Daniel C. "Doc" Sullivan

Texas Rangers — Austin, TX

Felonious

End of Watch August 20, 1850

Age 17

The Vigil Panel 1 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 121

Incident

In May of 1850, Texas Ranger Privates D.C. “Doc” Sullivan, John Lemon Wilbarger and Alpheus D. Neill were granted leaves to take care of legal business by Captain John S. “Rip” Ford. After their leaves expired, the men met in San Antonio Viejo to travel together. The three rangers discovered they were being tracked by about 30 Indians. The rangers had good horses and could have escaped, but they decided to stand and fight. As the Indians advanced, one had a long range rifle and fired, and the ball struck Sullivan in the body. He was lifted from his horse which was tied to a tree. Sullivan told the other two rangers not to stay with him. He said, “I am killed…you can do me no good…make your escape.” A shot from the Indians struck him in the head, killing him. Wilbarger ran toward the camp and evidence discovered later indicated he killed 2-3 Indians before he fell. Neill had inadvertently attached his weapons to the pommel of his saddle. He mounted; his horse ran under the rope of Sullivan’s horse, and Neill was dragged off his horse. The Indians caught his horse and had his weapons. He received at least eight wounds and fainted from loss of blood. After the Indians left, Neill extracted several arrows from his body. He had been stripped of his clothes. In the blistering sun and naked, Neill walked and crawled 65 miles to San Patricio. A group of citizens returned to the scene and buried Sullivan and Wilbarger. Wilbarger’s body was reinterred in 1936 to the Texas State Cemetery. It is unknown where Sullivan’s body is located.

Alpheus D. Neill later became a Waco police officer, and on February 6, 1877 he was killed in the line of duty.

Private Sullivan, 170 years ago you selflessly and heroically made the ultimate sacrifice and today, as well as everyday, we say thank you for your service and please know that no passage of time will ever erase your heroism and sacrifice.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo Delaware State Police (Retired) August 20th, 2020

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-F22E643A
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Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

176 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Private Sullivan served with the Texas Rangers.
Thank you for your service to the Austin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Texas Rangers

Location Austin, TX

Platform Identity tr.travis.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 20, 1850

Age 17

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Cause Detail Gunfire

Weapon Rifle

Private Daniel C. "Doc" Sullivan is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TX, 1,463 of 2,421 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60.4% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Texas Rangers, 104 of 122 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 85.2% of this agency's fallen.

Texas Rangers

104

of 122 officers

85.2% Felonious

TX — Statewide

1,463

of 2,421 officers

60.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious