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 The Historic Persimmon Grove and Capt. Hill's Military Camp
N 33° 40.946 W 095° 49.036
15S E 238827 N 3730508
Texas Historical Marker on FM 38, about seven miles north of Petty, noting this as the general area of a landmark persimmon grove that later served as a training ground as the Civil War began.
Waymark Code: WMWKAH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/14/2017
Views: 6
Marker Number: 8220
Marker Text:
Up to 1860, pioneers found here a grand 100-square-mile prairie overgrown with high grass. The grove of persimmons 100 yards west of this spot formed an island on the north-central edge of the prairie. The locality's only trees, the persimmon grove was a gathering place where settlers swapped news or livestock and followed other casual pursuits.
When Texas and other states seceded from the Union and prepared for war, Lamar Cavalry Company No. 2 was organized here on June 10, 1861, by Methodist lay minister and Mexican war veteran James Hill (1827-90). Capt. Hill drilled his men for several months on the prairie beside the grove. Then it became known that militia laws would forbid such cavalry units to leave the state of Texas. Disbanding, Hill's men formed Company E, 9th Regiment, Texas Infantry, and were mustered into Confederate service on Nov. 26, 1861. In Ector's Brigade, French's Division, army of Lieutenant General Polk, they fought at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and other actions.
Farmers later plowed up the prairie and planted trees that obscured the persimmon grove. Yet is has become a landmark of pioneer days. (1977)
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