Appendix. A Supplemental account of the service of Texas commands Outside that State-Compiled from the official records.
Sibley's campaign in New Mexico.
in the battle of Valverde, fought near the ford on the Rio Grande above Fort Craig, the Federals were commanded by Gen. E. R. S. Canby, and Col. Thomas Green was in immediate command of the Confederate forces. The action was brought on in the morning of the 21St of February, 1862, by an attack upon a reconnoitering party under Major Pyron, who was reinforced by a battalion under Scurry and Teel's battery. At noon, Green, who was threatening the fort on the south side of the mesa, was ordered up to the scene of action, and he brought into the fight several companies of his regiment, and the lancers of Captains Lang and McCown under Major Lockridge, sending three companies under McNeill to drive the enemy from the mesa. Green then took command of the line of battle by order of General Sibley. Describing the action he says:About 3 p. m. a most galling fire was opened upon Lieutenant-Colonel Scurry's command, on our right, by 300 or 400 of the enemy's riflemen. Captain Lang, of the Fifth regiment, with about 40 of his lancers, made at this time one of the most gallant and furious charges on these light troops of the enemy ever witnessed. His little troop was decimated, and the gallant captain and Lieutenant Bass severely wounded, the latter in seven places. The enemy was repulsed, and our right was for some time unmolested. Large bodies of the enemy's 150 [151] infantry having crossed the river about 3:30 p. m., bringing over with them six pieces of splendid artillery, took position in front of us, on the bank of the river, at a distance of 600 yards. In addition to this body of troops two 24-pounder howitzers were placed on our left flank by the enemy. These were supported by a regiment of infantry and a regiment of cavalry. The heaviest fire of the whole day was opened about this time on our left, which was under the command of the gallant Lockridge. Our brave men on that part of the line maintained the unequal fight with desperate courage, though overwhelmingly outnumbered. Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton, now coming up with part of his battalion, took position on our left.The enemy now being on our side of the river opened upon us a tremendous fire of round shot, grape and shell. Their force in numbers was vastly superior to ours; but, having the most unbounded confidence in the courage of our troops, I ordered a charge on their battery and infantry of regulars in front, and at the same time Major Ragnet of the Fourth, with four companies of the same, and Captain Ragsdale's company, of the Fifth, were directed by me to charge as cavalry upon the infantry and Mexican cavalry and the two 24-pounder howitzers on our left flank.
Our dismounted troops in front were composed of parts of the Fourth and Fifth regiments, Texas mounted volunteers, and parts of Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton's and most of Pyron's battalions, and Teel's, Riley's and Woods' batteries of artillery, numbering about 750 on the ground. Major Ragnet's cavalry numbered about 250, making about 1,000 men in the charge. At the command to charge, our men leaped over the sandbank, which had served as a good covering to them, and dashed over the open plain, thinly interspersed with cottonwood trees, upon the battery and infantry of the enemy in front, composed of United States regulars and Denver City volunteers, and in a most desperate charge and handto-hand conflict completely overwhelmed them, killing most of their gunners around their cannon and driving the infantry into the river. Never were double-barreled shotguns and rifles used to better effect. A large number of the enemy were killed in the river with shotguns and six-shooters in their flight. [152]
While we were occupied with the enemy in front, Major Ragnet made a gallant and most timely charge upon the infantry and cavalry of the enemy on our left flank. This charge was made against ten times the number of Ragnet's force, and although we suffered severely and were compelled to fall back, he effected the object of his mission and occupied the attention of our powerful enemy on our left, while our dismounted men were advancing upon those in front and running them into the river. So soon as the enemy had fled in disorder from our terrible fire in front, we turned upon his infantry and cavalry and 24-pounders on our left flank, just engaged by Major Ragnet. We charged them as we had those in front, but they were not made of as good stuff as the regulars, and a few fires upon them with their own artillery and Teel's guns, a few volleys of small arms, and the old Texas war shout completely dispersed them. They fled from the field, both cavalry and infantry, in the utmost disorder, many of them dropping their guns to lighten their heels, and stopping only under the walls of the fort. Our victory was complete. The enemy must have been 3,000 strong, while our force actually engaged did not exceed 600. Six splendid pieces of artillery and their entire equipage fell into our hands; also many fine small arms.
This splendid victory was not achieved without severe loss to us. Major Lockridge, of the Fifth, fell at the mouth of the enemy's guns, gallantly leading our brave troops to the assault. Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton, of the Seventh, fell mortally wounded at the head of his battalion while assaulting the enemy's battery. Several of our officers were desperately wounded; some of them no doubt mortally. Among them are the gallant Captain Lang, of the lancers, and Lieutenant Bass, both of Company B, and Lieut. D. A. Hubbard of Company A, Fifth regiment. Captain Heuvel, of the Fourth, fell in the gallant cavalry charge of Major Ragnet. He was one of the most distinguished of the heroes of the day. Like the gallant Lang, of the Fifth, he could not appreciate odds in a battle.
I cannot say enough in praise of the gallantry of our surviving officers and men. It would be invidious to mention names. Were I to do so the rolls of captains, lieutenants and men would have to be here inserted. I will [153] only mention the principal field and staff in the engagement. The cheering voice of Lieutenant-Colonel Scurry was heard where the bullets fell thickest on the field. Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill and the gallant Major Pyron who has been before mentioned, displayed the most undaunted courage. Major Ragnet, of the Fourth, though wounded, remained at his post and retired not until the field was won. These were the field officers present, as I have just stated. The captains, lieutenants and men in the action displayed so much gallantry that it would be invidious to make distinctions. They fought with equal valor and are entitled to equal credit with the field and staff here mentioned.
I will not close this report without a just meed of praise to the general staff, who served me as aides-de-camp during the day. Col. W. L. Robards was in the charge of the dashing Lang, and wounded in several places. Capt. Tom P. Ochiltree, aide-de-camp to General Sibley, was exceedingly useful to me on the field and active during the whole engagement. He assisted me in the most critical moment to cheer our men to the assault. He deserves the highest praise for his undaunted chivalry and coolness, and I recommend him to the general for promotion. Captain Dwyer was also very useful, gallant and active during the whole action. I cannot close without the mention of Captain Frazier, of the Arizona volunteer. To him, more than all others, we are indebted for the successful turning of Fort Craig. He led us over the high ground, around the mesa to the east of the fort, where we at all times had the advantage of the enemy in case he had attacked us in the act of turning the fort.
I will only personalize further by the mention of my own regimental staff. Sergt.-Maj. C. B. Sheppard shouldered his gun and fought gallantly in the ranks of Captain McPhaill's company in the charge. Lieut. Joseph D. Sayers, adjutant of the Fifth, during the whole day reminded me of a hero of the days of chivalry. He is a gallant, daring and dashing soldier, and is as cool in a storm of grape, shell, canister and musketry as a veteran. I recommend him, through the general, to the President for promotion.
Our killed and wounded are as follows: Second regiment Texas mounted volunteers, Major Pyron's command, [154] 4 killed, 17 wounded; Fourth regiment Texas mounted volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Scurry's command, 8 killed, 36 wounded; Fifth Texas mounted volunteers, Colonel Green's regiment, 20 killed, 67 wounded; Seventh regiment Texas mounted volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton's command, 2 killed, 26 wounded; Teel's battery, 2 killed, 4 wounded; total, 36 killed, 150 wounded. Since which time Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton, of the Seventh, two privates of the Fifth, and two of Teel's battery, have died from wounds received in battle.
Sibley's command then marched on, seizing the stores at Albuquerque and Cubero. Major Pyron was sent to Santa Fe; Colonel Scurry, with the Fourth and a battalion of Colonel Steele's regiment under Maj. Powhatan Jordan, was pushed forward in the direction of Gallisteo, while Colonel Green, with his regiment, was held to check any movement from Fort Craig. The enemy at Fort Union now threatened Santa Fe, and Major Pyron, reinforced by four companies of the Fifth, under Major Shropshire, advanced to meet him. On March 26th, at Apache cañon, a severe skirmish ensued, in which acts of daring were performed. The company of ‘Brigandes’ (independent volunteers), under Capt. John Phillips, is said to have done good service. One of their number, Thomas Cator, was killed and two wounded. Colonel Scurry reached the scene of action at daylight next morning, and the next day (28th) fought the battle of Glorieta, driving the enemy from the field with great loss.
Colonel Scurry reported that he had in this combat portions of the companies of Captains Hampton, Lesueur, Foard, Crosson, Giesecke, Alexander, Buckholtz, Odell and Scarborough (Lieutenant Holland commanding), of the Fourth regiment; the companies of Captains Hoffman, Gardner, Wiggins, and Adair of the Seventh regiment; the companies of Captains Shannon, Ragsdale, and Lieutenants Oakes and Scott, of the Fifth, [155] three pieces of artillery under Lieutenant Bradford, and Phillips' volunteers, in all about 600 efficient men. He found the enemy in Glorieta cañon and formed line of battle there. Major Pyron was given charge of the right, Major Ragnet of the center, and Colonel Scurry led the right in a charge which was at once successful, the enemy taking to cover. Lieutenant Bradford, of the artillery, was wounded, and his guns carried back, but two were brought forward again by Private W. D. Kirk and Sergeant Patrick. Another advance was now ordered, but before it was under way the gallant Major Shropshire was killed. Then, said Colonel Scurry in his report:
I took command on the right and immediately attacked the enemy who were at the ranch. Majors Ragnet and Pyron opened a galling fire upon their left from the rock on the mountain side, and the center charging down the road, the foe were driven from the ranch to the ledge of rocks before alluded to, where they made their final and most desperate stand. At this point three batteries of eight guns opened a furious fire of grape, canister and shell upon our advancing troops. Our brave soldiers, heedless of the storm, pressed on, determined if possible to take their battery. A heavy body of infantry, twice our number, interposed to save their guns. Here the conflict was terrible. Our officers and men, alike inspired with the unalterable determination to overcome every obstacle to the attainment of their object, dashed among them. The right and center had united on the left. The intrepid Ragnet and the cool, calm, courageous Pyron had pushed forward among the rocks until the muzzles of the guns of the opposing forces passed each other. Inch by inch was the ground disputed until the artillery of the enemy had time to escape with a number of their wagons. The infantry also broke ranks and fled from the field. So precipitate was their flight that they cut loose their teams and set fire to two of the wagons. The pursuit was kept up until forced to halt from the extreme exhaustion of the men, who had been engaged for six hours in the hardest contested fight it had ever been my lot to witness. The enemy is now known to have numbered 1,400 men, Pike's [156] Peak miners and regulars, the flower of the United States army.During the action a portion of the enemy succeeded in reaching our rear, surprising the wagon guard and burning our wagons, taking at the same time some sixteen prisoners. About this time a party of prisoners whom I had sent to the rear reached there and informed them how the fight was going on in front, whereupon they beat a hasty retreat; not, however, until the perpetration of two acts which the most barbarous savage of the plains would blush to own. One was the shooting and dangerously wounding of the Rev. L. H. Jones, chaplain of the Fourth regiment, with a white flag in his hand; the other an order that the prisoners they had taken be shot in case they were attacked on their retreat. These instances go to prove that they have lost all sense of humanity in the insane hatred they bear to the citizens of the Confederacy, who have the manliness to arm in the defense of their country's independence.
We remained upon the battlefield during the day of the 29th to bury our dead and provide for the comfort of the wounded, and then marched to Santa Fe to procure supplies and transportation to replace those destroyed by the enemy. Our loss was 36 killed and 60 wounded. Of the killed 24 were of the Fourth regiment, 1 of the Fifth regiment, 8 of the Seventh regiment, and 1 of the artillery. That of the enemy greatly exceeded this number, 44 of their dead being counted where the battle first opened. Their killed must have considerably exceeded 100.
The country has to mourn the loss of four as brave and chivalrous officers as ever graced the ranks of any army. The gallant Major Shrop-shire fell early, pressing upon the foe and cheering his men on. The brave and chivalrous Major Ragnet fell mortally wounded while engaged in the last and most desperate conflict of the day. He survived long enough to know and rejoice at our victory, and then died with loving messages upon his expiring lips. The brave, gallant Captain Buckholtz and Lieutenant Mills conducted themselves with distinguished gallantry throughout the fight and fell near its close. Of the living it is only necessary to say all behaved with distinguished courage and daring. . . . Major Pyron was distinguished by the calm intrepidity of his bearing. It [157] is due to Adjt. Ellsberry R. Lane to bear testimony to the courage and activity he displayed in the discharge of his official duties, and to acknowledge my obligations for the manner in which he carried out my orders.
It appears from the report of General Sibley that after occupying Santa Fe for nearly a month from the time of his first advance upon it, the forage and supplies there became exhausted, and he determined to remove his forces to Manzano, intermediate between Fort Union, Albuquerque and Fort Craig. But Albuquerque, his base of supplies, being threatened, he was forced to go there, and then found it necessary to evacuate the territory. Green's regiment, detached to Peralta, opposite Los Lunas, was attacked with artillery, but was reinforced by the remainder of the brigade, and no loss was suffered. The retreat was thence made over the mountains and through the cañons to the Texas border, and the command was stationed along a line from Dona Ana to Fort Bliss.
Armies of Kentucky, of the West, of the Mississippi, and of Tennessee.
Woodsonville—Fort Donelson.
The Eighth Texas cavalry, or Texas Rangers, under Col. B. F. Terry, was sent into Kentucky in September, 1861, and was soon followed by the Seventh infantry under Col. John Gregg. The first considerable engagement of the Eighth cavalry was at Woodsonville, or Rowlett's station, December 17th. Gen. T. C. Hindman, in command of the Confederate forces engaged, in advancing on Woodsonville put out the Rangers on the neighboring heights and Major Phifer's cavalry to watch the crossings of Green river. Later Colonel Terry, being temporarily left in command by General Hindman, was assailed by the enemy in force, and ‘at the head of 75 Rangers he charged about 300, routed and drove them back, but fell mortally wounded. A body of [158] the enemy of about the same size attacked the Rangers under Captain Terrill, upon the right of the turnpike, and were repulsed with heavy loss.’ Besides Colonel Terry, three of his men were killed, Lieutenant Morris and three men dangerously wounded, and Captain Walker and three men slightly wounded. In General Hardee's special orders it was said of the fallen colonel: ‘His regiment deplores the loss of a brave and beloved commander; the army one of its ablest officers.’ The regiment was subsequently under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Harrison, during the illness of Colonel Lubbock. On the 30th Gen. A. S. Johnston reported that the regiment had been reduced to half its original number, 1,000, by deaths and sickness.Gregg's Seventh infantry formed part of Simonton's brigade at the battle of Fort Donelson, and were the right of a gallant line which drove the enemy from a hill, under a terrific fire. Near the top of the hill, where a battery was captured, Lieut.-Col. J. M. Clough and Lieut. J. W. Nowlin fell near together. At the same locality fell Capt. William B. Hill. Two days before, Lieut. E. B. Rosson had been killed during the bombardment. The total loss of the Seventh was 20 killed and 34 disabled out of 350 engaged. At the capitulation the regiment was paroled.
Shiloh.
Col. John C. Moore, Second Texas infantry, in reporting the action of his regiment at Shiloh, stated that his command left Houston, Tex., March 12th, reached Corinth April 1st, after a long and exhausting march, and after one day in camp was ordered forward to the battlefield. Early on April 6th, supporting Hardee's division, the regiment lost 1 man killed and 2 or 3 wounded. About 8:30 they moved to the right and took position in the front line to the left of Chalmers' brigade, and was soon under fire, losing 2 or 3 men wounded [159] and Captain Brooks mortally wounded. Soon afterward they went to the front in a series of gallant charges, driving the enemy before them. In one of these forward movements, the space between Col. Joseph Wheeler's Alabama regiment and Chalmers admitting of but three companies, Captains Smith, McGinniss and Christian were ordered to the charge, supported by the rest of the command. They passed over ground covered with dead and wounded. The Texans participated through the afternoon in the flank movement which compelled the surrender of General Prentiss, and they closed a brilliant day's work with a charge upon the Federal camp, in the face of artillery and musketry. Here Capt. Ashbel Smith, who had distinguished himself, was wounded severely. Gen. John K. Jackson, brigade commander, reported that when Prentiss put up the white flag, ‘an officer of the Texas regiment was sent to receive the surrender, which he did, along with several of the swords of officers.’ On the second day Lieut.-Col. W. P. Rogers was in charge of the regiment and Colonel Moore commanded a provisional brigade, including Wheeler's regiment.The Texas Rangers, under Colonel Wharton, fought in this battle, dismounted and mounted, supported a battery on the first day, and served in the rear guard on the retreat. Colonel Wharton was wounded, but remained on duty until Tuesday morning when he turned over the command to Maj. Thomas Harrison, who made a brilliant fight in a reconnoissance that day. The regiment lost 7 killed, including Lieutenant Lowe, and 56 wounded, including Clinton Terry, volunteer aide, Capts. R. T. King, M. L. Rayburn, and G. Cooke, and Lieut. M. L. Gerom. In the fight of the 8th, Captain Cooke and Lieutenants Storey and Gordon and 4 others were wounded, and 2 killed.
The Ninth infantry (aggregate 226), under Col. W. A. Stanley, was with the brigade of Patton Anderson, who [160] reported: ‘Colonel Stanley, of the Ninth Texas regiment, has already been incidentally alluded to. The language of eulogy could scarcely do more than simple justice to the courage and determination of this officer and his valorous Texans. Ever in the thickest of the fight, they were always ready to respond to any demand upon their courage and endurance.’ Stanley reported the loss of 14 killed, including Capt. J. J. Dickson and Lieutenant Hamil, two of his bravest officers, and 42 wounded.
Siege of Corinth.
When Confederate forces were concentrated at Corinth under General Beauregard, the returns for May, 1862, show the following Texas commands present:Ninth regiment, Maxey's brigade, Cheatham's division; Second regiment, Col. J. C. Moore's brigade, Ruggles' division; army of the Mississippi, Bragg commanding.
Garland's and Moore's regiments, Maury's brigade; Sims' and Stone's regiments, Roane's brigade; Greer's regiment and Whitfield's battalion, Hebert's brigade; Crump's, Diamond's and Locke's regiments, J. L. Hogg's brigade; Fitzhugh's, Johnson's, Moore's and Sweet's regiments in a brigade of McCown's division; army of the West, Van Dorn commanding.
The Second, under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, fought gallantly at Farmington, and detachments of Wharton's cavalry were active in harassing the enemy.
In the organization of the army of the Mississippi under Major-General Bragg at Tupelo in June, 1862, the following Texas commands were included: In General Maxey's brigade of Polk's corps, the Ninth Texas; in the cavalry, the Eighth regiment, under Col. John A. Wharton.
To the army of the West were assigned: Whitfield's First legion (or 27th regiment), dismounted, and Greer's [161] Third regiment, dismounted, in the brigade of Louis Hebert, Little's division: the Second infantry, in the brigade commanded by its former colonel, Brig.-Gen. John C. Moore, Maury's division; the Sixth and Ninth cavalry, dismounted, in Phifer's brigade, same division; and the Tenth, Eleventh and Fourteenth Texas cavalry, dismounted, Andrews' infantry regiment, Goode's Texas battery, and McCray's Arkansas battalion, forming a brigade which was soon transferred to the army in East Tennessee.
Iuka and Corinth.
The battle of Iuka, Miss., September 19, 1862, was fought by Little's division of the army of the West against largely preponderating numbers of the enemy. It was Grant's intention to capture Price's army, but though Little fell his men repulsed the attack. In his report General Price said:The brunt of the battle fell upon Hebert's brigade, and nobly did it sustain it, and worthily of its accomplished commander and of the brigade which numbers among its forces the ever-glorious Third Louisiana, the Third Texas dismounted cavalry, and Whitfield's Texas legion. The Third Louisiana and Third Texas had already fought under my eyes at the Oak Hills and at Elkhorn. No men have ever fought more bravely or more victoriously than they, and he who can say hereafter, ‘I belonged to the Third Louisiana or the Third Texas,’ need ever blush in my presence. In this, the hardest-fought fight which I have ever witnessed, they well sustained their bloodily won reputation. The commanding officer of each regiment—Lieut.-Col. Gilmore and Colonel Mabry —was severely wounded. Brave men were never more bravely commanded. Whitfield's legion not only took a battery with the aid of the Third Texas, but fully established on this occasion its right to stand side by side with the veteran regiments already named, and won under their gallant leader a reputation for dashing boldness and steady courage which places them side by side with the bravest and the best. I regret that they are to lose in the [162] impending conflicts the leadership of their able commander, Col. John W. Whitfield, who was painfully wounded, though not dangerously.
The main struggle of this battle was for the possession of a six-gun Federal battery, which was taken by the two Texas commands, after, it is reported, eight attempts had failed. Whitfield had 460 men in action and reported that he lost 106 in killed and wounded in this charge, most of whom fell at or near the battery. The brave Lieut. W. F. F. Wynn was among those killed at the guns. The loss of the Third is given at 22 killed and 74 wounded out of 388. The Second infantry, then known as Second Texas sharpshooters, was with General Maury resisting another Federal column, and, under Col. W. P. Rogers, repulsed the enemy's advance on the 16th, and was conspicuous in a successful ambuscade on the 19th, which saved the rear of Price's army from attack.
In his report of the battle of Corinth, October 3d and 4th, two days of carnage where many brave men died and many were distinguished for valor, General Van Dorn named one man for conspicuous heroism. ‘I cannot refrain,’ he said, ‘from mentioning here the conspicuous gallantry of a noble Texan, whose deeds at Corinth are the constant theme of both friends and foes. As long as courage, manliness, fortitude, patriotism and honor exist, the name of Rogers will be revered and honored among men. He fell in the front of battle, and died beneath the colors of his regiment, in the very center of the enemy's stronghold. He sleeps, and Glory is his sentinel.’
The Texans of Moore's brigade and Phifer's, in Maury's division, were among the first to engage the enemy on the 3d, and the two brigades, pursuing the Federals to the edge of the town, fought heavily throughout the day. On the next morning, the Confederate artillery being withdrawn, the sharpshooters alone, under heavy fire, defended the front of the division. Toward [163] noon Moore, Phifer and Cabell led their brigades into the town in a desperate charge, and held their position until driven out by overwhelming forces, Moore's brigade capturing a battery of light artillery and taking possession of the Tishomingo hotel. Part of his brigade, including the Second Texas, entered the innermost works of Corinth, said General Maury, and there Colonel Rogers fell, with eleven wounds.
In the fight at Hatchie bridge against three Federal brigades under General Ord, who sought to intercept the retreat and crush Van Dorn's army between his line and Rosecrans', the Second Texas, under Moore, was among the first engaged, and was gallantly reinforced by the Sixth and Ninth and other commands of Phifer's brigade, under Col. L. S. Ross. Joined by Cabell's Arkansans, these remnants of brigades made a desperate fight and saved the Confederate army. General Maury especially mentioned the conspicuous courage of Bugler Ernest Goolah, of Ross' regiment.
In the battle of Corinth and the following fight on the Hatchie the casualties of the Texas regiments were reported as follows: Third cavalry, 32; First legion, 20; Second Texas, 44; Sixth cavalry, 18; Ninth cavalry, 76. The missing largely increased these losses, the most being reported by the legion, 75, and Second Texas, 122. Maj. W. C. Timmins, of the Second, was one of the wounded.
Chickasaw Bayou.
Later in 1862 a Texas cavalry brigade was organized in Maury's division, under Lieut.-Col. John S. Griffith, consisting of his regiment, the First legion under Lieut.-Col. E. R. Hawkins, the Third cavalry under Lieut.-Col. J. S. Boggess, the Sixth cavalry under Capt. Jack Wharton, and McNally's battery. They fought a spirited engagement at Oakland, Miss., December 3d.Maury's division reached Vicksburg just as Stephen [164] D. Lee had magnificently repelled the attack of General Sherman at Chickasaw bayou, but the Texans with him were not to be deprived of a taste of battle. On the morning of January 2, 1863, learning that Sherman was removing his troops to the transports, Lee started in pursuit with the Second Texas in front, deployed as skirmishers, supported by two Tennessee and an Alabama regiment. General Lee records the spirited conduct of the Texas regiment in his graphic report:
The enemy was found drawn up in line of battle, two regiments, on the river bank, under cover of their gunboats, about twelve in number, and the river bank being lined with their transports. The Second Texas advanced to 100 yards of the boats without opening fire. Neither did the enemy open on them. I ordered the fire to open. This most gallant regiment with a dash rushed almost up to the boats, delivering their fire with terrible effect on their crowded transports. Never have I seen so sudden a disappearance from crowded vessels, nor vessels move off so hurriedly. The gunboats at once opened on the skirmishers with about twenty boat-howitzers from their upper decks and with rifles from their plated decks. The Texans remained until their troops had disappeared, and as nothing was to be gained by firing on their ironclads, they withdrew.
General Maury said of this famous affair: ‘I regret to report that this gallant regiment has again lost its commander. Lieutenant-Colonel Timmins, just recovered from a severe wound received at Corinth, was again very seriously wounded. His gallantry and the fine conduct of his regiment are much spoken of by those who observed them.’ Private D. Morse, of Company H, was slightly wounded.
Richmond, Kentucky.
In the Kentucky campaign of 1862, Texas was honorably represented at the battle of Richmond by the brigade of Col. T. H. McCray, including the Tenth Texas cavalry, [165] dismounted, Col. R. C. Earp; Eleventh cavalry, dismounted, Col. J. C. Burks; Fourteenth cavalry, dismounted, Lieut.--Col. James Weaver, and McCray's Arkansas sharpshooters. The brigade was selected to flank the enemy's right, where their steady fighting decided the issue of the day. Gen. Kirby Smith reported that it was intended to support McCray with Preston Smith's division, but the latter was delayed by a furious assault of the enemy, ‘and so this gallant brigade of Texans and Arkansans had to fight the battle alone. Although the odds opposed to them were fearful, yet by reserving their own fire under the deafening roar of the enemy's guns, and by a well-timed and dashing charge upon the advancing line, they completely routed and put to flight the hosts of the enemy just as the cheers of Smith's division announced their arrival on the field.’ The brigade lost 20 killed and 120 wounded. Douglas' battery also served gallantly in this battle, with a loss of 6.The Ninth regiment was present at Perryville. The Rangers served with Forrest, and their ‘terrific yell’ was recorded in the Federal reports as well as their irresistible charges. Under Colonel Wharton they led the attack which compelled the surrender of Murfreesboro, Tenn., July 13th, where Wharton was severely wounded, the command devolving on Colonel Walker. They participated also in the general Kentucky campaign.
Murfreesboro.
At the battle of Murfreesboro, Texas was represented by the Ninth infantry, Col. W. H. Young, in Cheatham's division; the Eighth cavalry, Col. Thomas Harrison, in a brigade under General Wheeler, commanded by John A. Wharton, now promoted to brigadier-general; and by the brigade of Gen. M. D. Ector (formerly McCray's), in McCown's division, composed of the Tenth cavalry, dismounted, Col. M. F. Locke; Eleventh, Col. J. C. Burks; Fourteenth, Col. J. L. Camp; Fifteenth, Col. J. A. Andrews; [166] and Douglas' battery. In General Hardee's report of the impetuous advance of his corps, which crumbled the left wing of Rosecrans' army, he said: ‘I ordered Wharton to make a detour of the enemy's right and to fall upon their flank and rear, while the infantry and artillery moved upon them in front. He dashed forward at daylight at a gallop. . . . Capt. S. P. Christian, of the Texas Rangers, with four companies, charged and took a complete battery of the enemy, with all its guns, caissons, horses and artillerists. . . . Wharton afterward swept around toward the Nashville pike, and found the enemy's cavalry in position to defend their menaced trains. Harrison, Ashby and Hardy were ordered to charge. This was met by a countercharge. . . . Wharton's entire brigade was now ordered to charge. . . . The enemy fled in wild dismay.’ Of the advance of the infantry Hardee said:The enemy were broken and driven through a cedar brake after a rapid and successful charge by McCown's command (Ector in the center), in which Gen. August Willich and many prisoners were taken. A signal instance of courage was shown by Col. J. C. Burks, of the Eleventh Texas. This brave officer, though mortally wounded, still led and cheered on his regiment until he fell exhausted at its head. Another instance was shown by Sergt. A. Sims, flag-bearer of the Tenth Texas, who, seeing a Federal flag-bearer endeavoring to rally his regiment, sprang forward, seized the standard, and in the struggle both were shot down, waving their flags with their last breath. The Federal flag was captured.
Ector's brigade pushed on until very close to Rosecrans' headquarters, into a position where, Ector reported, ‘The cedars were falling and being trimmed by bombs, canister and iron hail, which seemed to fill the air. My men had not yielded an inch, but sheltering themselves behind the rocks, would lie down and load, rise to their knees, and fire into the closed blue line not over 60 yards from them. I saw their officers several times trying to [167] get their men to charge us, but they would not.’ In closing his report General Ector said:
Colonel Burks was gallantly leading his regiment, which had followed him before through the fire and smoke of battle, when he received a fatal wound. He felt that it was mortal. He pressed his hand to it to conceal it, and when within 20 yards of their battery, I heard him distinctly say, ‘Charge them, my boys! charge them!’ He kept it up until from faintness he found he could go no further. A better friend, a warmer heart, a more gallant leader than he was never drew the breath of life. He was idolized by his regiment, and highly esteemed by all who knew him well. He perished in the prime of his life, in the ‘thunders of a great battle.’ He went down with his armor on in defense of his country. The Tenth Texas regiment captured three stands of colors. Colonel Andrews and Maj. W. E. Estes, of the Fifteenth Texas regiment; Colonel Locke, Maj. W. D. L. F. Craig, acting lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. H. D. E. Redwine, acting major, of the Tenth Texas regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bounds, of the Eleventh Texas regiment, together with their entire staffs, acted most gallantly.
General Ector acknowledged the efficient services of members of his staff, Captain Kilgore, Major Spencer, Capt. R. Todhunter, volunteer aide, Capt. W. H. Smith, Lieutenant Lane (wounded), Maj. W. B. Ector and Surgeon L. J. Graham. The loss of the brigade he reported at 38 killed and 308 wounded.
From the report of Colonel Locke it appears that in the first charge of the Tenth it directly confronted a Federal battery, and in capturing the guns they lost before sunrise of December 31st about 80 men. It was there that Sergeant Sims lost his life as related by Hardee. ‘There being but one of the old color-guard left,’ said Locke, ‘Sergt. James T. McGee was only spared to advance a few paces toward his banner when another of our noblest and bravest men fell to rise no more until aroused by the trump of God to come to judgment. At this moment Private Manning, of Company H, gathered the flagstaff and [168] rushed to the front with a spirit and nerve sufficient for any calling, and bore the same aloft through the day.’ The Tenth lost 11 officers out of 20, and 17 in all out of 330.
