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MoMMi-.NT TO IIooii's Ti;\AS Hkicaop; 
 
 Now heiiii; i-rected on the CajMlol Grounds at Austin, Texas, 
 
 l>\ Tlie Mi-Neel Marl>le Company, of Marietta, (ieoriria. 
 
 The monument will he dedicated May 7, 1910. 
 
 with vStatc-wide ceremonies 
 
 fArlNG HALF-TITLU 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
(0] 
 
FRONTtSPIBCE 
 
Hood's Texas Brigade 
 
 Its Marches Its Battles 
 Its Achievements 
 
 BY 
 
 J. B. POLLEY 
 
 Author of "A Soldier's Letters to Charming Nellie" 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON 
 THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1910 
 
M 
 
 Copyright, 1910, by 
 THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 (g' ni A2^)'vi^^"'^^ 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 9 
 
 I. Introductory 1^ 
 
 II. Fredericksburg — Yorktown — Eltham's Landing . . 20 
 
 III. Richmond — Seven Pines — Gaines' Mill .... 29 
 
 IV. Gaines' Mill 40 
 
 V. Savage Station, Frayser's Farm, Malvern Hill, Kelly's 
 
 Ford, Freeman's Ford, Thoroughfare Gap, Second 
 
 Manassas 71 
 
 VI. Second Manassas, Continued 87 
 
 VII. Sharpsburg, or Antietam 112 
 
 VIII. Fredericksburg and Suffolk 136 
 
 IX. Gettysburg 149 
 
 X. Gettysburg, Continued 166 
 
 XI. Gettysburg to Chickamauga 190 
 
 XII. Chattanooga and Knoxville 213 
 
 XIII. The Wilderness — Spottsylvania — Cold Harbor — 
 
 Petersburg " . . . . 228 
 
 XIV. Charles City Road, Darbytown Road, Chaffin's Farm, 
 
 Williamsburg Road 249 
 
 XV. Appomattox 269 
 
 XVI. Addenda 283 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Monument to Hood's Texas Brigade . Facing half title page ^ 
 , ^, , . . Frontispiece - 
 
 General Hood 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 . . 12 
 
 John H. Kirby ^^ 
 
 Albert Sneed ^^ 
 
 John M. Pinckney ^^ 
 
 Billy Pearce . • ^g 
 
 E. K. Goree g^ 
 
 George S. Quails ^^ 
 
 John Coleman Roberts ^^ 
 
 Ben M. Baker ^^^ 
 
 Dick Pinckney ^^g 
 
 L. P. Hughes ^gQ 
 
 William R. Hamby ^^^ 
 
 B. Eldridge ^^^ 
 
 W. W. Henderson 
 
 R. M. Powell 2QQ 
 
 John D. Murray ^^^ 
 
 J. T. Hunter ^^^ 
 
 W. H. Surges ^^g 
 
 J. B. PoUey ^^^ 
 
 W. T. Hill ggg 
 
 Sam R. Burroughs ^^^ 
 
 F. B. Chilton 2^^ 
 
 George W. Littlefield 
 
 F. B. Chilton 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Bidden to write " a fair and impartial history of Hood's 
 Texas Brigade," the author submits the following pages as the 
 result of his labors. While painfully conscious of many imper- 
 fections in his work, he yet congratulates himself on havmg 
 made both an honest and an earnest effort to tell a true story. 
 That the thread of it is spun almost entirely out of material 
 furnished by the memories and diaries of himself and his com- 
 rades, and is not strengthened by many references to or quo- 
 tations from official records, is due to the lack of such records. 
 Little documentary evidence as to the services of the command 
 was saved out of the wreck and upheaval following upon the 
 retreat of Lee's army from Petersburg and its surrender at 
 Appomattox. The loss, however, is not likely to be regretted 
 —the majority of readers being more interested in what is done 
 than in the how and the wherefore of it. 
 
 Events are related in the order of their occurrence ; and since 
 « deeds speak louder than words," the privilege of character- 
 izing the conduct and performances of individuals, singly and 
 collectively, is left to the reader. Fortitude and courage, trial, 
 endurance, hardship and privation, speak for themselves and 
 need no aid from adjectives and adverbs. Much has been 
 omitted that, forty years ago, would have been of interest, 
 but now would burden the story, and only such movements and 
 operations of the Confederate armies are mentioned as are 
 necessary to show the relation of Hood's Texas Brigade to 
 other commands. The righteousness of the cause for which it 
 fought and suffered is taken as granted and confessed by every 
 fair-minded native-bom American. 
 
 In brief, the effort of the author has been to relate the acts 
 and achievements of the Southern soldiers whose place was at 
 the front, on the firing line— his own feelings being in perfect 
 accord with those of the writer of the following verses : 
 
10 PREFACE 
 
 THE PRIVATES THAT TRAMPED IT WITH LEE 
 
 " While over the Southland the voices 
 Of speakers and poets let fall 
 The accents of praise for the chieftain, 
 So richly deserving it all^ 
 I think it would please the great captain 
 If he could look down here and see 
 That some one remembers his heroes^ 
 The privates that tramped it with Lee. 
 
 " How oft in his tent at the midnight 
 He plotted the brilliant campaign, 
 How oft, ere the daylight was dawning. 
 They followed in sleet and in rain — 
 How often they rushed into battle, 
 Their hearts in a tumult of glee. 
 The steady, the ready old fellows — 
 The privates that tramped it with Lee. 
 
 " Tho' mighty the brain in its schemes. 
 The feet at its bidding must run; 
 The victories on paper are proven 
 By privates that level the gun. 
 So, great as the captain we honor 
 (And great may his fame ever be!) 
 'Tis shared by the shaggy old heroes — 
 The privates that tramped it with Lee. 
 
 " 'Tis easy in shock of the battle 
 To pass out of life with a smile, 
 A hero secure of his laurels; 
 But to sweat with the rank and the file. 
 And afterwards live and be patient. 
 Still struggling, appeareth to me 
 Yet nobler; and such be the fellows, 
 The privates that tramped it with Lee. 
 
 " They followed their dauntless commander. 
 Him who to the warrior's art 
 United tlie lore of the scholar 
 And the patriot's temperate heart; 
 
PREFACE 11 
 
 And yet in their zealous devotion 
 These men were as great as he, 
 These grizzled, grim, veteran soldiers. 
 These privates that tramped it with Lee. 
 
 " The frosts of the winter are whitening 
 The locks that the bullets once kissed; 
 And soon they .will meet with a f oeman 
 The stoutest can never resist. 
 To us they'll bequeath inspiration 
 When at length, mustered out, they are free 
 To cross over the River of Silence 
 And tramp it again there with Lee. 
 
 " And so, if the General is conscious 
 Of things that are done here below. 
 He'd be glad if the speakers and poets 
 Some sprigs of their laurels bestow 
 On such as did win him the glory, 
 And back him from mountain to sea. 
 On them, both the dead and the living. 
 The privates that tramped it with Lee." 
 
Hon. John H. Kirby 
 
 A member of tje Monument Committee, who subscribed 
 J4^,0U0 to the Monument Fund 
 
 FACING 12 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Introductory 
 
 Among the Texas troops who bore a conspicuous part in 
 the war between the States were the First, Fourth, and Fifth 
 regiments of infantry. They fought in Virginia, Maryland, 
 Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Tennessee, and were the only rep- 
 resentatives of their State in the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 Brigaded at first with the Eighteenth Georgia and Hampton's 
 Legion of South Carolinians, and, after the transfer of these 
 commands, with the Third Arkansas, they adopted and yet 
 claim as a distinctive title the name of Hood's Texas Brigade. 
 
 Of the details of their organization but brief mention will 
 be made. The twelve companies that composed the First 
 Texas may be said to have straggled to Virginia, where, in 
 the early months of 1861, it was believed the one decisive bat- 
 tle of the war would be fought. They went singly, in couples, 
 and in triplets ; but although all arrived in Richmond by June 
 1, 1861, they were not ordered to the front until July 21, the 
 day the first battle on the fields of Manassas was fought, and 
 so did not reach the Southern army in time to take part in 
 that engagement. Thence, with L. T. Wigfall as colonel, 
 Hugh McLeod as lieutenant-colonel, and A. T. Rainey as 
 major, the First Texas was ordered to the extreme right of 
 the Confederate line, taking position near Dumfries, Va., as 
 support to masked batteries at Cockpit Point. 
 
 Wigfall was a politician without military training; McLeod 
 was a valiant soldier in the Texas revolution of 1836, com- 
 manded the Santa Fe expedition of 1841, and had languished 
 as a captive in the prison of Perote ; Rainey was a lawyer, 
 eminent in his profession. Wigfall, having been elected a 
 senator in the Confederate Congress, resigned his commission 
 in January, 1861. McLeod died about the same date. May 
 12, 1862, the regiment reinlisted and reorganized, electing 
 Rainey as its colonel, Captain P. A. Work as its lieutenant- 
 
14 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 colonel, and Captain Matt. Dale as its major. That, as will 
 be seen, was five days after the battle of Eltham's Landinf:r. 
 
 The companies that composed the Fourth and Fifth Texas 
 were organized as early as those in the First Texas, and 
 would have proceeded to Vir^nia as soon but for the refusal 
 of the Confederate authorities to accept their services in that 
 field. After the First Texas arrived in Richmond, though, Mr. 
 Davis decided to accept two more regiments from Texas, and 
 the Fourth and Fifth were at once mustered in — Mr. Davis 
 reserving, however, the right to appoint the field officers of 
 each. They arrived in Richmond in September, 1861, and 
 immediately there was a rush of gentlemen more or less prom- 
 inent in political affairs to the seat of government, each ap- 
 plying and hoping for appointments to such positions. But 
 all were disappointed. Not one of their number had taken 
 any interest in either regiment prior to its departure from 
 Texas, and as the}"^ failed to secure any indorsement of their 
 claims from the rank and file of the two commands, President 
 Davis acted on his own judgment, and appointed John B. 
 Hood colonel of the Fourth Texas, John Marshall its lieu- 
 tenant-colonel, and Bradfute Wanvick its major; Jas. J. 
 Archer colonel of the Fifth Texas, Jerome B. Robertson its 
 lieutenant-colonel, and Q. T. Quattlebaum its major. 
 
 Hood and Archer had resigned from the United States 
 regular army and offered their services to the Confederacy. 
 Both were j'oung, gallant, and capable, and each was liked by 
 his regiment. John INIarshall was a newspaper man, and, save 
 courage, had no qualifications for military command. Jerome 
 B. Robertson was by profession a physician, but had gone to 
 Texas early enough to join in the pursuit, with a company 
 of Kentuckians commanded by him, of the Mexicans after 
 their retreat from San Jacinto. Later, in 1839 and 1840, he 
 assisted, as commander of a regiment, in repelling the fre- 
 quent invasions of Mexicans and Indians, and was one of the 
 first to raise a company for Confederate service. Bradfute 
 Warwick was a Virginian, wealthy and adventurous. Edu- 
 cated as a physician, he traveled extensively through Europe, 
 and finally joined the Italian patriot. Garibaldi, and was given 
 a commission in his army, first as a surgeon, and next as a 
 captain. Quattlebaum was a graduate of West Point, but 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 15 
 
 of his record little is known, as, at his own request, he was 
 transferred to another field of service within a week after his 
 assignment to the Fifth Texas. 
 
 Thenceforward, promotions among the commissioned officers 
 of the three Texas regiments were in the order of seniority. 
 The only promotions for merit were in cases where company 
 elections were held to determine who should fill places made 
 vacant by death, disablement, transfer, or resignation. To 
 these might be added an occasional promotion from the ranks 
 to an adjutancy, and when, in 1864, color-bearers were enti- 
 tled to commissions as lieutenants, of privates to the rank of 
 color-bearers and lieutenants. Under the rule of seniority it 
 happened that toward the close of the war the junior captain 
 of a regiment often became a field officer of his regiment. No 
 instance can be cited in Hood's Texas Brigade, and few in any 
 other command, where higher rank was gained by regimental 
 and company officers on account of their merit. As long as 
 an officer remained with his command he took rank only by 
 seniority. This statement applies, of course, only to the 
 Texans. At the beginning of the war there was little law to 
 govern such matters, and commissions Avere frequently granted 
 by President Davis to men for whom places only could be 
 found in this, that, or the other of the many regiments ad- 
 mittedly lacking competent officers. 
 
 Colonels Hood and Archer took command, respectively, of 
 the Fourth and Fifth Texas regiments in October, 1861, hold- 
 ing them in camp near Richmond, and drilling and disciplin- 
 ing them, until about the last of November. Then they 
 marched them over to Dumfries, Va., where they were brigaded 
 with the First Texas and the Eighteenth Georgia regiment, 
 under command of Brigadier-General L. T. Wigfall. Of their 
 stay there in winter-quarters during the winter of 1861-2 
 much might be told that would be interesting as reminiscences 
 of a far-distant past to the few hundred survivors of the com- 
 mand, but would hardly prove entertaining to the general 
 reader. Their experiences differed little from those of other 
 Confederate commands at that early stage of the war. What 
 difference there was may be attributed to the fact that Gen- 
 eral Wigfall's imagination was too often quickened by deep 
 potations to be reliable. The colder the night and the more 
 
16 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 metallic the rustling of the pine tops above his quarters, the 
 more plainly he could hear the rattling of oars in the oar-locks 
 of boats transporting Federal troops across the Potomac who 
 were bent on capturing Cockpit Point, and but for the re- 
 straining influence of Colonels Hood and Archer he would have 
 had the brigade on the double-quick twice a week while he re- 
 mained in command. 
 
 As it was, he sent the Fifth Texas on a tramp in the dark 
 through mud more than ankle-deep, one bitter cold night, down 
 to the Point. Colonel Hood, however, surmised that the order 
 was based either on false intelligence or imagination, and 
 therefore did not move the Fourth Texas. To a certain ex- 
 tent, however, Wigfall was excusable. The First Texas had 
 run him half-crazy with its unwillingness to submit to the rig- 
 orous discipline he would have enforced, and, in addition, but 
 previous to the arrival of the Fourth and Fifth, had manu- 
 factured more than one false alarm just to see what he would 
 do. One night indeed, grown tired of inaction and longing 
 for excitement, the boys of the First took French leave of 
 their officers, and went in a body across the Potomac, and 
 there waked up not only General Sickles and the Union troops 
 then under his command, but spread consternation on the 
 streets of Washington city by the report circulated by them- 
 selves that they were the advance guard of the Confederate 
 army. General Sickles assembled his troops in battle array 
 and called lustily for reinforcements, and these were on the 
 way when daylight came and revealed the absence of a single 
 Confederate on his side of the river. In brief, the Tcxans 
 went over " on a lark," and, having enjoyed it, returned to 
 their quarters before daylight, and for many months the ques- 
 tion with Wigfall and the equally ignorant officers of the 
 First Texas was. Who was it tliat kicked up such a row among 
 our friends, the enemy? 
 
 Among the Federal troops then wintering in Maryland op- 
 posite Cockpit Point was Duryea's Fifth New York Zouaves. 
 Several times during tlic winter ice formed on the Potomac 
 thick enough to bear the weight of a man, and far enough 
 out from the shore on cither side to let members of the 
 Fifth Texas and the Zouaves get within easy hearing distance 
 of each other. While always in good humor, the conversa- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 17 
 
 tions were, as a rule, made up of boasts of what one regiment 
 would do to the other should they ever meet in battle, as it 
 was earnestly hoped they would. " We'll wipe your regiment 
 off the face of the earth," threatened the Zouaves. " We'll 
 cover the ground with your ring-streaked and striped bodies," 
 counter-threatened the Texans. Which regiment made good, 
 and how, will be told in its proper place. 
 
 Much sickness prevailed among the Texans — more, perhaps, 
 than in commands from the Southern Atlantic States and from 
 Tennessee, where the winters were so nearly equal in severity 
 to those of Virginia. Measles and pneumonia caused the death 
 of many brave young men. Diarrhea led the way to the more 
 fatal complaints. At one time there were not exceeding 
 twenty-five men fit for duty in the Fifth Texas, although it 
 had in camp fully eight hundred men. Nevertheless, much 
 scouting was done, and the enemy was kept in constant appre- 
 hension. On one occasion, a party of nine Texans were sur- 
 rounded by Federal cavalry, and driven for refuge into a 
 house. But they had no thought of surrender. All day long 
 they held the Federal regiment at bay. Night was coming 
 on, though, and to make sure of escape, one of their number 
 climbed to the top of the building. Standing there, he called 
 to his comrades in a tone loud enough to be heard by the 
 enemy : " Keep on shooting, boys — a whole brigade of Con- 
 federate cavalry is just beyond the creek, and it'll be here in 
 a few minutes." Hearing the announcement, and not doubt- 
 ing its truth, the Federal commander called his men into line 
 of battle, and taking advantage of the movement, the Texans 
 made a run for It to the timbered valley of a little creek, 
 where, protected by the trees, they could bid defiance to their 
 mounted assailants. 
 
 At winter-quarters time hung heavily on the hands of some, 
 lightly on those of others. After a house for each mess in 
 each company was built, there was to be done the fatigue duty 
 needed to keep the camp in good sanitary condition, guard 
 duty night and day around the camp, and picketing at Cock- 
 pit Point, each regiment of the brigade in its turn. In addi- 
 tion, when the weather was favorable and the ground dry 
 enough, there was company and regimental drill. Both to 
 give the men employment and to train them in soldierly ways, 
 
18 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Colonels Hood and Archer insisted on daily guard mountings 
 and dress parades. In the way of indoor amusements there 
 were cards, checkers, backgammon, and chess, and, with the 
 cards, more or less gambling for small stakes. The Richmond 
 press was enterprising, and daily papers supplied the news, 
 and in discussing these, announcing and listening to plans of 
 campaigns and comments and criticisms on this, that, and the 
 other subject, there was little time given to such solitary com- 
 munings with one's self as so often encourages discontent and 
 gloom. The one monotony was the staying in one place — ^thc 
 grievous lack was feminine society. 
 
 In preparations for active operations in the field, there was 
 a general shifting about of commands. Among the orders 
 issued was one placing together, as a division to be com- 
 manded by the senior brigadier-general, of the Texas Brigade 
 and that of General W. H. C. Whiting. Whiting's brigade — 
 the Third Brigade it is often called in reports — was then com- 
 posed of the Fourth Alabama, the Sixth North Carolina, and 
 the Second and Eleventh Mississippi regiments. While each 
 of these regiments had taken a prominent and gallant part 
 in the battle of First Manassas, one of them, the Fourth Ala- 
 bama, was the command in appealing to which at that engage- 
 ment General Bernard E. Bee fixed upon Jackson the sobri- 
 quet of " Stonewall." Whiting, as ranking officer, assumed 
 command of the division. Colonel E. M. Law, of the Fourth 
 Alabama, commanding the Whiting brigade. Thenceforward 
 until after the seven days of battle around Richmond, the divi- 
 sion was known and spoken of as " Whiting's division." After 
 those battles Whiting was not with the division, and Hood 
 commanding it, it came to be known as " Hood's division," 
 and Whiting's brigade came to be known as " Law's brigade." 
 In October, 1862, Hood was made major-general of a division 
 composed of Law's, the Texas, Bcnning's, and Anderson's 
 brigades. At the same time Law was made a brigadier- 
 general and assigned to the command of the old Whiting 
 brigade, and Colonel Jerome B. Robertson, of the Fifth Texas, 
 was also made a brigadier-general and given command of the 
 Texas Brigade. 
 
 The Eighteenth Georgia regiment was composed of com- 
 panies hailing from middle Georgia. Its field officers were 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 19 
 
 Colonel William T. Wofford, Lieutenant-Colonel S. Z. RufF, 
 and Major Jefferson Johnson. It was transferred from the 
 Texas Brigade, after the battle of Sharpsburg, to one com- 
 posed entirely of Georgia troops, and of which Colonel Wof- 
 ford was made brigadier-general. A brave and gallant com- 
 mand while in the Texas Brigade, it continued the same 
 throughout the war. 
 
 Hampton's Legion, as originally organized, consisted of 
 seven companies of infantry, four of cavalry, and one of artil- 
 lery. During the spring of 1862, this organization was dis- 
 solved. The infantry companies, retaining the name of 
 " Hampton's Legion," were formed into a battalion, and as- 
 signed to the Texas Brigade before the seven days' battles 
 around Richmond. To it was added another company of 
 infantry. Company H. Its field officers were Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Martin W. Gary, and Major Harvey Dingle. About 
 the close of Longstreet's Knoxville campaign, the Legion was 
 mounted, and ordered to report for duty at Richmond, Va., 
 under Brigadier-General Martin W. Gary. As infantry the 
 Legion had a grit, a staying quality, and a dash that was 
 admirable, and as cavalry it maintained its reputation as a 
 hard fighter. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Fkedericksburg — YoEKTOWN — Eltham's Landing 
 
 The winter of 1861-2, in the latitude of Virginia, was one of 
 great length and severity. The Texans, however, soon grew 
 fairly well inured to the cold, and after the Christmas holi- 
 days there was a speedy return of health and appetite — the 
 latter finding pleasant regalement and ample satisfaction in 
 the abundance, variety and excellent quality of the rations then 
 issued and obtainable. In brief, they were beginning to feel in 
 a measure " to the manner bom," and very much " at home," 
 when, about the first days of March, 1862, a rumor spread that 
 some general movement of the Southern army was in imme- 
 diate contemplation. That rumor was based on fact. Gen- 
 eral George B. McClellan, the so-called " Young Napoleon of 
 the West," was now in command of the Federal army. Aban- 
 doning all thought of another " on to Richmond " by tho 
 Manassas route, he planned to concentrate his forces on the 
 peninsula below Yorktown, and thence move on the Confeder- 
 ate capital by a route lying between the York and James 
 Rivers. To place his army in position to meet this movement 
 General Jos. E. Johnston, the Confederate commander, made 
 preparations to withdraw from the Manassas line to the south 
 side of the Rappahannock, and in his injudicious haste sacri- 
 ficed immense stores of military supplies. 
 
 The Texas Brigade bade farewell to its winter-quarters on 
 the morning of March 8, 1862, and after a march of two days 
 over snow-covei-cd ground encamped four miles northwest of 
 Fredericksburg. In the meantime, Wigfall liad resigned his 
 commission as brigadier-general, and to fill tlie vacancy thus 
 created. President Davis promoted Hood to the rank of briga- 
 dier and assigned him to the command of the brigade. A few 
 days after he assumed command, our Texas scouts reported 
 that Federal General Sickles, with one or more brigades of 
 infantr}', had crossed the Potomac at or near Cockpit Point, 
 
 20 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 21 
 
 and was moving toward Fredericksburg. Too ambitious to 
 neglect so favorable an opportunity to display his general- 
 ship, and at the same time test the fighting qualities of his 
 command, General Hood at once sought and obtained per- 
 mission from his superiors to lead the Texas Brigade across 
 the Rappahannock and teach the enemy a lesson. Our march 
 was rapid, but not a man lagged by the wayside. It was a 
 " wild-goose " chase, though ; General Sickles not only heard of 
 our approach in his direction in time to evade an attack, but 
 must also have heard the threatening boasts of his presumedly 
 blood-thirsty antagonists ; at any rate, when the brigade came 
 to the place where he was said to be encamped, he was not 
 there, having beat a hasty retreat to the shelter of gunboats 
 on the Potomac. The Texas Brigade, therefore, had no re- 
 course but to return to its camp and await another chance 
 to show its mettle. 
 
 General Magruder, who with about ten thousand Confed- 
 erates was holding McClellan at bay on the Peninsula, now 
 began to call for assistance. Magruder's line extended from 
 the York River at Yorktown, the scene of Comwallis' surrender 
 to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, 
 to the James River on the south, a distance of twelve or fifteen 
 miles. Because the abandonment of that line would expose 
 Norfolk to capture, Mr. Davis insisted on holding it. General 
 Johnston deemed such an attempt inadvisable ; flanked as the 
 narrow peninsula was by the York and James Rivers, the one 
 navigable as high up as West Point, and the other all the way 
 up to Richmond, it would be a trap, he argued, for the Con- 
 federate army. Heavily fortified as was Yorktown at the 
 mouth of York River, its guns could not be relied on to block 
 the way of gunboats into that stream. That way once 
 opened. Federal troops might be landed at points along the 
 stream whence by a march of a few miles they could cut the 
 Confederates off from Richmond. But Mr. Davis was not 
 only commander-in-chief, but insistent, and obeying his orders, 
 Johnston moved his army to Yorktown. 
 
 The Texas Brigade moved from Fredericksburg on the 8th 
 day of April, going by railroad to a point near Richmond, and 
 thence marching to Yorktown. It was the first long tramp it 
 had been called on to undertake, and as the roads were too 
 
22 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 sandy to afford firm footholds, it arrived at its destination on 
 the 15th, footsore and tired. Fortunately for its comfort, 
 it was assigned to no specific duty. Troops which had pre- 
 ceded it had relieved Magruder's weary soldiers. Its ad- 
 venturous spirits, however, were not content to spend their 
 time in idleness, and so sought sport and excitement in sharp- 
 shooting and scouting. Armed as most of the Texans were 
 with Minnie and Enfield rifles, and accustomed as they were 
 to the use of fire-arms from their earliest bo3'hood, their marks- 
 manship proved so superior to that of the Federals that it was 
 not long before their appearance on the firing line was hailed 
 with delight by their comrade Confederates, and viewed with 
 apprehension by the Federals. 
 
 About the first of May General Johnston received informa- 
 tion that his opponent. General INIcClellan, had ordered a gen- 
 eral advance of his army. Delaying only long enough to 
 make sure of McClellan's intentions. General Johnston on 
 the 3rd of May ordered the retreat of the Confederate army. 
 But since to the Texas Brigade was assigned the honor of being 
 the rear guard on the road leading from Yorktown to Wil- 
 liamsburg, twelve miles above, it did not move until daylight 
 of the 4th. Formed into line then, it made good use of its 
 legs, and by 10 a. m. overtook the troops under General Long- 
 street which had halted four miles short of Williamsburg — their 
 object to check the advance of the enemy and give, time for 
 the wagon trains to get beyond tiie danger line. But the 
 Texas Brigade came to no halt; instead, it went steadily on, 
 and taking a right hand road, left Williamsburg to its left — 
 its objective point, the York River at or near Elthain's Land- 
 ing, where, it was believed by General Johnston, ^IcClellan 
 would make a prompt effort to land a sufficient force to inter- 
 cept the Confederate retreat and probably capture its wagon 
 and artillery' trains. The event proved the tiiith of the sur- 
 mise, for on the moniing of May 7 a large part of P'ranklin's 
 Federal division landed there. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th the Texas Brigade encamped in 
 the forest, within two miles of the landing. During that day 
 and the following night General Hood located tlie point at 
 which the landing would be attempted, and early the next 
 moniing led the brigade, in advance of all other troops, to- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 23 
 
 ward it. His own account of the battle that ensued is to be 
 found in his book, " Advance and Retreat " : 
 
 " While in bivouac opposite West Point, General Whiting 
 infonned me that a large body of the enemy had disembarked 
 at Eltham's Landing ; that our cavalry was on picket upon the 
 high ground overlooking the valley of the York River, and 
 instructed me to move my brigade in that direction, and drive 
 the enemy back if he attempted to advance from under cover 
 of his gunboats. Pursuant to imperative orders, the men had 
 not been allowed to march with loaded guns during the re- 
 treat. On the 7th, at the head of my command, I proceeded 
 in the direction of Eltham's, Avith the intention to halt and 
 load the muskets upon our arrival at the cavalry outpost. I 
 soon reached the rear of a small cabin upon the crest of the 
 hill, where I found one of our cavalrymen half asleep. The 
 head of the column, marching by the right flank, with the 
 Fourth Texas in the front, was not more than twenty 
 or thirty paces in my rear, when, simultaneously with my 
 arrival at the station of this cavalry picket, a skirmish line, 
 supported by a large body of the enemy, met me face to face. 
 The slope from the cabin toward the York River was abrupt, 
 and consequently, I did not discover the Federals till we were 
 almost close enough to shake hands. I leaped from my horse, 
 ran to the head of my column, then about fifteen paces in rear, 
 gave the command, ' Forward into line,' and ordered the men 
 to load. The Federals immediately opened fire, but halted 
 as they perceived our long line in rear. Meanwhile, a corporal 
 of the enemy drew down his musket upon me as I stood in 
 front of my line. John Deal, a private in Company A, Fourth 
 Texas, had fortunately, in this instance, but contrary to 
 orders, charged his rifle before leaving camp ; he instantly 
 killed the corporal, who fell within a few feet of me. At 
 the time I ordered the leading regiment to change front for- 
 ward on the first company, I also sent directions to the troops 
 in rear to follow up the movement and load their arms, which 
 was promptly executed. The brigade then gallantly advanced, 
 and drove the Federals, within the space of about two hours, a 
 distance of one mile and a half to the cover of their gunboats. 
 When we struck their main line quite a spirited engagement 
 took place, which, however, proved to be only a temporar3' 
 
24 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 stand before attaining the immediate shelter of their vessels of 
 war. Hampton's Brigade, near the close of the action, came 
 to our support, and performed efficient service on the right." 
 
 In closing his account, General Hood says : " This affair, 
 which brought the brigade so suddenly and unexpectedly under 
 fire for the first time, sensed as a happy introduction to the 
 enemy." To that statement he might have added that it was 
 also the first time that he himself commanded in battle a larger 
 force than a single regiment, and had an opportunity to dis- 
 play his generalship. To do justice both to himself and the 
 Texas Brigade, he should have gone more into detail. A pri- 
 vate of the Fourth Texas gives the following particulars : 
 
 " We marched out of camp that morning, at daylight, each 
 of us wondering where we were going, and not a soul of us 
 suspecting that an enemy was near. We went about a mile 
 and a half, and the Fourth Texas in advance, were passing 
 through a field dotted with pine stumps, and approaching a 
 house situated on the crest of the hill overlooking York River 
 valley. Hood and some member of his staff, and perhaps a 
 courier or two, rode about fifty yards ahead of Company A, 
 the leading company. To the left of the road, and about 
 forty yards from the house, sat a cavalryman, apparently fast 
 asleep on the back of his steed. Hood rode on by him, but 
 had not gone ten steps when a party of Federals, fifteen or 
 twenty in number, sprang from behind the house, and fired a 
 volley at us. For a second, consternation prevailed. Not a 
 man of us had his gun loaded, and there was a pell-mell scat- 
 tering to take shelter behind the many stumps. Hood 
 wheeled his horse, and shouting, ' Fall into line, men — fall into 
 line,' came dashing back at full speed toward us. Half way 
 to us, he noticed that nobody was paying any attention to 
 him, and he shouted, * Get into line, men — get into line. Fourth 
 Texas! Is my old regiment going to play hell right here?' 
 Just then a Yankee stepped out from behind the house, and 
 seeing him, John Deal — the one and only one of us that had 
 a loaded gun — tlropped to his knees, took careful aim and 
 laid tlie daring fellow low. In another second every gun in 
 the connnand was loaded, and the men began moving into line, 
 and having formed a semblance of one, rushed forward to the 
 crest of the hill and commenced firing at the Yankees now in 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 25 
 
 swift retreat across an open field in the valley between us and 
 heavily timbered land. The other regiments of our brigade 
 moved quickly up on the right of the Fourth, and within five 
 minutes such of the Federal skirmishers as were not killed or 
 wounded had fallen back to the protection of the timber. 
 
 " Hood then ordered forward a skirmish line, and following 
 it, we crossed the open field in the valley and gained the tim- 
 ber beyond. Then, the Fourth Texas, the only regiment 
 whose movements I know anything about, began hunting for 
 the enemy. But although there was an abundance of Yankees 
 near us, as was evident from the firing on our right and left, 
 not one of them appeared in front of the Fourth. Its only 
 loss was from the volley fired at us on top of the hill. By that, 
 one man was seriously wounded. The same volley, I have al- 
 ways understood, killed Captain Denny, the commissary of the 
 Fifth Texas. As to that, I cannot speak positively; I was 
 having my first experience in being shot at, and was therefore 
 observant of only what occurred in my own regiment, and 
 near at hand. In saying that the other regiments of the bri- 
 gade moved quickly up on the right of the Fourth Texas, I 
 may be in error, for one or the other of them might have 
 formed on its left." 
 
 As adjutant of the Fifth Texas, Lieutenant Campbell Wood 
 should be good authority concerning the movements of his 
 regiment. Writing of the events of the day, he says : 
 
 " I am positively certain that the Fifth Texas was assigned 
 to the duty of opening the battle. I am equally certain that 
 no other regiment went in with us, or was at any time during 
 the battle aligned with us. The Fifth was drawn up in line 
 in an old field or meadow back of a httle village, when, riding 
 out in front of it. Colonel Archer said: ' Fifth Texas, I have 
 sought and obtained permission for you to open the ball this 
 morning.' Then he gave the orders, ' Right face, file left — 
 Forward ! March ! ' We moved across the opening, and soon 
 struck the timber, taking a road on each side of which was 
 a dense thicket of undergrowth in full leaf. No skirmishers 
 or scouts advanced in front of us, and judging from that fact, 
 I could not beheve a battle was imminent. I forgot to say 
 that before giving the command, ' Forward,' Colonel Archer 
 ordered the men to load their guns, but not to cap them. 
 
26 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " We marched down the road toward West Point in column 
 of four ranks, Colonel Archer and Captain Dennj' rode at the 
 head of the regiment, and I trudged along on foot, imme- 
 diately behind Archer. Archer and Denny rode slowly-, and 
 the men kept close up, talking a little as was usual on a march. 
 Just as we approached quite near to an old shack of a house, 
 a Federal sergeant and eiglit men jumped from behind it and 
 fired a volley at us. All their bullets excepting one went wild, 
 but that one struck and killed Captain Denny, and he fell from 
 his horse. Archer immediately ordered the men to cap their 
 guns. Many of them, however, had capped theirs when they 
 loaded them, and tliese men sprang from the ranks and fired 
 at our assailants, killing and mortally wounding ever}' one 
 of them. 
 
 " Breaking into a double-quick, and following close on the 
 heels of two or three men Archer had ordered to keep well in 
 advance of us, we went forward several hundred j^ards and 
 halted. Here we caught a glimpse of some troops in line to 
 the left of our front, and some of our men began to fire at 
 them. Colonel Arclicr put an instant stop to the firing, being 
 uncertain whether the parties aimed at were friends or foes, 
 and ordered me to take the first platoon of Company D and 
 deploy it in skirmish line to the right of the road. He also, 
 I think, ordered Lieutenant W. T. Hill, or Captain Powell, to 
 deploy the second platoon of the same company' on the left 
 of the road. Just at this juncture a couple of young fellows 
 came running to us from our left, to tell us that it was Hamp- 
 ton's Legion that was out there. Archer told me that he 
 thought the First Texas was somewhere on our right, and 
 cautioned me not to fire on it. 
 
 " But the First Texas was not on our right, as I soon ascer- 
 tained and reported; it was the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania 
 Bucktails. Archer ordered me to give them h — 11 and the boj's 
 of my platoon did it, for when fonncd in line of battle the 
 Fifth was struggling througli the undergrowth, it passed and 
 counted forty dead bucktails, killed by my platoon in its first 
 volley. The undcrgrowtli was so thick that Ave could see 
 but a little way ahead. While the regiment Avas thus ad- 
 vancing, I located the whereabouts of the Fii-st Texas by the 
 sound of Colonel Rainey's voice, but whether it came from 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 27 
 
 the right or left, I am not sure. I did not see him, or the 
 First Texas, but I heard him call out to his men, in the shrill, 
 penetrating voice that was so peculiar to him : ' G — d d — n it, 
 boys ! Swing around there on the right ! The Je-e-e-sus ! 
 Did you hear that bullet? ' 
 
 " The Fifth continued its advance to the river, where the men 
 now pretty well exhausted by their long run over and through 
 the undergrowth, laid down in a cedar thicket, so near the 
 gunboats that we could see the smoke from their smokestacks, 
 and hear the puffing of the steam from their boilers. The fire 
 of their guns, of course, passed over us. 
 
 " While lying in the cedar thicket, some troops came up 
 within thirty yards of our right flank, and formed in line fac- 
 ing the river. Thinking they were one of the regiments of 
 our brigade, I walked up pretty close to them and asked what 
 regiment it was. ' Eighteenth Ohio,' came the reply, clear-cut 
 and distinct. I immediately reported the fact to Colonel 
 Archer, and when he had taken a near enough look at them to 
 see they wore blue, he ordered the regiment to move as quietly 
 as possible to the rear, which they did, and an hour later the 
 Fifth got in line with the other regiments of the brigade." 
 
 Lieutenant Wood's account is not so widely at variance 
 with that of General Hood as to require any effort to recon- 
 cile them. At best. Hood's is but a partial account, many 
 things having happened that day which are unmentioned. 
 General Hood owed Colonel Archer a good turn. At the time 
 he was promoted to a generalcy. Archer ranked him by senior- 
 ity, and was thus entitled to the promotion in preference to 
 Hood. But as Hood gracefully says in his " Advance and 
 Retreat," when Archer learned of Hood's advancement, he 
 went immediately to that officer's tent, and warmly congratu- 
 lating him, expressing his entire willingness to serve under him. 
 It was in appreciation of this self-abnegation on the part of 
 Colonel Archer, that Hood gave him, at Eltham's Landing, the 
 privilege of " opening the ball " with the Fifth Texas. 
 
 However, " Man proposes and God disposes." Even if the 
 Fifth Texas was first to advance, and went further than other 
 regiments, it was the First Texas that bore the brunt of the 
 battle of the day ; for it was the only regiment that came 
 squarely up against a battle line of the Federals, and face to 
 
28 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 face with it, struggled for and won the victory. Its greater 
 loss than any other regiment attests the greater risk it en- 
 countered, and the courage it exhibited. While the Fourth 
 Texas lost but one killed and one wounded, and the Fifth 
 Texas two killed, five wounded and two missing, the First 
 Texas lost fifteen killed, nineteen wounded — more than three 
 times as many as both the other Texas regiments. Among its 
 killed was Lieutenant-Colonel H. H. Black. 
 
 What part in the affair the Eigliteenth Georgia took, and 
 whether it suffered any loss, cannot be stated. It is probable 
 that it was held in reserve. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 Richmond — Seven Pines — Gaines' Mill 
 
 Two hours before dawn of the 8th of May, the Texas Bri- 
 gade was quietly awakened by its officers, and ordered to form 
 in Hne as quickly and silently as possible, in readiness for 
 rapid marching. No noise was to be made, for during the 
 night the Federals had landed in large force and pushed for- 
 ward to the hill-tops, and only by the stealthiest of movements 
 could we hope to escape without a fight against overwhelming 
 numbers. In checking the landing and the advance of the 
 enemy on the previous day, we had accomplished all that was 
 desired. Our wagon and artillery trains were far on their 
 way to Richmond, and the troops under Longstreet, whom we 
 had passed beyond Wilhamsburg, had held McClellan's main 
 army at bay long enough to secure their own safe retreat. 
 The Texas Brigade only was still in danger. 
 
 It moved at a lively gait, and by noon overtook the main 
 army, and passing within the picket lines came to its first halt 
 during the day in a thicket of laurels, about three miles from 
 Long Bridge, across the Chickahominy. Here it rested until 
 about 10 p. M. of the 9th, when under a torrential downpour of 
 rain, in a darkness that was almost impenetrable, and over a 
 road knee-deep in mud, and in places waist-deep in water, it 
 straggled to and across the bridge named — each man, as he 
 reached the high ground beyond the Chickahominy, dropping 
 to the ground, and without effort to find his company or regi- 
 ment, going to sleep. But by 9 a. m. of the next day, order 
 was restored, each soldier with his command, and late after- 
 noon found the Texas Brigade in camp about five miles from 
 Richmond. 
 
 The war was now on in good earnest. The over-sanguine, 
 fire-eating secessionists who at the outset predicted that but 
 one battle would be needed to conquer a peace and indepen- 
 dence, had withdrawn from the public gaze, and were now busy 
 
30 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 in search of such governmental cmploj'ment in their respective 
 States, or under the Confederacy, as would exempt them from 
 military service. Every port in the South was blockaded, and 
 its communication with Europe cut off. Federal troops were 
 stationed or in active movement in every State of the Con- 
 federacy except Texas and Louisiana. Union successes 
 marked the beginning months of 1862, both in the East and 
 in the West. Roanoke Island and Fort !\Iacon, in North 
 Carolina, and Fort Pulaski, near Savannah, Ga., had been 
 captured ; Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Don- 
 elson on the Cumberland had both fallen, and with them 
 Nashville had been lost. The battle of Shiloh had been fought, 
 but altliough claimed as a victory by the Confederates, ac- 
 complished but little for the Southern cause. As said by a 
 Southern historian, " to the Confederates, Shiloh did not seem 
 to be a defeat, but rather, the disappointment of a hope almost 
 realized." 
 
 As offsets to these reverses to, or failures to win on the 
 part of the Confederates, Stonewall Jackson in the Shenan- 
 doah valley of Virginia had been keeping the Federal forces 
 there, under Banks, ]Milroy, Fremont and Siegel, constantly 
 on the go — winning battle after battle from them, and cap- 
 turing large stores of military supplies much needed by the 
 Southern armies. Jackson's victories, though, were not on 
 a sufficiently large scale to inspire the thoughtful mind of that 
 day with any great confidence. Indeed, much of the con- 
 fidence inspired by them was lost when it was known that 
 General Johnston was retreating from the peninsula. This 
 retrograde movement insured the loss to the Confederacy of 
 Newport and the navy yard there, and thus put an end to any 
 sanguine hope of building a Confederate navy, for by it the 
 nucleus of that navy would be hemmed up in James River. 
 
 Tliere . was no corresponding loss of confidence, though, 
 among the (Confederates actually in the field in Virginia. 
 They were " built of sterner stuff " than were the many who 
 sought either exemption from any military service or such 
 service only as could be performed in places where the missiles 
 of war were not likely to reach them. Having enlisted as 
 soldiers in a cause they believed just, and having implicit faith 
 in the generals then in command of them, they let no reverses 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE SI 
 
 discourage them and remained not only firm and unshaken in 
 detemiination, but optimistic. As for the Texas Brigade, it 
 had come altogether too far in search of a fight to allow itself 
 to be discouraged. It had tested its mettle at Eltham's Land- 
 ing, had smelled the smoke of battle, and heard the screech of 
 shells and the hissing of bullets, and had shrunk from none of 
 the dangers, and with Hood in command of it, and Joe John- 
 ston, of the army, why should it fear disaster .? 
 
 General Johnston placed his army in position south of the 
 Chickahominy to guard all the approaches to Richmond on 
 the north side of James River. McClellan advanced with 
 cautious and seemingly timid deliberation to the north bank 
 of the Chickahominy, and in a few days set his pioneer corps 
 to work repairing the partially destroyed bridges across that 
 stream — ^in the meantime calling insistently for reinforce- 
 ments. He then had a force of over 100,000, but Johnston, 
 he claimed, had still more men. He particularly insisted that 
 the large force of Federals at Fredericksburg, under com- 
 mand of McDowell, should be ordered to move over and take 
 position on his right flank. But Mr. Lincoln and his ad- 
 visers at Washington, although promising much, did little. 
 Least of all would they, for quite a while, consent that Mc- 
 Dowell should go farther from Washington than he then was. 
 To let him do so would be to expose the Federal capital to 
 capture by Stonewall Jackson. 
 
 Over one of the bridges across the Chickahominy, at last 
 in tolerable repair, McClellan threw two corps of his army 
 which immediately took position at Seven Pines and Fair 
 Oaks station, points east and about eight miles from 
 Richmond. About the same time he extended his right to 
 Mechanicsville, a hamlet about northeast from Richmond, 
 placing it under command of Fitz-John Porter, and protect- 
 ing it by earth and timber works, abatis and fallen timber. 
 This was about the 24th of May. Learning of it, and also 
 of Jackson's retirement toward Staunton in the Shenandoah 
 valley, Mr. Lincoln consented that McDowell should march 
 to the assistance of McClellan. Informed of the state of 
 affairs. General Johnston decided to attack McClellan before 
 McDowell could arrive, and therefore planned an attack on 
 the Federal right at Mechanicsville by a flank movement. The 
 
32 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 troops were marching to their positions when intcllip^ence came 
 that Stonewall Jackson had won a great victory at Winches- 
 ter, and that McDowell was already marching north and away 
 from Richmond, and Johnston abandoned the flanking 
 movement. 
 
 Then Johnston planned the battle of Seven Pines — an at- 
 tack on the two Federal corps then on the Richmond side of 
 the Chickahominy. His orders obeyed in letter and spirit and 
 with proper concert of action, the success promised would 
 undoubtedly have been achieved. But they were not so 
 obeyed. The scene of operations was a wilderness of swampy, 
 heavil^'-timbered pine land, made almost impenetrable by 
 tangled undergrowth, and traversed by dim roads of which 
 there were no maps accessible; the guides secured were in- 
 competent ; jealousy was rife among connnanding officers of 
 brigades and divisions, and there was no concert of action ; 
 and the upshot was a victory fruitful only in the loss of life. 
 General Johnston needlessly exposed himself, and was wounded 
 just when his presence on the field might have accomplished 
 most good. The command devolved upon General G. W. 
 Smith as next in rank, but before he could thoroughly acquaint 
 himself with the position of his troops, was conferred b)' ^Ir. 
 Davis, the President, on General Robert E. Lee, and by his 
 command the assaulting forces withdrew from the field. 
 
 Since crossing the Chickahomin}', the Texas Brigade had 
 not, as a command, been called into active sers'ice. Its men, 
 however, did not remain entirely idle. Occasionally, scouting 
 was ordered ; frequently it was volunteered by individuals, by 
 couples and by parties large and small. When the Federals 
 first got foothold on the Richmond side of the Chickahominy, 
 General Johnston himself called for a detail of one hundred 
 and fifty men from the brigade, and sent them fonvard into 
 the swamps to feel of the enemy and ascertain his position. 
 Going farther and taking greater risks than similar parties 
 from other commands, the Texas scouts not only engaged in 
 several heavy skirmishes and inflicted considerable loss on the 
 Federals, but also secured the only accurate information 
 obtained. 
 
 It was intended that the brigade sliould bear a prominent 
 part at Seven Pines ; but although on the ground in proper 
 
John M. Pincknkv 
 Company G, P'ourth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 33 
 
 place and time, and for the better part of two days exposed 
 to artillery fire and several times to that of musketry aimed 
 at compatriot commands in its front, the most diligent efforts 
 of General Hood failed to secure it an opportunity to meet 
 the foe, face to face. Nevertheless, eighteen of its men were 
 wounded more or less seriously. 
 
 General Lee was no sooner in command of the army than 
 he commenced scheming to raise the threatened siege of Rich- 
 mond before it was fairly under weigh. The plan fixed upon 
 was to reinforce Stonewall Jackson, who was still in the Shen- 
 andoah valley, and thus impressing the Federal authorities 
 with the belief that an attack was contemplated on Washing- 
 ton city, cause them to withhold reinforcements from Mc- 
 Clellan. That accomplished, Jackson was to make a sudden 
 descent, with his whole force, upon McClellan's right flank and 
 rear in the vicinity of Mechanicsville — his attack to be joined 
 in by the Confederate troops around Richmond. 
 
 The plan Avas brilliant in conception, but was audacious in 
 the extreme. At the date its execution began, Lee had but 
 57,000 men. With these he must hold at bay McClellan's 
 115,000, near 80,000 of whom were then strongly intrenched 
 on the south side of the Chickahominy, with outposts within 
 five miles of the Confederate capital, and not only in sight of 
 the city, but in hearing of its church-bells. But Lee did not 
 hesitate ; aware that McClellan's bump of caution was of ab- 
 normal development, and knowing how insistently and per- 
 sistently he was appealing for reinforcements, Lee felt con- 
 fident he would make no immediate advance. On the 11th of 
 June, Whiting's division, composed of his own and the Texas 
 Brigade — the latter strengthened since Eltham's Landing b}'' 
 the transfer to it of Hampton's South Carolina Legion — 
 marched into and through the streets of Richmond with ban- 
 ners flying and drums beating, and boarding trains, set out 
 by way of Lynchburg for the Shenandoah valle3^, there, as was 
 proclaimed publicly by officers high in rank, to join Jackson 
 in an " on to Washington." Federal spies communicated the 
 tidings to the Federal authorities at once; McClellan knew 
 them two days in advance, and Jackson, never happier than 
 when deceiving an enemy, aided the deception by arranging 
 that Federal surgeons within his lines, but on the eve of de- 
 
34» HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 parture, should overhear a conversation between certain of 
 his officers in which they spoke of the reinforcements coming 
 and of Jackson's desi^ to essay the capture of Washin^on. 
 
 Arriving at Lynchburg, Whiting's division remained there 
 two days. Then boarding the cars again, it went on to Char- 
 lottesville, where it rested another day, and thence proceeded 
 by train to Staunton, at the head of the Shenandoah valley. 
 General Whiting, a brave and capable officer, but with, per- 
 haps, a rather exaggerated sense of his own importance, went 
 in person to General Jackson to report the arrival of his 
 division, receive orders, and incidentally, secure information 
 as to plans and purposes. " Hold yourself and command, sir, 
 in readiness to march at six o'clock ^Monday morning," was 
 the only order given him, and it was given in the curt tone 
 habitually employed by " Stonewall " when issuing his com- 
 mands. For two seconds. General Whiting sat silent, waiting 
 for the information that he thought would surely be vouch- 
 safed him. Then with an assurance bom of the conscious- 
 ness that in the old regular army of the United States he 
 ranked the man in whose presence he was, he asked, " In what 
 direction will we march, General.'' " " That will be made 
 known to you, sir, at the proper time," answered Jackson, and 
 with that. Whiting had, perforce, to be content. 
 
 Monday morning came, and to the surprise and mystifica- 
 tion of officers and men alike, instead of moving down the 
 Shenandoah valley, the division marched eastward along the 
 road leading across the Blue Ridge from Staunton to 
 Charlottesville. 
 
 " Where are we going. Captain ? " asked a Texas private, 
 sidling up to the commander of his company. " Damfiknow," 
 was the repl}' ; " but I'll mosey along up to the head of the 
 regiment, and ask the colonel." " Where in the mischief and 
 Tom Walker are we going. Colonel? " queried the captain 
 of the colonel, as after considerable fast walking he overtook 
 that mounted officer. " I'll be dumed if I know," answered 
 the colonel ; " General Hood hasn't told me yet, but I'll let you 
 know as soon as he does." But when the colonel applied to 
 Hood for the desired infonnation. Hood said, " I don't know," 
 as promptly as did General Wliiting when Hood propounded 
 tlie now burning question to him. Meanwhile the division 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE S5 
 
 marched on until, high up on the mountain side, a halt was 
 called. What was said to the regiments of Whiting's Brigade 
 is not known, but to each of those of the Texas Brigade Gen- 
 eral Hood made a short speech in which he said that the 
 division was now subject to the orders of General Jackson, 
 to whom alone its destination was known, and that to all 
 questions asked, it was Jackson's order that the men should 
 answer, " I do not know." " But, fellow-soldiers," said Hood 
 in conclusion, " while I myself do not know where we are 
 going, I can assure you that such of you as keep up with your 
 command, will witness and take part in stirring and glorious 
 events." 
 
 That Hood's words but added to the mystification and in- 
 creased the curiosity already prevailing, needs not the telling. 
 All that day, and indeed until the morning of June 26th, an 
 " I do' know " preceded the answer given to any question 
 asked, the boys falling into the humor of the thing and mak- 
 ing a joke of it. As it was the invariable answer they gave 
 to each other, so it was often that which they gave to officers, 
 and occasionally it served as a means of evading punishment; 
 as, for instance, when General Jackson himself discovered one 
 of them in a tree by the roadside, busily engaged in stuflSng 
 alternate handfuls " of the fruit thereof " into his mouth and 
 haversack, and apparently, reckless that such depredations 
 were forbidden. It is an old and oft-told story of the war, and 
 readers will remember that growing angry at the " I do' 
 knows," flippantly uttered in response to each of his ques- 
 tions, Jackson finally asked why it was he was so answered, 
 and the impudent fellow replied : " Because them's ole Stone- 
 wall Jackson's orders, an' I'm goin' to obey 'em, or bust." 
 
 Previous to the halt of the Texas Brigade and his speech to 
 each of its regiments, General Hood had an experience that 
 was amusing enough to be told by himself. There were many 
 stills in the secluded nooks of the Blue Ridge, and by 9 a. m. 
 many of the boys were in a good humor, more than a few 
 were staggering, and apple-jack brandy could be had out of 
 dozens of canteens. To prevent any straggling for the pur- 
 pose of replenishing empty canteens. Hood authorized the 
 statement, which was industriously circulated and really be- 
 lieved, that small-pox was raging among the citizens living 
 
36 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 along our route. Riding by himself, half a mile in rear of 
 the brigade, he discovered, lying in the middle of the road and 
 obviously very drunk, a member of the Fourth Texas. 
 
 Checking his horse, the general asked : " Wliat is the mat- 
 ter with you, sir.'' Why are you not with your company.''" 
 The stern and peremptory voice brought the culprit to a sit- 
 ting posture, and looking at the general with drunken gravit}', 
 he said: " Nussin much, I reckon. General — I jus' feel sorter 
 weak an' no account." "So I see, sir," said Hood; "get 
 up at once and rejoin your company." The fellow made sev- 
 eral ineffectual attempts to obey, but each time fell back on 
 the ground, and a few sober stragglers coming along just then, 
 Hood ordered them to take him in charge and conduct him to 
 his company. But as they approached to carry out the order, 
 the fellow found voice to say between hiccoughs : " Don't you 
 fellers that ain't been vaccinated come near me — I've got the 
 small-pox — tha's wha's the masser with me." 
 
 The stragglers shrank back in alarm, and the general, 
 laughing at the way his own chickens had come home to roost, 
 said, " Let him alone, then — some of the teamsters will pick 
 him up," and rode on. 
 
 That day — it was the 16th of June — Whiting's division 
 marched twenty long miles, halting, shortly' after dark, in the 
 vicinity of a station on the railroad leading from Staunton, via 
 Ciiarlottesville, to Gordonvillc, known as ]Meechuam's. 
 Tlicncc, on trains and on foot — riding ten miles and footing 
 it twenty, in alternation with other troops — we proceeded b}' 
 way of Gordonsville to the neighborhood of Frederick's Hall, 
 distant about ninety miles from Richmond — arriving there in 
 the afternoon of June 21, and camping in a dense woodland. 
 By dark every regiment and brigade under Jackson's com- 
 mand was on hand, and lest infonnation of their presence be 
 carried to the cnenu', were surrounded b}' a line of cavalry 
 antl infantry pickets whose orders were to allow the passage 
 of neither soldier nor citizen beyond their line, unless he had 
 a pass signed by Jackson himself. In addition, and in aid of 
 the outside picket line, around each separate command a guard 
 was stationed whose duty it was to prevent all straying from 
 camp. Such restrictions upon freedom of movement were not 
 resented, however; the troops had been constantly on the move 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 37 
 
 for ten days or more, and rest was not only needed but grate- 
 lully enjoyed. 
 
 At midnight of the 22nd— he would not start sooner lest he 
 violate the m junction, " Keep the Sabbath day holy "—Jack- 
 son mounted his horse, and accompanied by a single courier, 
 rode at a gallop toward Richmond, to report the whereabouts 
 of his command to General Lee, and to plan for concert of 
 movement between his own and the troops then near Rich- 
 mond He reached the city at 2 p. m. of the 23rd, and an 
 hour later had made his report to General Lee and was in con- 
 ference with him, Longstreet, A. P. Hill and D. H. Hill The 
 plan agreed upon was, briefly, this: Jackson was to march 
 from Ashland at 3 a. m. of June 26th— the date and hour set 
 by himself— and following the dividing ridges between the 
 Pamunkey and Chickahominy Rivers, place his command in 
 rear and flank of the right wing of the Federal army, and turn 
 and dislodge It; A. P. Hill, upon notification that Jackson 
 had crossed the Virginia Central Railroad, to move his com- 
 mand across the upper Cliickahominy, and approaching Me- 
 chanicsville, attack the enemy there at sound of Jackson's 
 signal guns; Longstreet and D. H. Hill, when A. P Hill had 
 driven the enemy from Mechanicsville, to find passage across 
 the bridge at that place to the north side of the Chickahominy 
 Longstreet's troops taking position on the right of A P 
 Hills command, between it and the river, and assistino- it to 
 drive the Federals down the river— D. H. Hill's forces to 
 march eastward and find position on Jackson's left. Jackson 
 was enjoined to bear well to the left, "press forward toward 
 the \ork River Railroad, close upon the enemy's rear, and 
 force him down the Chickahominy, and if possible, cut him 
 oft from his_ base of supplies at the White House on the 
 Pamunkey River." 
 
 General Lee was taking risks that a commander less cour- 
 ag-eous and less confident of the courage of his army would 
 not have taken. The passage to the north side of the Chick- 
 ahominy of A. P. Hill's 11,000 men, D. H. Hill's 10,000, and 
 
 ^Zf^''f\^f^^' ^'^* °^ *^" ^°^^h ^^^^ °^ that stream but 
 dO,000 Confederates, under command of Generals Holmes, 
 Magruder and Huger, to hold in check the nearly 80,000 sol- 
 diers of the four Federal corps then in line on the Richmond 
 
38 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 side of the stream, with their intrenched advance at Fair Oaks 
 and Seven Pines. However, Lee knew tlie hesitatinf^ disposi- 
 tion of his opponent, McClellan, and events justified the risks 
 taken. 
 
 The mystery with which General Jackson surrounded his 
 movements was so well-preserved that it was not until June 
 24< that McClellan suspected he was approaching Richmond. 
 Greatly perturbed by the suspicion, he wired Stanton, the Fed- 
 eral Secretary of War, for positive information. On the 25th 
 Stanton replied that Jackson was either somewhere between 
 Gordonsville and Luraj', or in the mountains of West Virginia. 
 On the same day, Banks and Fremont, then in the lower Shen- 
 andoah valley, were apprehensive that Jackson would descend 
 on them. McClellan placed no faith in Stanton's informa- 
 tion, for replying to him, he wired: " I am inclined to tliink 
 that Jackson will attack my right and rear. The rebel force 
 is stated at 200,000, including Jackson and Beauregard." 
 
 Jackson's command marched from Frederick's Hall on Mon- 
 day, the 23rd, but owing to the excessive heat, tlie lack of 
 water along the route traveled, and the necessity of repairing 
 bridges destroyed by the Federals in a movement against Han- 
 over Court House ordered by McClellan, did not make the rapid 
 headway expected. It did not reach Ashland until tlie night 
 of the 2oth. Resuming its tramp at early dawn of tlie 26th, 
 it crossed the Virginia Central Railroad about 9 a. m. Thence, 
 the Texas Brigade, preceded by a strong line of skirmishers, 
 deployed on each side of the road, began a march which, if 
 undelayed, would have brouglit it by the middle of the after- 
 noon in contact with the main body of tlie enemy. The Fed- 
 eral commander, though, had not been idle, for not only had 
 he obstructed the roads by felling large trees across them and 
 destroying bridges, but had posted cavalry north of the Toto- 
 potomoy Creek to give notice of the approach of Confederates 
 and to delay it. This cavalry fled in such haste before our 
 skirmish line as to abandon large quantities of supplies, and 
 even the food that was cooking. But they set fire to the 
 bridge over the bogg}^ little Totopotomoy Creek, and the re- 
 pair of that occupied so much time that it was after dark 
 before the head of Jackson's column reached Hundley's Cor- 
 ner, about six miles east of Mechanicsville. 
 
