Bayland Guards Historical Marker - Baytown, Texas

The Harris County Historical Commission,

Baytown Historical Preservation Association, and

Total Petrochemicals, La Porte Polypropylene Plant

cordially invite you to attend the

dedication of an Official Texas Historical Marker
honoring the 

Bayland Guards Saturday,

September 18, 2010, at 10 a.m.

at Bayland Park

2641 SH 146 Business, Baytown, Texas

Reception Follows
Lawn chairs welcomed for seating will be limited
For additional information, call 713.864.6862

The Bayland Guards were organized by

Dr. Ashbel Smith of San Jacinto fame,

with men from eastern Harris County  and Chambers County. 

 It later became Company C, 2nd Texas Infantry. 

The Bayland Guards, with no previous military experience, under the command of Dr. Ashbel Smith, scholar, statesman, and skilled physician, registered their original Muster Roll at the Harris County Courthouse in Houston on April 29, 1861. Mustered into Confederate service on July 31, 1861 as Company C of the Galveston Infantry Regiment, in Galveston.

The Galveston Regiment was redesignated on October 12, 1861 as the Second Texas Infantry Regiment. Seeing battle at Shiloh, Corinth, and Hatchie Bridge, with the Second Texas Infantry, the Guards served bravely and distinguished itself for the defense of a crescent-shaped fortification at Vicksburg.

They faced “forty-seven days and nights of daily shelling and nightly bombardment in a narrow ditch, exposed to the scorching heat during the day and the often chilly air and dews of night” from two Union assaults. The Bayland Guards, as part of the Second Texas Infantry, was surrendered at Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 and was paroled within the week. They were exchanged September 12, 1863, reorganized in Texas during the fall of 1863, and surrendered May 26, 1865.

Three sons of Republic of Texas presidents Sam Houston and Anson Jones served in this unit: Samuel Houston, Jr., Charles Elliott Jones, and Samuel Edward Jones.

As part of the Second Texas Regiment, the Bayland Guards served with distinction and honor, and upon returning home from the war, shaped by their wartime experiences, helped to shape the future of the communities they represented. They continued to distinguish themselves as the bay area began to rebuild itself and go through Reconstruction. They were the farmers and ranchers, teachers, doctors and dentists, business owners, and several served in elected offices.