan and a force of fifty-five troopers of the Sixth Cavalry attacked a camp of Kiowa Indians under Chief Kicking Bird. The Indians had crossed the Red River into Texas and terrorized white settlers across Wichita, Archer, Young, and Jack counties. McClellan caught up with them on the Little Wichita River in what is now Archer County. He soon realized that he was outnumbered by two to one, and that the Indians were equipped with Spencer rifles, superior to his equipment. His men were attacked from all sides, and three died during a retreat. After cowboys from the Terrell Ranch and twenty troopers reinforced McClellan, Kicking Bird broke off the engagement. In his report McClellan praised Kicking Bird's generalship and called for larger forces to protect the frontier. This was the last time Kicking Bird was ever involved in hostilities. He dedicated the rest of his life to establishing better relations between the Kiowas and the whites.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qfl01 ]
1892 - Rutersville, Texas born Robert Sylvester Munger perfected his system of pneumatic handling of cotton and patented his system machine on July 12, 1892. He invented and patented several improvements of ginning machinery in the United States.
1943 - Baylor College of Medicine opened in a former Sears, Roebuck store in Houston. The school, the only private medical school in the southwest, was founded in Dallas in 1900 as the University of Dallas Medical Department, even though the University of Dallas did not yet exist. Baylor University assumed control three years later, and awarded 1,670 M.D. degrees between 1903 and 1943. In the latter year, however, a severe conflict arose between civic leaders and physicians in Dallas and Baylor's Baptist administrators over the denominational character of the school. In exchange for fiscal support and new quarters in a proposed medical center to be erected on Hines Boulevard in Dallas, the school was expected to relinquish administrative control and denominational affiliation. Under longtime dean Walter H. Moursund, a Presbyterian, the school extricated itself from this dilemma by accepting an invitation from the M. D. Anderson Foundation and other Houston benefactors to relocate to that city instead.