Company D, Fifth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 39 
 
 Jackson's failure to arrive sooner at Hundley's Comer pro- 
 duced its embarrassments. On receiving notice that he was 
 crossing the Virginia Central Railroad, A. P. Hill led his com- 
 mand to the north side of the Chickahominy, and placed them 
 in position to make an assault on the enemy at Mechanicsville 
 as soon as Jackson's signal guns should be heard. These 
 not sounding by 3 p. m., the hour when it was calculated Jack- 
 son would begin the attack, and fearing that longer delay 
 might " hazard the failure of the whole plan," Hill ordered an 
 assault by his troops. This attack uncovered the Mechanics- 
 ville bridge, and across it D. H. Hill and Longstreet led their 
 respective commands, and joined in the fray with such spirit 
 and determination as to force the Federals back on Beaver- 
 dam Creek behind almost impregnable intrenchments. These 
 tliey held against repeated furious assaults by the Confeder- 
 ates until night brought cessation of battle. But during the 
 night McClellan received positive information that Jackson 
 was coming down on the rear of his army, and at early dawn 
 of the 27th he abandoned his position at Beaver Dam, to con- 
 centrate all his forces along the previously intrenched crest 
 and side of the ridge lying between the Chickahominy on its 
 south, and Powhite Creek on its north or northeast. 
 
 Powhite Creek empties into the Chickahominy, and is a nar- 
 row, deep-channeled and brisk-flowing little stream fed by the 
 swamps and morasses hidden in dense, thickly undergrown for- 
 ests which begin about two miles from its mouth, and extend 
 far to the east. Emerging from these tangled woods, it runs 
 for half a mile between undulating meadows, its course marked 
 by a narrow skirt of trees and passing the meadows, hides itself 
 again in the recesses of a forest that continues to its outlet. 
 On the highest point of the ridge south of it, and almost ex- 
 actly opposite the upper end of the meadow land north of it, 
 the Federals, on the morning of the 27th, massed twenty pieces 
 of heavy field artillery. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Gaines' INIill 
 
 The troops at Hundley's Coraer were early astir on the 
 fateful morning of June 27tli, 1862, and were no sooner astir 
 than they commenced inquiring as to tlie result of the battle at 
 Mechanicsville and Beaver Dam, away off on tlicir riglit. But 
 little positive information was to be had, 3'et that little was en- 
 couraging and inspiring; although at great sacrifice of life, 
 the Federals had been driven from their strongholds, but were 
 still standing defiant behind intrenchments lower down the 
 Chickahominy to which they had fallen back and from which it 
 needed only the appearance of Jackson's command in their rear 
 to compel them to retreat. But eager as were both command- 
 ing officers and their men to move forward and test conclusions, 
 A. P. Hill's unauthorized and premature attack on the 26th 
 caused many delays. 
 
 Moving at an early hour, D. H. Hill led his forces over from 
 Mechanicsville toward Hundley's Corner — his orders and ob- 
 ject, to lead the advance down the Chickahominy toward the 
 York River Railroad. By 9 a. m. his coluum had passed the 
 corner, and following close on its trail, went Ewell's command. 
 By this time it was past midday. About 1 p. m. Whiting's 
 division moved from the corner, and bearing to the right, late 
 in the afternoon formed in line confronting that of the enemy 
 — the position taken, opposite the high point of the ridge south 
 of the little creek upon which the Federals had massed their 
 twenty pieces of heav^- field artillery — the center of tlie Texas 
 Brigade exactly opposite these guns — the First Texas, Fifth 
 Texas, Hampton's Legion and all but two companies of the 
 Eighteenth Georgia, in the forest where lay the swamps and 
 morasses, and the Fourth Texas in reserve, on the right of tlie 
 Eighteenth Georgia. On the riglit of the Texas stood Whit- 
 ing's Brigade, under command of Colonel E. M. Law. Next 
 on the right was Pickett's Brigade. 
 
 40 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 41 
 
 McClellan's withdrawal from Beaver Dam In the early morn- 
 ing necessitated a readjustment of the lines of Longstreet and 
 A. P. Hill, and it was 11 a. m. before the troops of either were 
 in position to begin another assault. But though they fought 
 well and gallantly, and made charge after charge, each was 
 repulsed with terrible loss to the assailants, the twenty pieces 
 of massed artillery doing most effective service for the Fed- 
 erals against every attack upon them over the high plateau of 
 open meadow land, and the swamps and undergrowth else- 
 where in the Federal front, making rapid advance through 
 them possible. Brigade after brigade of the Confederates 
 that essayed to move forward across the meadow was halted 
 by the murderous fire of the artillery, and, save Trimble's Bri- 
 gade, driven to retreat. But although that command did not 
 fall back, it went no further than a depression on the near 
 side of the ridge immediately north of Powhite Creek. There 
 taking shelter from both bullets and shells, it kept up, for two 
 long hours, an ineffective fire from smooth-bore muskets loaded 
 with buck and ball. 
 
 " Long before we moved forward that morning," writes a 
 member of the Fourth Texas, " we began to hear the noises of 
 the fierce battle that was raging far away on our right front. 
 We were but three miles on our way to it when evidences of its 
 severity presented themselves in the persons of wounded men, 
 these increasing in numbers as we went nearer and nearer to 
 the firing line. When close in rear of A. P. Hill's command, 
 we not only saw individual stragglers by the score, but regi- 
 ments of them that were seemingly beyond the control of their 
 officers. Still further on, the signs of battle, and of failure 
 and perhaps defeat, became more numerous, and more than 
 one of the boys expressed the opinion that we had come too 
 late to do any good. But Whiting and Hood urged us on 
 with what speed could be made over roads obstructed by ar- 
 tillery and wagon trains, a constantly increasing press from 
 the front of the skulking and the wounded, and large and small 
 squads of prisoners." 
 
 In his report of the battle of Gaines' Mill, which is dated 
 July 19, 1862, and is to be found in Vol. XI, Part II, page 
 568, of War of the Rebellion records, published by the United 
 States government, General Hood says: 
 
42 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " Arriving on the field between 4 and 5 p. m., I was informed 
 by Colonel J. M. Jones, of General Ewell's staff, that his 
 troops were hard pressed and required assistance. Line of 
 battle was fonned at once with the Hampton Legion, Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel M. W. Gary commanding, on the left, with orders 
 to gain the crest of the hill in the woods and hold it, which 
 they did, the Fifth Texas, Colonel J. B. Robertson command- 
 ing, engaging the enemy on the right of the Legion, and the 
 First Texas, Colonel A. T. Rainey commanding, on the right 
 of the Fifth Texas. The brigade moved gallantly forward, 
 soon becoming engaged from left to right. The battle raged 
 with great fury all along the line as these noble troops pressed 
 steadily on, forcing the enemy to gradually give way. 
 
 " Directing in person the Fourth Texas regiment. Colonel 
 John Marshall commanding, on the right of my line, they were 
 the first troops to pierce the strong line of breastworks oc- 
 cupied by the enem}^, which caused great confusion in their 
 ranks. Here the Eighteenth Georgia, Lieutenant-Colonel S. 
 Z. RufF commanding, came to the support of the Fourth 
 Texas, and these regiments pressed on over a hotly contested 
 field, inclining from right to left, with the Fifth Texas on 
 their left, taking a large number of prisoners and capturing 
 fourteen pieces of artiller}', when night came on and farther 
 pursuit of the enemy ceased. The guns were captured b}' the 
 Fourth Texas and Eighteenth Georgia, and a regiment was 
 taken prisoners by the Fifth Texas regiment." 
 
 In his book, " Advance and Retreat," General Hood gives a 
 more detailed account of the battle. In that he sa^^s : 
 
 I moved on with all possible speed, through field and forest, in 
 tlie direction of the firinc;, and arrived, about 4. SO p. M., at a 
 point on the telegraph road, I should think not far distant from 
 the center of our attacking force. Here I found Gen. Lee, seated 
 upon his horse. He rode forward to meet me, and extending his 
 usual greeting, announced to me that our troops had been fighting 
 gallantly, but had not succeeded in dislodging the enemy: he 
 added, "This must be done. Can you break his line?" I re- 
 plied tliat I would try. I immediately formed my brigade in line 
 of battle Mith Hampton's Legion on the left. 
 
 In front was a dense woods and ugly marsh, which totally con- 
 cealed the enemy from us, but the terrible roar of artillery and 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 49 
 
 musketry plainly revealed, however, that thousands and thousands 
 of living souls were struggling in most deadly conflict for the 
 mastery of that field, and I might say, almost under the shadow 
 of the Capitol of the infant Confederacy. My line was estab- 
 lished, and moved forward, regiment by regiment, when I discov- 
 ered, as the disposition of the Eighteenth Georgia was completed, 
 an open field a little to its right. Holding in reserve the Fourth 
 Texas, I ordered the advance, and galloped into the open field or 
 pasture, from which point I could see at a distance of about eight 
 hundred yards, the position of the Federals. They were heavily 
 entrenched on the side of an elevated ridge running a little west 
 and south, and extending to the vicinity of the Chickahominy. At 
 the foot of the slope ran Powhite creek, which stream, together 
 with the abatis in front of their works, constituted a formidable 
 obstruction to our approach, whilst batteries, supported by masses 
 of infantry, covered the crest of the hill in rear, and long range 
 guns were posted on the south side of the Chickahominy, in readi- 
 ness to enfilade our advancing columns. The ground from which 
 I made these observations was, however, open the entire distance 
 to their entrenchments. 
 
 In a moment I determined to advance from that point, to make 
 a strenuous effort to pierce the enemy's fortifications, and, if pos- 
 sible, put him to flight. I therefore marched the Fourth Texas 
 by the right flank into this open field, halted and dressed the 
 line whilst under fire of the long range guns, and gave positive 
 instructions that no man should fire until I gave the order; for 
 I knew full well that if the men were allowed to fire, they would 
 halt to load, break the alignment, and, very likely, never reach 
 the breastworks. I moreover ordered them not only to keep to- 
 gether, but also in line, and announced to them that I would lead 
 them in the charge. Forward march was sounded, and we moved 
 at a rapid but not at a double-quick pace. Meantime, my regi- 
 ments on the left had advanced some distance to the front through 
 the wood and swamp. 
 
 Onward we marched under a constantly increasing shower of 
 shot and shell, whilst to our right could be seen some of our 
 troops making their way to the rear, and others lying down be- 
 neath a galling fire. Our ranks were thinned at almost every 
 step forward, and proportionally to the growing fury of the storm 
 of projectiles. Soon we attained the crest of the bald ridge 
 within about one hundred and fifty yards of the breastworks. 
 Here was concentrated upon us, from batteries in front and flank, 
 a fire of shell and canister, which ploughed through our ranks 
 with deadly efi"ect. Already the gallant Col. Marshall, together 
 
44 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 with many other brave men, had fallen victims to this bloody 
 onset. At a quickened pace we continued to advance, without 
 firing a shot, down the slope, over a body of our soldiers lying 
 on the ground, to and across Powhite creek, when, amidst the 
 fearful roar of musketry and artillery, I gave the order to fix 
 bayonets and charge. With a ringing shout we dashed up the 
 steep hill through the abatis, and over the breastworks, upon the 
 very heads of the enemy. 
 
 The Federals, panic-stricken, rushed precipitately to the rear 
 upon the infantry in support of the artillery: suddenly the whole 
 joined in the flight toward the valley beyond. At this juncture 
 some twenty guns, stationed in rear of the Federal line on a hill 
 to my left, opened fire upon the Fourth Texas, which changed 
 front, and charged in their direction. I halted in an orchard be- 
 yond the works, and dispatched ever}'^ officer of my staff to the 
 main portion of the brigade in the wood on the left, instructing 
 them to bear the glad tidings that the Fourth Texas had pierced 
 the enemy's line, and were moving in his rear, and to deliver 
 orders to push forward with the utmost haste. At the same mo- 
 ment I discovered a Federal brigade marching up the slope from 
 the valley beyond, evidently with the purpose to re-establish the 
 line. I ran back to the entrenchments, appealed to some of our 
 troops, who, by this time, had advanced to the breastworks, to 
 come forward and drive off the small body of Federals. They 
 remained, however, motionless. Jenkins' command, if I mistake 
 not, whicli was further to our right, boldly advanced and put the 
 brigade to rout. Meantime, the long line of blue and steel to 
 right and left wavered, and, finally, gave way, as the Eighteenth 
 Georgia, the First and Fifth Texas, and Hampton's Legion gal- 
 lantly moved forward from right to left, thus completing a grand 
 left wheel of the brigade into the very heart of the enemy. Simul- 
 taneously with this movement burst forth a tremendous shout 
 of victory, which was taken up along the whole Confederate line. 
 
 I mounted my horse, rode forward, and found the Fourth Texas 
 and Eiglitecnth Georgia had captured fourteen pieces of artillery, 
 whilst the Fifth Texas had charge of a Federal regiment which \ 
 had surrendered to it. Many were the deeds of valor upon that 
 memorable field. 
 
 The general and the private under liis command view a bat- 
 tle from quite different standpoints. The one observes the 
 movcnients of corps, divisions, brigades and regiments, and 
 takes little note of the units composing these organizations — 
 the other, himself one of tlic units, observes the conduct of in- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 45 
 
 dividuals. The one takes note of general details, the other, 
 of minute. We will now let the privates tell what they wit- 
 nessed and heard, what they did and what they suffered. The 
 evidence they give may be conflicting, but it must be kept in 
 mind that few persons see, hear and remember alike. A mem- 
 ber of the Fourth Texas says : 
 
 " The forenoon of June 27th, 1862, was well-advanced be- 
 fore the Texas Brigade left its bivouac. D, H. Hill's division 
 marched over to Hundley's Comer, that morning, from Me- 
 chanicsville, and as it was to take position on the left of Jack- 
 son's line, it and Jackson's troops moved before Whiting's 
 division did. Once in motion though, to the southwest. Whit- 
 ing's division made few halts. We had gone but a few miles 
 when sounds of the battle made by A. P. Hill's division, away 
 off^ to our right, came to our ears and quickened our steps. 
 Whiting's orders were to take position on Jackson's right. 
 Law's brigade led the advance which was made to the music 
 of a constantly increasing roar of artillery and musketry. 
 
 Along about 4 p. m. we came under the fire of the enemy's 
 heavy artillery, passing, as we moved rapidly forward, the 
 ordnance trains and the batteries of Confederate commands 
 then at the front — the batteries awaiting the call to action, but 
 delayed in receiving it by the difficulty of finding places in the 
 woods and swamps, from which to do execution. Further on, 
 squads of prisoners, a few wounded men and many stragglers 
 commenced passing through our lines. About this time Gen- 
 eral Hood placed the Fourth Texas in reserve, and led the 
 other regiments of the brigade toward the front to the as- 
 sistance of troops already there. They were not long in find- 
 ing work to do, and did it nobly. 
 
 The Fourth Texas had a long wait before it went into ac- 
 tion. According to my recollection, it was well on to 6.30 
 p. M. before Hood had his line established and ready for the 
 general advance that was to be ordered. Law's brigade, it 
 is likely, had by this time found its place, advanced against 
 the enemy and met with repulse. Colonel Columbus Upson, 
 then a volunteer aide on General Whiting's staff, after the 
 war a member of Congress from West Texas, but now in the 
 Great Beyond, is authority for this assertion. Generals Hood 
 and Whiting, said Colonel Upson, met in the open field. 
 
46 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Pointing to the battery, fourteen guns of which were captured 
 by the Fourth Texas that very day, Whiting said : " That 
 battery ought to be taken, Hood." " Then, why has it not 
 been taken?" asked Hood. "Because," replied Whiting, 
 " the position is too strong. My brigade is composed of vet- 
 eran troops, but they can do nothing with it," " I have a 
 regiment that can take it," declared Hood, and scarcely wait- 
 ing for Whiting's assent to his undertaking the task, galloped 
 in the direction of the Fourth Texas. 
 
 Because it left them to the leadership of a colonel whose 
 rank had been secured through political pull, and who, though 
 admitted to be brave to a fault, was not deemed competent 
 to direct the regiment in battle, both officers and men of the 
 Fourth Texas deeply regretted the promotion of Hood to the 
 rank of brigadier-general. Learning of this, Hood promised 
 that he himself would lead them into their first battle. He had 
 not done this at Eltham's Landing, no opportunity having 
 offered. Now the situation was entirely different. For hours 
 the brave Federals in our front had successfully resisted the 
 many efforts of the Confederates to dislodge them. Unless 
 this was done, the battle was lost to the Confederates, and 
 thousands of lives had been sacrificed in vain. Promotion for 
 himself was to be won, distinction for the regiment he had so 
 carefully trained was to be gained. The tide " which, taken 
 at its flood, leads on to fortune," was in full sweep, and seiz- 
 ing the golden moment. Hood made good his promise. 
 
 Taking command of the Fourth Texas, he moved it fon\'ard 
 in column to a dry ravine running parallel with the course of 
 Powhite Creek, on the south bank of which stretched the long 
 lines of intrenchments occupied by the Federals. Here the 
 regiment formed in line of battle, and was admonished by 
 Hood not to fire a gun until he gave the command to do so. 
 Thence, it went at a quick step toward the front, ascended the 
 north slope of a ridge — passing, just before reaching the 
 crest, over a long line of Confederates lying flat on the ground, 
 and thus sheltering themselves from the enemy's fire. Arrived 
 at the crest, the Fourth came in sight and range of the Fed- 
 eral infantry and artillery. These immediately opened fire 
 on us, and comrades began to halt or sink to the ground, 
 wounded or dead. Though now within one hundred and fifty 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 47 
 
 yards of the enemy's first line, it was hid from our view by 
 the tops of the tall trees bordering Powhite Creek. Our pace 
 accelerated by the incline down which we went, and the mur- 
 derous fire to which we were exposed, we moved rapidly on 
 until, looking between the trunks of the trees, we had a view 
 of the first line of intrenchments. Without halting us, Gen- 
 eral Hood shouted an order to take aim and fire, and this 
 obeyed, gave the commands, "Fix bayonets. Charge!" In 
 an instant, almost, bayonets were fixed, and with a yell that 
 sounded high above the noise of battle, we sprang forward, 
 into and across the little creek, into and through the cun- 
 ningly constructed abatis, and at the enemy holding the first 
 line of breastworks. The onset was so furious and determined, 
 that seized with panic, the first line of Federals, taking time 
 only to fire a few scattering shots, took to precipitate flight. 
 Their panic communicated itself to the troops in the two lines 
 behind them, and they, too, fled, pell-mell, and probably with 
 a prayer that the devil might save the hindmost, up and over 
 the ridge in their rear. 
 
 At this point, if nowhere else along Powhite Creek, the 
 Federals were protected by three lines of breastworks. The 
 first hugged the south edge of the narrow skirt of timber, 
 probably fifty yards wide, which grew in the valley of the 
 stream ; the second lay fifty steps back of the first,' and the 
 third the same distance back of the second — the last two 
 stretching along the side of the ridge south of the creek, each 
 of theni so elevated that troops in either could, without en- 
 dangering comrades in their front, join in resisting attack. 
 The extra care manifested in providing defenses here, was 
 probably due to the circumstance that it was the only point 
 on the Federal line where a rush on it was not prevented by 
 undergrowth or marshes. 
 
 The panic into which the coming of the Texans threw the 
 Federals was not simply comphmentary and encouraging; it 
 was also inspiring and persuasive, and loading and firing as 
 they ran, the Texans followed in fast pursuit of their swiftly 
 retreating antagonists. - Arrived at a road that ran along 
 the summit of the ridge, and there pausing an instant for 
 breath, we saw on our left thousands of the Federals fleeing 
 from the intrenchments which had been assaulted by the First 
 
48 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 and Fifth Texas, the Hampton Legion and the left wing of 
 the Eighteenth Georgia. Casting our glances next to our 
 right, the same comforting spectacle of wild and confused 
 flight appeared. A moment later a wild, joyful yell from our 
 right informed us that the Confederates there, who since noon 
 had been fighting at long range, or if they attempted any, 
 had not made a successful charge, were in rapid pursuit of 
 the now demoralized foe. 
 