Major-General Cheatham, mentioning the service of Vaughn's brigade, says that it attacked the enemy furiously early in the battle, and captured two guns, but was obliged to fall back. ‘In the meantime the Ninth Texas regiment, under the command of that gallant officer, Col. W. H. Young, who did not hear the order, became detached and was farther to the left. It remained in the woods and continued to fight the enemy, and at last charged them on their flank, and drove them from the woods on their entire right, losing very heavily.’ Said Colonel Vaughn: ‘Colonel Young seized the colors of his regiment in one of its most gallant charges and led it through.’ Colonel Young reported that after getting in a dangerous position where he lost in killed and wounded more than 100 men, including nearly all the commissioned officers, he and Lieut.-Col. Miles A. Dillard losing their horses, he took the colors and ‘ordered the regiment to move forward with a shout, both of which they did a la Texas,’ and the enemy fled before them. The loss of the regiment was reported at 18 killed and 102 wounded. Among the killed were Lieuts. R. F. Luckett and E. B. Parham.
Thompson S Station.
The Texas brigade of cavalry, consisting of the Third regiment, Maj. A. B. Stone; Sixth, Col. L. S. Ross; Ninth, Lieut.-Col. D. W. Jones, and Whitfield's legion, Lieut.-Col. John H. Broocks, under brigade command of Col. J. W. Whitfield, was distinguished in the defeat and capture of a strong Federal reconnoitering expedition at Thompson's Station, Tenn., March 5, 1863. Lieut. Mike Guerin, Color-Bearer John A. Miller and Private J. M. Day, Sixth Texas, and Capt. D. R. Gurley, brigade adjutant, were mentioned in the report of Major-General Van [169] Dorn. Whitfield and his Texans twice charged the Federals on a hill and were repulsed, but the third time won. Many of the bravest men and officers were lost. The legion lost 77 men and the other regiments 93, of whom 23 were killed. Lieut. R. S. Tunnell, Third, was killed; Capt. R. A. Rawlins, and Lieuts. James McWilson, P. S. Taylor and R. C. White, Sixth, were wounded; of the Ninth, Lieut. S. L. Garrett was killed, and Lieuts. W. H. Boyle, J. C. Hensley, W. P. Hicks, and S. McAnear were wounded; of Whitfield's legion Capt. J. W. Bayzer and Lieut. C. H. Roberts were killed, and Capts. J. A. Broocks and B. H. Norsworthy, and Lieuts. Adam Adams, P. P. Halley, and J. L. Nance, wounded.
Greenwood and Raymond.
General Grant, foiled in his previous attempts to flank Vicksburg, landed an army on the Louisiana point opposite, and prepared to gain a lodgment south of the city. Beforehand he caused expeditions to attempt the bayou passages on the north, and the most formidable of these was met by the Second Texas and Waul's legion, with two Mississippi regiments, at Greenwood on the Yazoo. With a cotton-bale battery, these troops defeated two ironclads, mounting 10 and 11 inch guns, supported by a large infantry force. General Loring, reporting the affair, gave earnest praise to Col. T. N. Waul and his men for service in the fortifications, and to Col. Ashbel Smith and his regiment for gallantry and skill in preventing the enemy from turning the right flank.After Grant had landed below Vicksburg and pushed McPherson's corps toward Jackson, it was met at Raymond by General Gregg's brigade, including the Seventh Texas, under Col. H. B. Granbury. Gregg's 2,500 fought so staunchly against Logan's division, closely supported by the rest of the corps, that McPherson reported them 6,000 strong. The Seventh Texas and Third Tennessee bore the brunt of this unequal and murderous conflict, which [170] General Gregg fought on account of misinformation regarding the strength of the enemy. The Seventh lost 22 killed, 73 wounded and 63 missing. The regiment at first drove the enemy before it, and later held a position until left without support and flanked. Granbury reported that ‘Capt. W. H. Smith, after acting with marked gallantry, fell pierced with three balls; Capt. J. W. Brown was wounded in the head and abdomen, but borne from. the field and saved; Capt. J. H. Collett was wounded by a grapeshot; Capt. O. P. Forrest fell in the retreat; Lieuts. J. C. Kidd, J. W. Taylor, A. H. White were wounded. Lieuts. J. D. Miles and T. S. Townsend were slightly wounded. Lieuts. W. A. Collier and J. N. Monin are among the missing.’ Capt. E. T. Broughton was also among the missing, being one of the last to leave the position. Lieutenant-Colonel Moody and Major Van Zandt were commended for bravery. Of the regiment as a whole the greatest compliment to its valor is the record that it lost 158 out of 306. The remnant of the regiment, as well as Whitfield's cavalry brigade, participated in the operations of General Johnston during the sieges of Vicksburg and Jackson.
Siege of Vicksburg.
The Second Texas and Waul's legion went through the siege inside the Vicksburg lines, and on the 4th of July, 1863, were surrendered. Waul's legion served with Gen. S. D. Lee's brigade, under Gen. C. L. Stevenson, and made a glorious record. On May 22d they performed a feat which both generals declared was as gallant as any of the war. The enemy had taken an angle of the works, but, said Lee, ‘the angle was finally assaulted and carried by a gallant band of Waul's Texans, under command of the intrepid Lieut.-Col. E. W. Pettus, Twentieth Alabama This brave officer, assisted by Maj. O. Steele and Capt. L. D. Bradley, of the legion, and the heroic Texans, captured the colors of the enemy and about 50 prisoners, [171] including a lieutenant-colonel.’ In general, during the assault, ‘Waul's Texas legion,’ said Lee, ‘particularly distinguished itself, under its brave colonel, by its coolness and gallantry.’ Waul and Lieut.-Col. B. Timmons were especially mentioned by Lee among the officers conspicuous during the entire siege. According to the report of Colonel Waul, in the resistance to the Federal assault every officer of the staff present was either killed or seriously wounded. Louis Popendieck, assistant adjutant-general, and John Neville Simmons, aidede-camp, after very gallant behavior, fell, leaving an undying record of courage and dauntless bearing. When other troops refused to volunteer to drive the Federals from the redoubt on their left, ‘General Lee directed the colonel of the legion to have the fort taken. He immediately went, taking with him one battalion of the legion to aid or support the assailants, if necessary, informing Capt. L. D. Bradley and Lieut. J. Hogue (who commanded the two companies of the legion previously sent to reinforce the redoubt). These gallant officers not only willingly agreed, but solicited the honor of leading their companies to the assault. Not wishing to expose a larger force than necessary, Captain Bradley was ordered to select 20 and Lieutenant Hogue 15 men from their respective companies. Lieutenant-Colonel Pettus, thoroughly acquainted with the locality and its approaches, came, musket in hand, and most gallantly offered to guide and lead the party into the fort. With promptness and alacrity they moved to the assault, retook the fort, drove the enemy through the breach they entered, tore down the stand of colors still floating over the parapet, and sent them to the colonel commanding. . . . The enemy, driven from the fort, ensconced themselves behind the parapet in the outer ditch. Two companies were immediately ordered to the fort to aid in dislodging the enemy. Many of the men mounted the parapet, and fired into the ditch, subjecting themselves to the aim of its occupants and the [172] concentrated fire from the enemy's lines A few shell used as hand-grenades bursting among the enemy soon caused them to surrender. . . . In the pursuit Lieut.-Col. J. Wrigley captured the other stand of colors.’ The loss of the legion during the siege of Vicksburg was 10 officers killed, wounded 37, missing 1; 37 enlisted men killed, 153 wounded, 7 missing; total 245. Among the killed were Maj. Allen Cameron, and Capts. Samuel Carter and J. A. Ledbetter.The Second Texas, in Moore's brigade, lost 21 killed and 56 wounded in the battle of May 22d. General Moore reported that the enemy made determined assaults, but were gloriously repulsed. ‘Their greatest efforts were made against that portion of the line occupied by that veteran and gallant regiment the Second Texas. . . They were easily repulsed in the morning, but in the afternoon charge they were more determined, coming up even into the outer ditch of the Second Texas redoubt. The Second Texas captured two stands of colors.’ Then abandoning assault, the enemy pushed his rifle-pits up to within thirty paces of the Texas line.
The position held by the Second Texas was of paramount importance, covering the Baldwin's Ferry road, and the regiment had been moved out of its place in the brigade at midnight, May 17th, to man it. When the enemy first appeared, Capt. William Christian with his company met them as skirmishers, reinforced by Captain Debord, all under Maj. G. W. L. Fly. During the next three days they were under fire and suffered from a fierce bombardment. The detailed report of Colonel Smith is of great interest, describing the assault made by a column of 5 regiments, and the gallantry of the Texans standing on the banquette, exposed to a terrific fire which they returned with decisive effect. The fort was so far in advance that it had no support, and the enemy had abundant shelter from which to fire at close range. Early in the day the incessant stream of minie bullets tore up and scattered [173] the cotton used in the traverses, and it soon took fire from the muzzles of the enemy's rifles. The Texans, lying flat to avoid the stream of minie-balls, were busied for a time in keeping fire from the magazines. One cannon was early disabled and the detachment for the other was depleted. ‘About 2 o'clock,’ said Smith, ‘I ordered it to be run up into battery and fired. As the last remaining corporal raised himself over the tail to aim, a minie-ball, within 15 inches of the platform, passed through his heart and he rolled over dead. . . . In one of the furious assaults the enemy mounted the parapet to near its superior slope. Numbers of them were pouring a murderous fire through our right embrasure, amid the smoke of the burning cotton, which enveloped and almost blinded the men in this angle of the fort, and they were apparently on the eve of rushing in. I shouted, “Volunteers to clear that embrasure!” Four men sprang to the platform, Sergt. William T. Spence of Company B, and Privates T. E. Bagwell, A. S Kittredge and J. A. Stewart of Company C, and discharging their pieces within 5 paces of the muzzles of the assailants, hurled them back headlong into the ditch outside. The repulse was decisive. Bagwell fell dead on the platform; Spence fell by his side, shot through the brain. He lingered a few days.’
At the close of the assault, Colonel Smith said, the Federal dead lay so-thick in front that along the road for more than 200 yards one might have walked upon them without touching the ground. Major Elliott, of the Thirty-third Illinois, subsequently estimated the Federal killed at 600 and their wounded at 1,200 on that day before the Texan line. The Second Texas held the fort until the end. On May 2d they had left their camp on Chickasaw bayou, without a change of clothes and one blanket to a man, and thus provided they fought uncomplainingly, under constant rifle fire and frequent heavy cannonading, and incessant mental strain on account of the enemy's steady approach, from May 17th to July 4th. When it rained, [174] they slept in the mud; when the sun burned them, they endured. They used water from shallow wells, and had daily rations of three ounces of musty cornmeal and pea-flour. Yet when they were surrendered, they wept. They were 468 strong May 17th, and lost 38 killed and 73 wounded. Eleven died of privation or sickness, 4 of wounds. Capt. A. F. Gammell and Lieut. Robert S. Henry were among the killed; Lieut. William F Kirk died of wounds.
Chickamauga.
General Bragg's army, falling back into Georgia, fought on Chickamauga creek, September 19th and 20th, the greatest battle of the war in the West. The Texas organizations which participated in this famous victory were assigned as follows: Sixth, Tenth and Fifteenth dismounted cavalry, consolidated, under Col. Roger Q. Mills; the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Wilkes; and Douglas' battery, in the brigade of Gen. James Deshler, Cleburne's division, D. H. Hill's corps. In Walker's reserve corps was General Ector's brigade, including the Ninth infantry, Colonel Young, and Tenth, Fourteenth and Thirty-second cavalry, dismounted, under Cols. C. R. Earp, J. L. Camp, and Julius A. Andrews. The Seventh Texas, under Granbury, was in Gregg's brigade, Bushrod Johnson's division. Jerome B. Robertson's brigade, Hood's division, Longstreet's corps, from Virginia, included the Third Arkansas; First Texas, Capt. R. J. Harding; Fourth, Col. John P. Bane; Fifth, Maj. C. J. Rogers. The Eighth cavalry, Lieut.-Col. Gustave Cook; Eleventh, Col. G. R. Reeves, formed part of the brigade of Col. Thomas Harrison, in Gen. John A. Wharton's division, Wheeler's cavalry corps.It will be remembered that on the morning of the first day Forrest's cavalry, supported by Colonel Wilson's Georgia brigade and Ector's brigade (mainly Texans) opened the battle, gallantly contesting the Federal advance [175] on the Confederate right. In his report, General Walker said, ‘General Ector is absent, his brigade having been ordered to Mississippi, and I have no report from him, but his brigade acted with the greatest gallantry. . . . . I am satisfied that there were more than Thomas' corps engaged. . . The unequal contest of four brigades against such overwhelming odds is unparalleled in this revolution, and the troops deserve immortal honor for the part borne in the action.’ The brigade, reduced in numbers to about 500, took part in the second day's fight also, under the division command of Gen. S. R. Gist. The loss of the brigade was reported at 59 killed, 239 wounded, and 138 missing; total, 536. Unfortunately, the meager reports afford no further information.
Deshler's brigade and Douglas' battery formed the left wing of Cleburne's division, which drove the enemy on the evening of the 19th back a mile and a half to Thomas' breastworks. The report of Col. Roger Q. Mills describes the advance of the brigade that evening, the crossing of the stream, the hurried march forward through crowds of stragglers, wounded and prisoners, and the final taking position not more than 100 yards from the enemy. A battery was firing in the dark, but whose it was could not be told. Skirmishers from Wilkes' regiment, going forward, ran into the enemy and were captured. Then the enemy in retreating encountered a volley from Deshler's brigade, and 100 surrendered, with two stands of colors, and the skirmishers were recaptured. On the morning of the 20th the brigade was advanced to a position 200 yards from the breastworks, encountering a destructive fire, and finally was ordered to lie down and commence firing on the crest of a hill swept by the enemy's artillery and musketry. The Texans held their place under heavy fire from 10 a. m. to about 2 p. m., without any artillery support, firing all their ammunition. At that crisis Colonel Mills sent to General Deshler for more ammunition, and as the general came toward them, he was struck in the breast by a shell [176] and his heart literally torn from his bosom. Colonel Mills then took command, had his men fix bayonets, and found one round of ammunition, preparing to obey orders and hold the ridge to the last. Renewed orders came to hold the ridge at any cost, and the brave Texans held on till night. The closing portion of Colonel Mills' report contains a just eulogy of the men who stood so well the strain of that severe trial of their fortitude. He says:
The troops of my command, both officers and men, behaved with the greatest bravery, coolness and selfposses-sion during the whole engagement. They advanced with a steady step, under heavy fire of shell, canister and musketry, to their position and held it with firmness and unwavering fortitude throughout the fight. Texans vied with each other to prove themselves worthy of the fame won by their brothers on other fields, and the little handful of Arkansas troops showed themselves worthy to have their names enrolled among the noblest, bravest and best of their State. It is scarcely possible for them to exhibit higher evidences of courage, patriotism and pride on any other field. They were not permitted to advance and would not retire, but as brave men and good soldiers they obeyed the orders of their general and held the field. Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, Lieutenant-Colonel Hutchinson and Major Taylor remained constantly in the line, handled their commands with ability, and conducted themselves gallantly through the entire action. . . . I feel it my duty to record here the names of Lieut. Matthew Graham, Tenth Texas, and Private William C. McCann, Fifteenth, as worthy of honorable mention for conduct more than ordinarily gallant on the field. Lieutenant Graham several times volunteered and insisted on being allowed to carry orders and messages up and down the line, where he was constantly exposed to the thickest fire. His services were highly beneficial to Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, who speaks of him in terms of highest praise. Private Mc-Cann was under my own eye. He stood upright, cheerful and self-possessed in the very hail of deadly missiles, cheered up his comrades around him, and after he had expended all his ammunition, gathered up the cartridge-boxes of the dead and wounded and distributed them to his comrades. He bore himself like a hero through the entire [177] fight, and fell mortally wounded by the last volleys of the enemy. I promised him during the engagement that I would mention his good conduct, and as he was borne dying from the field, he turned his boyish face upon me, and with a light and pleasant smile reminded me of my promise.The First Texas battery, commanded by Capt. James P. Douglas, belonging to Deshler's brigade, was not engaged on the 19th. On the 20th it followed the brigade as far as the open field, covered thickly with felled timber, when, finding it impossible to follow us further, Captain Douglas moved toward our left flank, and came into another field, where he was exposed to the enemy's fire. He immediately opened fire on Douglas from two of his batteries, killing one of his horses and knocking down one of his wheels. He extricated himself from this position, and, by order of Major-General Cleburne, took position on the hill with the brigade of Brigadier-Generals Wood and Polk in the rear of my line. He afterward moved down on the right where Brigadier-General Polk was warmly engaging the attention of the enemy, disengaged his horses, and carried off his pieces by hand in the very face of the foe. He fired a few rounds at 60 or 80 yards' distance from the enemy, advancing his pieces by hand with the line of Brigadier-General Polk's brigade. The enemy was soon routed and fled the field. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on Captain Douglas and the officers and men of his battery for their gallant conduct. They were not engaged for any considerable length of time, but the very short quarters at which Captain Douglas threw down the gauntlet soon decided the enemy to yield the field to a battery that could charge a brigade of infantry behind their rifle-pits.
