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Richard Montgomery Gano | |
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| Born | (1830-06-17)June 17, 1830 |
| Died | March 17, 1913(1913-03-17) (aged 82) |
| Place of burial | Oakland Cemetery, Dallas, Texas |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Branch | Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 (CSA) |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
Richard Montgomery Gano (June 17, 1830 – March 27, 1913) was aphysician, Protestantminister, andbrigadier general in the army of theConfederate States during theAmerican Civil War.
Richard Gano was born June 17, 1830, near Springdale inBourbon County, Kentucky, the son of John Allen Gano, who was the son of Gen. Richard M. Gano, veteran of theWar of 1812. John Allen Gano was a minister in theDisciples of Christ and was active in theRestoration Movement withAlexander Campbell andBarton W. Stone. The first General Richard Gano was the son of Rev.John Gano and Sarah Stites. (Rev. John Gano was the first pastor of the First Baptist Church of New York City and was known as the "Fighting Chaplain" for his Revolutionary War exploits. He is also credited with having baptized George Washington in the Potomac River although this is disputed.) Gano was ofHuguenot descent.[1] Through John Gano he was a cousin ofUnion GeneralWilliam Price Sanders andTexasState LegislatorWilliam Hubbel Price.
Richard was baptized into the church at age ten, and at twelve he enteredBacon College inHarrodsburg, Kentucky (Bacon was the progenitor of theUniversity of Kentucky). He completed his course of studies atBethany College inBethany, Virginia (nowWest Virginia) about 1847, and then attendedLouisville Medical Institute inLouisville, Kentucky, from which he graduated in 1849.
Gano practiced medicine first in Kentucky, then inBaton Rouge, Louisiana (including two years as physician to the Louisiana State Prison), until 1858. He married Martha ("Mattie") Jones Welch ofCrab Orchard, Kentucky, March 15, 1853, inGarrard County, Kentucky, and they had twelve children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. Martha was born October 8, 1832, and died September 22, 1895, inDallas, Texas. Allene Stone Gano, mother of aviation billionaireHoward Hughes, was General Gano's granddaughter.
In 1859, Gano moved his family toGrapevine Prairie, Texas, in northeastTarrant County (roughly on the present site of theDallas/Fort Worth International Airport), and began farming and stockraising, as well as continuing to practice medicine. He was particularly interested in introducing Kentuckyrace horse breeds to Texas. He was soon involved in community efforts to pursueComanche raiding parties, and was presented a sword for his efforts by local citizens. In 1860, he was elected to theTexas legislature from Tarrant County, where he was active in debates on frontier defense and agricultural issues.
He resigned his seat early in 1861 to enter Confederate service and on June 1 was electedcaptain of the "Grapevine Volunteers", a company of mounted riflemen he had raised. By early March 1862, he had reorganized his unit into a partial cavalry squadron of two companies, which was mustered into direct Confederate service and was assigned to Col.John Hunt Morgan's2nd Kentucky Cavalry atChattanooga, Tennessee. Capt. Gano, commanding Company G, took part in Morgan's first Kentucky raid in July 1862 as well as Morgan's raid on theLouisville & Nashville Railroad in August. During the latter campaign, he was promoted tomajor in command of a full cavalry squadron (his original two companies plus a third company raised in Tennessee), which he led at theBattle of Gallatin.
In September 1862, Gano's squadron became the nucleus of the new7th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment and he was promoted tocolonel in Gen. Morgan's new cavalry brigade. The regiment took part in all the actions of Gen.Edmund Kirby Smith's invasion of Kentucky in the fall of 1862, culminating in theBattle of Perryville on October 8, theBattle of Lexington on October 17, and the retreat into east Tennessee. The 7th Kentucky Cavalry subsequently took part in Morgan's second Kentucky raid, December 1862 to January 1863, and by February Gano (though still a colonel) was in command of theFirst Cavalry Brigade of Gen. Morgan's cavalry division. On April 3, the brigade was attacked atSnows Hill, Tennessee, by some 8,000 Union infantry and cavalry and was forced to withdraw toMcMinnville. Shortly after this, Morgan's forces were essentially destroyed duringMorgan's Raid, and the remnants rejoined Gano's depleted brigade. On September 18, 1863, Col. Gano commanded both his own brigade and Morgan's survivors under Gen.Nathan Bedford Forrest at theBattle of Chickamauga.
