John Salmon Ford (May 26, 1815 – November 3, 1897), also known as "Rip" Ford, was an American military officer and politician. He served as a member of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

Congress and the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

. He was also the mayor of Brownsville and

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. Ford was a Texas Ranger, a Confederate colonel, a doctor, a lawyer, and a journalist and newspaper owner. He commanded men during the Antelope Hills expedition and later led the Confederate forces in what was arguably the last engagement of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the Battle of Palmito Ranch on May 12–13, 1865. It was a Confederate victory, but as it occurred more than a month after

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

's surrender, it did not affect the war's outcome.

Early life

Ford was born in Greenville District, South Carolina, on May 26, 1815, and grew up in Lincoln County, Tennessee. His parents were William and Harriet Ford. When he was 16, he moved to

Shelbyville, Tennessee Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Bedford County, Tennessee. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tennessee Wa ...

, to study medicine. He met his wife, Mary Davis; however, the marriage ended in divorce. Ford then moved to Texas to fight for independence from Mexico.

Texas

Ford arrived in Texas in June 1836, too late to participate in the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

. He served in the Texas army until 1838. He opened a medical practice in the east Texas town of San Augustine, where he practiced for eight years.Ford, J.S., 1963, ''Rip Ford's Texas''. Austin: University of Texas Press, He also studied law and passed the bar exam before winning election to the Texas legislature in 1844, advocating annexation by the United States. The following year he moved to

where he purchased the ''Texas National Register'', renaming it the ''Texas Democrat''. When the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

began, Ford enlisted in John Coffee Hays' regiment of Texas Mounted Rifles. He was promptly appointed a lieutenant and served as an adjutant and medical officer. Ford saw active duty with his regiment in Mexico, commanding a scout company for part of the time. Ford received the nickname 'Rip' for his peculiar inclusion of "

Rest in peace Rest in peace (R.I.P.), a phrase from the Latin (), is sometimes used in traditional Christianity, Christian Church service, services and Christian prayer, prayers, such as in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist denominations, to w ...

" after each name when composing his company's casualty lists. In 1849, with Robert Neighbors, Ford explored the country between

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

and

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

and published a report and map of the route, which became known as the Ford and Neighbors Trail. Later the same year, he was made captain in the Texas Rangers and was stationed between the

Nueces River The Nueces River ( ; , ) is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nu ...

and the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, where he had numerous fights with Native Americans during 1850 and 1851. In 1850, he captured the war chief Carne Muerto, a son of Santa Anna. After his Ranger unit was disbanded, Ford participated in Jose Maria Jesus Carbajal's Merchant's War (1851-1852) as a colonel. In 1852, Ford was elected to the Texas Senate, bought the ''Southwestern American'', and established the ''State Times'' in 1853, which he sold in 1857. Early in 1858, he accepted a commission as Senior Captain in the state troops and defeated hostile Native Americans in the Battle of Little Robe Creek on the Canadian River. Late in 1859, he was sent to the Rio Grande by Governor Hardin Richard Runnels at the head of 53 state troops (Texas Rangers), where he joined operations with Captain George Stoneman of the 2nd Cavalry and Captain Tobin's Texas Rangers against Juan Cortina in the Battle of Rio Grande City.

American Civil War

In 1861, Ford served as a member of the Secession Convention and initiated a trade agreement between Mexico and the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. As a

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

colonel, Ford commanded the Rio Grande Military District. In early April 1861, Ford commanded troops who defended Zapata County from invaders from Mexico who did not want Texas in the Confederacy in the Second Cortina War. They had entered Zapata County from Mexico and hanged the county judge. Several invaders were killed, marking the first deaths in defense of the Confederacy, about two weeks before the bloodless

Battle of Fort Sumter The Battle of Fort Sumter (also the Attack on Fort Sumter or the Fall of Fort Sumter) (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina, by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender of the ...

. Between 1862 and 1865, Ford ran the Bureau of Conscription of the State, and engaged in border operations protecting Confederate-Mexican trade. After raising 1,300 troops, "The Cavalry of the West", Ford recaptured

Fort Brown Fort Brown (originally Fort Texas) was a military post of the United States Army in Cameron County, Texas, during the latter half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. Established in 1846, it was the first US Army military ...

on July 30, 1864. His forces attacked U.S. soldiers a few miles above Palmito Ranch on September 9, 1864, forcing them to retreat to Brazos Island on September 12, 1864. In May 1865, Ford led Confederate forces in the Battle of Palmito Ranch, by some criteria the last battle of the

. "Some of the Sixty-Second Colored Regiment were also taken. They had been led to believe that if captured they would either be shot or returned to slavery. They were agreeably surprised when they were paroled and permitted to depart with the white prisoners. Several of the prisoners were from Austin and vicinity. They were assured they would be treated as prisoners of war. There was no disposition to visit upon them a mean spirit of revenge."-Colonel John Salmon Ford, May 1865.''RIP Ford's Texas: Personal Narratives of the West''. Ford, Salmon John. Edited by Stephen B. Oates. University of Texas Press. Austin, TX. 1987 When Ford surrendered his command following the battle at Palmito Ranch, he urged his men to honor their paroles. He insisted that "the negro had a right to vote".

Post Civil War

Ford acted as a guide for the U.S. military operating against "cow-thieves and other disturbers of peace and quietude" and was a correspondent for the Galveston ''News''. Later, he was assistant editor for the Brownsville ''Ranchero'' and wrote for the Brownsville ''Courier'' before establishing and publishing the Brownsville ''Sentinel''. He died in San Antonio, on November 3, 1897, aged 82. In 2008, Ford was inducted to the Texas Military Hall of Honor.

References

External links