Marshall in Harrison County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

General Elkanah Greer / Knights of the Golden Circle

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 24, 2014

1. General Elkanah Greer / Knights of the Golden Circle Marker (front side)

Inscription.
(front) Home Town of Texas Confederate
General
Elkanah Greer
(1825-1877)
Born Tennessee. Fought Mexican War. Came to Texas 1848. Commissioned colonel and raised 3rd Texas Cavalry. Attached to Ross' Texas Brigade. Fought at Wilson's Creek, Mo. Led brigade, division in Pea Ridge, Ark. Battle. Resigned commission but was recalled as Brigadier General October 1862. Chief Conscription Bureau for Confederacy west of Mississippi 1863. Worked to reconcile Confederate and Texas draft laws. Commanded Texas Reserved Corps in 1864-65 keeping them in readiness to withstand threatened Union coastal invasion. Organized slave labor to build roads, fortifications for state defense. Buried Memphis, Tenn.

(rear) Knights
of The Golden Circle
Elkanah Greer was Grand Commander of the Knights of the Golden Circle in Texas. Organized 1854, this secret order meant to extend slaveholding territories. The Golden Circle centered in Havana and had a 1200-mile radius. Member Knights lived however in such remote places as New York and California. Tobacco, sugar, cotton, and possibly rice and coffee were to be the world trade monopoly of the Golden Circle. In first expansion attempt in 1860, failed to take Mexico. 1861-65 in Texas, Golden Circle Knights

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formed military units, guarded, captured forts, and helped expel subversives. The Civil War swallowed up the activities of the Knights of the Golden Circle.
A memorial to Texans
who served in the Confederacy

Erected 1964 by The State of Texas. (Marker Number 10166.)

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Fraternal or Sororal Organizations • War, Mexican-American • War, US Civil.

Location. 32° 32.7′ N, 94° 22.06′ W. Marker is in Marshall, Texas, in Harrison County. Memorial is at the intersection of West Houston Street and South Wellington Street, on the left when traveling east on West Houston Street. Marker is located on the west side of the Harrison County Historical Museum (former Harrison County Courthouse). Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 200 West Houston Street, Marshall TX 75670, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. James Harper Starr (here, next to this marker); Governor Edward Clark (here, next to this marker); Marshall (a few steps from this marker); Harrison County (a few steps from this marker); Telegraph Park (within shouting distance of this marker); C.G. Lancaster

General Elkanah Greer / Knights of the Golden Circle Marker (<i>back side</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 24, 2014

2. General Elkanah Greer / Knights of the Golden Circle Marker (back side)

(about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Hub Shoe Store (about 500 feet away); Site of The Capitol Hotel (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Marshall.

More about this marker. Marker is weathered pink granite and somewhat difficult to read

Also see . . .
1. Elkanah Bracken (Brackin) Greer.
Elkanah Greer, soldier, planter, and politician, was born in Paris, Tennessee, on October 13, 1825, the son of Capt. James and Rachel (Bracken) Greer. In 1845 he joined the First Mississippi Rifles as a private under Jefferson Davis for service in the Mexican War and participated in the battles at Monterrey and Buena Vista. Greer served as major general of the Mississippi militia soon after the war ended. He moved to Marshall, Texas, in 1848 (Submitted on December 1, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. Knights of the Golden Circle.
During the Civil War, leaders of the K.G.C. served in the Confederate Army not as members of the society’s military division per se, but simply as soldiers in the southern cause. Elkanah Greer of Marshall, for example, served with distinction as colonel of the Third Texas Cavalry, a unit in the cavalry brigade commanded by future

General Elkanah Greer / Knights of the Golden Circle Marker (<i>wide view</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 24, 2014

3. General Elkanah Greer / Knights of the Golden Circle Marker (wide view)

governor L. Sullivan Ross. The K.G.C. itself probably received greater attention during the war for its supposed role in a treasonous plot variously called the “Northwest Conspiracy,” the “Copperhead Movement,” and similar names in the old Northwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio. Joseph Holt, United States Judge Advocate General, submitted a report in October 1864 that warned Secretary of War Edwin Stanton about the danger of this plot, which he attributed at times to the K.G.C. and at other times to different treasonous groups. If such a plot existed, nothing came of it, suggesting that the rumors were just that or that the K.G.C. did not have the strength attributed to it in such reports. (Submitted on December 2, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 27, 2020. It was originally submitted on December 1, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,212 times since then and 38 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 1, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.