Leander H. McNelly: Difference between revisions

Leander H. McNelly was born March 12, 1844, in [[Follansbee, West Virginia|Follansbee]], [[Brooke County, West Virginia|Brooke County]], Virginia (today West Virginia), to P.J. McNelly and his wife Mary Downey. McNelly suffered from consumption as a child, and in 1860 his family moved to [[Texas]] in the hope that the climate would improve his health. In Texas, McNelly helped his family raise sheep and regained his health.<ref>Davis (1985), p. 103.</ref>

In April 1864, McNelly was wounded at the [[Battle of Mansfield]]. He took no sick leave or furlough in the entire four years of fighting, however. In the last months of the war he led mounted scouts working near [[Hempstead, Texas]], to round up deserters, and his unit was one of the last Confederate Army units to disband.<ref name=davis105 /> Following the war, McNelly moved to [[Brenham, Texas|Brenham]], where he married and had a son and daughter.<ref name=davis105 />

On July 1, 1870, Governor [[Edmund J. Davis]] organized a [[Texas State Police]] force, naming McNelly one of its four&nbsp;captains. The new police force had an inauspicious start, as its first director promptly ran away with $34,000. Many of the officers were accused of killing prisoners and harassing voters. In his most visible job as part of the State Police, McNelly was assigned to [[Walker County, Texas|Walker County]]. AAn NegroAfrican-American man named Sam Jenkins had been murdered after telling a [[grand jury]] that he had been flogged. McNelly investigated the crime and arrested four men, one of whom was immediately released. The other three had smuggled weapons, and they opened fire as McNelly was returning them to jail. McNelly was wounded, and in a newspaper interview he later castigated the local sheriff for not finding the weapons. McNelly was also unhappy with Davis, who had promptly declared martial law. The State Police force was abolished on April 22, 1873.<ref>Davis (1985), p. 106.</ref>

One of his unit's first assignments was to travel to [[DeWitt County, Texas|DeWitt County]] and resolve the [[Sutton–Taylor feud]]. The feud had begun in March 1874 when a member of the Taylor family killed a member of the Sutton family. McNelly and 40&nbsp;Rangers arrived in [[Clinton, DeWitt County, Texas|Clinton, Texas]], on August 1 and remained for four months to ensure that Taylor and the witnesses against him lived through the trial.<ref>Davis (1985), p. 107.</ref> Following that incident, McNelly was ill, and went home to recuperate on his cotton farm near [[Burton, Washington County, Texas|Burton]].<ref name=davis108>Davis (1985), p. 108.</ref> There is a contemporary report that six members of McNelly's unit were engaged in a gunfight with unknown parties six miles from Clinton on the Yorktown Road, which resulted in one missing, one wounded, and two horses killed<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YgBkoOJ5ntIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Sutton-taylor+feud&hl=en&ei=JhiCTcPMIuW10QHqsKXECA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=dOUGHBOY&f=false "The Texas Vendetta, or the Sutton-Taylor Feud".pp.31–32]. For outcome see The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821–1900 By Mike Cox .p.243</ref>

McNelly's methods had been questioned throughout the years, and although he recovered many cattle stolen from the Texan [[Ranchranch]]es while aggressively dealing with lawlessness on the Mexican border, he had also gained a reputation of taking part in many illegal executions, and confessions forced from prisoners by extreme means. McNelly also made himself famous for disobeying direct orders from his superiors on several occasions, and breaking through the Mexican frontier for self-appointed law enforcement purposes. His actions proved to be effective, however, and he was responsible for putting an end to the troubles with Mexican bandits and cattle rustlers along the [[Rio Grande]] that were commonplace during the 1850–75 period.

It was in 1875 that McNelly was faced with how to eliminate several [[Mexican people|Mexican]] [[bandit]] gangs. The first of these gang leaders was [[Juan Nepomuceno Cortina]], who had been a General in the Mexican army during the [[Mexican–American War]]. For years Cortina had raided settlements in the [[Brownsville, Texas]], area, always retreating across the Rio Grande to avoid Texas law enforcement. Cortina was from a wealthy family that owned more than {{convert|260000|acre|km2}} of land in that area, which had once included the location of the town of Brownsville. Cortina commanded a force in excess of 2,000 armed Mexican outlaws and [[gunfighter|gunmen]].

Leander McNelly's most infamous exploit was his invasion of Las Cuevas, Mexico in order to get back stolen cattle. McNelly and his Rangers entered Mexico on November 20, 1875. Under cover of brush and scrub oak, they made their way on foot to General [[Juan Flores Salinas]]' stronghold at the Rincon de Cucharas outpost of the [[Las Cuevas, Mexico|Las Cuevas]] ranch, which in English means "The Spoon Corner." Later that afternoon, Major [[A. J. Alexander]] from Ringgold Barracks arrived with a missive from Colonel Potter at Fort Brown, on the Rio Grande at Brownsville, urging McNelly to retreat. During the gunfight, McNelly was shot through both hands.

McNelly suffered from [[tuberculosis]], and retired in 1876 due to a deteriorating health. He died on September 4 of the following year in [[Burton, Washington County, Texas|Burton, Texas]], survived by his wife, Carey Cheek McNelly, and two children. He is interred in Mount Zion Cemetery near Burton.<ref>[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7677129 McNelly]</ref>

In the episode of the [[NBC]] TV series ''[[Tales of Wells Fargo]]'' entitled "Sam Bass" (1957) the character Captain McNelly is played by [[Ray Teal]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}

In the episode of the TV show ''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)|Kung Fu]]'' entitled "Empty Pages of a Dead Book" (1974) actor [[Robert Foxworth]] portrays a fictionalized son of Captain McNelly, Clyde McNelly, who tracks down men who at one time were pursued by the elder McNelly.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060910010403/http://www.texasranger.org/halloffame/McNelly_Leander.htm McNelly, Leander]; [[Texas Ranger Hall of Fame]] online