General Granbury’s Birthday in Granbury remembers the Confederate general whose likeness stands on a pedestal on the Hood County Courthouse lawn.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of General Granbury’s death in the hills south of Nashville, Tenn., at the battle of Franklin. Gen. Patrick Cleburne, for whom the nearby town of Cleburne was named, also died at the battle that was led by Gen. John Bell Hood, who lent his name to the county and the U.S. Army fort.
Hiram Granbury was born on March 1, 1831, and died 33 years later. Cleburne, born in Ireland, died at age 36. The three Confederates met in Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864, and only Hood walked away. Granbury had roots in Texas, but all served in the Texas Brigade. The soldiers who returned to their farms southwest of Fort Worth named the towns for their former leaders.
Carnton, the home-turned-military hospital and now a museum, near where Granbury, Cleburne, and 87 Texans were initially buried, still stands. After what were the bloodiest five hours of the Civil War, 6,000 Confederates and six generals lay dead. Granbury’s remains were eventually moved to the town that bears his name.
General Granbury’s Birthday is celebrated March 15 and 16 on the town square in Granbury. It’s a fair to honor a man who, after four long years of fighting, died five months short of the war’s end.
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This article appears in March 14 • 2014.