Gano left active service for a period because of illness, then was promoted tobrigadier general (though he did not receive his "official" promotion until March 17, 1865) and took the eighty-odd survivors of his original Texas cavalry unit (now called the "Gano Guards") back toBonham, Texas. There he assumed command, October 10, 1863, of all Texas cavalry operating in the Trans-Mississippi Department. On December 27, Gano's brigade captured and occupiedWaldron, Arkansas, and in April 1864 he suffered an arm wound at a skirmish at Moscow, Arkansas. Two months later, he commanded the attack onFort Smith, Arkansas, and on July 27, 1864, he led an attack on the6th Kansas Cavalry at theBattle of Massard Prairie.
A few weeks later, Gano's brigade, with accompanyingartillery, moved toIndian Territory and on September 19 he commanded both theFifth Texas Cavalry Brigade (made up of the29th,30th, and31st Texas Cavalry and the11th Field Battery (Howell's Company, Light Artillery) and Brig. Gen.Stand Watie'sIndian cavalry (consisting ofCherokee,Creek, andSeminole) at the secondBattle of Cabin Creek. His commission reportedly predated Stand Watie's by one month, putting him in command by seniority. In this action, the general was wounded again but Confederate forces totaling about 2,000 captured a federal supply train of some three hundred wagons and 750 mules, valued at more than two million dollars. In a congratulatory telegram, Gen. Kirby Smith called this "one of the most brilliant raids of the entire war".
In January 1865, as part of a last reorganization of troops west of the Mississippi by Kirby Smith, the brigade was ordered toNacogdoches, but on May 26, theArmy of the Trans-Mississippi surrendered to federal forces. Gano had been recommended for promotion tomajor general but the war ended before this could be acted upon.
In 1866, Gano returned to Kentucky, where he was ordained a minister in the Disciples of Christ by his father and byWinthrop Hobson of the Old Union Church. By 1870, he had taken up residence in Dallas, where he resumed stockraising and preached regularly. Over the next thirty years, he was instrumental in establishing a number of churches, both in north Texas and in Kentucky, and was active in theProhibition movement of the 1880s. Western Heights Church of Christ, South MaCarthur Church of Christ and Highland Oaks Church of Christ, are some of the historic churches that trace their beginnings to Gano's work.
As a stockman in the later 19th century, Gano imported a number of important bloodlines into Texas, including cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs. He also was a general businessman, forming a real estate company with two of his sons, and serving as a director of the Bankers and Merchants National Bank in Dallas. These involvements led to his becoming a millionaire. He also was active inUnited Confederate Veterans.
With his sons, John T. Gano and Clarence M. Gano, he formed the Estado Land and Cattle Company, where he served as vice president. The company established the G4 Ranch in theBig Bend region of Texas in late 1880s and early 1890s. The G4 was one of the largest in theTrans-Pecos in that period. The G4 Ranch comprised 55,000 acres in survey Block G4 (hence the name of the ranch) and leased other watered sections nearby. Ranch headquarters were at Oak Spring or Ojo de Chisos, just west of the basin in what is nowBig Bend National Park. The ranch extended from Agua Fria Mountain[2] on the north to theRio Grande on the south, and fromTerlingua Creek on the west to theChisos Mountains on the east; it thus covered most of what is now southwesternBrewster County, Texas. The Ganos persuadedJames B. Gillett to resign as marshal of El Paso to manage the ranch. This was land that had never been stocked; at the time, recalled Gillett, "The Ganos had it all to themselves."[3]
Richard Gano died March 27, 1913, at the home of his daughter Mrs. Emma Scurry, 1903 Bennett Ave[4] in Dallas and is buried inOakland Cemetery.
In 1974, the"dog-trot" house he purchased at Grapevine Prairie in 1857[5] was moved toDallas Heritage Village,[6] which is located on Gano Street, named for Richard Gano. The house was originally built of logs and was later covered with white clapboard siding.
Gen. Richard M. Gano Chapter #2433 of theUnited Daughters of the Confederacy, Texas Division, meets inIrving, Texas.
Brig. Gen. Richard M. Gano Camp #2292 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Texas Division, meets in Grapevine, Texas.
Gano'spapers (which include the papers of John Allen Gano) are housed in the archives of the ACU Brown Library on the campus ofAbilene Christian University in Abilene, TX.
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