Capts. J. T. Hearne and B. F. Blackburn and Lieut. G. B. Jewell, of the brigade staff, are entitled to my thanks for promptly reporting to me when Brigadier-General Deshler fell, and for their valuable services rendered to me during the engagement. The aggregate strength of the brigade, including the battery, on the morning of the 19th, was 1,783. I lost in the fight 52 killed and 366 wounded.
General Robertson, commanding Hood's old brigade, reported that on the 19th he advanced in the face of stubborn opposition and gained the crest of a hill which was [178] swept by artillery and he was compelled to take shelter behind the summit. The Federals then advanced to reoccupy the hill, but were pushed back by a gallant charge in which three Texas regimental commanders were wounded—Colonel Bane, Major Rogers and Captain Harding. At 11 a. m. on Sunday they were again ordered to the attack, and found themselves isolated. Nevertheless they advanced to the top of a hill, and drove the enemy from it, but came under a fire which was believed to be from Confederate ranks in the rear. This threw the line into confusion, and General Hood being wounded just as Robertson appealed to him for orders, the brigade was formed in the timber, waiting orders for some time. In the last charge some of the best officers fell: Captain Billingsley and Lieutenants Bookman and Killingsworth, of the Fourth Texas; and Lieutenant Stratman, of the Fifth. Captain Bassett took command of the Fourth after Bane was wounded, and on the evening of the second day he was severely wounded, the command devolving on Capt. James T. Hunter. Ed. Francis, color-sergeant of this regiment, was killed. Captain Cleveland took charge of the Fifth after Rogers fell, and gallantly led his men until wounded on the evening of Sunday, being succeeded by Capt. T. T. Clay. The killed and wounded of the brigade were reported at 78 officers and 457 men, and 35 missing.
No command was more distinguished in this bloody conflict than the Seventh Texas, of Gregg's brigade. They crossed the Chickamauga on the evening of the 18th and pushed on in the dark toward the enemy, and in the first skirmish on the line of battle a first sergeant of the regiment was mortally wounded. Johnson's division was alone beyond the river that night, with Gregg in front, and a third of the men remained awake all night ready for battle. Next morning the brigade was hotly engaged. At one point in the contest General Gregg rode out in front to reconnoiter, and found himself close to the enemy, [179] who called upon him to halt. Turning to ride back he was shot from his horse. As the Federals advanced to make him a prisoner, Robertson's brigade made a gallant charge and recovered him. ‘Brigadier-General Gregg deserves special commendation for his gallantry and activity on the field,’ said General Johnson. In this day's battle Colonel Granbury was severely wounded and many others fell. Maj. K. M. Van Zandt was in command next day, when the regiment pushed forward with the brigade through the woods, into open ground beyond the road for which they were fighting, and took part in the capture of a Federal battery of 9 guns. Pushing on, the Texans aided in the capture of wagons, guns and prisoners, and were gallant participants in the last desperate fight on a spur of Missionary ridge, almost in the rear from the south of Thomas' line. The regiment had 177 officers and men on the first day. Its loss was not reported separately, but the brigade is reported as losing 652 out of 1,425.
Knoxville campaign.
In General Longstreet's Knoxville campaign the Eighth and Eleventh Texas cavalry fought under Harrison, Wharton and Wheeler. In the defeats of the Federal cavalry on Little river and near Knoxville the Texas regiments led the charge on each occasion, driving the enemy in wild confusion. Gregg's brigade under Robertson-the First Texas under Col. A. T. Rainey, the Fourth under Col. J. C. G. Key, and the Fifth under Col. R. M. Powell was also in this trying campaign, and remained in East Tennessee until ordered to Virginia the following spring.
Missionary Ridge and Ringgold.
After the battle of Chickamauga, Colonel Granbury's regiment was transferred to Deshler's brigade and Gen. J. A. Smith assigned to command. This brigade and Douglas' battery were the only Texas organizations at [180] Missionary Ridge, and right nobly did they sustain the honor of the Texas soldier. In the battle of November 25th, the commands of Colonels Mills and Granbury and Maj. W. A. Taylor (succeeding Colonel Wilkes) were posted north of the tunnel, with Douglas' battery, under Lieut. John H. Bingham, in position to enfilade an attacking line. Here they were attacked next morning by portions of four divisions under General Sherman. The enemy made a brave charge on Sweet's battery on the top of Tunnel hill, but were repulsed by a countercharge of Mills' regiment and part of the Seventh. In this charge both General Smith and Colonel Mills were severely wounded at the head of their troops, and Colonel Granbury took command of the brigade. In less than half an hour another desperate assault was made, but was repulsed by the Texas artillery and infantry. Swett's battery suffered so severely that Colonel Granbury was forced to make a detail from the infantry to man the guns. Now some other troops were brought up to support the battery on Tunnel hill. At 1 p. m. a still more determined assault was made. Tier after tier of the enemy, to the foot of the hill and in the valley beyond, concentrated their fire until, General Cleburne reported, ‘there seemed to be a continuous sheet of hissing, flying lead.’ Cumming's Georgians came up, and Maney's brigade was put in support of the Texans. Finally Cumming made a charge down the hill and Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders led the left of Mills' Texans against the Federal flank. ‘The enemy, completely surprised, fled down the hill, the Texas troops on the left pursuing him beyond the foot and nearly across the open ground in front,’ said Cleburne. He adds: ‘It is but justice for me to say that the brunt of this long day's fight was borne by Smith's Texas brigade,’ and part of Govan's. ‘Out of the eight stand of colors shown by me to have been captured, four were presented to me by Mills' Texas regiment.’ The Texans held their line in that disastrous battle, and before them fell one Federal [181] major-general and three brigadier-generals. But toward evening word was brought that the center of the Confederate line was broken, and at 9 p. m., Cleburne said, he ordered ‘Smith's brigade to move in retreat. Sadly, but not fearfully, this band of heroes left the hill they had held so well, and followed the army across the Chickamauga.’But yet again they were destined to pluck the flower of glory from the funeral weeds of general defeat. Two days later Cleburne was ordered to defend the gap in Taylor's ridge, at Ringgold, Ga., against the Federal pursuit, and he posted Granbury's brigade, now about 1,200 strong, in the place of danger, the Sixth, Tenth and Fifteenth, under Capt. John R. Kennard, and the command of Maj. W. A. Taylor, at the north of the gap, and the Seventh, under Capt. C. E. Talley, at the top of the right-hand hill. The first determined attack of the Federals was made on the Texans, but they were held in check, and Major Taylor charging down the hill with three companies put the enemy to rout and captured over 60 prisoners and a flag. Then the Federals attempted to gain the hill further north, avoiding the Texans, but were handsomely repulsed by Lowrey and Polk. The brigade lost 5 killed, 34 wounded, 23 missing.
In the organization of the army in Mississippi commanded by Lieut.-Gen. Leonidas Polk, as reported in February, 1864, Ector's brigade was included, and the Texas cavalry brigade, now under Gen. Lawrence S. Ross. The latter was composed of the First legion, Col. Edwin R. Hawkins; Third regiment, Col. Hinchie P. Mabry; Sixth regiment, Col. Jack Wharton; Ninth regiment, Col. Dudley W. Jones; Lieut. Rush L. Elkin's escort company, and King's Missouri battery. Ross' brigade served under Gen. S. D. Lee until ordered to Georgia. Ross disabled and drove on shore the transport Delta, January 6th; and then was ordered to take position at Benton, Miss., and guard the country west of the Big Black river. On January 28th he attacked with his battery and [182] drove back a Federal expedition on the Yazoo, near Satartia. On February 2d, at Liverpool, on the same river, he made a gallant fight with his Texans against a formidable expedition, and three days later, at Yazoo City, again met the Federals and compelled them to return down the river. The Federals subsequently occupying Yazoo City, he attacked them March 5th and forced them to evacuate. These and many other exploits kept the marauding parties from Vicksburg within narrow bounds. ‘All praise is due,’ said Gen. W. H. Jackson, commanding division, ‘the fighting Texans and King's battery, and their gallant leader, General Ross, for their noble defense of the Yazoo country.’ On September 29th General Ross took command of the cavalry division composed of his own brigade and Gholson's.
Georgia campaign.
On April 30, 1864, Smith's brigade, part of the time under Granbury, now a brigadier-general, included the Sixth and Fifteenth, under Capt. Rhoads Fisher; the Seventh, under Capt. J. H. Collett; the Tenth, under Colonel Mills; the Seventeenth and Eighteenth, under Capt. George D. Manion, and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth, under Col. Franklin C. Wilkes. When Polk's army joined Johnston, Ector's brigade was brought into the field, including the Tenth dismounted cavalry, Col. C. R. Earp; Fourteenth, Col. John L. Camp; and the Thirty-second, Col. J. A. Andrews. Harrison's Texas cavalrymen fought under Wheeler, and under W. H. Jackson was the Texas cavalry brigade of Gen. Lawrence S. Ross. Douglas' battery, under Lieut. John H. Bingham, was with Hood's corps.Granbury's brigade was in the heat of the fighting from Dug Gap, on the 8th of May, till the investment of Atlanta. On May 27th it took a conspicuous part in the defeat of the Federals at Pickett's, near New Hope church. According to General Cleburne's report, Granbury [183] was posted amid the hills, near a deep ravine, with a natural glacis within 30 or 40 yards of his front. ‘Here was the brunt of the battle, the enemy advancing along this front in numerous and constantly-reinforced lines. His men displayed a courage worthy of an honorable cause, pressing in steady throngs within a few paces of our men, frequently exclaiming: “We have caught you without your logs now!” Granbury's men, needing no logs, were awaiting them, and throughout awaited them with calm determination, and as they appeared upon the slope, slaughtered them with deliberate aim. The piles of dead on his front, pronounced by the officers of this army who have seen most service to be greater than they had ever seen before, were a silent but sufficient eulogy upon Granbury and his noble Texans. . . . About 10 p. m. I ordered Granbury and Lowrey to push forward skirmishers and scouts to learn the state of things in their respective fronts. Granbury, finding it impossible to advance his skirmishers until he had cleared his front of the enemy lying up against it, with my consent charged with his whole line. The Texans, their bayonets fixed, plunged into the darkness with a terrific yell, and with one bound were upon the enemy, but they met with no resistance. Surprised and panic-stricken, many fled, escaping in the darkness; others surrendered and were brought into our lines. It needed but the brilliancy of this night attack to add luster to the achievements of Granbury and his brigade in the afternoon. I am deeply indebted to them both.’
Gen. J. A. Smith commanded the brigade on July 21st in the fighting preliminary to what is called the battle of Atlanta, east of that city. Here the Texans were swept by a terrible fire of artillery. In the Eighteenth regiment, 17 of the 18 men composing one company were put out of the fight by one shot. But the Texans held their ground, and repulsed a charge by the enemy. ‘The loss of the brigade in this affair,’ said [184] General Smith, ‘was 47 killed, 120 wounded and 19 captured.’
On the 22d the regiment fought with gallantry and severe loss, for a time driving the enemy, the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth capturing 2 stand of colors, 15 pieces of artillery, etc. But later they were severely handled and a portion of the command under Major Person, of the Fifth Confederate, then assigned to the brigade, was captured. Every regimental officer of the brigade, said General Smith, was killed, wounded or captured. The approximate loss was 23 killed, 100 wounded, and 75 missing. General Smith was wounded, and succeeded by Colonel Mills, who was severely wounded, the command then devolving on Lieutenant-Colonel Young, of the Tenth. Among the killed was the cool and intrepid Capt. William M. Allison, of the Eighteenth, commanding the skirmish line.
Lieut. T. L. Flynt, left in command of the Sixth, reported that Capt. B. R. Tyus, commanding the regiment, was wounded on the 20th at the battle of Peachtree Creek, where the regiment suffered a loss of 2 killed and 15 wounded. On the next day Capt. Rhoads Fisher, commanding, was wounded; Capt. M. M. Houston assumed command, and was shot in the head in ten minutes; and on the 22d, the last captain, S. E. Rice, was killed or captured. Capt. J. William Brown, reporting for the Seventh, gave his effective force on the 20th as 110, loss 1; loss on the 21st, 9; on the 22d, 30. Lieut. J. M. Craig was killed in the second charge. Capt. John A. Formwalt, who succeeded Colonel Mills, reported the loss of 8 killed and 12 wounded on the 21st, and 5 killed and 15 wounded on the 22d. Lieut. Edward Ashby was among the killed. The Seventeenth and Eighteenth suffered slight losses on the 20th; and on the 21st, out of 184, lost 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 10 non-commissioned officers and privates killed, and 3 lieutenants and 36 non-commissioned officers and privates wounded. July [185] 22d the Seventeenth and Eighteenth, under Captain Manion, became separated from the brigade, and after a hand-to-hand fight a number were captured. The loss could not be clearly ascertained. Capt. W. H. Perry was left in command. The Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth fought gallantly on the 21st. Less than a hundred of the men, in three successive charges, drove a large body of the enemy from the Confederate breastworks, losing 9 killed and 25 wounded, among the latter LieutenantCol-onel Neyland. Major Taylor, in command next day, with his men penetrated the third line of the enemy and captured an Iowa flag, leading the advance of the brigade. In this movement he lost 4 killed and 2 wounded. This is only a glimpse of the record of the Texans in a campaign of hard fighting, the official reports of which are very meager.
