COLONEL JOHN MARSHALL
The following sketch is not written entirely from my personal
recollections of Colonel Marshall. When I knew him I was merely
a gawk of a boy, while he was a mature man. I was often in his
office and listened to his conversations with friends on the political
and other topics of the day, and I recognized that he was a very
entertaining talker, but I did not fully appreciate his scholarly
attainments, his erudition and his great mental endowments. I
obtained my data principally from various conversations that I
had in years gone by with three of his personal friends and polit-
ical associates, towit: James P. Henderson, of Houston, and
Francis R. Lubbock, and William M. Walton, of Austin. All
three were capable, reliable, prominent, intellectual gentlemen.
The first two were governors of the State; the third, Colonel
Walton, now living in Austin, was attorney general of the State
and has long been recognized as one of the most learned lawyers
and polished orators of Texas.--Author's note, Austin, Texas,
March 24, 1913.
Colonel John Marshall was born in Virginia, where he grew
to manhood, then he concluded to make his home in and grow up
with the young State of Mississippi. He married Miss Anna P.
Newman in 1850, daughter of a wealthy cotton planter of Jef-
ferson County, Mississippi. They had three children; two of them
survived their parents. The daughter, Clara, became the wife of
this writer in 1873. The son, Hudson B. Marshall, is now a
citizen of Austin, and has a picturesque mountain farm near the
city, and is a recognized authority on Angora goats and bee culture.
Little is known about Colonel Marshall's life prior to his mov-
ing to Mississippi. He was a silent man concerning matters which
touched him personally, and his private affairs or early life history
was known only to those who were his most intimate and con-
fidential friends.
Before coming to Texas he lived at Jackson, Mississippi, and
edited The
Mississippian.
He was the friend and compeer of
Jefferson Davis, John A. Quitman, the Yergers, Guions, Sharkies,
George and other noted men of that day and time.
Gazette. 1 The father of the writer owned a half interest in that
paper from 1855 2 to 1858, but Colonel Marshall was the principal
editor, and an aggressive editor he made.
I remember that he was rather an undersized man, about five
feet seven inches high, spare made, fair complexion, aquiline fea-
tures and an eye like an eagle's. He dressed always in black,
and his attire was as neat as that of a Bulwer-Lytton. He was of
quick, energetic motion and action; was very temperate in his
habits, both eating and drinking; he never touched liquor of any
kind. He always rose at daylight and made his way to the river,
where he took a plunge every morning, winter and summer. He
never indulged in the sport of fishing or hunting, but was strictly
business all the time. He was very cordial in his friendships, but
rather exclusive. He was a gentleman of courtesy even in his
maddest humor, and he did not master his temper like a Socrates.
He had one peculiarity that is common to many studious and
thoughtful men, that frequently caused him embarrassment and
his friends some amusement. He was very absent minded. When
engrossed in thought upon any question or subject matter, his
whole mind was concentrated on that subject and he was oblivious
of all surroundings. On one occasion, on a bright summer day,
he rose suddenly from his writing desk at his office and started
off in a brisk walk down to the city. He had proceeded the dis-
tance of a little more than a block when he met a friend who
asked him, "Where is your hat?" He reached up and discovered
that he was bare-headed. He was an excellent Latin scholar and
could read and write Spanish, though he did not speak the lan-
guage. After coming to Texas he read law and obtained his
license as an attorney from the supreme court, not, however, for
the purpose of practicing that profession, but, like Lord Macaulay,
he thought it was the duty of every gentleman to gain a knowledge
of the laws of his country. He was not religious, but was classed
as a moral man, yet when excited and wrought up, while express-
ing his feelings, he would at times italicize his remarks with very
emphatic cuss words.
I remember a favorite saddle horse he owned. That horse
seemed to be his greatest joy. It was the largest I ever saw, and
the fastest pacer and the ugliest brute. It would not be a great
exaggeration to say it was a perfect camel of a horse, and yet he
was as proud of that beast as a little tot of her first Christmas
doll. Another peculiarity of his I will mention, though some
may doubt the truthfulness of my statement. I have read letters
written by him to his wife when he was absent from home, and
the tender expressions and affectionate utterances therein con-
tained proved conclusively that though married he had not ceased
to be a devoted lover.
When Colonel Marshall commenced his career at Austin, he
did not climb by slow degrees the ladder that led to his enviable
position, but seemingly almost at a single bound he reached the
head and front of the Democratic party and held that place until
the war of 1861 commenced. It was his prerogative almost from
the beginning to ride upon the whirlwind and direct the storm
of political commotion, to sit in the high place of power, or rather
influence, and mould the destiny of Texas Democracy. His paper
was the organ, the monitor, of that party until the war began,
when he laid down his pen and took up his sword. It was Mar-
shall who caused the convening of the first State Democratic con-
vention in Texas.
