Ward, Dudley H., 1845-1864

Dudley H. Ward (1845-1864) confederate soldier and prisoner of war, was born in 1845 in Austin, Texas. His father was Colonel Thomas William Peg Leg Ward, an Irish immigrant who fought in the Texas Revolution, served as mayor of Austin and as the second Land Commissioner of Texas, and for whom the county of Ward is named. From the ages of eleven to fifteen, Dudley H. Ward resided in New York City with his mother, Susan Marston Ward, and received an education before returning to Texas with his father in 1860.

Ward enlisted as a private in Company G, 2nd Texas Volunteer Infantry. He was captured at the siege of Vicksburg and held as a prisoner of war in the hands of the United States Forces. Ward was paroled July 7, 1863. He died in 1864 near Galveston during a yellow fever epidemic and was buried in what is known today as Soldier’s Rest in the City Cemetery in Galveston. The exact location was lost along with many others in the 1900 hurricane, though markers for Dudley H. Ward and various other Confederate soldiers stand today near the Soldier’s Rest location.

From the guide to the Dudley Ward Papers, 1863-1864, (Texas General Land Office, Archives & Records)