Ector's brigade was associated with the service of the division of Samuel G. French from Resaca to the close of the campaign. The Texans of this command fought in the places assigned them, and many brave men were killed and wounded among them at Cassville, New Hope Church, Latimar House, Smyrna, Chattahoochee, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, and Lovejoy's Station. The heaviest loss was at Latimar House and Atlanta, the total for the campaign being 42 killed, 199 wounded and 17 missing. Col. William H. Young, promoted to brigadier-general, made a report of the operations of the brigade from July 17th to September 4th. During that period the brigade was first engaged in skirmishing on Peachtree creek. On the 21st of July the skirmishers of the brigade, under Colonel Camp, of the Fourteenth, were quite heavily engaged and subsequently the men intrenched to the north of the city. On the 27th, ‘while in a redan occupied by Ward's battery and directing the fire of the same, General Ector received, by a piece of shell which exploded in the redan, a painful wound above the left knee, which caused the amputation of the [186] left leg about midway the thigh. A piece of the same shell inflicted upon the gallant Captain Ward a mortal wound.’ Colonel Young then assumed command. The latter took occasion to pay tribute to the gallantry and sterling worth of General Ector. ‘During most of the campaign, having but a single staff officer, he had borne upon his own shoulders to an unusual degree the burden of the management of the brigade. Yet, though often feeble, by his patriotic zeal, his tireless energy, his undaunted bravery, he was able to perform every task imposed with promptness, and to conduct his brigade through every contest and trial with great credit and honor.’ During the remainder of the siege the brigade served in the intrenchments. On August 5th they drove the enemy's skirmish line from their front, a gallant action in which Major Redwine was wounded. Along the line the firing was incessant and so severe that all the timber of moderate size between the lines was killed. In one small field in front of French's division ‘the expended balls covered the ground like hail.’ On August 27th a reconnoissance was made by Ector's and Sears' brigade, with the Fourteenth Texas on the skirmish line, and a spirited action resulted. On the night of September 1st the brigade led the advance toward Lovejoy's Station, the city being evacuated. General Young recorded the following names of ‘officers of the brigade who laid down their lives while nobly battling in freedom's behalf during this eventful campaign: Lieuts. J. B. Carty and J. B. Ferrell, Ninth Texas infantry; Lieut. L. Deboard, Thirty-second cavalry.’
Ross' cavalry brigade served on one wing of the army with W. H. Jackson, Harrison on the other with Wheeler, but both participated in the defeat of the Federal cavalry raid against the southern railroad communications of Atlanta, in the latter part of July. General Ross came up with the Federal cavalry near Lovejoy's Station, and without waiting to form, the order [187] to charge was given. ‘At the word,’ said Ross, ‘the Ninth Texas, led by its gallant colonel, D. W. Jones, dashed forward with a shout and was in a moment engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle. The enemy at first had considerably the advantage of numbers, and boldly met the charge. The men of the Ninth Texas, having discharged their guns, and not being provided with sabers or pistols, began to waver, when the charge of General Jackson's escort and the opportune arrival of the Sixth Texas under its brave Lieut.-Col. P. F. Ross, restored confidence and forced the enemy from the field.’ Subsequently Ross' brigade joined in the pursuit under General Wheeler, and at Newnan, when the battle was momentarily going against Wheeler, Ross' Texans, dismounted, made a gallant charge which drove the enemy back. At the same time the Federals by a dash got between Ross and his horses. ‘Without halting to consider, the command to “about face” and move back was promptly given, and as promptly obeyed. The struggle was a desperate one, and only after an hour's hard fighting were our efforts crowned with success, the enemy again repulsed, and our horses recaptured and saved.’ ‘In this affair,’ said General Ross, ‘my men and officers exhibited that coolness and daring which are almost always sure of success.’ His total loss during the expedition was 5 killed and 27 wounded, and 587 prisoners were taken, 2 stands of colors, 2 cannon, etc.
Gen. Joseph Wheeler's report of the campaign frequently mentions the valor of the Texans with him. On May 9th at Dug Gap, the Eighth Texas was successful in a brilliant cavalry charge, and at Varnell's Station ‘the gallant Texas Rangers, Colonel Cook, and the Eighth Confederate, charged most heroically into the enemy's ranks, killing and wounding large numbers, and capturing over 100 prisoners, including a brigade commander and several other officers.’ At Cass' Station, when a large force of the enemy attempted to [188] rescue a wagon train, ‘the gallant Texas Rangers and Second Tennessee, supported by the Third Arkansas, met and repulsed the enemy's charge; then in turn charged the enemy, driving him upon his infantry supports and capturing nearly 100 prisoners.’ Harrison's brigade, dismounted, participated in the battle of May 27th, near New Hope church. They took part in Wheeler's great raid through east and middle Tennessee, and near Nashville the brigade charged a largely superior force of the enemy under General Rousseau, and captured three stand of colors and a number of prisoners.
Allatoona.
Gen. John B. Hood's campaign against Sherman's communications after the fall of Atlanta was signalized by the sanguinary battle of Allatoona, fought by French's division against General Corse, October 5th. In this action General Young with his four Texas regiments, Ninth, Tenth, Fourteenth and Thirty-second, took a prominent part in the assault upon the Federal forts. General French reported: ‘Texas will mourn the loss of some of her best and bravest men. Captain Somerville, Thirty-second Texas, was killed after vainly endeavoring to enter the last work, where his conspicuous gallantry had carried him and his little band. Captains Gibson, Tenth Texas; Bates, Ninth; Adjutant Griffin, Ninth; and Lieut. Dixon E. Wetzel, Ninth, were killed, gallantly leading their men. Brig.-Gen. W. H. Young, commanding brigade, was wounded. Most gallantly he bore his part in the action. Colonel Camp, commanding Fourteenth Texas, one of the best officers in the service, was seriously wounded; also Majors McReynolds, Ninth Texas, and Purdy, Fourteenth Texas. Of captains wounded were Wright, Lyles, Russell, Vannoy and Ridley, and Lieutenants Tunnell, Haynes, Gibbons, Agee, Morris, O'Brien, Irwin, Reeves and Robertson. . . . To Colonel Earp, on whom the command of the [189] gallant Texans devolved, and to Colonel Andrews (Thirty-second Texas), who commanded on the south side, . . . I return my thanks for services. . . . Lieut. M. W. Armstrong, Tenth Texas, seized the United States standard from the Federals, and after a struggle brought it and the bearer of it off in triumph.’ The loss of the brigade, which included two North Carolina regiments, was 43 killed and 147 wounded. Maj. J. H. McReynolds, commanding the Ninth, reported a loss of 45 out of 101 in action. ‘Lieut. J. P. Bates was killed among the foremost, far in advance of the enemy's third line, near their main fort. Sergt. C. E. Dale, who was among the first to mount the works, was shot dead.’ Lieut.-Col. Abram Harris, Fourteenth, reported a loss of 49, having in action but 87 guns. Such instances of fruitless heroism characterized the remainder of the history of the army of Tennessee.
Franklin and Nashville.
Granbury's brigade at Franklin, November 30th, lost its division commander, General Cleburne, and its brigade commander, General Granbury. Lieut.-Col. R. B. Young, Tenth, was also killed, and Maj. W. A. Taylor, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth, Capt. J. W. Brown, Seventh, and Capt. R. Fisher, Sixth and Fifteenth, commanding their respective regiments, were reported missing. On December 10th, Capt. E. T. Broughton was in command of the brigade; the Sixth and Fifteenth regiments were under Capt. B. R. Tyus; the Seventh under Capt. O. P. Forrest, the Tenth under Capt. R. D. Kennedy, Seventeenth and Eighteenth under Capt. F. L. McKnight, and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth under Capt. John F. Matthews. Gen. J. A. Smith, commanding the division at Nashville, reported that Granbury's brigade having constructed a. redoubt at an important point of the line, ‘on the 15th the enemy made a formidable attempt on this position [190] by a direct assault, and at the same time by a flank movement came in its rear. This attempt was a disastrous failure, he having to retire in confusion, leaving many of his dead and wounded on the field. In this affair Granbury's brigade behaved with its habitual spirit and gallantry, its loss on this occasion being about 30 killed and wounded.’Ector's brigade, commanded by Col. David Coleman, was not at the battle of Franklin, but fought well at Nashville. General Walthall reported that it ‘did valuable service in holding the only passages through which many detachments of the army were able to reach the Franklin pike.’ The regimental commanders were: Ninth, Maj. J. H. McReynolds; Tenth, Col. C. R. Earp; Fourteenth, Capt. Robert H. Harkey; Thirty-second, Maj. W. H. Estes. It was one of the brigades, under Walthall, which co-operated with Forrest in protecting the rear of the army in the memorable retreat from Tennessee, December, 1864.
General Ross made a report covering the events of the campaign. At the outset the effective strength of his command was Third Texas cavalry, 28; Sixth, 218; Ninth, 110; Twenty-seventh (First legion), 140; total, 686. Approaching Lawrenceburg, Tenn., Ross took the advance, and the Third, dismounted, with two squadrons of the Legion, drove the enemy from his camp at that place. At Campbellsville they confronted Hatch's Federal division of cavalry. Lieut.-Col. J. S. Boggess dismounted the Third and moved to the front, and a battery was brought up, supported by Col. Jack Wharton's Sixth cavalry, and at the proper time the Ninth, Col. D. W. Jones, and the Legion, Col. E. R. Hawkins, made an impetuous charge, which scattered the enemy in confusion. With a loss of 5 wounded, the brigade captured 5 stand of colors, 84 men, and horses and cattle. On the 28th they had a spirited engagement on the Franklin pike, capturing many prisoners and part of the [191] Federal wagon train. During the next two days the Texans were dashing into the Federal trains, destroying bridges and creating great havoc. Of one of these actions General Ross said: ‘The gallant bearing of the Third and Ninth Texas on this occasion is deserving of special commendation, and it affords me much gratification to record to the honor of these noble regiments that charges made by them at the Harpeth river have never been and cannot be surpassed by cavalry of any nation.’ The Texans participated in the operations about Murfreesboro under Forrest, and after a desperate fight with an infantry regiment captured a railroad train loaded with supplies near that place. On the retreat of Hood's army the Sixth was distinguished in the check it administered to an overwhelming force of the enemy which would otherwise have overrun the entire division. At Sugar Creek, where a memorable fight was made, and successfully, to protect the Confederate retreat, Ector's infantry was supported by the Legion and Ninth cavalry. When the enemy advanced in a fog, the infantry charged and fired, and then the cavalry, passing through the infantry, ‘crossed the creek in the face of a terrible fire, overthrew all opposition on the other side, and pursued the thoroughly routed foe nearly a mile.’ The brigade lost 87 men during the campaign and captured and brought off 550 prisoners, 9 stand of colors, several hundred horses, and overcoats and blankets for the command, besides destroying 2 railroad trains of supplies and 40 or 50 wagons, etc.
Bentonville.
In Gen. Joseph Wheeler's report of his operations harassing Sherman's march through Georgia, the Eighth and Eleventh Texas cavalry are mentioned with high praise. In his report of the battle of Bentonville, N. C., which practically ended the fighting career of the army of Tennessee, Gen. J. E. Johnston says ‘the Eighth [192] Texas cavalry distinguished itself’ in the defeat of the Seventeenth Federal corps March 21st. General Hardee's son, a promising youth of sixteen, was mortally wounded while charging in the front rank of the Eighth Texas. In the organization under General Johnston, as reported April 9, 1865, the Sixth, Seventh, Tenth and Fifteenth infantry, and Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth dismounted cavalry were consolidated in one regiment, called the First Texas, under Lieut.-Col. William A. Ryan, and assigned to Govan's brigade, Hardee's corps. The Eighth and Eleventh cavalry were in the cavalry corps commanded by Lieut.-Gen. Wade Hampton. These organizations represented Texas when the army was surrendered at Greensboro.
Brigades of Ross and Ector in 1865.
By an order of Major-General Forrest, February 13, 1865, Gen. W. H. Jackson was ordered to consolidate and organize a division of cavalry, to be composed of three brigades, one of which was to be Ross' Texas brigade, to be commanded by Brig.-Gen. L. S. Ross, consisting of the Third, Sixth and Ninth Texas regiments, under Colonel Griffith, Eleventh and Seventeenth Arkansas consolidated, Willis' battalion and Cobb's scouts.At the same time Ector's brigade, under Col. David Coleman, was in French's division, under General Maury, commanding at Mobile, and the Texas regiments were commanded, Ninth by Col. Miles A. Dillard, Tenth cavalry dismounted by Capt. Jacob Zeigler, Fourteenth cavalry dismounted by Lieut.-Col. Abram Harris, and the Thirty-second dismounted by Capt. Nathan Anderson. Douglas' battery, under Lieut. Ben Hardin, was on duty in the Mobile defenses. Ector's brigade shared in the gallant defense of Spanish Fort, being then commanded by Col. J. A. Andrews. [193]
The remnants of the brigades of Ross and Ector came under the capitulation of Gen. Richard Taylor.
Trans-Mississippi department.
In the organization of the Trans-Mississippi department troops December 12, 1862, under Lieut.-Gen. T. H. Holmes, the first corps, under Maj.-Gen. T. C. Hindman, included in Douglas H. Cooper's brigade, largely Indian troops, the Texas regiments of De Morse and Lane, Randolph's cavalry battalion, and Howell's Texas battery. A Texas brigade, under Col. William R. Bradfute, was made up of the Twentieth cavalry, Col. Thomas C. Bass; Twenty-second, Col. J. G. Stevens; Thirty-fourth, Col. A. M. Alexander; and Col. G. W. Guess' cavalry battalion.The second corps was made up of the division of Gen. H. E. McCulloch, Texas brigades of Young, Randal and Flournoy; and the division of Gen. T. J. Churchill, Texas brigades of Garland and Deshler, J. M. Hawes' brigade (composed of the Twelfth cavalry, Col. W. H. Parsons; Nineteenth, Col. N. M. Buford; Twenty-first, Col. G. W. Carter; and Chrisman's Arkansas battalion), Dunnington's Arkansas brigade, and White's Missouri brigade.
The Texans with Hindman were partly engaged in the battle of Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862. The Nineteenth and Twenty-first cavalry, in a brigade commanded by Colonel Carter, attached to Marmaduke's division, took part in the expedition into Missouri in April, 1863, and several officers and men fell in a skirmish at Taylor's creek, May 15th.
The battle of Honey Springs, Indian Territory, July 17, 1863, was fought by a Union force under Maj.-Gen. James G. Blunt, composed of Kansas, Colorado and Wisconsin troops, negroes and Indians, against a Confederate force under Brig.-Gen. Douglas H. Cooper, composed of the Texas regiments of Cols. Charles De Morse, L. M. Martin and T. C. Bass, Capt. L. E. Gillett's squadron, [194] John Scanland's squadron, Captain Lee's howitzer battery, and Cherokee and Choctaw troops. The Confederate loss was 134 killed and wounded. General Cooper particularly commended the bravery of De Morse's regiment, in support of Lee's battery, finally fighting hand to hand with clubbed muskets until the battery was withdrawn. Colonel De Morse was severely wounded, Capt. F. M. Hanks dangerously, and H. H. Molloy, of Bass' regiment, mortally. The officers commanding regiments and battalions were commended for bravery, and it appears from the Federal reports that the action was hotly contested. It was reported by General Blount that the Twentieth Texas took into action 300 men and lost all but 60. A Texas brigade composed of the Twenty-first cavalry, J. H. Pratt's battery, B. D. McKie's and C. L. Morgan's squadrons, all under Maj. B. D. Chenoweth, took an active part in the attack on Pine Bluff, Ark., October 25, 1863.
