William Henry Burges, Jr.

He went to Texas from Tennessee at age 17 in 1854 and had made trading trips to Mexico, Kansas, and the Indian Territory by 1857, when he began the study of the law in Seguin, Guadalupe County, TX. He was admitted to the bar there in April 1859, went to New Orleans for further study, then returned to Seguin to begin his own practice in 1860.

He enlisted at Camp Clark in Guadalupe County as a Private in Company D, 4th Texas Infantry on 4 July 1861.

He was in action with his Company at Fox's Gap on South Mountain on 14 September and was wounded at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.

He served as acting Regimental Ordnance Sergeant from 6 May 1864 to at least August 1864, the last muster roll on record, and was probably appointed formally in March 1865. He was surrendered and paroled at Appomattox Court House, VA on 9 April 1865.

In 1866 he was Guadalupe County Attorney, but was removed by Federal authorities (as an ex-Confederate) in 1867. He was elected District Attorney in 1872 serving to 1875 and at the 1880 US Census he was a lawyer practicing in Seguin. He was elected to a two-year term in the Texas State Senate in 1881 [photos] and also served two terms there from 1887 to 1891.

Service information from Davis1 and his Compiled Service Records,2 via fold3. Personal details from family genealogists, the US Census for 1860, and his obituary in the Dallas Morning News of 25 June 1898. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

His brothers Robert A. (at Sharpsburg) and Richard Joseph "Dick" Burges (1840–1925, WIA 2nd Manassas) were also in Company D.

He married Elizabeth "Bettie" Rust (1845-1873) in December 1866 and they had 4 children. He married again, Agnes Ann Erskine (1839-1877) in April 1875 - her brothers Andrew N. and Alexander M. Erskine were in Company D. Lastly, he married Mary Lou "Mamie" Jefferson (1859-1927) in February 1879 and they had 3 more children.

01/08/1838; Jackson, TN

06/24/1898; Seguin, TX; burial in Riverside Cemetery, Seguin, TX