John W. Hackler

John Wesley Hackler was born in Tennessee on December 18, 1835 to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hackler. He moved to Texas about 1851 and married Ava Jane Davidson in 1854. She was the daughter of Allen Davidson (who is listed in the 1850 census of the county). He enlisted in Company H, 18th Texas Infantry on 26 June 1862 when he was 26 years old. He was elected Jr. 2nd Lt. on 14 Dec 1863. He was the brother of William Hackler,also in Company H. I believe that William died, of disease,in Arkansas during the war.
After his service as a nurse, JWH was made sergeant and eventually was promoted Junior Second Lieutenant on December 14, 1863. He is mentioned in a manuscript written by John C. Porter, who wrote about his experience in the Civil War, where he also served in Company H. In the manuscript, Porter describes the November 3, 1863 battle of Bayou Bourbeaux, LA. Porter states: "We went into the fight that day, with twenty-seven men in the Company; we had six wounded, to wit: A. Johnson, mortally, T. P. Ails, W. L. Montgomery, T. S. McCurdy, W. Lilly and Jesse Steelman, all slightly. We came out with only seven besides the officers, whoso names, I think, should be recorded in this book to wit: Joe and David Bailey, W. H. H. Cope, John Johnson, John Freeman, Jonas Ervin amd myself (J. C. Porter). the officers were Lieut. T. L. Skeen and Serg't Hackler. The remainder of the Company, I am ashamed to confess, played out."
After serving as Sheriff, JWH became Judge of Upshur County.
According to records in the possession of a descendant of William Cope, John Hackler was a Sergeant prior to the battle at Bayou Bourbeu (or bourbeaux) and was promoted due to attrition within the unit as a result of that battle.
The picture above was taken in Jefferson, Texas which is in Upshur County. He died in Bettie, Upshur County, Texas on September 18, 1911 and is buried near there.

Texans in the Civil War
The General Store