When on April 9, 1863, General Banks, in command at New Orleans, began his first Red River campaign by occupying Berwick City, General Taylor, at Camp Bisland, put the Texans at once to the front, sending Colonel Green's regiment, Fifth mounted volunteers, from Camp Bisland toward Berwick. Green skirmished, falling back before the Federal army, until the 12th and 13th, when a considerable engagement was fought at Fort Bisland, or Bethel's plantation, in which his regiment and Waller's battalion and the Valverde battery held the extreme right; Colonel Bagby's Seventh regiment, as skirmishers and sharpshooters at the front. In the repulse of the enemy on the 13th the services of Colonels Green and Bagby and their commands were specially noticed. Captain Sayers, commanding the Valverde battery, also conspicuous in the fight, was wounded. Colonel Bagby, though seriously wounded in the arm, remained on the field until the enemy was driven back. Colonel Reily with the Fourth regiment, meanwhile, was engaged near Franklin, where the [195] gallant colonel received a mortal wound and died on the field. In the subsequent retreat of Taylor to the Red river Colonel Green and the cavalry were in constant fighting as the rear guard. General Taylor referred to the lamented Reily as a gallant and chivalrous officer, whose loss was deeply regretted. Of Green he said: ‘To his zeal, vigilance and daring the extrication of our little army from its perilous position is indebted to a great extent. He has shown himself equal to every emergency, and to him and the officers and men of his command I feel proud to return my acknowledgments. In truth, he was the Ney of our retreat, and the shield and buckler of our little force.’ The staff officers of General Sibley, Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert, Major Ochiltree, chief-of-staff, and Major Robards, ordnance officer, were with General Taylor and were highly commended by him. Gen. Alfred Mouton, in his report of these operations, said: ‘I would particularly mention Col. A. P. Bagby, his regiment and the reinforcements sent him. Troops never acted with more gallantry, nor was ever such an overwhelming force longer held in check by a handful of heroes.’ He joined without reserve in the praise of General Green, to whom he assigned the command of the entire cavalry.
Millikens Bend.
During the siege of Vicksburg a detachment of Maj. James Burnet's battalion of Texans, under his adjutant, Lieut. R. S. Dulin, took part in the capture of the Federal ram Indianola, and were mentioned first in the general order of congratulation by Gen. Richard Taylor.Walker's Texas division having been ordered to the vicinity of Vicksburg, Gen. H. E. McCulloch's brigade was sent against the Federal forces at Milliken's Bend. He reported that in the fight which followed, June 7, 1863, Col. Richard Waterhouse and his regiment were particularly distinguished in a gallant charge, and Col. R. T. P. Allen's regiment and Colonel Fitzhugh's regiment [196] (under Lieut.-Col. E. P. Gregg) behaved with bravery. Colonel Allen was slightly wounded but never left his post. Lieutenant-Colonel Gregg and Maj. W. W. Dimond were badly wounded, but the regiment fought on under Capt. J. D. Woods. Col. George Flournoy's regiment drove the enemy from part of their works and held it, under fire of gunboats. Maj. R. D. Allen was in command of skirmishers. Capt. G. T. Marold and his company captured 19 negro soldiers, and Private A. Schultz, accidentally falling into the enemy's hands, shrewdly led a detachment of 50 into the Confederate lines. The loss of the brigade was 44 killed and 130 wounded. Lieuts. Thomas Beaver and B. W. Hampton were killed, and among the wounded were Capts. E. P. Petty, S. J. P. McDowell, and J. H. Tolbert, and Lieuts. T. H. Batsell, D. M. Waddill, G. A. Dickerman and James M. Tucker.
Plaquemine to Bayou Bourbeau.
For the relief of Port Hudson General Taylor made an advance in June, 1863, toward New Orleans, leading his main column by way of Bayou Teche, and sending another column, Col. James P. Major's Texas cavalry brigade, composed of the regiments of Joseph Phillips, W. P. Lane, B. W. Stone and C. L. Pyron, to cover the movement by a daring dash along the Mississippi down from Port Hudson. On the 18th Phillips made a dash into Plaquemine, took 87 prisoners and burned three steamers; and on the 20th Lane captured Thibodeaux, with 140 prisoners. On the 21st Pyron's regiment, 206 strong, attacked a force of 1,000 Federals at Lafourche crossing, and had won victory by an assault of unparalleled daring when Federal reinforcements compelled his withdrawal. Major then proceeded to Bayou Boeuf and took position to attack the Federal works. Gen. Tom Green, meanwhile, with his brigade, including the Fifth Texas, E. Waller's battalion, Fourth and Seventh, and Baylor's regiments, [197] and the Valverde and Nichols' batteries, invested Brashear City, a party of picked men, under the gallant Maj. Sherod Hunter, turning the works. Hunter reported that he charged the works on June 23d with 325 men, and after a fight in which he lost 3 killed and 18 wounded, and the enemy 86, the Federal force of 1,300 surrendered, with 11 cannon, 2,500 stand of small arms, and immense quantities of stores. Green then pushed on toward Bayou Boeuf, but before he could reach the place the Federal garrison, already invested by Major, surrendered, according to the report of Gen. Alfred Mouton, ‘to a scouting party under the command of General Green's daring scout, Leander McAnelly. The force consisted of 435 officers and men, with three siege guns, and one 12-pounder.’A few days later General Green marched on the strong Federal post at Donaldsonville, with the regiments of W. P. Hardeman, D. W. Shannon and P. T. Herbert, of his brigade, and those of Lane, Stone and Phillips, of Major's, and Semmes' battery. The assault was made early on June 28th. Major Shannon, with the Fifth, made a circuit of the fort and under fire of artillery and gunboats pushed his way down the Mississippi levee and into the fort. Colonel Phillips, according to Green's report, ‘at the head of the column under Colonel Major, with most of his men and officers, made an entrance into the fort with Shannon. Colonel Herbert, with the Seventh, enveloped the ditch as directed. The fight was desperately contested on every part of the ground. Colonel Hardeman, with the Fourth Texas, being unable to control his guide, was delayed in his attack on the stockade on the Lafourche side until nearly daylight, but his casualties show with what determined courage that veteran regiment stood its ground after it came into action.’
After entering the stockade the men found a ditch that put a stop to their progress. ‘At this ditch the most desperate fight ensued between the commands of Shannon and Phillips and the enemy. Our men here used brickbats [198] upon the heads of the enemy, who returned the same. Capt. Ira G. Killough, Lieut. W. S. Land, and officers and men, were wounded by these missiles. . . . We fought from 2 a. m. till daylight without intermission. . . . We mourn the fall of many of our bravest and best officers and men. Among the former are Major Shannon, Capt. D. H. Ragsdale, Lieuts. James A. Darby and James F. Cole, of the Fifth; Maj. Alonzo Ridley, of Phillips' regiment, and Lieut. N. D. Cartwright, of the Fourth. Colonel Major at the head of his column was wounded.’ The troops were withdrawn with a loss of 40 killed, 114 wounded, and 107 missing, out of about 800 engaged.
After this affair General Green sat down and watched Donaldsonville, while Major with several batteries stopped navigation on the river. The Federals sent down a large force by transports from Port Hudson, and on July 13th attacked Green and Major, near Donaldsonville. Major's brigade—Lane's, Stone's, Baylor's and Phillips' regiments—was commanded by Colonel Lane. Lieut.--Col. G. J. Hampton commanded Hardeman's regiment; Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert, Bagby's; Capt. H. A. McPhail, the Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Texas; and Lieut. Henry Angel fought one section of Gonzales' battery. The entire Texas force was about ,500 men. Green did not have enough men to meet the entire Federal line, and he would not wait to be attacked, so he separated his force and struck each wing of the enemy. McPhail swept over the Federal artillery, killing most of the gunners, and Hampton and Herbert drove in the right wing and center. Though frequently rallying, the enemy was driven 4 miles, to the protection of the fort, with a loss of over 500 killed and wounded, and three pieces of artillery. ‘The whole of the battle,’ said Green, ‘was a succession of charges, and I have never before witnessed such determined valor as was displayed by our troops. They frequently charged upon the enemy in line of battle, and delivered their fire upon them at 25 paces, with the coolness [199] of veterans.’ Our loss did not exceed 3 killed and 30 wounded. The Federal reports show that o regiments were engaged, mostly from New York and Massachusetts, and their loss is put at 263 killed and wounded, and 186 captured.
On September 29th, General Green, crossing the Atchafalaya, attacked a force at Fordoche, consisting of the Nineteenth Iowa and Twenty-sixth Indiana, and a battery, and after a severe fight captured 462 officers and men, the battery, and everything else but the cavalry. Lieut.-Col. J. E. Harrison, commanding Spaight's brigade, Cols. J. W. Spaight, F. H. Clack and Maj. John W. Daniel, commanding regiments, and Lieut. John B. Jones, adjutant-general of the brigade, were commended by General Green, who said that the men of the brigade, of whom many had never before been in action, moved against the enemy like veterans. The commands of Maj. H. H. Boone and L. C. Rountree were distinguished in cavalry charges, and Lieut. W. F. Spivey, of the latter battalion, was among the killed. Col. A. P. Bagby was distinguished in command of Green's brigade. Spaight's brigade lost 23 killed and 74 wounded, the main part of the Confederate casualties.
In October Maj.-Gen. W. B. Franklin led a formidable force into the Teche country of Louisiana, composed of the Thirteenth and Nineteenth Federal army corps, a cavalry division and artillery. After a series of cavalry skirmishes in which the Texans were distinguished, the enemy retreated, and General Green, following, attacked his rear guard on November 3d, at Bayou Bourbeau, and won a signal victory. General Green's force engaged (all Texans) consisted of the Eleventh infantry, Col. O. M. Roberts; Fifteenth infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Harrison; Eighteenth infantry, Col. W. H. King; Lane's cavalry, Maj. W. P. Saufley; Madison's cavalry, Col. George T. Madison; Stone's cavalry, Lieut.-Col. Isham Chisum; Fourth cavalry, Colonel Hardeman; Fifth [200] cavalry, Col. H. C. McNeill; Seventh cavalry, Lieut.-Col. P. T. Herbert; Waller's battalion, Capt. W. A. McDade; section Daniel's battery, Lieut. S. M. Hamilton. The infantry was under command of Colonel Roberts, and constituted the right wing of the battle line; Major's brigade was on the right, and Bagby's in the center. Roberts began the attack and pushed steadily forward under a terrific fire of artillery and musketry; the cavalry under Major charged on the right, and ‘Colonel Bagby with Herbert's regiment and Waller's battalion, mounted, and Hardeman's and McNeill's regiments, dismounted, charged them in front, the cavalry making, on a partially concealed foe, the most brilliant charge on record. Our gallant infantry under their brave officers had given the enemy such a chastisement on his right flank,’ said General Green in his report, ‘that the whole Federal force gave way as soon as the engagement became general and close.’ Nearly all the losses in the fight were sustained by Roberts' infantry.
Gen. Richard Taylor, in reporting this battle, said: ‘Too much praise cannot be given to General Green and the troops engaged. The exact moment when a heavy blow could be given was seized in a masterly manner. I have so frequently had occasion to commend the conduct of General Green, that I have nothing to add in his praise, except that he has surpassed my expectations, which I did not think possible. . . . He is now commanding a division, and I respectfully urge that he be promoted.’ General Taylor also warmly urged the promotion of Colonel Major, who had shown ‘marked energy and ability.’
Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.
A fight preliminary to the battle of Mansfield, La., in which Texans were engaged, on April 2, 1864, is described by General Taylor. Colonel Debray, with his regiment and two batteries, had been ordered from Many to Mansfield. While marching on a cross-road he suddenly encountered [201] the enemy in superior force. ‘Like a gallant veteran he made fight at once, returned to the direct road, and fell back until he met my infantry, coming in in fine order, and protecting his two batteries and trains, although pursued until he joined me. Colonel Debray lost several killed and wounded. Considering the suddenness of the attack, and the fact that his regiment had never before been in action, this officer as well as his troops deserves great credit. At the same hour Colonel Bagby, commanding his own, McNeill's and some companies of Bush's newly-raised regiment, with a section of the Valverde battery, was attacked on the Natchitoches road by cavalry, infantry and artillery. He fell back slowly toward Pleasant Hill, skirmishing briskly. Colonel Bagby lost some 25 or 30 killed and wounded, and inflicted probably more loss on the enemy. His conduct was, as always, that of a brave and skillful soldier.’The following quotations from the report of Maj.-Gen. Richard Taylor describe the part taken by Texans in the victories at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, April 8 and 9, 1864:
In the morning of the 8th, I moved down to the position selected for the troops. Walker's division occupied the right of the road, facing Pleasant Hill; Buchel's and Terrell's regiments of cavalry, under Brigadier-General Bee, on its right; Mouton's division on the left of the road, with Major's division of cavalry, consisting of his own and Bagby's brigades (dismounted), on Mouton's left. Debray's regiment of cavalry was held in the road a little to the rear. Haldeman's and Daniel's batteries were on the right in position with Walker's division, Cornay's and Nettles' with Mouton's division. McMahan's battery, which had been in front with the cavalry advance, relieving the Valverde, was withdrawn to the rear and held with the reserve artillery, the wooded condition of the country offering no field for the employment of many guns. My line of battle was in the edge of a wood, with cleared fields in front on both sides of the Pleasant Hill road, the clearing about 1,000 yards in extent. Soon after [202] the troops were in position our cavalry was rapidly driven in and assumed the positions above described. On the left a body of the enemy's cavalry, following hard upon ours, ran into the line of the Eighteenth Louisiana and was destroyed. The enemy formed his line in the woods on the opposite side of the cleared fields, and some light skirmishing took place. I soon found that the enemy was weakening his left and massing on his right to turn me. I at once brought Terrell's regiment of cavalry to the left to reinforce Major, and Randal's brigade, of Walker's division, from the right to the left of the road to strengthen Mouton's, causing the whole line to gain ground to the left to meet the attack. These movements were masked by throwing forward skirmishers toward the enemy and deploying Debray's regiment of cavalry in the open fields on both sides of the road. It was not until 4 p. m. that these changes were completed, when, becoming impatient at the delay of the enemy in developing his attack, and suspecting that his arrangements were not complete, 1 ordered Mouton to open the attack from the left. [In the charge which followed, Lieutenant-Colonel Noble, Seventeenth Texas, was wounded.]. . . .Major, with his division, consisting of his brigade under Colonel Lane, Bagby's brigade, Vincent's brigade of Louisiana cavalry, reinforced by Terrell's regiment drawn from the right, dismounted his men on Mouton's left and kept pace with his advance, forcing back and turning the enemy's right. Randal supported Mouton's attack by advancing his regiment en echelon from the left. In vigor, energy and daring Randal surpassed my expectations, high as they were of him and his fine brigade. These movements on the left of the road to Pleasant Hill were under the immediate direction of Maj.-Gen. Thomas Green, who displayed the high qualities which have distinguished him on so many fields. As soon as the left attack was well developed I ordered Major-General Walker to move Waul's and Scurry's brigades into action, directing General Bee, on his right, to press on with Debray's and Buchel's cavalry to gain the enemy's rear. Believing my right outflanked by the enemy, General Walker was instructed to throw forward Scurry to turn his left and gain a position on the high road beyond the main line of battle. The dense wood through which Bee advanced prevented him from gaining much ground, but the gallantry [203] and vigor with which that accomplished soldier (Walker) led his fine brigades into action and pressed on the foe have never been surpassed. Until he was disabled by a painful wound on the following day, every hour but illustrated his power for command. The enemy in vain formed new lines of battle on the wooded ridges, which are a feature of the country. Every line was swept away as soon as formed, and every gun taken as soon as put in position. For 5 miles the enemy was driven rapidly and steadily. Here the Thirteenth corps gave way entirely and was replaced by the Nineteenth, hurriedly brought up to support the fight. The Nineteenth corps, though fresh, shared the fate of the Thirteenth. Nothing could arrest the astonishing ardor and courage of our troops. Green, Polignac, Major, Bagby and Randal on the left, Walker, Bee, Scurry and Waul on the right, swept all before them. Just as night was closing in the enemy massed heavily on a ridge overlooking a small creek. As the water was important to both parties, I ordered the enemy driven from it. The fighting was severe for a time, but Walker, Green and other gallant leaders led on our tired men, and we camped on the creek as night fell, the enemy forced back some 400 yards beyond. The conduct of our troops was beyond all praise. There was no straggling, no plundering. The vast captured property was quietly taken to Mansfield and turned over, untouched, to the proper officers.
