Chapter 6:
- Brigadier-General Hebert assumes command -- troops raised for the defense of the coast -- the blockade-troops for Arkansas -- troops at Arkansas post -- battles of Oak Hills and Elkhorn -- forces transferred to Mississippi -- troops sent to Tennessee and to Virginia, to the lower Rio Grande, and to New Mexico and Arizona -- organization of Confederate government -- members of Congress elected -- message of Governor Clark.
Brig.-Gen. Paul O. Hebert assumed command of the military department of Texas on the 16th of September, 1861. His headquarters were at Galveston until about the first of January, 1862, when they were removed to Houston. The quartermaster and commissary departments remained at San Antonio, the headquarters for a long time of the troops in Texas, whose service had been on the western frontier. General Hebert came with a good record, having been educated at West Point, a lieutenant-colonel in the Mexican war, and governor of Louisiana. He appointed E. B. Nichols colonel of a six months infantry regiment at Galveston, with Josiah C. Massie, lieutenant-colonel, and Fred Tate, major. X. B. Debray, as lieutenant-colonel, and John J. Myers, major, raised for service there a battalion of cavalry, which was afterward enlarged into a regiment with Debray, colonel, Myers, lieutenant-colonel, and M. Menard, major. Col. John S. Moore, with Wm. P. Rogers, lieutenant-colonel, and H. G. Runnels, major, organized a regiment of infantry at Galveston, in October, 1861, and going to Mississippi were in the battle of Corinth, where Colonel Rogers, after a brilliant display of courage, was killed. [50] General Hebert was at a disadvantage in being a total stranger to the people of Texas. He was also surrounded with officers equally unknown, who were brought from Louisiana with him; and being on or near the coast they were not informed of what was transpiring in different parts of the State. Col. Ben McCulloch, who had great reputation in Texas as a valiant officer in frontier service, repaired to Montgomery, seeking assignment. Elkanah Greer, of Marshall, Tex., was there for the same object. He had the repute of good service as a private in Col. Jeff Davis' regiment in the war with Mexico. To provide for them, an expedition to Southern Kansas was planned. Col. Ben McCulloch was commissioned brigadier-general, and Greer, colonel of cavalry. The command was to consist of one regiment from each of the States of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Both officers set about the organization of the expedition. Colonel Greer called for ten companies to meet him some day in June, 1861, at Dallas, which was promptly complied with, and upon the election held for field officers, Greer was made colonel, Walter P. Lane, lieutenant-colonel, Geo. W. Chilton, major, and Matt Ector was appointed adjutant. At the same time an artillery company was organized by men from Smith and Dallas counties, with John J. Good as captain and James P. Douglas as first lieutenant. General Price, at the head of the Missouri State Guard, achieved a victory in the western part of that State, but was compelled to retire to the southern part, where he joined Gen. Ben McCulloch, who had his force collected, consisting of Greer's regiment from Texas, Colonel Hebert's Louisiana regiment, and several regiments from Arkansas, five of which, under N. G. Pearce, were State troops called out for three months service. General Mc-Culloch was in command of the combined force, when it was attacked at Oak Hills, 10 miles south of Springfield, at the break of day on August 10, 1861, by a Federal army with infantry, cavalry and artillery, under the command of [51] General Lyons. The Texans fought for the most part with shotguns and rifles that they had brought from their homes, but they fought with the old Texas spirit during four or five hours, when a glorious victory was achieved by the Confederate forces. General Lyons was killed in the battle, and his forces were routed and fled in utter confusion. The news of this splendid victory came down to Texas as upon the wings of the wind, and raised the martial spirit of its people into a flaming ardor that hastened the formation of companies and regiments for the war all over the State. Gen. Ben McCulloch retired into winter quarters in the northeastern part of Arkansas, where he was reinforced by Texas commands, in addition to Greer's Third cavalry, as follows: Sixth Texas cavalry, Col. B. Warren Stone, Lieut.-Col. J. S. Griffith, Maj. L. S. Ross; Fourth (Ninth) cavalry, Col. Wm. B. Sims, Lieut.-Col. T. G. Berry, Maj. J. N. Dodson; Eleventh cavalry, Col. W. C. Young, Lieut.