Joseph Benjamin Polley was born on October 27, 1840, in Bailey’s Prairie, Texas, to Joseph and Mary Polley. His father was a stock raiser who owned $70,000 of real estate and $65,351 of personal property by 1860. The family moved to Guadalupe County, Texas, around 1847, and he grew up and attended school there. In the early 1860s, he enrolled at Florence Wesleyan University in Florence, Alabama.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army on July 11, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company F of the 4^th Texas Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with light hair and grey eyes. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. He was wounded in the head at Gaines’ Mill in June 1862, but he eventually recovered and rejoined the regiment.

 

He fell ill in October 1862 and spent several weeks recovering in Richmond, Virginia. In November 1862, he was promoted to quartermaster sergeant. By January 1864, however, his military records listed him as a corporal again. He was wounded in October 1864, and surgeons amputated his right foot. He was discharged for disability in January 1865.

 

He returned to Guadalupe County after leaving the army, and he married Martha Legette on December 20, 1866. They had at least four children: Josephine, born around 1869; Hortense, born around 1872; Mattie, born around 1874; and Jesse, born around 1881. He was admitted to the bar in 1868, and he earned a living as a lawyer.  They moved to Floresville, Texas, around 1876.

 

He served as commander of the Texas Division of the United Confederate Veterans and a leader of Hood’s Texas Brigade Association. He also wrote “historical reminiscences” for the San Antonio Express and published several books on Civil War history. He died in Floresville on February 2, 1918.

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