BLYTHE, EDWARD A. (1831 ~ 1922). Edward A. Blythe, Confederate veteran, was born in Tennessee in 1831. In 1841, the family moved to Texas. They appear to have settled in Wise County, between the city of Fort Worth and the Texas/Oklahoma border.
On March 20, 1862 Blythe enlisted in the Confederacy and helped Trezevant C. Hawpe organize a Texas cavalry regiment. On April 9, Hawpe was elected Colonel of the regiment and Blythe was elected Captain of his own company, Capt. Edward A. Blythe's Company, Hawpe's Regiment, Texas Cavalry. After being mustered into the Confederate Army on May 14, 1862, Hawpe's Regiment became the 31st Texas Cavalry and Blythe's company became Company E.
During the War, the 31st Cavalry served in Arkansas, Missouri and the Indian Territory. The company was dismounted on November 1, 1862. Hawpe resigned his commission as colonel and Frederick J. Malone replaced him.
After being sent east of the Mississippi River, the unit was later remounted and fought at the battles of Poison Spring and Cabin Creek and was included in the June of 1865 surrender. Other than the above unit history, no other information is known about Blythe's experiences during the War.
After returning to Wise County, Blythe worked as a merchant in Decatur. On January 17, 1913, after the death of his wife, he moved to Austin to live in the Confederate Men's Home. On March 10, 1922 he was transferred to the Austin Lunatic Asylum, now called the Austin State Hospital, where he died on May 12, 1922. He was buried in the Texas State Cemetery the next day.
Information taken from: Confederate Home Roster; Compiled Military Service Records; Civil War Soldier and Sailor System website at http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss; "HAWPE, TREZEVANT C." The Handbook of Texas Online. [Accessed Thu Jun 26 11:31:42 US/Central 2003]; Austin State Hospital Records; and Death Certificate #15719. |
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