[Next day Green, commanding the cavalry corps, was pushed forward and found the enemy posted a mile in advance of Pleasant Hill. It was late in the afternoon before the infantry came up to open the second battle.] . . .At about 5 p. m. Churchill and Parsons opened on the right and Walker commenced his advance in support. Just then our fire overpowered the enemy's battery, in front of the Mansfield road, and disabled his guns, which were removed to the rear. The confusion and movement incident to this, coupled with the sound of Churchill's and Parsons' attack, led General Green naturally to suppose that the time for Bee's charge had arrived. Bee led forward Debray's and Buchel's fine regiments in most gallant style across the fields and up the opposite slope, where he was stopped by a close and deadly fire of musketry from the dense woods on either side of the road. Bee was struck, Buchel mortally wounded, and Debray [204] and Major Menard, of the same regiment, struck. Many a gallant horseman went down. Bee drew back, himself retiring last. The charge failed for a time, but the gallantry displayed by Bee, Debray, Buchel, Menard and others produced its effect upon the enemy.
During this time Walker had led his splendid division across the field and was fully engaged in the opposite wood, and Major had swept around to the left with his dismounted cavalry of Bagby's and his own brigade, under Colonel Terrell (severely wounded in the fight), cleared the wood to the left, and seized and held the position occupied by the enemy's battery in the commencement of the engagement. The stubborn resistance offered by the enemy along the whole line soon convinced me that he had received reinforcements of fresh troops, and I ordered forward Polignac. Just then information reached me that Major-General Walker was wounded. Galloping to the spot I found that he had received a severe contusion in the groin, and ordered him to quit the field, which he did most reluctantly. His wound was a great misfortune. The continuity of our line was lost, as I could not for some time find either of his brigade commanders, all of whom were hotly engaged within the pine thicket in front .
Brigadier-General Scurry, commanding the right brigade of Walker's division, behaved most nobly, and speaks highly of Colonel Waterhouse, commanding one of his regiments. General Scurry was slightly wounded in the engagement. The efforts of these leaders prevented the confusion on the right from becoming disastrous. Meantime the fighting on the left and center was close and fierce. The fresh troops of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps held their ground manfully. The dense woods prevented a view of the field, and the continuity of our line was lost. An idea prevailed that we were firing on each other. Green, Polignac, Major, Randal and Gray, with their respective staffs, rallied the troops and led them again and again into action, and the men by their conduct showed themselves worthy of such leaders. At nightfall I withdrew the troops to prevent the additional confusion incident to darkness and formed line in the open field. The men fell in at once, and animated by their noble leaders, brought order and confidence to the ranks. Brigadier-General Waul withdrew from the wood, where he [205] had been hotly engaged, in fine style, and showed the coolness of a veteran.
[After Banks' army withdrew] Bee, with part of Major's and Buchel's and Debray's regiments, of his own command, was pursuing the enemy toward Natchitoches. Green was at Pleasant Hill directing generally the operations of the cavalry in front. Wood's and Gould's regiments, and portions of Parsons' brigade, which had reached Mansfield from Texas on the evening of the 9th and morning of the 10th with Terrell's regiment, which had been returned to Mansfield from Pleasant Hill to forage, all being cavalry, were pushed down to Green on the 10th and early on the 11th. Nettles', J. A. A. West's, McMahan's, and Moseley's batteries were also sent down, and General Green was informed of the position and movements of the fleet. The importance of reaching Blair's landing in advance of the fleet was impressed upon him. Green with his usual energy marched from Pleasant Hill for Blair's landing at 6 p. m. of the 11th. The same difficulty which met Bagby in the passage of the Bayou Pierre, namely, the want of a pontoon—which reference to my correspondence with the department headquarters will show I had long before asked for—seriously delayed Green's movement. He, however, reached the river at and below Blair's landing on the 12th, with Wood's, Gould's and Parsons' commands, and engaged the fleet. The loss inflicted upon the crowded transports of the enemy was terrible. Several times the transports raised the white flag, but the gunboats, protected by their plating, kept up the heavy fire and compelled our troops to renew the punishment on the transports. Many times our sharpshooters forced the gunboats to close their portholes, and it is believed the result would have been the capture of the whole fleet but for the unfortunate fall of the noble Green, killed by a discharge of grape from one of the gunboats.
Gen. Hamilton P. Bee, who had brought to the field from Columbus, Tex., the cavalry regiments of Debray, Buchel and Terrell, was in command at the front previous to the battle of Mansfield, with his cavalry delaying the advance of the enemy. During the battle he was assigned to command of cavalry on the right. Covering the right of [206] Walker's Texas infantry, Bee's cavalry finally mingled with the infantry, engaged the fresh troops of the Federal Thirteenth corps, 10,000 strong, and defeated them in an engagement which General Bee called ‘the battle of Peach Orchard, being a separate and distinct action from Mansfield.’ He acknowledged the gallant support of Colonel Randal, commanding brigade, and Col. Edward Clark, commanding regiment. ‘Captain Lane, of Debray's regiment, with his company, gallantly charged the enemy to draw their fire, preparatory to a combined charge by our infantry, with loss of Lieutenant Willis and a third of his company destroyed. Captain Borden, of Buchel's regiment, was severely wounded.’
It was Colonels Buchel and Hardeman who reconnoitered the Federal line before Pleasant Hill next day. In the afternoon Bee was ordered by General Green to charge with all the cavalry, and he says, ‘I at once moved with Debray's and Buchel's regiments that were formed in the road, ordering the other cavalry regiments to follow, and in column of fours moved rapidly across the space intervening between the two armies; but before the order was given to deploy and charge, the command was literally swept away by a cross-fire at close range from an enemy concealed behind a string of fence perpendicular to the enemy's line of battle. . . . What was left of Debray's gallant regiment succeeded in returning to our lines, with a loss of one-third their number. I had two horses shot under me. Colonel Debray was injured by the fall of his horse, which was killed. Colonel Buchel . . . drew back in time to avoid the fire of the ambuscade, passed to the left, dismounted his men, and drove the enemy from their ambuscade.’ Here the brave Buchel was mortally wounded, and two days later, said Bee, ‘the brave colonel died at my headquarters, a brilliant soldier of Prussia, and an irreparable loss to our cause and his adopted country.’ After the fall of General Green, General Bee assumed command of the cavalry corps until Gen. John A. [207] Wharton was assigned to that duty. At Monett's Ferry, April 23d, with his division and General Major's division (including Bagby's and Debray's brigades), in all about 2,000 men, he was assailed by nearly the entire army of General Banks, and after a stubborn fight fell back to Beasley's.
The report of Col. George W. Baylor, Second Arizona cavalry, commanding Major's brigade (Major commanding division), gives details of great interest. He described the gallant service of his brigade, under Colonel Lane—Madison's, Lane's and Chisum's regiments and his own—on April 7th, when Lieuts. W. T. Brown and F. B. Chilton, of his regiment, were wounded, the former mortally. In the first action of the brigade on the 8th, when they fought dismounted, they captured a battery, but lost heavily, Lieut. G. E. Rottenstein falling gallantly at the head of his company. Here Colonel Lane was wounded and Baylor took command of the brigade. He and his men had a hot and close fight in driving back the Federal ambuscade at Pleasant Hill, Lieutenant English, adjutant of Madison's regiment, being among the killed. Colonel Baylor heartily commended the dashing, fiery courage of Colonel Madison, and the heroism of Colonels Lane, Chisum, Crump and Mullen. Among the killed at Monett's Ferry he mentioned with an affectionate tribute Chaplain B. F. Ellison, of Madison's regiment, who fell mortally wounded, fighting in the front rank. When the first gun was fired in defense of Southern liberty he had started on foot from Los Angeles, Cal., to join in the struggle. On the 28th Baylor's command supported Hardeman's in a successful fight at Bayou Rapides. On May 1st the brigade was ordered to Wilson's landing, on Red river, where the enemy's transports were constantly passing. Before West's battery could be brought up, Chisum's regiment, under Captain Wilson, and Lieutenant Smith's Arizona scouts chased and captured one transport. Although driven thence to Marksville, General [208] Major's Texans continued to interfere with the transports. On May 3d, West's battery, under Lieutenant Yoist, and Hardeman's brigade captured the City Belle, with part of an Ohio regiment on board. On the 5th, attacked by two gunboats, the Texans, under Baylor, Madison, Major Saufley and Lieutenant-Colonel Mullen, burned one gunboat and captured the other and a transport. Among the wounded on May 3d, was Capt. J. W. Thompson, of Lane's regiment. On the 13th and 15th the Texas cavalry were engaged with the advance of the Federal army, near Mansura. Here Captain McKee, of Madison's regiment, was mortally wounded. On the 18th was fought the battle of Yellow Bayou, where the Texans suffered heavy loss in attacking the Federal rear guard.
Jenkins' Ferry and Poison Spring.
Brig.-Gen. Thomas N. Waul, reporting the action of his brigade at Jenkins' Ferry, said that his men marched through rain and mud, to the sound of battle, and went into the fight when General Price's troops were being withdrawn from the field. The brigade advanced against the enemy's strong position, under a continuous and destructive fire. ‘In a few minutes the increased and rapid discharge of small arms satisfied me that the other two brigades of Walker's division were approaching and warmly engaging the enemy's left. Forming upon my right in the woods we immediately prepared to charge along the whole line. In a very short time, and before the command could be executed, Generals Scurry and Randal fell mortally wounded, and were borne from the field.’ The resulting confusion prevented further advance. General Waul especially commended the skill and courage of Col. Overton Young, also distinguished at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill; of Col. Washington L. Crawford, of General Price's staff; and of Colonel Watson, of the Eighteenth Texas, who was killed, and Surgeon Edward Randall, wounded. [209]The battle of Poison Spring, April 18, 1864, was fought by the divisions of Marmaduke, Cabell and Maxey. The latter, brought by Maxey from Indian Territory, was composed of Gano's Texas brigade, under Col. Charles De Morse; Walker's Choctaw brigade, under Col. Tandy Walker; and Capt. W. B. Krumbhaar's battery. General Maxey was in command on the field. The Texans and their comrades were victorious. ‘To the indomitable energy of Captain Krumbhaar in carrying his battery over ground almost impassable and the subsequent working of his battery,’ said General Maxey, ‘much of the success of his division was due. The Texas brigade did its whole duty, fighting as Texans know how to fight.’ Colonel De Morse, commanding the brigade in battle, reported that he had 655 men, including Krumbhaar's battery, Twenty-ninth Texas cavalry, Maj. J. A. Carroll; Thirtieth, Lieut.-Col. N. W. Battle; Thirty-first, Maj. M. Looscan; Captain Welch's company, Lieutenant Gano. Colonel De Morse warmly commended the services of the officers, and reported that the men behaved with great coolness, ‘firing as though hunting squirrels.’ The entire loss of the brigade was 3 killed and 28 wounded, among the latter Major Davenport and Lieutenants Gano and Hoffman.
Army of Northern Virginia.
West Point.
The first engagement of Hood's Texas brigade in 1862 was at West Point, Va., May 7th, opposing the landing of Franklin's Federal division. General Whiting, commanding a Confederate division, reported that his line, composed of three Texas regiments, supported by other troops, ‘had driven the enemy fairly before it for over if miles through a very dense forest, in which it was impossible to see over 30 or 40 yards. The coherence, discipline and bravery of the troops were conspicuous.’ [210] General Hood reported that the Fifth Texas, under Col. J. J. Archer, was first sent out on the skirmish line, driving the enemy, and he followed with Col. John Marshall's Fourth Texas, Col. A. T. Rainey's First, Wofford's Georgia regiment, and Balthis' battery. As the enemy was reached, the Fourth Texas was thrown forward as skirmishers, supported by the First, and they so advanced with Archer on the right. Forty prisoners were captured and 84 stand of arms, Hood losing 8 killed and 29 wounded. He said, ‘My attention was particularly called to the great gallantry of Captain Decatur, of the First Texas, who fell under the heavy fire upon the flank of his regiment.’ The brigade comrades of the Texans were the Eighteenth Georgia and Hampton's South Carolina legion.
Gaines Mill.
In the battles before Richmond the brigade fought with Whiting's division temporarily attached to Jackson's corps. The battle of Gaines' Mill, June 27, 1862, was one of the most important of the series. General Whiting reported that the field where his command entered it was about the head of a ravine, which covered the enemy's left near the main road, a deep and steep chasm, dividing the bluffs of the Chickahominy.The loss in killed and wounded was reported as 13 and 62 in the Fifth Texas; 44 and 206 in the Fourth, and 14 and 64 in the First. Said General Hood in his report: ‘The guns were captured by the Fourth Texas and Eighth Georgia, and a regiment was taken prisoners by the Fifth Texas. . . . Among those who fell, killed or, mortally wounded, were Col. John Marshall, Lieut.-Col. B. Warwick, Capts. E. D. Ryan, J. W. Hutcheson, P. P. Porter and T. M. Owens, acting commissary of subsistence. Lieuts. R. J. Lambert, C. Reich, D. L. Butts. [212] L. P. Lyons, and T. H. Hollamon, of the Fourth Texas; Lieuts. J. E. Clute and W. G. Wallace, of the Fifth; Capt. B. F. Benton, of the First, and Major Key and Colonels Rainey and Robertson were severely wounded. . . . All the field officers of the Fourth being killed or wounded, the command of the regiment devolved upon Capt. W. P. Townsend (now major), who led it most gallantly.’ At Malvern Hill the brigade lost 37 more from its depleted ranks.On the left side of this, as we fronted, General Hood put forward the First Texas and Hampton's legion. Men were leaving the field in every direction and in great disorder. The First Texas was ordered to go over them or through them, which they did; the remaining Texas regiments were rapidly advanced, forming line on the right of the ravine, and the Third brigade again on their right, and pressing on, the whole line came under the enemy's fire.
. . The enemy, concealed in the woods and protected by the ravine, poured a destructive fire upon the advancing line for a quarter of a mile, and many brave officers and men fell . . . The Texans had now come up and [211] joined line on the left, led by General Hood and the gallant Fourth at the double-quick, and the whole line . charged the ravine with a yell, General Hood and Colonel Law gallantly leading their men. At the bottom ran a deep and difficult branch, with scarped sides, answering admirably as a ditch. Over against this was a strong log breastwork, heavily manned; above this, on the crest, another breastwork, supported by well-served batteries; and a heavy body of timber, concealing the enemy, but affording full view of our movements. Spite of these terrible obstacles, over ditch and breastwork hill, batteries and infantry, the division swept routing the enemy from their stronghold. Many pieces of artillery were taken, fourteen in all, and nearly a whole regiment of the enemy. These prisoners were turned over by Col. J. B. Robertson, Fifth Texas, to BrigadierGen-eral Pryor or some of his staff. . . .
I take pleasure in calling special attention to the Fourth Texas regiment, which, led by Brigadier-General Hood, was the first to break the enemy's line and enter his works. Its brave old colonel (Marshall) fell early in the charge on the hither side of the ravine. . . . Colonel Rainey, First Texas, though seriously ill, joined his command on the field, and fell severely wounded. Col. John Marshall was shot dead, and the lieutenant-colonel (Bradfute Warwick) mortally wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Robertson of the Fifth was wounded.
