Thruston and his four brothers served in the 4th Missouri Cavalry, Company I, throughout most of the War. The 4th Missouri, also known as Burbridge's Regiment, was organized about February 5, 1863, by Colonel John Q. Burbridge with the addition of three companies belonging to Preston's Battalion. Burbridge's Battalion was also known as Burbridge's Regiment Missouri Partisan Rangers and as the 3rd Regiment of Porter's Brigade. Thruston's unit served in the Trans-Mississippi Department and participated in Marmaduke's Expedition into Missouri, Price's Missouri operations, and various other conflicts in Arkansas. Thirteen men were causalities at Jenkins Ferry including one of Thruston's brothers. Archival records show Thruston present in Arkansas at Yellville, White Oak, Pea Ridge, Poison Springs, and Little Rock. Right before his death in 1909, Thruston told Mamie Yeary, interviewing for her book Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865: he "was with General Steele operating from Arkadelphia to Camden advancing sixty miles in six days." His rank at the time was private.
The CSA's Tallest Man appears in the Role of Prisoners of War (POW) of Company I, 4th Regiment Missouri Cavalry, CSA, commanded by Captain George Taylor and surrendered at New Orleans, Louisiana by General E. Kirby Smith, CSA to Major General E.R.S. Canby, USA on May 26, 1865. Thruston was paroled at Shreveport, Louisiana, in early June 1865. Records indicate he was wounded twice during the War (once grazed by a bullet on top of his head!).
He moved to Texas and settled in the northwestern part of the Titus County / Franklin County line after the War. He purchased land east of Mount Vernon in 1888, at one time owning one hundred acres. He farmed and lived on his acreage until the latter part of his life. He was living in Mount Vernon when he died on July 2, 1909, and was buried in nearby Mount Pleasant's Edwards Cemetery. Our own December 1909 Confederate Veteran stated the Texas Giant died soon after his return from the Confederate Reunion in June at Memphis, Tennessee. It is also mentioned he attended the Confederate Reunion at Dallas in 1902.
Area historians have written that during the War on one occasion when the Company was lined up for dress parade, Thruston was standing in the rear line and the Commanding Officer, Colonel Preston, ordered him to "get off that stump!" He gave the command a second time and since no man moved, he drew his saber and declared, "I will make you obey orders!" The officer ran right toward Thruston stating, "What are you standing on?" Thruston calmly replied, "I am standing on the ground."
It is known that for many years prior to his death, Thruston traveled with a circus and was billed in the side shows as The World's Tallest Man. In order to accentuate his height, he wore a tall beaver bat with high top boots and a long coat. One of his acquaintances said that his attire made him look 10 feet tall! In fact, the present writer recently interviewed a 97-year-old man who was a neighbor boy of Thruston and remembers him as "a mighty tall, nice fellow." When asked if he remembered "the Colonel" as 7 feet 7-1/2 inches, the local man quickly replied "I bet he was taller than that! Nine foot maybe!" In those days and the end of the nineteenth century, one of the big events of a town was a circus parading through the downtown section or town square. It is said when the circus was in one of the Confederate States, Thruston would lead the parade with a Confederate flag over his shoulder, and this was the most popular portion of the parade. When the circus was showing in a Union state, he would lead the parade dressed as Uncle Sam, carrying both the Union and Confederate flags. In his older days, he was referred to as Colonel Thruston.
It is told locally that the Colonel was so tall that he could hold his arms straight out from the shoulder and men could stand under them with derby hats untouched! Another interesting anecdote about the "Giant Colonel" has it that he was once in the company of a much smaller man in town. On this particular occasion the little man sarcastically quipped, "How's the weather up there big man?" The colonel responded by spitting on the little acquaintance saying, "It's raining!"
Although Henry Clay Thruston did not qualify as one of Professor Jay Hoar's The South's Last Boys in Gray, "the Colonel" was noted by Professor Hoar as the Tallest Reb/Confederate soldier! His home with nine foot ceilings near Mount Vernon is preserved as a historical site so designated by the Franklin County Historical Association and eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places by The Texas Historic Commission. The town of Mount Pleasant where Colonel Thruston is buried is one of those small towns with an old UDC monument still on the town square with a Confederate soldier on top facing north as if looking for an approach of the Yankee Army.
Dr. Flournoy practices psychology in the small East Texas town of Mount Pleasant and lives within a half mile of the Thruston homestead near Mount Vernon where he is a Charter Member of the Genealogy Division of the Franklin County Historical Association. In addition, he is a Member of SCV Camp 441, J.M. "Matt" Barton of nearby Sulphur Springs, Texas, and a Delegate to the 1997 Texas Division SCV Convention.
