author

L. B. Giles

b. 1841

Best remembered for a vivid firsthand history of Terry’s Texas Rangers, this Texas veteran turned wartime memory into a book that later became a small classic of Civil War memoir and Texana.

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Terry's Texas Rangers

Terry's Texas Rangers

by L. B. Giles

About the author

L. B. Giles was Leonidas Banton Giles (1841–1922), a veteran of the 8th Texas Cavalry, better known as Terry’s Texas Rangers. Project Gutenberg identifies him as the author of Terry’s Texas Rangers and lists him as born in 1841.

His book was published in 1911 and draws on his direct experience with the regiment during the American Civil War. Bookseller and collector descriptions consistently note that Giles served in the unit himself and was wounded in the same battle in which Benjamin Franklin Terry was killed, which helps explain the memoir’s immediacy and personal tone.

Over time, Terry’s Texas Rangers has earned a strong reputation among readers of Civil War history and Texas writing. Rare-book sources describe it as one of the notable firsthand accounts of the regiment and a scarce work of Texana, valued both for its historical detail and for the voice of someone who was there.