Second Manassas.
In the next campaign, that of Second Manassas, General Hood was in command of Whiting's division, assigned to Longstreet's corps. On August 22d his command drove the enemy across the Rappahannock at Freeman's ford, ‘During the engagement Maj. D. M. Whaley, Fifth Texas, fell, gallantly discharging his duties.’ Beyond Thoroughfare gap the command marched forward on August 29th, ‘Lieutenant-Colonel Upton, of the Fifth Texas, in command of a party of select Texas riflemen, constituting the advance guard. Coming up with the rear guard of the enemy before sunrise, this gallant and distinguished officer drove them before him so rapidly that halts would have to be made for the troops in rear to rest.’ On approaching the enemy engaging General Jackson, ‘the Texas brigade advanced in line of battle down and on the immediate right of the pike leading to the stone bridge.’ At sunset the Texans and Law's brigade charged the enemy, driving them in confusion. The Texans captured three stand of colors. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 30th, the Texans again advanced on the right of the pike, and ‘within 150 yards after leaving their position the Texas brigade became engaged with a heavy force of the enemy, but with their usual daring and enthusiasm, they charged gallantly on, driving a largely superior force a distance of 1 1/2 mile, causing terrible slaughter in their ranks, and capturing [213] a battery of four guns crowning the heights near the Chinn house. . . . Many gallant officers and men fell upon this memorable field, and our country has cause to regret the loss of none of her sons more than that of Lieut.-Col. John C. Upton, Fifth Texas. Maj. W. P. Townsend, of the Fourth, and Capt. K. Bryan, acting major of the Fifth, fell severely wounded while nobly discharging their duties. Of the different regimental commanders too much cannot be said. Col. J. B. Robertson, Fifth Texas, was wounded while directing his regiment far in advance of the crest of the hill, when the brigade was ordered to halt. Lieut.-Col. B. F. Carter, commanding the Fourth, Lieut.-Col. P. A. Work, First, although not wounded, were conspicuous upon this hotly-contested field. After all the field and acting field officers of the Fifth Texas had fallen, Capt. I. N. M. Turner gallantly led that regiment through.’ According to Surgeon Guild's report the loss of the Texas regiments at Manassas plains was: First regiment, 10 killed and 18 wounded; Fifth, 15 and 224; Fourth, 22 and 77. Lieut.-Col. B. F. Carter, Fourth, reported Lieuts. C. E. Jones and T. J. Johnson, killed; and Capts. D. U. Barziza, James T. Hunter, and Lieuts. M. C. Holmes and A. D. Jeffries, wounded. Color-Sergeant Francis fell severely wounded in front of the regiment, and the flag was then borne by Color-Corporal Parker. Col. J. B. Robertson reported that the flag of the Fifth was borne successively by Color-Sergeant W. V. Royston, Corporal J. Miller, Private C. Moncrieff, Private Shepherd Sergeant Simpson, Private J. Harris, and Sergt. F. C. Hume, all of whom were shot down, when it went into the hands of Private Farthing. He gave his loss as 15 killed, wounded 245, missing 1, and reported the capture of three stand of colors and two batteries. The report of Capt. K. Bryan directed special attention to Capt. J. S. Cleveland, among others, who fell with a dangerous wound in the neck after gallant service. He had command [214] of the regiment after Cleveland was wounded, and when he was himself struck he turned the command over to Turner.
Sharpsburg.
At the battle of Sharpsburg, Md., the Texas brigade was commanded by Colonel Wofford, of the Georgia regiment, who reported that the brigade took position on the Confederate left, near Mumma church, on the evening of September 15th, and being under artillery fire at that time, the Fourth lost Lieut. N. J. Mills, severely wounded, and one private. On the evening of the 16th they were moved to the left and front of the church and formed, with a cornfield in their front. During that evening Captain Turner, with the Fifth, and Capt. W. H. Martin, with a detachment of the Fourth, were engaged in skirmishing. On the 17th the brigade advanced toward the cornfield and engaged in a desperate fight. Hood reported that this was ‘the most terrible clash of arms, by far, that had occurred during the war.’ ‘The two little giant brigades (Hood's and Law's) wrestled with the mighty force of the enemy, losing hundreds of their gallant officers and men, but driving the enemy from his position and forcing him to abandon his guns on our left.’ Said Wofford: ‘This brigade went into action numbering 854, and lost in killed, wounded and missing 560, over one-half.’ Among the officers killed were Major Dale, First Texas, who fell in the thickest of the fight, and Lieuts. F. L. Hoffman, P. Runnells, J. Waterhouse, S. F. Patton and G. B. Thompson, of the First. Colonel Work reported that the First took into action an aggregate of 226, of whom 170 were known to have been killed or wounded, and 12 (missing) supposed to be. He saw four bearers of the State colors shot down—John Hanson, James Day, Charles H. Kingsley and James K. Malone. Then other men upheld the flag, four more of whom were shot down. Carter, of the Fourth, reported [215] Lieuts. L. P. Hughes, A. J. McKean, H. M. Marchant, J. T. McLaurin, J. C. Billingsley and John Roach, mostly commanding companies, wounded. Color-bearer Parker was severely wounded and left on the field, and the flag was then borne by Captain Darden. He carried into action 200 men and lost 10 killed and 97 wounded. Captain Turner, of the Fifth, reported 5 killed and 81 wounded.On November 14, 1862, it appeared from the report of the adjutant-general of the army that two-thirds of the three Texas regiments were badly clothed and shod, and 180 were barefooted. At the battle of Fredericksburg the brigade was not engaged, but lost 1 killed and 5 wounded. It was now under the command of J. B. Robertson, promoted to brigadier-general, and the First was commanded by Colonel Rainey, the Fourth by Col. J. C. G. Key, and the Fifth by Col. R. M. Powell. Brigaded with them now was Van H. Manning's Third Arkansas, their comrades during the remainder of the war. During the spring of 1863 they were engaged in the Suffolk campaign in Southeast Virginia.
Gettysburg.
At the battle of Gettysburg the Texans went into battle late in the afternoon of the 2d of July, advancing across fields intersected with stone and rail fences, over the valley and up to the slopes of Round Top. General Robertson reported as follows:As we approached the base of the mountain, General Law moved to the right, and I was moving obliquely to the right to close on him, when my whole line encountered the fire of the enemy's main line, posted behind rocks and a stone fence. The Fourth and Fifth Texas regiments, under the direction of their gallant commanders (Colonels Powell and Key), while returning the fire and driving the enemy before them, continued to close on General Law, to their right. At the same time, the First Texas and Third Arkansas, under their gallant [216] commanders (Lieut.-Col. P. A. Work and Colonel Manning), were hotly engaged with a very superior force, while at the same time a heavy force appeared and opened fire on Colonel Manning's left, seriously threatening his left flank, to meet which he threw two or three companies with their front to his left flank and protected his left.On discovering this heavy force on my left flank, and seeing that no attack was being made by any of our forces on my left, I at once sent a courier to Major-General Hood stating that I was hard pressed on my left, that General McLaw's forces were not engaging the enemy to my left (which enabled him to move fresh troops from that part of his line down on me), and that I must have reinforcements. Lieutenant-Colonel Work, with the First Texas regiment, having pressed forward to the crest of the hill and driven the enemy from his battery, I ordered him to the left, to the relief and support of Colonel Manning, directing Maj. F. S. Bass with two companies to hold the hill, while Colonel Work with the rest of the regiment went to Colonel Manning's relief. With this assistance, Colonel Manning drove the enemy back, and entered the woods after him, when the enemy reoccupied the hill and his batteries in Colonel Work's front, from which Colonel Work again drove him.
For an hour and upward, these two regiments maintained one of the hottest contests, against five or six times their number, that I have witnessed. The moving of Colonel Work to the left, to relieve Colonel Manning while the Fourth and Fifth Texas were closing to the right on General Law's brigade, separated these two regiments from the others. They were steadily moving to the right and front, driving the enemy before them, when they passed the woods or ravine to my right. After finding that I could not move the First and Third to the right to join them, I sent to recall them, ordering them to move to the left until the left of the Fourth should rest on the right of the First; but my messenger found two of General Law's regiments on the left of my two (the Fourth and Fifth Texas), and did not find these regiments at all.
About this time my aide, Lieutenant Scott, reported my two regiments (the Fourth and Fifth Texas) in the center of General Law's brigade, and that they could not [217] be moved without greatly injuring his line. I sent a request to General Law to look to them. At this point, my assistant adjutant and inspector-general reported from the Fourth and Fifth that they were hotly engaged and wanted reinforcements. My courier, sent to General Hood, returned and reported him wounded and carried from the field. I sent a messenger to LieutenantGen-eral Longstreet for reinforcements, and at the same time sent to Gens. George T. Anderson and Benning, urging them to hurry up to my support. They came up, joined as, and fought gallantly, but as fast as we would break one line of the enemy, another fresh one would present itself, the enemy reinforcing his lines on our front from his reserves at the base of the mountain to our right and front, and from his lines to our left. Having no attack from us in front, he threw his forces from there on us.
Before the arrival of Generals Anderson and Benning, Col. J. C. G. Key, who gallantly led the Fourth Texas regiment in, up to the time of receiving a severe wound, passed me, being led to the rear. About the same time I learned of the fall and dangerous wounding of Col. R. M. Powell, of the Fifth, who fell while gallantly leading his regiment in one of the impetuous charges of the Fourth and Fifth Texas on the fortified mountain. Just after the arrival of General Anderson on my left, I learned that the gallant Col. Van H. Manning, of the Third Arkansas, had been wounded and carried from the field, and about the same time I received intelligence of the wounding and being carried from the field of those two able and efficient officers, Lieut.-Cols. K. Bryan, of the Fifth, and B. F. Carter, of the Fourth, both of whom were wounded while bravely discharging their duty. Capt. J. R. Woodard, acting major of the First Texas, was wounded near me while gallantly discharging his duty.
The Fourth and Fifth Texas, under the command of Majs. J. P. Bane and J. C. Rogers, continued to hold the ground of their original line, leaving the space over which they had made their successive discharges strewn with their wounded and dead comrades, many of whom could not be removed, and were left upon the field. The First Texas, under Lieutenant-Colonel Work, with a portion of Benning's brigade, held the field and the batteries taken by the First Texas. Three of the guns were brought off [218] the field and secured; the other three, from the nature of the ground and their proximity to the enemy, were left. The Third Arkansas, under the command of Lieut.-Col. R. S. Taylor, ably assisted by Maj. J. W. Reedy, after Colonel Manning was borne from the field, sustained well the high character it made in the earlier part of the action. When night closed the conflict, late in the evening, I was struck above the knee, which deprived me of the use of my leg, and prevented me from getting about the field. I retired some 200 yards to the rear, leaving the immediate command with Lieutenant-Colonel Work, the senior officer present, under whose supervision our wounded were brought out and guns secured, and our dead on that part of the field were buried the next day.
About 2 o'clock that night, the First Texas and Third Arkansas were moved by the right to the position occupied by the Fourth and Fifth, and formed on their left, where the brigade remained during the day of the 3d, keeping up a continuous skirmishing with the enemy's sharpshooters, in which we had a number of our men severely wounded. I sent my assistant adjutant-general, Capt. F. L. Price, at daybreak to examine the position of the brigade, and report to me as soon as he could, and, while in the discharge of that duty, was either killed or fell into the hands of the enemy, as he has not been seen nor heard of since.
About dark on the evening of the 3d, the brigade, with the division, fell back to the hill and formed in line, where it remained during the 4th. Lieut. J. R. Loughridge, commanding Company 1, Fourth Texas, who commanded the skirmishers in front of the Fourth, and who was left when that regiment moved to the right, joined the First Texas, and did gallant service during the engagement. In this, the hardest-fought battle of the war in which I have been engaged, all, both officers and men, as far as my observation extended, fully sustained the high character they have heretofore made. Where all behaved so nobly, individual distinction cannot with propriety be made.
Col. P. A. Work, First Texas, reported that early in the action the gallant Lieut. B. A. Campbell was killed. ‘Late in the evening a terrific fire of artillery was concentrated against the hill held by this regiment and many were [219] killed and wounded, some losing their heads, and others so horribly mutilated and mangled that their identity could scarcely be established; but notwithstanding this all the men continued heroically and unflinchingly to maintain their position.’ Colonel Work mentioned the names of Privates W. Y. Salter, J. N. Kirksey, G. Barfield and W. J. Barbee for great and striking gallantry, though he declared that in doing so he was neglecting others of equal merit, all behaving like heroes. Private Barbee, though a mounted courier, acting for General Hood, entered the ranks of his company and fought through the engagement. At one time he mounted a rock upon the highest pinnacle of the hill, and there, exposed to a deadly fire from artillery and musketry, stood until he had fired twenty-five shots, when he received a minie-ball in the right thigh and fell. The men replenished their cartridge-boxes from the dead and wounded of the enemy, and many of the officers, seizing rifles, fought in the ranks in the deadly struggle amid the rocks of the Devil's Den. Capt. John R. Woodward, acting major, was wounded by a fragment of shell. The regiment lost 25 killed, 48 wounded and 20 missing.
Maj. John P. Bane, who led the Fourth regiment after Colonel Key and Lieutenant-Colonel Carter were wounded, reported that his regiment made two assaults upon the heights. His loss was reported at 14 killed and 73 wounded. Colonel Powell led the Fifth and drove the enemy from one height, but while fighting among the rocks for the second height, fell with a mortal wound, and in hastening to his assistance Lieut.-Col. K. Bryan was wounded. Major Rogers was then in command. Captain Cleveland was commended for skillful leadership. The loss of the Fifth was given at 23 killed and 86 wounded. Major Rogers in his report commended the skillful management of his right wing by Captain Cleveland, and the left by Capt. C. C. Clay. T. W. Fitzgerald, color-bearer, was wounded far in front, and the flag was [220] taken up by J. A. Howard, who was almost instantly killed. Sergt. W. S. Evans bore the colors during the remainder of the fight.
The Wilderness to Appomattox.
At the outset of the Virginia campaign of 1864 the Texas brigade was commanded by Brig.--Gen. John Gregg, in Maj.-Gen. Charles W. Field's division of Longstreet's corps, General Hood having remained with the army of Tennessee. The Fourth was commanded by Colonel Bane, and the Fifth by Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan (commander of First not noted). They were in battle on the 6th of May at the Wilderness,1 and reached Spottsylvania Court House on the 8th. On the 10th they aided in repulsing the last and most desperate assault by the enemy upon Field's position. During the remainder of the fighting here and at Cold Harbor, they manifested their old-time courage and tenacity. They were on the line at Kershaw's salient, where fourteen Federal assaults were repulsed with great slaughter. After serving on the Petersburg lines in the early summer the brigade was transferred to the north side of the James before Richmond. In September, about the time of the capture of [221] Fort Harrison, they repulsed an attack at Four-mile run. With reinforcements they repelled the violent assault on Fort Gilmer. On October 7th, in the fight at the New Market road, General Gregg was killed.The Texas brigade, in the army of Northern Virginia, as well as many other commands, has insufficient mention in the meager reports of 1864-65 which are accessible. Many official reports of battles were lost or destroyed, and in many instances the campaigns were so active as to leave little time for making reports. At its last service the brigade was commanded by Col. Robert M. Powell; the First by Col. Frederick S. Bass, the Fourth by Lieut.-Col. Clinton M. Winkler, and the Fifth by Capt. W. T. Hill. At Appomattox 64 officers were paroled and 553 men.