-Col. Jas. J. Diamond; battalion of Mounted Rifles, Maj. John W. Whitfield; and Capt. John J. Good's artillery company. In the following spring he moved into Missouri, where he was joined by General Price with his Missouri troops, and the combined force being under the command of General Van Dorn, the battle of Elkhorn was fought, in which General Mc-Culloch was killed. In command of the right wing of the army he had put his command in position for a desperate charge, and had fearlessly gone to the front to discover the position of the enemy when he was shot; and the second in command being also immediately killed, some confusion was produced, which probably caused the battle to be a drawn fight, without a decisive victory for either side.1 The Confederate forces withdrew into Arkansas, [52] and with General Price's command were ordered across the river into Mississippi. Joseph L. Hogg, of Texas, was appointed brigadier-general and assigned to the command of Gen. Ben McCulloch's brigade. He went from Texas and died shortly after taking command. Maj. B. F. Terry, after his services under Colonel Ford on the Rio Grande, got a commission to raise a cavalry regiment, and in September, 1861, ten of his companies met at Houston and were mustered into the Confederate service. They proceeded partly by land and partly by water to Bowling Green, Ky., where they were organized into the Eighth Texas cavalry, better known as Terry's Rangers, with B. F. Terry, colonel; Thos. S. Lubbock, lieutenant-colonel; John A. Wharton, major. They did good service in the Tennessee army. John Gregg, on returning to Texas from the convention at Montgomery, raised a regiment of infantry, and proceeded with it to Mississippi. The officers were John Gregg, colonel; J. M. Clough, lieutenant-colonel; Hiram B. Granbury, major. Gregg was afterward promoted to brigadier-general in command of the Hood brigade, and was killed at Petersburg. Clough was killed in Fort Donelson, and Granbury at Franklin. In July, 1861, the port of Galveston was blockaded by the Federal navy, as the other Texas ports were soon afterward, but there was no attempt to enter them for some time. An artillery regiment was stationed at Galveston, under command of Joseph J. Cook, colonel; John H. Manly, lieutenant-colonel; and Edward Van Harten, major. About the same time artillery was [53] placed at the other ports of Sabine Pass, Indianola, Velasco, and Brazos Santiago. In August, 1861, Governor Clark was called on for twenty companies to be sent to Richmond, Va. Thirty two companies were sent, and were organized into regiments with field officers appointed there, as follows: First Texas regiment, Col. Louis T. Wigfall, Lieut.-Col. Hugh McLeod, Maj. H. H. Black, Fourth Texas regiment, Col. John B. Hood, Lieut.-Col. John Marshall, Maj. Bradfute Warwick; Fifth Texas regiment, Col. J. J. Archer, Lieut.-Col. Jerome B. Robertson, Maj. P. R. Quattlebaum. The first brigadier-general in command was Louis T. Wigfall, who after his election to the Senate was succeeded by John B. Hood. The brigade has ever since been called Hood's brigade, although it was commanded after his promotion by Brig.-Gens. Jerome B. Robertson, John Gregg and F. S. Bass. The latter, though promoted while in command as colonel, never received his commission until it was sent to him by the war department in June, 1897, before his death at the Soldier's Home in Austin, in July, 1897. This brigade fought with great distinction in many of the great battles of the war, and its number was diminished by death and wounded until there were not more soldiers in the ranks than would have filled a good regiment. Still, as a tribute to their devoted bravery, they were allowed to retain to the end their brigade organization. One of the highest encomiums that can be bestowed upon the soldiers of that brigade is mention of the fact that, of the officers who commanded them in battles, five were made brigadier generals, two were made major-generals, and one a lieutenant-general. In November, 1861, Maj. J. B. Likens was stationed at Sabine Pass, raising his cavalry battalion, which was afterward increased to a regiment formed from Likens' and Burns' cavalry battalions, with Jas. B. Likens, colonel; [54] Jas. R. Burns, lieutenant-colonel; W. A. Wortham, major. Lieut.-Col. A. Buchel, in service on the lower Rio Grande in November, 1861, in Luckett's infantry regiment, was made colonel of a cavalry regiment, composed of Joseph Taylor's and W. O. Yager's cavalry battalions, Wm. O. Yager, lieutenant-colonel; Robert A. Myers, major; known as the First Texas cavalry, or Buchel's regiment. Col. Philip N. Luckett, Lieut.-Col. E. F. Gray and Maj. John H. Kampmann were the officers of an infantry regiment which went to the Rio Grande in December, 1861. In the fall of 1861, H. H. Sibley was appointed brigadier-general, and appeared in Texas to organize a brigade for a campaign into New Mexico and Arizona. Three cavalry regiments were promptly formed: The Fourth cavalry, Jas. Reily, colonel; Wm. R. Scurry, lieutenant-colonel; and Henry W. Ragnet, major; the Fifth cavalry, Thos. Green, colonel; Henry C. McNeill, lieutenant-colonel; S. A. Lockridge, major; the Seventh cavalry, Wm. Steele, colonel; J. L. Sutton, lieutenant-colonel; A. P. Bagby, major (as shown by the reports from the war department). There were the following troops added to those regiments in that campaign: First cavalry regiment, Wm. P. Hardeman, colonel; Peter Hardeman, lieutenant-colonel; Michael Looscan, major. Second cavalry, Geo. W. Baylor, colonel; John W. Mullins, lieutenant-colonel; Sherwood Hunter, major. Third cavalry, Joseph Phillips, colonel; G. T. Madison, lieutenant-colonel; Alonzo Riddle, major. Fourth cavalry, Spruce M. Baird, colonel; Daniel