The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985 Page: 65
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HENRY MILLARD, FORGOTTEN TEXIAN
Yielding to his lingering yen for military life, he at some point rejoined
the Texas Militia and became Colonel Commandant of the Fourth Regi-
ment, Second Brigade, stationed in Galveston.83 On April 21 of 1842, he
and Sam Houston's former aide, Col. George W. Hockley, staged a mock
battle in Galveston in honor of the Battle of San Jacinto. An admiring
observer commented that Millard and Hockley "conceived a plan of celebra-
tion that at once aroused an enthusiastic interest in the event, and hastily
enlisted every able-bodied man in Galveston." The event included a "sham
battle," to be fought on the prairie between Saccarap (an early settlement
on the Island) and Galveston proper.84 Hockley and Millard were leaders
of the battle, staged "under the eye of General Morehead [Edwin
Morehouse]," Millard's commanding officer and old friend. The event, a
huge success, marked the first celebration of San Jacinto Day in Galveston.
Unfortunately, Millard's life in Galveston, meant to be a new be-
ginning and indeed begun so auspiciously, became instead a twilight of
dimmed hopes, straitened circumstances, and receding opportunities. Almost
simultaneously with his move to Galveston came the onset of poor health,
its nature unknown (Millard referred to it only as his "complaint"85) but
its effect was devastating. To compound his troubles, the San Jacinto Day
celebration apparently triggered a quarrel between himself and Hockley,
because the following autumn Hockley filed certain "charges and specifica-
tions of charges" against Millard with the Texas Department of War and
Marine. His fellow officers of the Fourth Regiment, Second Brigade defended
him hotly: "....in our opinion the charges...are, all things considered,
groundless and unauthorized...We hold Col. Millard in the highest estima-
tion as a man and...we have the utmost...confidence in his integrity,
ability and efficiency as a military officer... .We express.. .most deliber-
ately & finally our disbelief in their truth and propriety."86 The charges
were never named, and apparently nothing came of them, but the entire
affair made a bitter aftermath to an otherwise successful event.
83Manuscript Sources, Document #70-0426, Rosenberg Library, Galveston.
84Charles W. Hayes, Galveston: History of the Island and the City (Austin: Jenkins-Garrett
Press, 1974), Vol. II, 445. Dr. J. O. Dyer, The Early History of Galveston, Centenary Edition
(Galveston: Oscar Springer Printing Co., 1916), p. 17.
85Henry Millard to Thomas B. Huling, September 10, 1843, Thomas B. Huling Papers, Barker
Texas History Center.
86Manuscript Sources, Document #70-0442, Rosenberg Library, Galveston.Nov. 1985]
65
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Texas Gulf Historical Society. The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985, periodical, November 1985; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1433656/m1/67/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Gulf Historical Society.