Under the assumed name of George Washington Arrington, an Alabama fugitive enlisted in the Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers on Sept. 1, 1875.

John C. Orrick, Jr. grew up fast going off to war at 16 and fighting at both battles of Manassas/Bull Run, Harpers Ferry, Antietam and Gettysburg. He spent the closing months of the Civil War as a guerrilla and sometimes spy with Mosby’s fabled Rangers.

Like so many restless veterans north and south, Orrick had trouble readjusting to civilian li...