Showalter, lieutenant-colonel; Ed. Rioran, major. P. T. Herbert's cavalry battalion, P. T. Herbert, lieutenant-colonel; Geo. M. Frazer, major. After much delay in the preparation for so important a movement, the command reached El Paso on the Rio [55] Grande the middle of December, 1861. Having crossed the river, General Sibley on the 20th issued a proclamation taking possession of New Mexico as territory of the Confederate government. A considerable battle was fought in which many feats of skill and courage were exhibited, near Fort Craig and Valverde, where the Confederates were masters of the field, capturing artillery and prisoners. In March, 1862, the command arrived at Santa Fe, and in a battle near that place, at Glorieta, a detachment had an engagement in which great loss of life occurred. It was finally determined that the force was inadequate to hold the country, and the command retreated fighting until they reached Texas in the spring of 1862, physically worn by a winter campaign and their ranks depleted by the loss, as it was reported, of 500 of their body. The brigade for a time was distributed in different counties in Texas to recruit the companies and prepare for its future action in Texas and Louisiana. (See Appendix for details of this campaign.) A regiment of infantry was raised (styled the Thirteenth infantry, or Bates' regiment) and stationed at Velasco, at the mouth of the Brazos river, where it remained during the war. Its officers were Col. Joseph Bates and Lieut.-Col. Reuben Brown. Henry P. Cayce was at another time lieutenant-colonel, and during its service there were Majors R. L. Foard, S. L. Perry and L. C. Rountree. Reference will be further made of the officers when any action at the different ports of Texas shall have occurred. This must suffice for a description of the disposition of the Texas forces during the year 1861, so far as the records and other reliable information show. The legislature of Texas met in November, 1861, and elected to the Confederate Senate, under the permanent government, Louis T. Wigfall and W. S. Oldham. The representatives elected to Congress at the general election in August of that year were John A. Wilcox, C. C. Herbert, Peter W. Gray, B. F. Sexton, M. D. Graham [56] and Wm. B. Wright. Governor Clark, in his retiring message, November 1st, stated that he had failed to borrow money, and that his plan of raising troops met with very limited success, partly for the want of adequate means, and partly from the reluctance of the people to enter the camps of instruction to prepare for the infantry service; that a Confederate military officer had been sent to the State, by whom some troops that had been raised (not naming them) had at once been received into the Confederate service, and the State thereby relieved from further charge of them; that for the defense of the northern border, Col. W. C. Young had been authorized to raise a cavalry regiment; that the heavy guns that had been surrendered at Fort Clark had been conveyed to the coast; that he had appointed in compliance with law brigadier-generals in thirty-two districts to organize the militia; and that from estimates furnished by the county judges there are 100,000 men able to bear arms and 40,--000 private arms in the hands of the people; that Col. Ben McCulloch, as agent for the State, had purchased 1,000 Colt's revolvers that had been of great service in arming the regiments raised by the convention; that in view of the blockade of our ports and the scarcity of supplies he recommended that all suitable manufactured goods at the penitentiary should be bought by the State for the army; that the arms and ammunition that could be obtained have been purchased, and the flint-lock guns have been converted to percussion-lock guns; that ‘notwithstanding our want of adequate means and insufficient laws, there are now battling for our liberties 20,000 Texans.’ The correctness of this estimate is not to be verified by any records in the offices of the State executive officers, but must be explained by showing how they enlisted. The reasons why Governor Clark could do so little in the way of raising troops for the Confederate army were: First, the habitual disposition of the people, as is the case [57] in any sparsely settled country, to ride on horseback in volunteering as soldiers; secondly, as soon as Texas became a part of the Southern Confederacy its military jurisdiction was extended over the State, and military officers were sent to superintend the raising of troops, and from that time those who desired to enter the service applied either to those officers or to the President and the secretary of war for authority to raise troops, and thereby the State authorities were relieved from participation. Consequently the offices at the capital contained no report of the organization of the many regiments and battalions furnished by Texas in the war. There were a number of regiments raised and organized under commissions from the secretary of war, or other military officers, in the spring, summer and fall of the year 1861, and some of them before arrangements had been made for transporting companies or paying their expenses to the place of rendezvous. [58]
