Serving Texas — Veteran Commissioners of the General Land Office
In the 180-year history of the Texas General Land Office, twenty-eight men have held the position of Commissioner of the agency. This position is truly one of service to the people of Texas. Managing the public lands of Texas for the benefit of the schoolchildren of Texas, promoting and protecting Texas history through the GLO Archives and the Alamo, and caring for Texas’ veterans through the Veterans Land Board and veterans’ homes and cemeteries are just some of the myriad ways the Commissioner serves the people of Texas.
Fifteen of those who have served as Commissioner, including current Commissioner George P. Bush, also served their state and their country in another way: as members of the Armed Forces. With Commissioner Bush declaring 2016 as the Year of the Veteran at the Texas General Land Office, it makes sense to briefly reflect back on some of the commissioners who are also veterans.
Texas and the United States were forged in revolution and have been involved in numerous, sometimes generation-defining, military conflicts throughout their respective histories. GLO Commissioners Thomas William Ward, William C. Walsh, and James Earl Rudder are former commissioners who served in three such wars.
Thomas William Ward (Served as Commissioner from January 4, 1841, to March 20, 1848)
Thomas William Ward, an Irish immigrant living in New Orleans, answered the call to go to Texas by helping organize the New Orleans Greys. He served as a private in Captain William G. Cooke’s company of the Greys during the Siege of Bexar in December 1835.[1]
Ward was an artilleryman and was quickly promoted to Lieutenant, then to Captain of Artillery. While involved in the intense fighting in San Antonio, he was shot in the right leg below the knee with a six-pound cannonball. The injury inflicted massive physical and emotional pain on Ward and caused a horrible, debilitating injury that required immediate amputation. The injury earned him great respect, as well as the nickname “Peg Leg,” both of which would live on well past his death, and his service earned him bounty and donation land grants from the Republic and state of Texas.[2]
After traveling to New Orleans to be fitted for the eponymous wooden prosthetic, Ward joined with Thomas Jefferson Green in recruiting men from the United States to join the Texas cause. He recruited approximately 400 men to come to Texas and returned as second in command of Green’s Brigade. As an officer, Ward was one of the few commanding guards in charge of Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna aboard the ship Ocean.[3]
William C. Walsh (June 15, 1878, to January 10, 1887)
In April 1861, William C. Walsh was a newly minted college graduate working as a clerk at the General Land Office. He resigned from his position on April 30 to join the Confederate Army as a First Lieutenant. Walsh took command of Tom Green’s Rifle Company B, Fourth Texas Infantry, under command of John Bell Hood of the Legendary Hood’s Texas Brigade.[4]
Walsh served as a Captain in Hood’s Brigade at the Battle of Gaines Mill on June 27, 1862. During the battle, he was shot three times and severely injured when a minnie ball penetrated and became lodged in his hip. This debilitating injury forced him to use a crutch for the rest of his life. Despite his wounds, his service to the Confederacy was not over — his sharp mind, sense of duty, and military experience made him an indispensable leader for the Confederate Army. After he recovered from his injuries, Walsh was assigned command of the Austin Post in November 1862. A year later he reported to Col. John S. “Rip” Ford, Commandant of Conscripts, as an assistant. Finally, in December 1864, Walsh was named Quartermaster General of the State, serving under Governor Pendleton Murrah.[5]
James Earl Rudder (January 5, 1955, to February 1, 1958)
World War II stands out as one of the most devastating examples of modern warfare. Among the many battles fought across the European and Pacific theaters, Operation Neptune, the “D-Day” landing of allied troops on the beaches of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944, remains notorious for its size and the incredibly dangerous nature of the amphibious assault. Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder, commanding the Second Ranger Battalion, played a crucial role in the decisive Allied victory.
Rudder was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in the United States Army Reserves after his graduation from Texas A&M University in 1932. He began his active military service in 1941 upon the United States’ entry into World War II, when he was called into duty as a first lieutenant. In July 1943, Rudder, having been promoted to lieutenant colonel, was responsible for organizing and training the Second Ranger Battalion, which was deployed to England in December 1943 and came to be known as “Rudder’s Rangers.”
During the planning of D-Day operations, Rudder was assigned an unimaginably daunting mission: amid the chaos of the Normandy landing, he and his rangers were to scale the 100-foot cliffs at heavily fortified Pointe du Hoc and establish a beachhead for Allied forces. On the day of the assault, Rudder’s Rangers were under constant enemy fire during their ascent and suffered more than a 50 percent casualty rate, with Rudder himself wounded twice. The mission was a success, however; despite the great loss of life, Rudder led his men to victory and an Allied beachhead was established. During a visit to Pointe du Hoc ten years later, Rudder remarked, “Will you tell me how we did this? Anybody would be a fool to try this. It was crazy then, and it’s crazy now.”[6]
Rudder went on to command the 109th Infantry Regiment at the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans’ last major tactical move before their surrender. Following the end of the war, he was released from active duty with the rank of colonel. In 1954, he was promoted to brigadier general of the United States Army Reserves, and in 1957 he was promoted to major general. Rudder’s numerous military honors include the Distinguished Service Cross, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, French Legion of Honor with Croix de Guerre and Palm, Bronze Star with Oak Cluster, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Clusters, Belgian Order of Leopold with Croix de Guerre and Palm, Veterans of Foreign Wars Silver Citizenship Award (1958), and Distinguished Service Medal (1967).
Thomas William Ward, William C. Walsh, and James Earl Rudder served the citizens of Texas not only in their role as Commissioner of the General Land Office, but also as members of the military — that of the Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and the United States. Their stories illustrate the deep, varied history not only of the office of the Commissioner but also of Texas.
[1] Capt. Wm. G. Cooke Company, n.d., The Republic of Texas Muster Roll, 24, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[2] David C. Humphrey, Peg Leg: The Improbable Life of a Texas Hero Thomas William Ward, 1807–1872 (Denton, TX: Texas State Historical Association Press, 2009).
[3] Ibid., pp. 36–37
The Texas Revolution was the last time Ward served in the military; however, it was not the last time he came under artillery fire. In 1842, war came to the Land Office — the Archives War. Facing a possible Mexican invasion of the capitol at Austin, President Sam Houston ordered the national archives removed to Houston for safe-keeping. The citizens of Austin, fearing that the decision may prove permanent and thus relegate Austin to the status of a small-time frontier town, confiscated the records and held them for over two years. This bloodless, yet highly visible confrontation between Army rangers and an armed vigilance committee of Austin residents saw Ward avoiding being hit by grapeshot as it was fired through the walls of the Land Office building.
[4] Virginia Roberts Gilman, “Walsh, William C.,” Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwa44), accessed 29 November 2016. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
[5] Gerald Knape, unpublished material, General Land Office Vertical File — GLO — Staff — Commissioners — Francis M. White (1858–1862; 1865–1866), 1986.
[6] John LeBas, “Despite Wounds, Rudder Would Not Be Denied,” Eagle, [Bryan-College Station] 6 June 2001.
