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STAFF RIDE OF AUSTIN
Selected Military History Points
of Interest
No. 1: Paramount Theater, 713 Congress Avenue. Historical marker on the
outside wall shows the location of the 1839 log cabin of the Secretary
of War of the Republic of Texas, General Albert Sidney Johnston, West
Point Class of 1826, when the Texas Army defended the new capital of
the Republic while it was being built.
No. 2: Southeast corner of Congress Avenue and 8th Street. Location in
1839 of the log cabin of Adjutant General Hugh McLeod, West Point Class
of 1835.
No. 3: Northwest corner of Congress Avenue and 8th Street. Location of
the home of Major Albert Sidney Johnston, U.S. Army, and his wife Eliza
during the time he was U.S. Army Paymaster for all of the forts in
Texas in the 1850s.
No. 4: Texas State Capitol Building. Inside the Main (South) Entrance
on the west wall is a plaque of Mexican War casualties. In the Chamber
of the Texas House of Representatives is the battle flag carried at the
April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto. Military monuments are on grounds
and just southwest of grounds.
No. 5: Arno Nowotny Building, University of Texas, 2300 Red River
Street in "Little Campus," southwest corner of Interstate 35 and Martin
Luther King Street (formerly 19th Street). Location of 1865
Headquarters of Major General George Armstrong Custer, West Point Class
of 1861, and his wife, Libby. General Custer was the commanding general
of the U.S. Cavalry Division occupying Central Texas after the Civil
War.
No. 6: The "Castle," 1111 West 11th Street. Former home of the Texas
Military Institute (TMI), with discipline modeled after West Point.
When Texas A&M opened in 1879, the entire staff and faculty
moved to Texas A&M, and TMI was abandoned.
No. 7: Austin High School, 1715 West Cesar Chavez Street. Location of
Camp Sanders, the 1865 camp of the 6th U.S. Cavalry Regiment,
Custer’s Division. The 6th Cavalry was commanded by Brigadier
General Samuel D. Sturgis, West Point Class of 1846. Regimental
headquarters was probably in the anti-bellum house to the north, now
American Legion Post 76.
No. 8: Texas Military Forces Museum, Camp Mabry. Entrance to Camp Mabry
is at 3056 West 35th Street. Show photo ID to guard at entrance. Museum
has 45,000 square feet of uniforms, weapons, tanks, artillery,
insignia, unit military items.
No. 9: Mount Bonnell, 3800 Mount Bonnell Road. First see:
<http://www.west-point.org/joseph_bonnell/>.
Pay
particular attention to the 11 minute educational video at this website.
This peak overlooks Austin. It was probably named for Captain Joseph
Bonnell, West Point Class of 1825, a friend of Albert Sidney Johnston
and Hugh McLeod. Joseph Bonnell was the only person in history who was
an officer in the Regular Army of the United States and of the Republic
of Texas at the same time. He was General Sam Houston’s
Aide-de-Camp and a hero of the Texas Revolution.
General Custer and Libby enjoyed picnics on the summit of Mount Bonnell
with the 6th Cavalry Band. They particularly enjoyed the band playing
the Anvil Chorus because it echoed through the hills.
Seldon B. Graham, Jr. USMA '51
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