Among the many episodes of horrific brutality during the Civil War, the Great Hanging at Gainesville stands out as one of the worst.

Among the many episodes of horrific brutality during the Civil War, the Great Hanging at Gainesville stands out as one of the worst.

There was considerable Unionist sentiment in North Texas following that state’s secession and widespread objection to the Confederate Conscription Act that went into effect in April 1862. 

Opposition to the draft led to rumors of a Unionist plot to seize state arsenals. In response to the rumors, Texas militia entered Cooke County in late September 1862 and arrested over 150 suspected Unionists, charging them with treason and insurrection. A “citizens court” was convened in Gainesville to try the accused.

During the first ten days of October, the vigilante “court” convicted and hanged seven of the accused, and two were killed while trying to escape. Meanwhile, the proceedings had attracted an angry mob to Gainesville, and on October 13 they seized and lynched 14 of the defendants, without benefit of trial. The following week, under pressure from the mob, the court re-tried 19 of the accused who had been acquitted, convicted them without any further evidence, and hanged them as well.

Altogether 44 men were hanged or shot, making it one of the largest mass executions in American history.

Nathaniel Clark was one of the prisoners lynched on October 13. He and his family had moved to Texas from Missouri in the early 1850’s.

 The inscription on his headstone reads: “Murdered by a Mob October 13, 1862. His last words to his companions: Prepare yourself to live and die. I hope to meet in a better world. God bless you all.” 

Nathaniel’s oldest son James was serving in the Confederate army at the time of his father’s murder, having been conscripted. When word arrived of what had happened, the company he was serving in (all North Texans) nearly mutinied. Several, including James, deserted.

James returned home to tend to his mother and family, then traveled to Missouri where he enlisted in the Federal Army. 

The Great Hanging of Gainesville occurred during October 1862. Nathaniel Miles Clark and 13 other men were lynched on October 13, one hundred sixty-one years ago today.