Cap'n Gus Howze -- 1866
Captain James Augustus (Gus) Howze was born in Corinth, Heard
County, Georgia, Nov. 25, 1834. Gus Howze, before the War, had
a farm just outside Overton, TX. and a small mercantile store
about 20 miles away in Henderson, TX.
In the fall of 1861 Gus Howze helped raise a company of cavalry
in Henderson (Rusk County) Texas and was elected 1st Lt. They
marched to Corinth, Mississippi in Nov 1861, then fell back to
Little Rock, AR afterwards. At Little Rock the Army was reorganized,
and Lt Howze was elected Captain of Co D, 14th Texas Volunteer
Cavalry, Dismounted. He served in that capacity for the remainder
of the War.
The 14th Cavalry was in Ector's Brigade, Hood's Division, but
of course, served early on under General Joseph E. Johnston, then
under General Bragg until he was replaced by General Hood.
Mark Stone has documented 62 major battles and skirmishes that
Capt Howze and his men were involved in including Vicksburg, Chickamauga,
Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Rome, Kingston,
Gravesville, Marietta, New Hope Church, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta,
Lovejoy's Station, Altoona Heights, Franklin, Mobile, and finally
at Spanish Fort opposite Mobile in 1865.
Capt Howze never did take an oath of allegiance to the United
States, so he never regained his citizenship in the US nor was
he eligible for a veteran's pension. Mark Stone states, "I
don't think he wanted either one very much."
Capt Howze never went home during the War. He had married the
lovely Amanda Delila Brown, a 19 year old beauty in 1857. She
bravely kept the home, farm, and business during those long war
years.
He was known after the War as, simply, Cap'n, or Cap'n Gus. Cap'n
Gus died March 23, 1903, at the home of his son, Dr. Joseph E.
Howze, in Austin, TX and is buried in the Overton, TX Cemetery.
Cap'n Gus Howze is an ancestor of Mark Stone, Henry Ward Harris
Camp 2037, Hobbs, NM.
Cap'n Gus Howze -- 1866