Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 4, Number 1, Spring, 1992 Page: 18
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Mattie Gano
"we have seen stirring times since I last wrote you."
As Senior Brigadier General, he had been ordered
to take command in one battle, in which his men
had driven the enemy on foot two miles over the
hills and through cedar brush, until they made a
stand on a hillside. "In the face of their murderous
fire we marched up the hill and drove them from
their position .... Imagine their artillery pouring
grape and canister, round shot and shell into our
ranks at 140 yds distant admidst a perfect shower of
minnie balls. And still we advanced and drove
them completely to the rear of their artillery." Just
then the Confederate's ammunition gave out and
they were compelled to fall back. "The enemy was
so badly whipped," he continued, "that they did not
dare to follow us, but they were reinforced soon
after with about 9000 troops ...." "If we had had
ten rounds more," he lamented, "we would have
taken the whole command."33
Gano, still the senior officer, was forced to
assume a defensive posture during an engagement
with Federal forces on April 3, 1863, at Snow's
Hill, near Liberty. Gano deployed both brigades of
Morgan's command on foot in a line about halfway
up the hill, where they had a clear line of fire at theenemy but no protection.34 Despite their vulnerable
position, the Confederates managed to repulse
two infantry charges. At the third charge, however,
with artillery fire infiltrating their ranks, Gano
gave the order to fall back. While most of his men
retreated in remarkable order, Gano rallied about
25 to make a stand on the road. With fences and
deep woods on either side, the small band effectively
blocked the path of an advancing regiment of
Federal cavalry numbering 640. Gano ordered his
men not to fire until he gave the order. When the
Federal troops were about 75 yards away, a few of
them fired shots, but Gano's men sat quietly. This
disconcerted the Federals, and they began to get
tangled up in the road. Seizing his moment, Gano
stood up in his stirrups, looked to his right into the
woods, as if to additional forces, and shouted
"Forward charge!" Then he looked to the left and
repeated the command. The Federals began to
retreat, with Gano's 25 men chasing them. In front
of Beckwith's Tavern a number of the Federal
horses fell into a huge mudhole, and Gano ended
his chase by capturing 42 Union cavalry men.
Later he had the pleasure of hearing a description of
the encounter from General Morgan's wife, who
had watched it from a nearby housetop. After
glowingly recounting how 20 Confederates had
chased 1000 Yankees and captured 100, Mrs. Morgan
was informed that Colonel Gano had commanded
the Confederate soldiers. She chided him
for allowing her to continue in ignorance of his role
and asked him why he had done so. "Because I was
in it and couldn't see it very well," he replied, "and
wanted to hear a description of it from a lady who
was on the house top." Her description, he added,
was "very good."35
EVEN BEFORE THE DEFEAT at Snow's Hill, morale
among the men had begun to decline.
The winter had been unusually hard, and supplies
had been scarce. "The glory was fading from
Morgan's command," writes one biographer, "and
the superiority of Confederate cavalry in the West
was passing."36 Morgan himself had suffered a bad
defeat at Milton on March 20. But Snow's Hill was
a personal loss for Gano, the officer in command.
According to Basil Duke, he suffered from "functional
disease of the heart, brought about by exposure,
hard work and intense excitement."37 He
simply told his wife, "I am not well and think of18
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Dallas County Heritage Society. Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 4, Number 1, Spring, 1992, periodical, 1992; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth35116/m1/20/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Historical Society.