3 It met at Waco in 1857, and nominated as
its candidate for governor Hardin R. Runnels to oppose Sam
Houston, who was the leader and candidate of the Know Nothing
or American party. And the strenuous opposition, and the
crushing, blasting denunciations of the State
Gazette,
more than
any other cause or causes, procured the defeat of General Houston
on that occasion, and made the hero of San Jacinto ever after-
wards hate John Marshall with all the intensity with which the
"devil hates holy water."
Colonel Marshall was an accomplished man. His mind was a
vast magazine admirably arranged. Everything was there, and
everything was in its place. His judgment on men and on books
had been often and carefully tested and weighed, and had been
committed each to its proper receptacle in the most capacious and
accurately constructed memory. One could hardly ask for any-
thing in history, biography or general literature that could not
be found in that immense storehouse of knowledge. The article
which you required was not only there; it was ready; it was in
its own proper compartment; in a moment it was brought down,
unpacked and displayed. He was a charming conversationalist,
and he shone to best advantage when seated with only one or two
friends, with whom he would squander at times wit and pleas-
antry with the profusion of Rabelais. In his editorials reason
penetrated and, if I may venture on the expression, made the
subject matter red hot with passion. He was not an orator but
a writer; he let fall lightning strokes that blazed with fury, and
logic that fell all around a subject or individual, if an individual
was the object of attack. He knew how to illuminate what was
dark in a question by throwing upon it a condensed light, and he
seemed to be able to penetrate the human heart and to reveal the
secret motives which actuated the conduct of men and expose
them without mercy. In his editorials his witty epigrams were
flashing and bright; his ridicule was terrible. His sarcasm, like
that of John Randolph of Roanoak, was withering. He was a holy
terror to political demagogues and frauds. If, instead of living
in the far away sparsely settled State of Texas, his home had been
in one of the great cities of the Union, his fame as a writer would
have been rivaled only by such men as Horace Greeley of New
York, George D. Prentice of Louisville, and William L. Yancey
of Alabama.
During our present advanced day of enlightenment, you know,
if one feels that he has been libeled or outraged by a newspaper,
he calls upon the editor for an apology. Promptly in the next
issue of the paper the apology is printed in small type and placed
down in the southeast corner of an advertising page, and the
trouble is amicably settled. But in those days--as some would
say, semi-civilized days--those days that I am writing about,
editors did not confine their fighting to paper and lead pencils,
but they were often called upon to back their editorials with the
dueling pistol or revolver, and they generally cheerfully responded.
On one occasion Colonel Marshall and Judge A. B. Norton, who
edited the Southern
Intelligencer,
had reached the pistol stage
of their controversy. They could not fight a regular duel in
Texas, as that under the law would disfranchise them, but a duel
must be fought, honor demanded it; their friends expected it. So
they agreed to meet at Tallequah, in the Indian Territory. It
was a terrible trip in those days; no railroads, no automobiles, no
turnpike roads, and no bridges spanned the many streams. Colonel
Marshall reached the place where they agreed to argue their case
with dueling pistols, and spent one day on the intended battle-
ground, but Judge Norton was arrested at Bonham, Texas, on the
border of the State, and the duel prevented.
On another occasion Colonel Marshall and one Dr. Phillips, a
prominent citizen of Austin, appealed from the newspaper con-
troversy to the gage of battle. They had a street fight on Con-
gress Avenue, between Seventh and Eighth Streets. On that occa-
sion Marshall showed the gallantry and chivalry of a knight of
the Crusades—the politeness of a Chesterfield. With his pistol
pointed in the air, he received the first two shots from Dr. Phillips,
while he, Marshall, tipped his hat to a woman who was passing,
possibly in range, and waited until she passed to safety. Then
they advanced from opposite sides of the Avenue, firing as they
came. They emptied their revolvers; then shot their Derringers;
then like Homer's Trojan heroes they picked up rocks and hurled
them at each other until a huge, lone constable, a Mr. McAnally,
reached them, seized each combatant by the collar and held him
at arm's length until a crowd rushed up and separated them. For-
tunately neither gentleman was seriously injured; but they were
both very willing souls.
When the Civil War commenced, Colonel Marshall did not adopt
the course pursued by the majority of editors--remain at home and
with his "gray goose quill" stir up the patriotism of others and
urge them to the front--but he said, "He wished to defend with
the sword the principles he advocated with his pen."