 It is due the other regiments of the Texas Brigade to say, 
 that but for the advantage of open ground which the Fourth 
 Texas had, they would have kept well in line with it, and have 
 shared the glory it won. As it was, advancing to the assault 
 over swampland and through densely matted undergrowth, it 
 was impossible for either regiment as a whole to arrive within 
 striking distance of the breastworks as soon as the Fourth 
 Texas did. The right wing of the Eighteenth Georgia, how- 
 ever, had the advantage of open ground, and it joined with 
 the Fourth Texas both in the rush upon the breastworks and 
 in the subsequent capture of artillery. In General Hood's 
 official report, he places the Eighteenth Georgia as a com- 
 mand, with the Fourth Texas in the capture of the artillery. 
 That he is mistaken, and that only a few companies of the 
 regiment are entitled to share in the glory of that achieve- 
 ment, is evident from the fact that in the volume of Confeder- 
 ate Military History which recounts the deeds of Georgia 
 troops, no hint of such claim is given. 
 
 While regaining breath at the road mentioned, an incident 
 occurred which, trifling as it was, will bear telling. Beyond 
 tlie road was an acre of land inclosed by a high and strong 
 fence, and in its center stood an unoccupied log stable. Be- 
 hind the stable, a Union soldier of a more combative spirit 
 than was possessed by his tribe, had sought a lurking-place 
 from which to resist any further advance of the Confederate 
 army. Desii-ing, apparently, to take a pot shot at the Fourth 
 Texas, this soldier very carelessly exposed himself to the view 
 of his enemies. Seen by slow-talking but fast-moving String- 
 field, that worthy sprang forward, and climbing over the 
 fence, ran, gun in hand, toward the stable. Presuming that 
 a mite of encouragement would not be wasted. Lieutenant L. 
 P. Hughes, a mild-mannered gentleman who never takes the 
 
E. K. GOREE 
 Company H, Fifth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 49 
 
 name of the Lord in vain, but falls short of it only by a hair's- 
 breadth, sang out, « Go it, Stringfield— go it ! Kill liim, dod 
 damn him, kill him ! " 
 
 Combined with Stringfield's ardor and the reckless im- 
 petuosity of his onset, this adjuration came near inviting dis- 
 aster to him. For when he came within twenty feet of the 
 stable, the Federal behind it decided it was time for him to 
 exercise the right of self-defense, and accordingly, stepped out 
 from behind the stable, and pointed a capped, cocked and 
 loaded gun at the bold Confederate. But time was not 
 vouchsafed him to pull trigger. WolfF, a German, who stood 
 near Lieutenant Hughes, realized the peril in which his com- 
 patriot stood, and raising his rifle from the hollow of the arm 
 in which its barrel rested, shot the rash Federal through the 
 
 The pause at the road lasted hardly one minute. The ar- 
 tillery at whose capture we aimed, had withheld its fire while 
 the timber on the creek and the ridge south of it hid us from 
 view. But as the Fourth Texas came into sight on the road, 
 it reopened, hurling shot, shell and canister at us with a rap- 
 idity and in a volume that warned us we had yet much to ac- 
 complish ere we laid just claim to victorv. Heeding the hint, 
 the Texans and such Georgians as had joined them, formed 
 into line of battle m a peach or pear orchard, about three hun- 
 dred yards beyond the road, called to that point by General 
 Hood, who, it should be mentioned, had left his horse in the 
 ravine where we had first formed into line, and was still afoot. 
 It should also be stated that the artillery we were after 
 stood on a high hill slightly to the left of our line of advance 
 trom the ravine, and that we now faced almost at a right ano-le 
 to that line, the batteries, about three hundred yards distant, 
 with a deep hollow down the middle of which ran a steep- 
 banked, tortuous gully, almost impassable except at a few 
 places, between us and them. 
 
 In the rush down and up the slopes, across the creek and 
 through abatis, companies had scattered and lost their places 
 and probably five minutes elapsed ere the regiment was in 
 battle array, and during these the batteries got its range and 
 poured upon it a withering and deadly fire under which many 
 brave men fell. Cool and sylvan as the orchard might have 
 
60 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 felt and appeared under other circumstances, it was not now 
 a spot on which to linger, and therefore, no sooner was the 
 line reformed than Hood gave the command to charge. As 
 in stentorian voice he called, "Attention!" Major Warwick, 
 who at daylight that morning, against the protest of his 
 physician, had left a sick bed and galloped out to join his 
 command, and who like Hood was on foot, cried, " Wait a sec- 
 ond, General — let me lead the charge ! " and sprang in front 
 of the regiment. As the command " Charge t " fell from 
 Hood's lips, the line surged forward for the race down the 
 slope. But the gallant Warwick took scarcely a dozen strides 
 before a fragment of a shell struck and mortally wounded him, 
 and he fell to the ground. 
 
 Never did a regiment make better time than the Fourth 
 Texas did, down to and into and across the gully in the 
 middle of the hollow ; there was need for speed, for only when 
 there could the men hope to escape, for a second or two, the 
 storm of lead and iron that fast depleted their ranks — it being 
 impossible, they knew, for the guns to be sufficiently depressed 
 to bear on them. Falling again into a semblance of a line as 
 they scrambled out of the gully, and moving at their best 
 speed up the hill on the crest of which the guns were posted, 
 they gained half-way ground before again coming under fire, 
 and then only under that of two pieces. These, however, were 
 denied the time to fire a third shot, for before the second left 
 their muzzles, the Tcxans won the crest, the artillerists fled 
 and the guns were ours. 
 
 Halting on this crest a minute to regain formation, the 
 Fourth Texas pushed rapidly on toward the Chickahominy. 
 A couple of hundred yards from the artillery, it encountered 
 a squadron or more of cavalr}'. United States dragoons, they 
 called themselves. These charged gallantly, but unavailingly. 
 Met with bullet and bayonet, many steeds soon galloped rider- 
 less, many bi'ave cavalrymen lay on the ground, wounded or 
 dead. That scrimmage over, ]Major Townsend, then in com- 
 mand — General Hood had come no further than tlie battery — 
 decided that the regiments had gone far enough, and so called 
 a halt. It was then in the timber bordering the Chickahominy. 
 It was fast growing dark, and he did not care to assmne the 
 responsibility of going further. While he waited for orders 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 51 
 
 and instructions the First Texas approached within near 
 range of the Fourth, and in the darkness mistaking it for a 
 Federal command, commenced firing at it. " Lie down — lie 
 down," was shouted along our line by both men and officers, 
 while others sought to inform the First Texas who they were. 
 Before it could be made to understand, though. Lieutenant L. 
 P. Lyons, of Company F of the Fourth Texas, in his anxiety 
 to see that all of his company obeyed the order to lie down, 
 stood for a moment on his feet, and was mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 From what State hailed the troops over whom the Fourth 
 Texas passed on the crest of the ridge where it first came 
 under direct fire, was a question as much discussed during the 
 war as since. When asked, as we came to them, who they 
 were, the majority who spoke at all, answered, " Alabamians." 
 Not knowing then on what part of the field Law's brigade was, 
 many of us jumped at once to the conclusion that we had 
 caught the Fourth Alabama regiment " showing the white 
 feather." The Fourth Alabama, however, denied the harsh 
 impeachment, and their negative being proven beyond dispute, 
 the matter remained one of doubt and speculation. The first 
 Hght on the subject came in 1905, forty years after the close 
 of the war. Governor Wilham C. Gates, of Alabama, in his 
 book entitled, " The War between the Union and the Con- 
 federacy, and its Lost Opportunities," admits that the Fif- 
 teenth Alabama regiment was the sinner. As he was then 
 a lieutenant in one of the companies, his acknowledgment " of 
 the corn " must be held as conclusive, and none the less so be- 
 cause he relegated to a comrade the task of relating the in- 
 cident. That comrade, after telling that the Fifteenth took 
 position on the crest of the hill where we found it, at about 2 
 p. M., and while there the men lay flat on the ground, and that 
 finally, details sent back for ammunition returned and the 
 men began to fill their cartridge-boxes, says : " About the 
 time we got through, we looked down the hill in our rear, and 
 there came the Fourth Texas, half-bent, as if looking for a 
 turkey." Being against himself, that statement will not be 
 disputed. Other assertions made by the comrade, however, 
 are not only challenged, but positively denied. The Fourth 
 Texas made no halt at the line of the Fifteenth Alabama to 
 
52 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 rectify their own line, to fire a volley, and to reload and fix 
 bayonets. Nor did the Fifteenth Alabama, as an organized 
 body, advance with the Fourth Texas. As to these matters, 
 the comrade has mistaken a lively imagination for a poor 
 memory. 
 
 Justly proud of the achievements of the Fourth Texas at 
 Gaines' Mill, survivors of Hood's Texas Brigade were as- 
 tounded when, in 1898, their title to the laurels won by that 
 regiment in that battle was questioned. That Hood and 
 Whiting, Jackson and Lee, and Jefferson Davis, the president 
 of the Confederacy, had erred in crediting the Fourth Texas 
 with being the first to penetrate the lines of the enemy, and 
 to capture, unassisted save by the Eighteenth Georgia, the 
 fourteen pieces of artillery, was too incredible for belief. A 
 lively tilt, with the pen, at once began in the columns of the 
 Confederate Veteran in the October number, 1898, in wliich 
 had appeared an article over the signature of Adjutant 
 Cooper, formerly of Pickett's Brigade, in which the claim of 
 the Texans was assailed, and the laurels awarded them cred- 
 ited, exclusively, to Pickett's Brigade. 
 
 Fortunately for the Texans, the evidence on which they re- 
 lied was of record in official reports and in history ; unfortu- 
 nately for the Virginians, Adjutant Cooper, at the vcr\' out- 
 set, blundered into details concerning the movements of Pick- 
 ett's Brigade that shatter his contention beyond repair, phys- 
 ical facts as well as oral and written testimony of unimpeach- 
 able character, showing that, if he tells the truth, his claim in 
 behalf of Pickett's Brigade is absolutely baseless. In that 
 October number of the Veteran he says : 
 
 " The sun shone briglitly and the atmosphere was clear, and 
 every move that Lee's troops made could be plainly seen by 
 the enemy. Pryor's line advanced to the attack, and in a 
 short time were almost annihilated. Pickett with his five regi- 
 ments went in on a double-quick, and being hid by tlie smoke 
 of battle, approached to within thirty or forty ^^ards of the 
 first line of intrenchment, where in the intense heat and the 
 dense smoke, they involuntarily threic themselves flat upon the 
 ground and commenced firing. The roar of musketry was so 
 terrific that it was impossible to hear anything else. The men 
 knew, however, that heavy work was intended, as each man 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 53 
 
 had his eighty rounds of ammunition. This continuous firing 
 was kept up, neither side knowing the proximity of the other, 
 on account of the smoke. Finally, the "firing of the enemy some- 
 what slackened and the sun set, as it were, in blood, with 
 neither side having gained any advantage. At the slight lull 
 in the enemy's fire. General Pickett ordered a charge, to which 
 his brigade responded promptly." 
 
 Following this paragraph, Adjutant Cooper tells how the 
 Union troops melted away as the Virginians rushed forward 
 and at them, and how, without another halt, and without 
 again involuntarily throwing themselves flat upon the ground, 
 the sons of the Old Dominion swept on and captured the four- 
 teen guns in advance of any other command. In view of his 
 admission that his brigade did not charge the enemy until the 
 sun had set, his claim is an absurdity. 
 
 In none of the official reports of Confederate generals com- 
 manding that day is the time at which the general advance 
 began given as later than 7 p. m. The sun set on June 27, 
 1862, in the latitude of Virginia, not earlier than 7.30. This 
 gave half an hour for the Fourth Texas to pass over the 1320 
 yards of ground that lay between the ravine in which Hood 
 first formed it into line and the batteries. Moving leisurely, 
 at the rate, say, of two miles an hour, one can walk that dis- 
 tance in 22^ minutes. Pickett's Brigade at 7 p. m. was fully 
 half a mile to the right of the Fourth Texas, and fully that 
 distance further than the Fourth from the batteries in ques- 
 tion, which were, at least, two hundred yards to the left of 
 the direct line of advance of the Texas regiment. For Pick- 
 ett's Brigade to have reached the guns first, even had not its 
 men " involuntarily thrown themselves flat upon the ground " 
 within " tliirty or forty yards of the first line of intrench- 
 ments," it must have moved entirely across the front of Whit- 
 ing's Brigade, and, for two hundred yards, across that of the 
 Fourth Texas. It was not possible, though, for it to move 
 across the front of either of those commands, for, after be- 
 ginning their advance at 7 a. m., half an hour before sunset, 
 neither of them halted until the Federals had taken refuge in 
 the lowlands of the Cliickahominy, and the batteries had been 
 captured by the Fourth Texas and part of the Eighteenth 
 Georgia. i 
 
54, HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 It should be remembered that the Fourth Texas did not 
 move leisurely, when making the charge that da}'. An}' sol- 
 dier ever in action knows that such a withering, destructive 
 fire as was poured upon the Confederates that afternoon, puts 
 speed in the legs of the slowest, the weariest and the bravest. 
 Save for probably two minutes at the road, and five, at the 
 farthest, in the peach and pear orchard, the Fourth Texas 
 made no halt between starting point and the batteries. Pride 
 and patriotism, esprit de corps, and the dangers threatening, 
 each enjoined and assisted in securing rapidity of movement. 
 
 Hood was as ambitious as he was brave and daring. The 
 stars and wreath of a major-generalship hung in the near 
 perspective. Like Henry of the Wynd, in the combat be- 
 tveen the clans, Chattan and Quhile, he " fought for his own 
 hand." Not a Texan there, whether by birth or adoption, 
 but shared his spirit, and resolved to maintain the reputation 
 for desperate courage won for the " Lone Star State " by the 
 heroes who at the Alamo fought and died that their com- 
 patriots might at San Jacinto fight and win. Therefore, 
 Hood urged speed, and the Fourth Texas made speed — such 
 speed, indeed, that before sunset they seized and silenced the 
 batteries which all day long had played such havoc in the 
 Confederate lines. 
 
 Of the half a hundred or more old comrades of the Fourth 
 Texas whose testimony has been sought, not one of them but 
 remembers distinctly and declares unhesitatingly that the sun 
 was yet shining above the tree-tops in the west when his 
 regiment drove the enemy from these guns. I was wounded 
 in a narrow lane that led from the road running up and down 
 the ridge south of Powhite Creek, toward the peach and pear 
 orchard in which Hood formed the rcnmants of the regiment 
 for its direct charge upon the guns. I saw the regiment in 
 hne there, and just behind it, General Hood — liis left hand 
 raised above his head and grasping the bough of the apple 
 tree under which he stood — his right hand holding an up- 
 lifted sword — the fact that he held the sword made evident 
 to me by the circumstance that its bright blade reflected the 
 rays of the still shining sun. As the regiment moved down 
 the hill in its direct charge upon the batteries, Austin Jones, 
 who was also wounded, and I, went slowly to the rear, and 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 55 
 
 until we got three-fourths of the way to Powhite Creek, the 
 sun shone in our eyes. In confirmation of my own recollec- 
 tion on this question, I have a letter written to me by General 
 Stephen D. Lee, May 27, 1899, in which he says that just 
 before sundown on the 27th of June, 1862, he was on top of 
 the Garnett house, across the Chickahominy from the battle- 
 field, with field-glasses in his hands, through which he was 
 watching the progress of the fight; that President Davis was 
 in the yard below him, and that he (Lee) was reporting his 
 observations to Mr. Davis ; that he saw the hnes carried by the 
 Confederates, but did not know by what command they were 
 first broken until messengers brought the information to Mr. 
 Davis that ' Hood's Texans had swept everything before 
 them, piercing the lines and driving the enemy before them 
 in the greatest disorder.' 
 
 I have said this much about the claim of Pickett's Brigade, 
 simply because not to deny the justice of that claim would be 
 to acquiesce in it. Especially, should it be denied in a his- 
 tory whose sole aim is to record the achievements of the 
 Texas Brigade. That command has never sought to wear 
 laurels won by other commands, but it insists on keeping those 
 fairly won by itself, bright and untarnished even by the idle 
 suspicion cast upon them by the members of Pickett's Brigade. 
 
 It was when we first came in view of the Federals that we 
 suffered our heaviest loss. Whatever their panic later, they 
 exhibited no lack of steadiness then, and under the accurately 
 aimed volleys of shot and shell they poured into us, more 
 than a hundred of our bravest and best fell wounded or dead. 
 But thinned as the line was by the fearful discharges, the 
 Texans closed to right or left, as need was, to fill the gaps 
 made in the line, and pushed swiftly and resolutely on. Of 
 the courage displayed by both men and officers, I can say no 
 more than that it was splendid. It is useless to say more, 
 for it is only brave men that unflinchingly face " the grim 
 monster. Death " ; the coward shrinks appalled and trembling 
 from him. When thunder of cannon and roar of musketry, 
 whistling of bullets and shrieking of larger missiles combine 
 in one grand volume of sound; when grape and canister, 
 round shot and fragments of burst shells sweep the bosom 
 of the earth like a tidal wave from the wide ocean, to say that 
 
56 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 men who breast the storm shoulder to shoulder, and seeking 
 no shelter, press on without halt until victory is won, or death 
 or wounds lay them low, as did the Texans at Gaines' Mill, 
 are brave and heroic, is to attribute to them virtues insepar- 
 able from their deeds." 
 
 No one soldier sees all that occurs in the battle in which he 
 participates ; it is impossible he should. Officers and privates 
 do not see alike even when observing the same occurrence, for 
 they look from different angles and standpoints. That being 
 the case, as between officers and privates on the firing line 
 and taking active part in the engagement, how can a general 
 in command of a body of men in action, be expected to know 
 all the many important and unimportant incidents that tran- 
 spire while his men are advancing under fire, or are in battle.'' 
 
 Generals Lee, Jackson, Whiting and Hood give in their 
 official reports but surface accounts of this or that movement 
 — it is to the private, and the officer whose duty places him 
 almost in line with the private, we must go for pai'ticulars, 
 for the minutiae — all the many incidents that make the story 
 of a battle interesting. That the accounts they give are 
 often in conflict with each other, and seldom agree precisely 
 with those that appear in official reports, should not discredit 
 them. No two persons, crdinarilj^, exactly agree in their 
 relation of incidents in daily, peaceful life, and why should 
 not soldiers differ in their accounts of happenings on fields 
 of fierce and sanguinary conflict.'' 
 
 Comrade William R. Hamby, a member of Company B, 
 Fourth Texas, tells the following story of his experiences and 
 observations : 
 
 " On the morning of the 26th of June, we left our camp 
 near Ashland, Va., about fifteen miles north of Richmond, as 
 the advance guard of Stonewall Jackson's corps, marching 
 toward Cold Harbor, then in the rear of the Federal army. 
 Nearly all of the afternoon and far into the night we could 
 hear heavv firing on our right in the direction of Mechanics- 
 ville. About three o'clock in the afternoon we passed an old 
 A'irginia farmer sitting on his fence by the roadside. His 
 negroes were in the field cutting wheat. He was delighted 
 to see us and waving his hat, said: 'Hurry on, bo3's : the 
 Yankees have just gone flying over the creek.' While he was 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 57 
 
 cheering us, Reilley's battery, of our brigade, pulled down 
 the fence and ran into the field just in the rear of where the 
 old man was sitting and opened fire upon the enemy, who had 
 burned the bridge and had taken position on the hill beyond 
 the creek in front of us. The first shot from Reilley's guns 
 was a surprise to the old man. He fell backward from the 
 fence and exclaimed : ' My God ! a battle here on my planta- 
 tion ! ' and then, turning to his negroes, shouted to them to 
 get to the woods as fast as their legs could carry them, and 
 he led the procession. Company B were thrown forward as 
 skirmishers. The enemy were soon dislodged from their posi- 
 tion, and we continued to drive them back until we went 
 into bivouac for the night. 
 
