Conrad's Stories

MUSTER ROLL

COMPANY FOR 3RD FRONTIER DISTRICT, BRIGADIER GENERAL J. D. MCADOO, COMMANDING

Of Captain W. E. Jones,  Company No. _____,   Precinct No. ______,    Kendall County,

Third District,  Texas State Troops, for the Month of February, 1864.

No.	Name	Rank	Age	Arms	Remarks
1	W. E. Jones	Captain	56	Rifle & Pistol	Volunteer
2	J. G. O’Grady	1st Lieut	34	Shot Gun & Pistols	Volunteer (District Clerk)
3	Christoph Flack	2nd Lieut	38	Pistol
1	Leo Schultz	1st Sergeant	44	Shot Gun
2	L. Strohatter	2nd Sergeant	29	Shot Gun
3	E. Voelker	3rd Sergeant	34	Shot Gun
4	A. Neubert	Sergeant	43	Rifle & Shot Gun
5	B. Little	Sergeant	30	Shot Gun & Pistols
1	C. Dinger	Corporal	40	Shot Gun
2	John Stecher	Corporal	39	Shot Gun
3	I. Diedecker	Corporal	39	Rifle
4	F. Sauer	Corporal	30	Rifle & Pistols
5	Ig. Munch	Corporal	39	Rifle
1	Adam, Cornelius	Private	37	Pistol
	[This is Conrad]
2	Aholger, Wm.	Private	26
3	Amman C	Private	48	Rifle & Shot Gun
4	Brown C S	Private	18	Pistol
5	Brown David	Private	43	Rifle
6	Branch C F	Private	30
7	Borner F	Private	37	Rifle & Pistols	Muster Roll
8	Brown E W	Private	37	Pistol	of
9	Brown C A	Private	47	Rifle	Capt. W. E. Jones
10	Bartar A	Private	37	Rifle	Company
11	Castanien R	Private	37	Shot Gun
12	Diedert H	Private	26	Shot Gun	Kendall County
13	Deering G	Private	39	Shot Gun
14	Erdell G	Private	48	Shot Gun	52 men
15	Geils W. I	Private	45	Rifle	of
16	Storner John	Private	34	Shot Gun	3rd  Frontier Dist
17	Storter C	Private	46	Shot Gun
18	Harms H	Private	37	Shot Gun
19	Hains Jo	Private	47	Pistols
20	Hamihs P	Private	33
21	Harz F	Private	39	Shot Gun
22	Heiligmann H	Private	33	Rifle & Pistols
23	Hagemann B	Private	48	Shot Gun
24	Henderson H V	Private	36	Shot Gun
25	Herbst F	Private	45
26	Jung Jocst	Private	42	Shot Gun
27	Koch Anton	Private	31	Shot Gun
28	Lamm Joseph	Private	39	Shot Gun

No.	Name	Rank	Age	Arms	Remarks
29	Lenz F	Private	49	Shot Gun
30	Lohmann F	Private	49	Shot Gun
31	Manuguis Eujino	Private	21	Rifle
32	Neubert Otto	Private	42	Shot Gun
33	Oberwerder P. H	Private	34	Rifle
34	Ochse Julius	Private	49	Shot Gun
35	Pfeiffer V	Private	35	Shot Gun
36	Pohnart Anton	Private	35	Shot Gun
37	Reed Erasmus	Private	38	Shot Gun & Pistols
38	Schilling Ernst	Private	30	Rifle & Pistols
39	Spinrad Franz	Private	30	Rifle
40	Schafer Jo P	Private	40	Shot Gun
41	Schlador F	Private	24	Rifle
42	Schuchard F	Private	30	Rifle
43	Smith James	Private	36	Rifle
44	Staffel August	Private	40	Pistols
45	Tait Joseph	Private	37	Shot Gun & Pistols
46	Voigt W	Private	38	Shot Gun
47	Voigt August	Private	40	Rifle
48	Voigt Adam	Private	42	Rifle & Pistols
49	Wetz H	Private	46	Shot Gun
50	Wendler H	Private	34	Rifle
51	Zoller Ph	Private	48	Shot Gun
52	Edge W B	Private	38	Rifle

I certify, on honor, that this Muster Roll exhibits the true state of Captain W. E. Jones Company

of Kendall County, Texas State Troops, for the month of February,  1864

Er Ferandsen, Calvalry Officer.

I noticed there were a number of misspelling or name changes on this muster roll, for example Cornelius instead of Conrad. Perhaps, Er. Ferandsen was trying to “Americanize” their names. When transcribing the document, I did not add any punctuation because Er. Ferandsen did not either.

An article about Frontier Organization in the Handbook of Texas gives an explanation of why this group was formed and what they were expected to do. Here are two excerpts.

“The law declared that all persons liable for military service who were actual residents of the frontier counties of Texas were to be enrolled into companies of from twenty-five to sixty-five men. The act defined the frontier line and the fifty-nine organized frontier counties of Texas; it also instructed Governor Murrah to divide the designated counties into three districts and to appoint a suitable man with the rank of major of cavalry to take charge of the organization of mounted companies within the district…”

“Companies in the Frontier Organization normally averaged between fifty and fifty-five men in strength, usually with about fifteen men per squad for patrol duty. The length of service at any one time varied according to the task, presence of the enemy, and availability of supplies, but most squads on patrol duty expected to remain out for about ten days at a time. The Frontier Organization not only provided protection against Indian incursions but also enforced Confederate conscription, rounded up deserters, and provided protection to settlers from renegades and bandits. The Frontier Organization assumed chief responsibility for the protection of the Texas frontier from March 1864 until several months after the end of the war…

David Paul Smith, “Frontier Organization,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 23, 2021, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/frontier-organization.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.