As stated before, when he lived in Mississippi, he had been a
personal friend and political supporter of Jefferson Davis; so he
went to Richmond, stated his wishes to President Davis, who
promptly appointed him lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Texas
Infantry. John B. Hood was colonel. Soon Hood was promoted
to the rank of brigadier general, and Marshall became colonel of
the regiment. He had no opportunity to prove that he possessed
any military talent, as his duties consisted merely in executing
the general routine of camp life, such as drilling, guard mount-
ing, dress parade and occasional marching. I heard of an amus-
ing incident that occurred during one of those marches. On a
cold, frosty morning the command reached a wide stream; there
was neither boat nor bridge; the men halted. Colonel Marshall
rode up to the front and asked, "Why this halt?" Someone
answered, "How are we to cross this stream?" He replied, "What!
Are you willing to face Federal bullets, yet afraid of a little cold
water? Forward!" The boys still hesitated, and one yelled out,
"Colonel, suppose you get down and lead us across, and see how
you like it yourself." He immediately sprang from his horse,
handed his bridle rein to the adjutant, and walked into the water
waist deep and said, "Follow me." This settled the cold water
question; the men gave him a rousing cheer and rushed after him.
Like the heroic Warren at Bunker Hill, Marshall was killed
in his first battle, in the seven days' fight around Richmond, June,
1862. In that series of engagements, Gaines' Mill was the key
to the enemy's lines. If that was lost, all would be lost. It
was fortified with a double row of earthen breastwork, that bristled
with Enfield rifles and frowned with both heavy and light artil-
lery. Here two Confederate brigades had been repulsed. Hood's
Texas Brigade was then ordered to storm the position, which they
did successfully, but the Fourth Texas lost fully half its members
in killed and wounded. Colonel Marshall, who refused to dis-
mount from his horse and go into the charge on foot, as other
field officers did, was among the slain, shot through the forehead.
Generals Lee and T. J. Jackson rode over the ground shortly
afterwards and, while viewing the havoc made by the guns of the
foe, Jackson exclaimed, "These men were truly soldiers." Colonel
Marshall was buried in the cemetery at Richmond.
Thus this man with knightliest head and tenderest heart, with
harness on, with crest that was never lowered and escutcheon that
never knew a stain, became a martyr while defending with his
sword the cause he so ably advocated with his pen. And when
the spirit of that gallant man winged its flight to the great beyond,
it could be truly said of him, that he was an admirable type of
the Old South--a man, who in life had never turned his back on
a friend, or failed to face a foe.
FOOTNOTES:
tracts from the State Gazette will indicate. The Gazette of May 27,
1854, gives notice that John Marshall has purchased the interest of J.
W. Hampton; he did not assume control until two months later.--Editors.
"The present number closes my connection with the Gazette. I have
disposed of my interest in the office to Gen. John Marshall, formerly
editor of the Mississippian at Jackson, Mississippi, and the paper will
in future be conducted by Messrs. Marshall & Scurry, as editors and pro-
prietors."— (State Gazette, May 27, 1854, volume 5, number 40.)
"As Gen. Marshall will be absent from the city for a few weeks in the
transaction of business connected with the office, Mr. Hampton will con-
tinue at his post until the return of his successor."--{Ibid., May 27, 1854.)
"Having commenced in this number our Editorial duties, we return
our sincere thanks to the press generally in this and other States, for
the generous, if too flattering, marks of their favor. Our Democratic
antecedents being well known, we have only to say that we shall en-
deavor to make the Gazette worthy of its position and patronage through-
out the State. John Marshall."— (Ibid., July 29, 1854.)
August, 1854, only a few months after Colonel Marshall had purchased
J. W. Hampton's interest.--Editors.
"With this issue, my connection with the Gazette ceases . . . W.
R. Scurry."— (State Gazette, August 19, 1854, volume 5, number 52.)
"Having purchased the interest of Major Scurry in the State Gazette,
I shall, for the future, be associated with the editorial control . . .
W. S. Oldham."— (Ibid., August 19, 1854.)
"My connection with the State Gazette will not change its political
complexion. Being a Democrat of the strictest sect, I conceive the only
safeguard of the rights of the States is in a strict adherence, by the
general government, to the powers specifically delegated by the constitu-
tion, and those absolutely necessary to carry into effect those delegated
powers."—(Oldham's Salutatory, Ibid., August 19, 1854.)
1855, and 1856. Up to 1885 the action of the conventions was limited to
the adoption of platforms. The one of 1856 nominated candidates for
treasurer, comptroller, and attorney-general. The one of 1857 was the first
to nominate candidates for governor, lieutenant-governor, and commissioner
of the general land office.--Editors.
How to cite:
W. S. Oldham, "Colonel John Marshall", Volume 20, Number 2, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v020/n2/contrib_DIVL2157.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 18:09:47 CST 2009]