 " Early in the morning on Friday, June 27, we were again 
 on the march through fields, crossing creeks, climbing hills, 
 and finally wading a swamp about one hundred yards wide 
 and waist-deep in mud and water. After crossing the swamp, 
 we climbed another hill and passed through a pine forest 
 into the edge of an old field, where a conference was held 
 between Generals Lee, Whiting and Hood, which ended by 
 Lee and Wliiting riding rapidly away. In a short while Gen- 
 eral Lee returned, and addressing Lieutenant Walsh of Com- 
 pany B, inquired for General Hood, who was only a short 
 distance from us and who heard the inquiry. He at once 
 saluted General Lee, who said that the efforts to break the 
 enemy's lines in front of us had been unsuccessful and that 
 it was of the utmost importance to do so. General Hood 
 replied : ' We will do it.' As General Lee turned his horse 
 to ride away, he lifted his hat and said : ' May God be with 
 you ! ' 
 
 " Just before we were ordered into battle, and while heavy 
 firing could be heard in our front and on each flank. Captain 
 Owens, of our regiment, was talking to some comrades of the 
 battle in which we expected soon to be engaged, and, drawing 
 his sword and waving it over his head, repeated the following 
 lines from Scott's ' Mamiion : ' 
 
 The war that for a space did fail 
 Now, trebly thundering, swelled the gale, 
 "On Stanley! " was the cry: 
 
58 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 A light on Marmion's visage spread 
 
 And fired his glazing eye; 
 
 With dying hand above his head, 
 
 He shook the fragment of his blade 
 
 And shouted " Victory ! " 
 
 " Charge, Chester, charge ! On, Stanley, on ! " 
 
 Were the last words of Marmion.' 
 
 " While they were the last words of Marmion, they were al- 
 most the last words of gallant Tom Owens, who fell mortally 
 wounded in less than half an hour from the time he quoted 
 them with such prophetic inspiration. 
 
 " The other regiments of our brigade — Hampton's Legion of 
 South Carolinians, the First Texas, the Fifth Texas and the 
 Eighteenth Grcorgia — were at once ordered forward on our 
 left. Our regiment, the Fourth Texas, moved b}"^ the right 
 flank farther into the field, fronting the Federal lines, which 
 appeared to be about half a mile in front of us. From our 
 position we could form some idea of what was required of us. 
 At the farther side of the field the enemy occupied a steep 
 hill covered with timber; at the foot of the hill was a creek 
 whose banks afforded protection by abatis and log breast- 
 works ; at the top of the hill was another line of infantry be- 
 hind intrenchmcnts and supported by artillery. 
 
 " The troops in front of us who had failed to break the 
 enemy's line were retreating in disorder, and to use the lan- 
 guage of General Whiting, our division commander, ' some 
 were skulking from the front in a shameful manner.' The 
 conditions confronting us vividly recalled the remark Hood 
 had made when he was colonel of our regiment, that he ' could 
 double-quick the Fourth Texas to the gates of Hell and never 
 break their line.' 
 
 " About six o'clock in the evening our line was formed un- 
 der fire from the enemy in front of us and from artillery that 
 enfiladed us on our right and left. General Hood had as- 
 sumed personal command of the regiment and ordered us to 
 dress to the center upon our colors and not to fire until he 
 ordered us to do so. We started at quick-time march with 
 our guns at ' right shoulder shift.' The fire from the enemy 
 was falling upon us like drops of rain from a passing cloud, 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 59 
 
 and as we advanced their messengers of death grew thicker 
 until they came in teeming showers, ' while cannon to the right 
 and cannon to the left volleyed and thundered.' At every step 
 forward our comrades were falling around us. When we were 
 within about one hundred and fifty yards of the enemy we 
 passed over a line of our own troops lying upon the ground. 
 They had gone that far, but would not go farther. A young 
 lieutenant of that regiment was pleading with his men to go 
 forward ; and when they would not do so, he said they had 
 disgraced their flag, and, throwing away his sword, he seized 
 a musket and joined our ranks; but the brave boy had gone 
 only a short distance when he was killed. As we passed this 
 regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Warwick snatched up their 
 colors, and, like the standard bearer of the Tenth Legion of 
 Ancient Rome, told them to follow their flag, but they did not 
 do so. With that flag in one hand and his sword in the other, 
 the gallant Warrv^ick fell after he had crossed the second line 
 of fortifications. 
 
 " General Hood was in our front until we were within about 
 one hundred yards of the creek, when he wheeled his horse to 
 the right and ordered us to fix bayonets and charge at double- 
 quick. Here the fire of the enemy was poured into us with 
 increasing fury, cutting down our ranks like wheat in the 
 harvest. 
 
 " More than half of our regiment had fallen upon the field, 
 although we had not fired a gun. Raising the Rebel yell, 
 we dashed across the creek (which we found to have steep 
 banks, in some places twenty feet high, with sides cut to 
 form a ditch, and climbed over the breastworks, when the 
 enemy gave way in confusion. The Federal colonel in com- 
 mand of the line broken by the Fourth Texas says : ' All 
 along the line our fire was opened on the enemy and main- 
 tained in a most vigorous manner. Nothing could have been 
 better done. The eff'ect upon his ranks were perceptible, and 
 the slope of the hill bore testimony to the steadiness and ac- 
 curacy of our fire, yet he moved steadily along until up and 
 onto us. When unable to resist, our line broke.' 
 
 " We fired into their retreating ranks as they ran up the 
 hill, and reloading as fast as we could, we followed them over 
 their second fortifications, when their entire line gave way in 
 
60 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 disorder, but continued to fire as they retreated. A Federal 
 officer who was on their second line says : ' The enemy made 
 a final and desperate effort to break through our lines, and 
 were successful, but not until our weary men were trampled 
 upon. The attack was desperate, and so was the defense. 
 The noise of the musketry was not rattling as ordinarily, but 
 was one intense metallic din.' This position of the Federals 
 was strong and well-selected, and their double line of defenses 
 ought to have been held against almost any force that could 
 have been thrown against them. 
 
 " After we crossed their second line of defenses, eighteen 
 pieces of artillery massed on an elevation in the rear of their 
 lines on our left opened a heavy fire of grape and canister 
 upon us. Without halting to re-form our lines, we charged 
 the batteries, capturing fourteen cannon ; but one battery, 
 with four guns, succeeded in escaping before we reached them, 
 which we had the satisfaction of capturing a couple of months 
 later in the second battle of jNIanassas. We then turned upon 
 the retreating infantry and drove them through an old 
 orchard. 
 
 " In a short while we felt the ground begin to tremble like 
 an earthquake and heard a noise like the rumbling of distant 
 thunder. It was a regiment of United States cavalry charg- 
 ing us. This regiment was one of the most famous in the 
 United States army. Albert Sidney Johnston had been the 
 colonel, Robert E. Lee had been the lieutenant-colonel, and J. 
 B. Hood had been a lieutenant before resigning to enter the 
 Confederate service. The captain of Hood's old company- com- 
 manded the regiment in the charge, and was captured by us. 
 
 " To hear the trumpets sounding the charge, to see the 
 squadrons coming toward us at full speed, and to see their sa- 
 bers glistening in the sunlight of the dying day like a flame of 
 fire from heaven was a spectacle grand bej'ond description, and 
 imparted a feeling of awe in the bravest of licarts. When 
 they were within about forty 3'ards of us, we poured a volley 
 into them and prepared to receive them on our bayonets ; but 
 our one volley liad done dreadful execution. Horses and rid- 
 ers fell in heaps upon the ground, and the groans of the 
 wounded and the shrieks of the dying could be heard above the 
 roar of the battle as the setting sun shed a fading light over 
 
George S. Qualls 
 Company G, P'ourth Texas Regiment 
 
 FACING 60 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 61 
 
 the battlefield. Captain McArthur, who succeeded to the 
 command of the regiment after the battle, in his official report 
 says : ' The regiment charged under a most galling fire until 
 all the officers but one had been struck down, and, being with- 
 out officers, wheeled to the right and came off in as good 
 order as could be expected.' 
 
 " After the charge of the cavalry had been repulsed, we 
 pushed on to the brow of the hill overlooking the valley of the 
 Chickahominy. Desultory firing continued until it was so 
 dark we could not distinguish friend from foe a few yards from 
 us ; in fact we were fired upon by our own troops, resulting 
 in the killing of Lieutenant Lyons, of Company F, of our 
 regiment. 
 
 " The gentle breezes of that night in June were whispering 
 requiems for the brave spirits who had fought their last battle 
 when our regiment was re-formed in line about nine o'clock by 
 General Hood, who counted only seventy-two present ; but 
 others reported during the night who had been separated from 
 us in the darkness in the latter part of the battle. 
 
 " The charge of the Fourth Texas at Gaines' Mill was a 
 dearly bought victory ; but it broke the Federal lines around 
 Richmond, and for a time, at least, the capital of the Con- 
 federacy was saved. Out of less than five hundred who went 
 into the battle, we lost two hundred and fifty-two men and 
 twenty-three officers, killed and wounded, including Colonel 
 Marshall, Lieutenant-Colonel Warwick, and Major Key. 
 
 " With a detail of one man from each company in the regi- 
 ment, I stood picket that night at the corner of the garden 
 fence of a farmhouse which we were informed had been the 
 headquarters of General Fitz-John Porter, whose corps we had 
 fought that day. As the rations issued to us at Ashland on 
 the 25th had been exhausted, and as our commissary trains 
 were far in the rear, we went on duty with empty haversacks. 
 We had been at our post some hours, and could hear the Fed- 
 eral troops, pushing their retreat across the bridges of the 
 Chickahominy as fast as possible, while the loneliness of the 
 night was increased by the wail of the whip-poor-wills that 
 came to us from the swamps below us. We were recounting 
 the incidents of the day and of the baptism of fire through 
 which we had passed, when we heard the tramping of horses 
 
62 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 and the clanking of sabers coming toward us from the direc- 
 tion of our own lines. When they were within a short distance 
 of us, we halted them and demanded who they were, supposing 
 them to be a scouting party of our own cavalry. Although 
 it has been nearly fifty years since then, the answer we re- 
 ceived will never be forgotten. A pompous voice rang out 
 clear and distinct, ' Major-General McCall, of the Grand 
 Arm}' of the Potomac,' which evidently came from one who 
 had straightened himself up in his stirrups so as to get the 
 answer out strong and forcible. Our surprise can scarcely be 
 imagined, as we had heard that General McCall was in com- 
 mand of the Federal forces the previous day at the battle of 
 Mechanicsville. We at once demanded their surrender, but 
 instead of doing so they put spurs to their horses and dashed 
 by us down the hill towards their own line, followed by a volley 
 from us. 
 
 " General Morell, whose division formed the loft wing of 
 Porter's corps in the battle of Gaines' Mill, in his final report 
 says : ' The Confederates made their first attack about twelve 
 o'clock upon the right, which was handsomely repulsed. The 
 second attack was made about 2.30 and the third about 5.30 
 o'clock, each extending along my entire front, and both, like 
 the first, were gallantly repulsed. The fourth and last came 
 (about 6.30 p. M.) in irresistible force, and swept us from the 
 ground.' 
 
 " General Seymour, whose division went to the support of 
 General IMorell's division, in reporting the actions of his ar- 
 tillery, after we had broken the Federal lines, says : ' The 
 batteries which had already played an important part now 
 endeavored to drive back the Confederates and opened with 
 rapidity and precision, but could not contend successfully 
 against the bullets of the infantry at short range. Captain 
 Easton, nobly encouraging and cheering his men, fell, and his 
 battery (six guns) was lost with him. Captain Kerns was 
 wounded early in the battle, but in spite of his wound kept the 
 field ; and when the enemy came upon his battery, he loaded 
 and fired the last shots himself and brought four of his guns 
 off the field. Captain De Hart's battery did its best service, 
 keeping its ground and delivering its fire against the advanc- 
 ing enemy. Captain De Hart was here wounded. All dis- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 63 
 
 played the greatest gallantry; but no efforts could repel the 
 rush of a now successful foe, under whose fire rider and horse 
 went down and guns lay immovable on the field.' 
 
 " General R. E. Lee, in his official report of the battle, in 
 speakmg of the breaking of the enemy's lines, says- 'The 
 dead and wounded marked the way of the intrepid advance, 
 the brave Texans leading, closely followed by their no less 
 daring comrade, driving the enemy from the ravines to their 
 first hne of breast-works, over which the impetuous column 
 dashed up to the intrenchments on the crest of the hill, which 
 were quickly stoniied and fourteen pieces of artillery captured ' 
 
 "The day ^ following the battle of Gaines' Mill, General 
 Jackson, in riding over the ground where the Fourth Texas 
 had charged, exclaimed, ' The men who carried this position 
 were soldiers indeed,' and in his official report of the battle 
 fn'^'iM^? *^'^ charge, in which more than a thousand men 
 tell, killed and wounded, before the fire of the enemy and in 
 which fourteen pieces of artillery were captured, the Fourth 
 Texas, under the lead of General Hood, was the first to pierce 
 these strongholds and seize the guns. Although swept from 
 their defenses by this rapid and almost matchless display 
 ot daring and desperate valor, the well-disciplined Federals 
 continued to fight with stubborn resistance as thev re- 
 treated.' "^ 
 
 "General Whiting, our division commander, in his official 
 report of the battle, said: ' The battle was severe, hotly con- 
 tested and gallantly won. I take pleasure in calling special 
 attention to the Fourth Texas, which was the first to break 
 the enemy s hne and enter his works. Of the other regiments 
 in the division, it would be invidious and unjust to mention 
 one above another.' " 
 
 Writing of the part taken by the Fifth Texas in the bat- 
 tle of Gaines' Mill, Captain W. T. Hill, who was then first 
 lieutenant of Company D of that regiment, says • 
 
 "On the night of June 26, 1862, the Fifth Texas bivouacked 
 with its comrade regiments of the Texas Brigade at Hundley's 
 Comer, several miles from the battlefield of next day. The 
 sleep we got might have been more restful but for the excite- 
 ment caused by the carelessness of advance cavalry scouts 
 Ihey let a bunch of their horses stampede, and as the animals 
 
64 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 came directly toward us, and from the front, they were thought 
 to be a body of the enemy's cavalry charging down upon our 
 camp, and the regiment was hurriedly called to arms. On the 
 morning of the 27th the Texas Brigade resumed the march, 
 the Fifth Texas in the advance, 
 
 " Shortly before noon. General Jackson rode b}' us, on his 
 way to the front. At the head of the regiment he found Gen- 
 eral Hood, who, tired of motonous marching and impatient 
 to get to fighting, said to him: ' General Jackson, the enemy 
 keeps well out of my way — what shall I do? ' ' Press on, sir — 
 press on,' replied Jackson. But although we did press on, it 
 was not until about 4.30 p. m. that the brigade reached a 
 point on the telegraph road near the firing line, then occupied 
 by troops under command of General Longstreet. They and 
 the troops under General A. P. Hill had begun their terrible 
 fighting on the 26th and were still at it. Here, the brigade 
 was formed into line of battle such that from right to left the 
 regiments, excepting the Fourth Texas, stood, the Eighteenth 
 Georgia, First Texas, Fifth Texas and Hampton's Legion. 
 The Fourth Texas was being held in resen^e, and later, led by 
 General Hood himself, went into action on the right of the 
 Eighteenth Georgia. Between the four regiments then in line 
 of battle was quite a wide space, the Fifth Texas taking posi- 
 tion at least a third of a mile from the ground over which the 
 Fourth made its grand charge. 
 
 " Line of battle was formed in comparatively open ground, 
 but in front of us was a forest of heavy timber. Just before 
 we entered that timber many members of a Georgia regiment 
 came running in great disorder from the front, and right 
 into us, calling out as they came near, ' Don't go any fur- 
 ther, men — you'll all be killed if you do.' Our men de- 
 nounced them as cowards, thinking thus to shame them, and 
 this failing, sought to hold them back by a show of bayonets. 
 But no effort availed to halt their mad flight, and rushing be- 
 tween the baj'onets they fled to the rear. Continuing our ad- 
 vance under a heavy artillery fire, we entered the boggy 
 marshes in which Powhite Creek had its source, and beyond 
 it came to a ridge occupied by the braver comrades of the 
 cowards we had met. Halting here to give time to the slow- 
 movers of the regiment to catch up with their companies, we 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 65 
 
 fired about three rounds in the direction of the enemy in our 
 front, who were concealed from view by the timber. 
 
 " While thus halted, we saw, some distance in front of us, 
 a lone Georgian whom a shot in the head crazed, and who, 
 standing upright, was making the wildest and oddest gesticu- 
 lations imaginable, with his arms. Two of our men ran out 
 to him, and brought him back to a place of safety. Just 
 after crossing the marsh a cannon ball came rolling slowly 
 down the hill. Nobody feared it — it was moving, apparently, 
 with too little momentum to be at all dangerous. But we 
 knew better when it stinick a member of Comapny I in the 
 stomach and drew from him a scream of pain that was fearful 
 to hear. Its movement arrested by impact with the poor 
 fellow's body, it stopped within ten feet of him. The soldier 
 received from it a mortal wound ; one of his comrades told me 
 next day that he died from the effect of the blow, his body 
 having swollen to near the size of a flour barrel. 
 
 " It is but fair to the men whose retreat we endeavored to 
 stop to say that they were armed only with old-style, smooth- 
 bore and short-range muskets carrying ' buck and ball,' or 
 one ball and three buckshot. Such weapons were only dan- 
 gerous at closer quarters than their bearers had gotten to 
 the enemy. The Federals, though, carried Springfield rifles 
 of long range and large cahber, and so had much the advan- 
 tage of their poorly armed antagonists. But when the Fifth 
 Texas, which was armed with Enfield rifles, moved up to the 
 ridge, the advantage shifted to the side of the best marks- 
 men, and that, it soon appeared, the Texans were. Many of 
 the Georgians, notably those whom we met in retreat, had 
 soon decided it was time for them either to get further from, 
 or move closer to the enemy, and had chosen the getting fur- 
 ther as the safer alternative. That no such choice was forced 
 upon the Texans, is evident from the circumstance that after 
 three carefully aimed volleys from them the Union troops 
 immediately in their front got out of range so rapidly and 
 numerously as to leave but few in the line to receive the charge 
 of the Fifth that was immediately ordered. 
 
 " Again with a loud yell, our line sprang forward. At the 
 very outset. Sergeant Onderdonk, of Company A, our flag- 
 bearer, was shot down. R. A. Brantley, of Company D, 
 
66 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 sprang forward and, seizing the flag, bore it bravely through 
 the battle then on, and continued to bear it gallantly until, 
 just before the battle of Second Manassas, it was resigned 
 to another member of the regiment. The effort by the Fed- 
 erals still remaining in line to stay our advance was fruitless ; 
 many of them were killed outright, the others chased through 
 their encampment. This was a sea of white tents. Planned 
 for the occupation of a large force, it had been carefully laid 
 off and kept remarkably clean. After passing into the open 
 ground beyond the camp located, the Fifth Texas continued 
 its advance to the crest of a hill in a large field and there 
 halted to readjust its alignment. As formed, our line over- 
 lapped, on the right, several of the cannon previously cap- 
 tured by the Fourth Texas. Approaching these guns at the 
 same time we did, came some scattering men belonging to the 
 Fourth Texas, who for some cause had failed to keep up with 
 their comrades, then in front of us on our right and out of 
 sight. 
 
 " Having restored its line, the Fifth Texas marched south- 
 east through the field, in the direction of Grapevine Bridge, 
 about two hundred yards. Neither friend nor foe coming 
 within its view, it countermarched and took position again near 
 the cannon. For about ten minutes nothing happened. Then 
 bullets commenced fl^'ing over our heads from the rear, and 
 facing about, we saw a line of troops bearing the Federal flag 
 coming toward us through the encampment. As they emerged 
 from the protection of the tents, we began to fire on them. 
 But there was no fight in them — that was taken out the mo- 
 ment they saw a Rebel regiment in their front. Without 
 firing another shot, they lowered their flag and commenced 
 waving hats and handkerchiefs in token of surrender. So 
 anxious, indeed, were they to sun'cnder, that they came run- 
 ning toward us as though they recognized us as dearly beloved 
 but long lost brothers, and our men had actually to push many 
 of them back to prevent them from getting right in among 
 us. Unfortunately, too, although offering every other evidence 
 of surrender, they forgot, or at least, many of them did, to 
 throw down their guns. As a consequence of this failure on 
 their part, many were fired on at close range by individual 
 members of the Fifth Texas. I was lucky enough to save the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 67 
 
 life of one of them. As one of my company was in the act 
 of hvmg on him— the two were hardly ten feet apart— and 
 the Federal still had his rifle— I knocked up the Confederate's 
 weapon. 
 
