George James Hampton: A Texas Ranger and Civil War Colonel (1828–ca. 1889)
By: Bruce Allardice
Revised by: Brett J. Derbes
Published: April 14, 2011
Updated: July 27, 2011
George James Hampton was born in 1828 in Tennessee, the son of Benjamin Newton and Ann Hampton. He moved to Texas in the mid-1850s and eventually settled in Victoria. On August 2, 1858, he was elected sheriff of Victoria County and was reelected on August 6, 1860. He served in that position until August 1861. In 1859 and 1860 Hampton served as captain in the Texas Rangers.
On September 11, 1861, Hampton enlisted as a captain in Company C, known as "The Victoria Invincibles," of the Fourth Texas Mounted Volunteers in San Antonio. He participated in the Sibley campaign and was wounded at the battle of Valverde. A fellow soldier found him “brave, even to a fault, on the battle field.” He was promoted to major on April 14, 1863, and to lieutenant colonel on December 15, 1863. His regiment was attached to Arthur P. Bagby's Brigade during the Red River campaign. Following the campaign he suffered with sickness for the remainder of the war. In April 1865, Hampton was promoted to colonel.
After the war Hampton farmed in De Soto Parish, Louisiana, where he married L. Yeary. In 1880 he farmed in Claiborne Parish. He later joined his brother in Calcasieu Parish. He died there around 1889, leaving a daughter.
Bibliography:
Bruce S. Allardice, Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008). Martin Hardwick Hall, Sibley's New Mexico Campaign (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1960; rpt., Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000). Richard G. Lowe, Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A.: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi (Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2004).
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Bruce Allardice Revised by Brett J. Derbes, “Hampton, George James,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hampton-george-james.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
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- April 14, 2011
- July 27, 2011
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