Historical Sketch And Roster Of The Texas 30th Cavalry Regiment

On August 18 1862 Col. Edward J. Gurley organized ten companies at Waco Texas to form the Thirtieth Texas Cavalry also known as the First Texas Partisan Rangers. After the outbreak of the Civil War Gurley obtained permission from President Jefferson Davis to raise a regiment of cavalry. A majority of the men Gurley enlisted in his command came from Waco and the surrounding area many to avoid the stigma of conscription. Besides McLennan men came from Bastrop Johnson Bosque Comanche Chambers Erath Hill and Ellis counties all in North Central Texas near the frontier with a small number of men from Arkansas. After the Second Battle of Cabin Creek the Thirtieth Texas Cavalry received orders that transferred it to Gen. William Henry Parson's Brigade replacing the Twenty-first Texas Cavalry in March 1865. The Thirtieth Texas Cavalry finally disbanded in May 1865 at Wallace Prairie Texas near Austin after serving with Parson's Brigade for only two months.