 " The regiment surrendering was the Sixth New Jersey 
 Judging from the fact that it came from the direction we sup- 
 posed the First Texas to be, we argued that it was driven 
 back and into our arms by that regiment. Previous to its 
 ?,? , f. ^ ''^' ^ ^"""^ cannon fired many times at us from a 
 hill half a mile east of the Fifth, but did no damage. Be- 
 tween this gun and Grapevine Bridge, stood a division of the 
 enemy, massed m column, wliich had evidently come that far 
 to the front with a view of reinforcing their assaulted lines. 
 I hey came too late though; there were no longer any lines at 
 the front to reinforce. 
 
 " On our march to the battle ground that morning, when 
 four miles or more from it, the Fifth, and I suppose, all the 
 other regiments of the Texas Brigade, was ordered to deposit 
 blankets, knapsacks and other impediments to rapid motion, 
 by companies, in piles. Over these, guards were placed, the 
 men being told that wagons would come along to transport 
 and return them to the owners. But to this day no wagons, 
 with our all, have overtaken us. Our loss was total and 
 serious. We never secured an outfit of clothes and blankets 
 to compare with those abandoned. The Fifth Texas supplied 
 Itself liberally from the stores left in the Federal camps, but 
 along with what they took they got army lice enough for a 
 large division of troops. 
 
 " As already said, the Fourth and the Fifth Texas entered 
 the battle about one-third of a mile apart. The Fourth 
 moved, I think, southeast, while the Fifth moved south or a 
 httle southeast, their lines of advance converging at such 
 angles as, had not the Fourth had much the shorter line, and 
 the easier to make speed over, would have brought the two 
 commands together at the batteries. General Hood remained 
 with, and directed the movements of the Fourth, until it began 
 the charge from the orchard where it halted to re-form, on the 
 batteries. When the Fourth got under headway, he sent 
 for his horse, and when the animal came, rode to the front to 
 find that the Fourth Texas and the Eighteenth Georgia had 
 
68 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 captured the batteries, and the Fifth Texas, a whole regiment 
 of the enem}". This would indicate, that long and difficult as 
 was the route forward pursued by the Fifth, it had not tarried 
 by the way, but had moved promptly and vigorously. As 
 from the beginning of the advance till night came, no regiment 
 of the brigade came within view of the Fifth, it played the 
 part of a lone knight on the field, anxious to meet and defeat 
 the enemy, but unable to do so because of his rapid disap- 
 pearance and continued absence. It carried with the battle 
 800 men. Its losses in killed and wounded were few. 
 
 " On the morning of the 28th, in company with other 
 officers, I looked at the fortified position of the enemy which 
 the Fourth Texas had assaulted so successfully, and wondered 
 how any of the assailants escaped with their lives. Not again 
 during the four years of war was another such charge made. 
 General Jackson did right in mentioning the Fourth Texas 
 in his official report as having been the first Confederates 'to 
 pierce these strongholds and seize the guns.' Nor was it ful- 
 some and undeserved praise he bestowed when the day after the 
 engagement, while surveying the ground over which the Fourth 
 Texas charged, he said to General Hood, ' The men who car- 
 ried this position were soldiers indeed.' " 
 
 As a supplement to the foregoing account of the part taken 
 by the Fifth Texas in the engagement of Gaines' Mill, the fol- 
 lowing anecdote will not come amiss. Its truth is vouched for 
 by more than one of the survivors of tlie Fifth Texas. As 
 introduction to it, it must be told that Lieutenant-Colonel J. 
 C. Upton was in command of the Fifth Texas wlicn the New 
 Jerseyans surrendered, Colonel J. B. Robertson having been 
 wounded before the Fifth came so far. Upton was one of 
 that adventurous, self-reliant and plain-mannered class of peo- 
 ple to whom miHtary uniform and a long unwieldj' sword were 
 nuisances. That day, a woolen overshirt constituted his uni- 
 form, and while his sword trailed at his side, he carried in his 
 right hand, as was his habit, the long-handled frying pan in 
 which was fried the bacon for himself and mess. But for the 
 look of command in his eyes and the deference paid him by 
 his command, one would never have suspected his rank. 
 
 Having made up their minds to surrender, both the men 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 69 
 
 and the officers of the Sixth New Jersey were in haste to re- 
 lieve themselves of the unwelcome job; apparently, each 
 of them thought, " if it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere 
 well it were done quickly." The privates and non-commis- 
 sioned officers had naught to do save drop their guns. The 
 commissioned officers, though, must, to play the game of war 
 with dignity, surrender their swords to equals or superiors 
 in rank. Therefore, their first inquiry of their captors was, 
 "Where is your commanding officer.?" "There he stands," 
 said a Texan, pointing to Colonel Upton. But there was so 
 little of the commanding officer in Upton's make-up and pose, 
 that for half a minute the Federal officers stood in doubt. 
 Reassured of his rank, however, they rushed toward him from 
 all parts of their line, each man endeavoring to be the first to 
 reach him. When the foremost officer unsheathed his sword 
 and holding it by the blade, proffered it to Upton, he said, 
 " Just drop it on the ground, will you." " Indeed, I will 
 not," said the Federal indignantly. " As major of the Sixth 
 New Jersey regiment of infantry, I tender the weapon to you 
 as token that I am your prisoner, and I insist, sir, on your in- 
 stant acceptance of it." " Well," said Upton, " hand the thing 
 to me," which was immediately done, Upton taking the sword 
 in his left hand, as he also did the next one tendered. Then 
 noticing that twenty or more of the same weapons were on their 
 way to him, and unwilling to lay aside the frying pan that 
 was yet in his right hand, he crooked his right ann and as 
 each sword was presented, laid it in the crook of that soon 
 heavily loaded limb. At first, the swords taken behaved with 
 commendable decorum, but ere the last was laid on the pile of 
 them, they began to get crosswise, and to slip and slide about 
 in a way that soon put each of them pointing in a different 
 direction. 
 
 At this juncture, Colonel Upton became aware of a com- 
 motion at the far end from him of the almost surrendered regi- 
 ment. Springing to the top of a nearby log, the armful of 
 sabers dangling in every direction, he shouted to a Texan 
 who seemed to be having trouble, " Say, Big John Ferris, what 
 the mischief and Tom Walker are you trying to do now.f* " 
 " I'm trying to keep a lot of these d — d Yankees from es- 
 caping," came back the response in a stentorian voice. " Let 
 
70 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 them go, you infernal fool," returned Upton, " let them go ; 
 we'd a d — d sight rather fight 'em than feed 'em." 
 
 It is matter for regret that no accounts of the parts taken 
 in the battle by the First Texas, the Eighteenth Georgia and 
 Hampton's Legion are forthcoming. The two or three com- 
 panies forming the right wing of the Eighteenth Georgia, be- 
 ing in open, unobstructed ground, moved forward in line with 
 the Fourth Texas, and assisted in the capture of the batteries, 
 but the other companies of the regiment could not make the 
 same headway over the ground in their front. That over 
 which the First Texas and Hampton's Legion had to pass 
 was probably the most difficult, and their movement forward 
 was so retarded by swamp and morass, fallen timber and the 
 profusion of vines and undergrowth, that it was practically 
 impossible for them to gain the enemy's lines as soon as the 
 regiments on their right. 
 
 In his official report. General Hood gives the losses of the 
 brigade, as follows : 
 
 Hampton's Legion — Two killed, 18 wounded, none missing. 
 
 Eighteenth Georgia — Sixteen killed, 126 wounded, 3 missing. 
 
 First Texas — Fourteen killed, 64* wounded, none missing. 
 
 Fourth Texas — Forty-four killed, 207 wounded, 1 missing. 
 
 Fifth Texas — Thirteen killed, 62 wounded, none missing. 
 
 But he does not correctly state the number of killed and 
 wounded in the three Texas regiments. In these, the First 
 Texas had 20 killed and 56 wounded; the Fourth Texas, 75 
 killed and 176 wounded, and the Fifth Texas, 15 killed and 
 52 wounded. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Savage Station, Frayser's Farm, Malvern Hill, Kelly's 
 
 Ford, Freeman's Ford, Thoroughfare Gap, 
 
 Second Manassas 
 
 On the day following that of Gaines' Mill, the Texas Bri- 
 gade counted up its losses and buried its dead. Many had 
 fallen dead on the field of honor; others lived long enough 
 to send last messages to their loved ones, and still others lin- 
 gered and died in hospitals amid utter strangers. Wrapped 
 in a blanket, the soldier's shroud, the bodies of such comrades 
 as died on the field were laid side by side in shallow trenches, 
 each regiment's dead to itself. At the head of each body 
 was placed a rough, rudely lettered board to tell whose it was, 
 and then the earth was heaped in a high mound over the 
 common grave. A few, whose bodies, it was thought, their 
 friends would likely desire to remove, were buried in separate 
 graves. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th, the enemy in the meantime 
 having made good his escape to the south side of the Chicka- 
 hominy, and being now so little desirous of capturing Rich- 
 mond as to be making his best speed down the James River 
 and away from it. Whiting's division followed Jackson's 
 troops in pursuit — a body of Texas scouts leading the ad- 
 vance of Jackson's command. Inasmuch as, although under 
 fire of both artillery and musketry at Savage Station on the 
 afternoon of the 29th, at Frayser's Farm on the 30th — where, 
 by the explosion of a shell from a Federal battery, nearly all 
 of Company M of the First Texas was killed or wounded — 
 and at Malvern Hill, on the 1st of July, where it lay exposed 
 for long hours to the merciless fire of Federal artillery, the 
 Texas Brigade took active part in neither attack nor repulse, 
 the description of these battles is left to the general historian. 
 Suffice it here to say, that owing to blunders and misunder- 
 standings, absence of reliable maps of the country, the in- 
 
 71 
 
73 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 competency of the guides secured, and various other causes, 
 the defeat of the Federal army was not as complete and over- 
 whelming as it should have been, and as General Lee san- 
 guinely hoped it would be. 
 
 McClellan having accomplished the " change of base " to 
 which he was driven by the Confederate commander, and be- 
 taken himself, with his army, to the protection of the gun- 
 boats in James River, at Harrison's Landing, General Lee 
 ordered Longstreet to remain in the vicinity of the Landing, 
 and observe his movements, and recalling Jackson's com- 
 mand from the front, ordered it to Culpeper Court House, 
 north of the Rapidan. General Pope — the puissant Federal 
 general who, from headquarters *' in the saddle " bombasti- 
 cally proclaimed that he was accustomed in the West, where 
 up to that date he had served, to see only the backs of the 
 enemy, and that with the army under him there would be no 
 retreats, and who was then commanding " the Army of Vir- 
 ginia," composed of the corps of Banks, Fremont and Mc- 
 Dowell, was making demonstrations indicating an intention 
 to move down on Richmond, and Jackson was sent to adminis- 
 ter a check to his puissancy. 
 
 Whiting's division, though, not belonging properly to Jack- 
 son's command, was returned to that of Longstreet, and about 
 the 10th of July was ordered into camp on the Mechanics- 
 ville road, three miles from Richmond. Here the Texas Bri- 
 gade remained idle and at rest until the 8th of August. Since 
 June 11th it had been almost constantly on the move — its 
 days of rest few, its marches long and wearisome, its hard- 
 ships many, its dangers great, its losses in battle heavy, and 
 it was grateful indeed for the lengthy exemption from hard 
 service. To the Texans at this place came long-delayed let- 
 ters, and our captures from the Federal army large, a great 
 deal of much-needed clothing, and with the latter, that pest 
 of the soldier, the body louse. Up to this time we had no 
 acquaintance with the animal — thenceforward to the close of 
 the war, he remained with us. 
 
 On the 8th of August the brigade folded its tents, and 
 shouldering its guns began the marching that, with but few 
 rests, was to continue until December of that year. It 
 marched light, each man having by this time learned what 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 73 
 
 weight he could comfortably carry, and therefore, dispensing 
 with all superfluities. Still, we could not reduce the weight 
 to be carried to less than about thirty-six pounds. A gun 
 weighed about ten pounds, the cartridge box, cap-box, bayonet 
 and the belts and straps to which these hung, another ten, 
 and the roll of blanket and tent, or oil-cloth, still another ten. 
 Add to these the weight of the haversack, in which not only 
 provisions but under-clothing and many other necessities were 
 carried, and the total, on a fair estimate, was never less 
 than thirty-six pounds, and often went a little beyond 
 forty. A canteen full of water weighed at least three 
 pounds. 
 
 For three days the march was leisurely. On the 11th, haste 
 was enjoined. Jackson had engaged in battle with Pope at 
 Cedar Run, near the mountain of the same name, on the 9th, 
 and had not only defeated the Federals but inflicted upon 
 them a heavy loss. He held the field until the night of the 
 11th, and then learning that his antagonist had received rein- 
 forcements and would move against him with an overwhelm- 
 ing force, he retired to the south side of the Rapidan. 
 Thither Longstreet hastened, and on the 15th took position 
 along the Rapidan, on the right of Jackson — the Texas 
 Brigade, at Raccoon ford. On the 20th, there was a simul- 
 taneous advance by both Confederate commanders across the 
 Rapidan and toward the Rappahannock — Whiting's division, 
 now under command of General Hood and hereinafter to be 
 spoken of as Hood's division, leading Longstreet's advance. 
 General Lee himself was now up and directing the Confederate 
 army. 
 
 Learning of the advance, and fearing to join battle. Gen- 
 eral Pope hastily retreated to the north side of the Rappahan- 
 nock, taking position there to command all fords in his front. 
 The Texas Brigade followed rapidly, and at Kelly's ford came 
 under a heavy artillery fire and had a light skirmish with the 
 rear-guard of the enemy. Here it was that Captain Reilly, 
 commanding one of the batteries attached to the brigade, let 
 his imperfection of sight lead him into trouble with his su- 
 periors. While yet the cannonading on both sides was in 
 progress, a lone horseman rode into the river at the ford, bear- 
 ing a white flag. Swearing that although he could see man 
 
74 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 and horse distinctly, he could see no flag, Reilly trained and 
 fired a gun at the fellow, the round shot plunging into the 
 water three feet to his right. That not calhng him to a halt, 
 Captain Reilly, still insisting that he could see no white flag, 
 fired two more shots, one of which struck the water a few 
 feet to the left of the horseman, and the other, five feet in 
 front of him. Hardly, though, was the last shot on its way, 
 when an aide-de-camp dispatched by General Hood came at 
 full speed, and halting near Captain Reilly, shouted : " Gen- 
 eral Hood says stop your d — d foolishness — that man is bear- 
 ing a flag of truce." " An' so, be Jasus, he is," confessed 
 Reilly with a grin, " but in the name of St. Pathrick an' all 
 the ither hoully saints, whoy didn't the spalpeen hould the 
 domned white rag high enough for an Irishman to per- 
 saive it.? " 
 
 At Freeman's ford, on the following day, occurred the fun- 
 niest incident that ever precipitated a conflict between bodies 
 of armed men. Having crossed Hazel River, the Texas Bri- 
 gade formed in line just inside of a field of com in good roast- 
 ing ear. On the other side of the field and on the south 
 side of the Rappahannock, yet lingered a Federal brigade. 
 The Confederates were hungry, the Federals in the same fix, 
 and roasting ears in sight, each wanted a share of them. 
 Each in position to watch the other from its main line, neither 
 of the opposing brigades had out a skimiish or picket line. 
 Two soldiers, the one a Dutchman belonging to the Union 
 army, the other a Prussian serving in the Confederate, hap- 
 pened to be in the field at the same time, gathering com, and 
 each fastidious as to quality, each wandered toward the center 
 of it, and just when each had an armful of roasting ears, they 
 came face to face. 
 
 Neither uttered a word, but dropping the corn, each rushed 
 at the other and began to pound him with his fists. That 
 proving slow work, they clinched, and finally falling, began a 
 mighty wrestle for supremacy that was punctuated by vigor- 
 ous kicks and thrusts at each other. Which was first worsted, 
 which first raised the cry for help from his compatriots that 
 was immediately joined in by the other, will never be known, 
 the two cries arising so nearly simultaneously. The Federals 
 were first to move to the rescue, but the Texans were not far 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 75 
 
 behind them in starting — the lines of battle meeting about the 
 center of the field — and for a few minutes there was a hot 
 fight, the First and Fifth Texas bearing the brunt of it and 
 each losing men. The Fifth, however, might have escaped 
 any loss, had it not carried the Lone Star flag on an unus- 
 ually long staff. Floating high above the corn, this flag 
 caught the eye of an expert Federal artillerist, and the shell 
 he fired at it exploding just in front of it. Major Whaley 
 and another man were killed outright, and four men were 
 wounded. Although under fire, the Fourth Texas, Eighteenth 
 Georgia and Hampton's Legion suffered no loss. 
 
 On the 22nd, General Lee's effort was to force a passage 
 across the Rappahannock and bring on an engagement. That 
 night, Confederate cavalry raided Catlett's station, and cap- 
 tured, among other things. General Pope's dispatch book. 
 Forwarded to Lee, this revealed the exact location of each com- 
 mand of Pope's army, of its pressing need of reinforcements, 
 and of the dates on which these were expected to arrive. Lee 
 immediately changed his plan of operations. Obeying his in- 
 structions, Jackson made a flank movement, and passing well 
 around the Federal right flank, arrived on the afternoon of 
 the 26th, at Bristoe's station, seven miles from Manassas 
 Junction, the main depot of supplies for Pope's army. Hav- 
 ing destroyed these, he marched on the morning of the 27th 
 to the plains of Manassas, the scene of the battle of that 
 name, and by his seemingly erratic movements in that section, 
 set the Federal commanders far and near to guessing where he 
 might be found. 
 
 Nevertheless, Jackson's command was in grave peril. Only 
 by the speedy arrival of Longstreet's columns could disaster 
 to it be averted. Longstreet, however, was held on the south 
 side of the Rappahannock by the main Federal army until 
 the 26th, when, learning that Jackson was in his rear and 
 imagining there was a chance to capture him and his whole 
 command. Pope opened the way for Longstreet's advance by 
 a rapid retreat in the direction of Washington. At 2 p. m. 
 of the same day, the 26th, the Texas Brigade began its long- 
 est and most exhausting march. On a bee-line, it was about 
 thirty miles to Groveton, the little town near which Jackson 
 was practically hemmed in — by way of Thoroughfare Gap, 
 
76 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 it was nearly, if not quite, forty. All that night and until 
 after sunset of the next, the men tramped steadily but wearily 
 and sleepily on — their only rest, that taken in the five minutes 
 of every hour allowed them. All knew that Jackson's men 
 were in peril and that only by their timely arrival could he 
 hope to escape defeat and capture, and all willing to do their 
 best, there was no grumbling, no voluntary' straggling, and 
 but little lagging. 
 
 The sky was cloudless, the sun hot, the dust thick, and 
 places where we might fill our canteens with water, few and 
 far between ; but still, although feet blistered, legs grew 
 wearier and wearier, flesh sweltered and bones ached, and after 
 each brief rest we rose to our feet stiff and sore, we moved on 
 and on — toward the last, too near the point of exhaustion to 
 bestow a glance of admiration on the beautiful scenery through 
 which we were passing, and almost too tired even to respond, 
 with a cheer, to the grateful salutations of the bevies of ladies 
 fair who at the little towns on our route stood on the streets 
 to encourage us b}^ their approving smiles. Indeed, so fatigu- 
 ing became the march of the 27th, so sleepily and unob- 
 servantly did we plod along, that few saw the gruesome spec- 
 tacle of the corpse in gray uniform that hung by the neck 
 from the limb of an oak, scarcely two hundred yards from the 
 road we followed. It was that of a self-confessed spy, who, 
 lured by the promise of an immense sum of gold, had under- 
 taken to delay the march of Longstreet's troop long enough 
 to afford time for Pope and his lieutenants to capture or de- 
 stroy Jackson and his men. 
 
