About Me
I am a soldier, planter, and politician. I was born in Paris, Tennessee, on October 13, 1825, the son of Capt. James and Rachel (Bracken) Greer. In 1845 I 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. I served as major general of the Mississippi militia soon after the war ended. I moved to Marshall, Texas, in 1848 and returned briefly to Tennessee in 1851 to marry Anna Holcombe; we have four children. During myantebellum years in Marshall I was a merchant, a planter, and a lawyer in the firm of Pope, Stedman, and Greer. I also served for a time as superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Marshall.
I was an ardent states'-rights Democrat and became grand commander of the Knights of the Golden Circle in 1859. I organized support for the filibustering program of the KGC, and in February of 1860 I offered Governor Sam Houston a regiment of mounted volunteers to invade Mexico. Later that year I attended the Democratic convention in Charleston as a delegate, and I was among the "bolters" who refused to accept Stephen Douglas's platform. In Texas I urged the calling of the Secession Convention after the Republican presidential victory. I entered the Confederate army in May of 1861 and raised the Third Texas Cavalry by June. With Brig. Gen. Benjamin McCulloch's Army of the West, I commanded my regiment at the battles of Wilson's Creek (Oak Hill), Missouri, and Chustenahlah, Indian Territory. At Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas, despite sustaining a slight wound, I temporarily succeeded to the command of McCulloch's division after McCulloch and several other senior commanders became casualties. During the spring of 1862 I commanded a cavalry brigade that included my Texas regiment. After participating in the evacuation of Corinth I resigned his command on June 1, 1862, but later returned to service and was appointed brigadier general on October 8, 1862. I eventually became chief of the conscription bureau for the Trans-Mississippi Department and head of the Reserve Corps. I worked with Gen. John B. Magruder to reconcile Confederate conscription laws with Texas state laws. After the Civil War I lived in Marshall in semiretirement. In 1875 I was a member of the reception committee for Jefferson Davis's visit to Marshall. I died while visiting his sister at Devall's Bluff, Arkansas, on March 25, 1877.