 The night of August 27th was one of sound slumber and 
 imperatively needed rest. Awaking next morning, refreshed 
 and vigorous, the men lighted their fires and clustering around 
 them were cooking and eating their slender rations when the 
 announcement was made that at 8 a. m. the march would be 
 resumed. Thoroughfare Gap, although yet half a day's jour- 
 ney distant, was in plain view, and through it we must pass, 
 and beyond it reach, in order to relieve Jackson and his brave 
 men. It was occupied by the enemy when in the afternoon we 
 approached it, and Law's brigade and skirmishers from the 
 Texas took an active part in the fighting that followed, and 
 which resulted in the retreat of the enem}'. The way clear, the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 77 
 
 Texas Brigade marched through the gap, following the rail- 
 road track, and shortly after sunset went into bivouac on a 
 hill-side just beyond. 
 
 An hour later, everybody except Bill Calhoun, of Company 
 B, Fourth Texas, was resting comfortably. He was an odd- 
 ity of whom the Texas Brigade was proud, for although 
 usually sad of countenance and melancholy of mien, in his 
 bosom dwelt a spirit of drollery that was constantly efferves- 
 cing and running over. His mess-mate and bed-fellow was 
 Davidge. Carrying out a well-conceived plan for an equit- 
 able distribution of baggage, Davidge, on the morning of 
 the 28th, was intrusted with the transportation of the blankets 
 and tent-cloths of the mess — Bill Calhoun with that of the 
 provisions and the frying-pan. Davidge straggled, and when 
 camping time came, was not on hand. Confident that he 
 would soon put in his appearance. Bill prepared supper for 
 the mess, and Davidge still remaining absent, ate it all him- 
 self. Then lighting his pipe, between puffs he chatted with 
 such of his company as would listen and respond. The re- 
 sponses, after a while, growing few and sleepy, he declined 
 an invitation of a friend to share the friend's blankets, and 
 remarking that Davidge would surely be along soon, stretched 
 himself out on the bare ground, and was soon asleep. But 
 the night was cool enough to make some covering necessary, 
 and though Bill endured the hardness of his couch and the 
 chilliness of the air without a murmur until midnight, he 
 could endure it no longer. Standing erect in the midst of the 
 2500 recumbent forms that darkened the moonlit hill-side, he 
 broke into magniloquent apostrophe : 
 
 "Oh, Davidge, Davidge!" he cried, "friend of my bosom 
 and possessor of my blanket, where art thou, Davidge, this 
 cold and comfortless night? Art thou, indeed, false to thy 
 many professions, false to the sacred obligations of the true 
 and loyal friendship thou hast so often and fervently de- 
 clared, and oblivious of duty, forgetful of the friend who has 
 confided to thee even the well-worn blanket on which he de- 
 pendeth for protection from the chilling blasts of winter.'* Art 
 thou now peacefully and blissfully, but alas, ungratefully, re- 
 clining on some hospitable feather bed and dreaming of the 
 joys that will be thine ' when this cruel war is over,' or art 
 
78 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 thou, bellied and betra>'ed by the demon of intemperance 
 that hath bestowed upon thee such a damnable thirst for 
 apple-jack, wallowing like a filthy and disreputable hog in the 
 dirt before the door of some far-away mountain still-house, 
 while I — thy friend and mess-mate, thy boon companion in 
 happiness and adversity — stand here alone, a homeless, house- 
 less, blanketless orphan, his wandering and faltering foot- 
 steps guided only by the pale light of yonder refulgent orb of 
 night, his shivering body covered onl}^ by the blue canopy of 
 the sky, his restless slumber watched over only by the mj-riads 
 of twinkling stars that shine in the heavens above him? Alas, 
 Davidge, thou hitherto trusted friend and companion and 
 confidant of my youth and my manhood ! Thou hast been 
 weighed in the balance and found wanting. The surrounding 
 and circumambient circumstances and facts furnish proof 
 strong as holy writ, that I have been duped, deceived and out- 
 witted, and ungratefully left to encounter the slings and ar- 
 rows of misfortune alone and unsustained by any human aid." 
 And dropping suddenly from the sublime to the ridiculous. 
 Bill nudged the nearest man with his foot, and in a voice of 
 entreaty that would have melted the hardest of hearts, said: 
 " Say, Bill Hamb}^ roll over just a little bit, and let me get 
 under the shadow of 3'our blanket. If you don't, ere the 
 morning's dawn illumines the eastern horizon, I'll be a stand- 
 ing monument to man's inhumanity to man." 
 
 The morning of the 29th dawned unclouded, but full of 
 portentous sound. From the direction of Groveton came the 
 deep bellows of artillery and the dull indistinct roar of mus- 
 ketry. General Pope was obviously early at work in his effort 
 to bag Jackson's little army before that of Longstrect could 
 reach and relieve it. Shortly after sunrise, the Texas Brigade 
 — the only command that had passed through the gap — was in 
 motion toward the sound of the firing. In advance of it went 
 Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Upton, of the Fifth Texas, in com- 
 mand of one hundred and fifty skirmishers and with orders 
 to keep the way clear for the brigade. He obejed these or- 
 ders both in letter and spirit, for although opposed by infan- 
 try, cavalry and artillery, he put them to retreat and ad- 
 vanced so rapidly, and the brigade followed so close on his 
 heels, that General Longstrcet more than once sent orders 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 79 
 
 forward to halt the Texas Brigade until the troops in its rear 
 could overtake it. 
 
 By 11 A. M. Upton drove the Federals beyond the cut in an 
 unfinished railroad, in which Jackson's men, although sorely 
 beset, were yet holding their ground, and coming up, Law's 
 Brigade fell into line of battle to the right of Jackson, and 
 the Texas Brigade on the right of Law's — the other troops 
 as they arrived extending Longstreet's line a mile or more 
 to the right of the Texas Brigade. Approximately Long- 
 street's line faced to the northeast, Jackson's to the southeast, 
 thus forming an obtuse angle, the Federal lines running par- 
 allel with those of the Confederates, but northeast and south- 
 east of them. 
 
 The Texas Brigade formed along the southwestern edge of 
 a strip of timber extending far to its right, but only a short 
 distance to its left. In front of this strip of timber, lay an 
 open, slightly undulating wheatfield, or meadow into which, 
 in front of the Fifth Texas, Eighteenth Georgia and Hamp- 
 ton's Legion, the woods jutted. Across the wheatfield, which 
 in front of the First and Fourth Texas was about three hun- 
 dred yards wide, stood a rather dense forest, covering, perhaps, 
 four hundred acres of land, which immediately in front of those 
 regiments was about three hundred and fifty yards wide — its 
 northeast edge approaching within thirty yards of the crest 
 of the slope on whose southwest side it lay. From that crest, 
 the ground sloped rapidly for a couple of hundred yards to 
 one of the prongs of Young's branch, and beyond the prong, 
 rose as rapidly until its highest altitude reached, it stretched 
 off toward Bull Run Creek in a fairly level plateau, dotted 
 sparsely with clumps of young pine and cedar. 
 
 Having secured position on his right, Longstreet seemed dis- 
 posed to let Jackson maintain the contest unaided save by the 
 artillery under his command, which he posted on the high 
 hills just to the left of Law's Brigade. Assisted by that, Jack- 
 son's men repulsed every one of the five successive, well- 
 planned, bravely-led and gallant assaults made upon them 
 during the afternoon. Then at the point of exhaustion, they 
 made their first urgent appeal for help. Longstreet still loth 
 to extend it. General Lee, at sunset, ordered Hood's division 
 forward. In five minutes from the time Lee gave the order, 
 
80 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 it was advancing, a strong line of skirmishers in its front. 
 Much to its surprise, the Texas Brigade was not fired upon 
 by even Federal skirmishers until, having crossed the wheat- 
 field and passed through the timber beyond that, it came to 
 open ground. There, the enemy's skirmishers opened a brisk 
 fire upon our own, but continued it only a few minutes and 
 then fled. The twilight is short in Virginia, and troops mov- 
 ing in line of battle through a woodland obstructed by under- 
 growth, make slow headway, and by the time the main line of 
 the brigade reached the open ground, and descending the 
 slope, crossed the branch at its foot, it was too dark to dis- 
 tinguish friends from foes at ordinary musket range. 
 
 Somehow, too, it happened that Law's and the Texas Bri- 
 gades moved forward on converging lines. Owing to this 
 circumstance, one of Law's regiments passed across the front 
 of the First Texas, and when halted at the branch to perfect 
 its alignment, stood exactly in front of the Fourth Texas. 
 This failure to move straightforward, on parallel lines, com- 
 bined with the darkness to intermingle the two brigades and 
 create confusion. While a semblance of order was being re- 
 stored, from the hill-side in our rear came the flashes and re- 
 ports of many small arms, fired, obviously, by opposing bodies 
 of troops. Staff officers immediately galloped in that direc- 
 tion, but before they had gone half-way the firing ceased, and 
 as if by magic, a line of camp-fires appeared all along the crest 
 of the ridge in our rear. Five minutes later, the Texas 
 Brigade was ordered to move by the left flank, which placed 
 the First Texas in the lead. We had gone scarcely a hun- 
 dred yards, though, when a loud peremptory "Halt ! " broke 
 the silence that had fallen on the field, and the next moment 
 a shot rang out, and was followed by several others. 
 
 At the word, the brigade came to a sudden stop, the men 
 standing motionless with wonder. A minute later the strange 
 caution came whispered from man to man, all along the line, 
 " Silence ! We are surrounded by the enemy." It was the 
 truth, and for a minute or more, a sadly humiliating truth, 
 since to be surrounded presaged speedy capture and resulting 
 shame and mortification. But our humiliation lasted but a 
 second or two ; with arms still in our hands, we could fight 
 our way out, or die ; and thus resolving, we asked each other 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 81 
 
 in whispers how in the mischief we had got ourselves into 
 such a trap. It had been easy to do so ; moving forward on 
 converging lines, the two brigades of the division had simply 
 driven themselves, wedge-like, into the unoccupied space be- 
 tween two Federal brigades — the darkness of the night and 
 the suddenness of the movement having prevented them from 
 discovering our passage. When, however, they did discover 
 it, they moved closer to each other and thus closed the gap 
 through which we had entered. But in doing that, they made 
 the gap between themselves and the brigade on their left wider 
 than was safe, and through this, after midnight, we stole, 
 with bated breaths and noiseless steps, back to the line from 
 which we had started. 
 
 The loss of the Texas Brigade on the 29th was light. As 
 now recalled, but two of its men were wounded, and one cap- 
 tured. Colonel Work, of the First Texas, was one of the 
 wounded. While advancing with his regiment in the darkness 
 and over strange ground, he ordered his men to shoot at 
 everybody that appeared in the front. The men, however, 
 were unwilling to do this, lest they fire into their friends, and 
 coming at last within sixty yards of a line of troops stand- 
 ing silent and motionless, refused to fire at them. Work in- 
 sisted they were Yankees, and to prove it, unwisely pushed 
 forward alone to decide the question. But when within twenty 
 yards of the suspected line, he ran up against a vidette whom 
 he took to be a lone Confederate, and asked if the troops 
 
 just beyond him were not Yankees. " You are a rebel, d 
 
 you," instantly exclaimed the vidette, making a movement to 
 bring his gun to his shoulder. But before he could level it, 
 Colonel Work sprang at him, wrested the gun out of his 
 hands, and aiming at him, pulled the trigger. 
 
 His gun in an enemy's hands, the vidette fled, but he need 
 not have done so, for only a snap of the cap rewarded the ef- 
 forts of Work to shoot him. Work pursued, but had gone 
 hardly five steps when he ran against the muzzle of a gun in 
 the hands of another Federal. Dropping the gun he held, 
 Work knocked the weapon of his new assailant to one side, and 
 its shot went wild. Then remembering he wore a pistol. Work 
 reached for it, but before he could draw it, the Federal clubbed 
 his gun and struck the colonel over the head with it. The 
 
82 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 blow did not fell the plucky Confederate, but it sent him reel- 
 ing backwards, and one of his spurs caught in the undergrowth 
 and tripped him up. The Federal rushed on him to adminis- 
 ter the coup-de-grace, but just then Captain W. H. Gaston 
 of the First Texas heard the racket, and surmising that his 
 doughty colonel was in pressing need of reinforcements, came 
 up in a run. Not caring to fight two Confederates with an 
 unloaded gun, the Federal took to his legs. 
 
 It was Bill Calhoun that was captured. Davidge, whose 
 untimely absence the night before had been so eloquently 
 lamented and denounced by him, having that morning put 
 in an appearance, Bill went forward with his comrades of the 
 skirmish line in high good humor with himself and everybody 
 else. Unluckily, however, his desire to get in close range of 
 a Yankee, in order, as he said, " to show the blue-bellied cuss 
 what a feller from ole Brushy can do in the way of quick 
 shootin'," led him too far to the front. As with cocked gun 
 held in his hands across his breast, he passed a little clump of 
 cedars, one of the " cusses " he was in search of stepped out, 
 and leveling a gun at him, cried, " Surrender, you d — d rebel ! 
 Surrender, or I'll blow your brains out." 
 
 Noting at a glance that the Federal " had the drop on 
 him," and that in the shadow of the cedars stood other sol- 
 diers in blue. Bill released the clutch of his fingers on his gun, 
 and letting it drop with a clang to the rocky ground, ex- 
 claimed, "Sun-ender? Why, of course I surrender — who in 
 h — ll's talkin' 'bout not surrenderin '? " Such an odd way of 
 submitting to capture so amused the Federal that he forgot 
 to lower his gun, but held it aimed in the general direction 
 of his captive — its barrel moving up, down and sidewise in 
 time to the laughter that shook his form. " See here, Mis- 
 ter," called Bill, " please quit pintin' ycr gun at me — hit mout 
 go off unbeknownst to yer, an' eff hit do, hit's jest as apt ter 
 hit a feller as ter miss him." 
 
 With the morning of the 30th, came another unclouded sky. 
 At sunrise. General Pope wired to Washington that he had 
 won a great victory, that the Confederates were in full retreat 
 and that he was making preparations for a vigorous pursuit. 
 An hour later, he discovered that Lee's army was yet in his 
 front, ready to test conclusions with liis own. It was 1 p. m., 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 83 
 
 however, before the Federal commander renewed the contest by 
 an attack along the whole length of Jackson's hne — his most 
 desperate and determined assault being on the Louisiana and 
 Virginia Confederates occupying the railroad cut. It was a 
 gallant affair on both sides, the courage and steadfastness of 
 the assailed being fairly matched by the daring and deter- 
 mined bravery of the assailants. 
 
 Line after line of the Federals moved forward, their battle- 
 flags waving, their alignments as straight as though they were 
 on the parade ground, and their men stepping boldly, briskly 
 and confidently. When within a hundred and fifty yards of 
 the red-clay embankment behind wliich crouched the Confed- 
 erates, a loud resounding huzza would burst from the throats 
 of the men, and they would spring forward in a seemingly 
 reckless charge. But in a minute's time the scene would 
 change. As they came within fifty yards of their waiting op- 
 ponents, the flash, the smoke and the roar of three thousand 
 well-aimed rifles would burst from the embankment, a wHd, 
 blood-curdling Confederate yell rise high above the din of bat- 
 tle, and when the smoke lifted, the survivors of a fire as ter- 
 rible and destructive as was ever hurled at a foe could be 
 seen fleeing back to the Union lines, up and across a hill-side 
 darkened by the forms of their dead, dying and wounded. It 
 was both a saddening and a magnificent spectacle. While 
 the sympathies and hopes of the Texans on the skirmish line 
 a mile away to the right, went with the troops that so pluckily 
 held the railroad cut, they made no attempt to conceal their 
 admiration of the splendid daring, the American courage of 
 the assailants. 
 
 Although they repulsed the enemy at every point on their 
 line, Jackson's men were not made of iron. The strain on 
 them was terrible, the pressure unceasing, and at 4.30 p. m. 
 General Jackson called for assistance. The artillery of Lono-- 
 street and Colonel Stephen D. Lee was first to give it — its en- 
 filading fire on the left flank of the still advancing Federals 
 sweeping them down in long rows. At the moment it ap- 
 peared most eff'ective and demoralizing, Longstreet ordered 
 his command forward, and it went with a will and a vim that 
 carried consternation to the Federals and soon put them to 
 flight. 
 
84. HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Springing into line when the order reached them, each man 
 eager for the fray, the Texas Brigade moved rapidly across 
 the wheat-field into the woods be3'ond — the Eighteenth 
 Georgia in the center; on its right Hampton's Legion and 
 beyond that the Fifth Texas, and on its left, the Fourth 
 Texas, and beyond that the First Texas. Some little skir- 
 mishing took place in the woods, but it was only when the 
 open ground beyond the timber was gained that the main 
 forces of the enemy were encountered. The alignment of the 
 five regiments, as a brigade, was lost when they entered the 
 timber, and as each seemed bent on making a record that 
 should be distinctively and peculiarly its own, there was so 
 little concert of action between them that any attempt to de- 
 scribe their movements as a brigade would be confusing both 
 to writer and reader. Instead, each regiment will be given 
 space to tell its own story through the medium of the official 
 report of its immediate commander, and the pen of one or 
 more of its members. But only such parts of the reports 
 will be given as relate to the battle of August 30. 
 
 To economize space, official and non-official reports and ac- 
 counts will appear in the order in which the regiments stood, 
 looking from the left to the right. That will give the report 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel P. A. Work, of the First Texas, first 
 place. The official reports of the battle of Second Manassas 
 are to be found in Part II, Volume XII, of War of the 
 Rebellion Records. Colonel Work says : 
 
 The regiment, having been withdrawn from the ground occupied 
 by it on the battleground of the evening previous, was placed in 
 position about daylight of the morning of August 30, with its left 
 resting upon the turnpike road at the point occupied by it the day 
 previous. During the day I received instructions through Capt. 
 W. H. Sellers, assistant adjutant-general, to keep the regiment at 
 attention, and advance to attack the enemy whenever ordered. By 
 Captain Sellers I was informed that General Kemper's Brigade 
 would be advanced simultaneously with the Texas Brigade, mov- 
 ing diagonally across the front of the latter; that mine would 
 be the directing regiment, and would move slowly, with its left 
 flank resting upon the turnpike road, the other regiments of the 
 brigade inclining and gradually wheeling to the left, so that at 
 the proper point the Texas and Kemper's Brigades would present 
 an even, unbroken front. 
 
John Coi,eman Robkkts 
 Company C, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
 FACING 84 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 85 
 
 About 4 or 4.30 p. m. I was ordered to advance, when I at 
 once put the regiment in motion. After having advanced about 
 125 yards, I was informed by the acting adjutant of the regiment, 
 W. Shropshire, that the Fourth Texas Regiment had not moved, 
 when, supposing my movement premature, I halted and dispatched 
 a messenger to ascertain the truth. Before the return of the 
 messenger, Lieut. James Hamilton, aide-de-camp, galloped up and 
 informed me that the Fourth Texas was some 150 yards in ad- 
 vance of me. I at once moved at the double-quick and soon came 
 upon a line with the Fourth (just after moving out of the timber 
 into the large open field where the engagement took place). As 
 the regiment advanced, a battery of the enemy fired into us re- 
 peatedly, but before either this or any other regiment of the 
 brigade could charge upon it, it limbered up and moved off at a 
 rapid gait up the turnpike road, until it reached an orchard upon 
 an elevated, commanding position, where it halted and again 
 opened fire upon us. This regiment continued to advance up the 
 turnpike road, with its left resting thereon, until halted in a hol- 
 low, by an order delivered by a courier (Barbee, I believe). From 
 this hollow I received an order (through Barbee) to move for- 
 ward to the second hollow beyond the one I was then in, where 
 I would halt and receive orders, which order I executed, moving 
 forward to the hollow designated and halting, exposed to the fire 
 of the above-mentioned battery while crossing the two intervening 
 ridges. I failed to receive any orders at this place, and it was at 
 this last-mentioned hollow that I discovered that I was alone. I 
 had been watching so intently the battery in my front and the 
 movements of the troops in its immediate vicinity, that I did not 
 know when the other regiments of the brigade left me. Discov- 
 ering that I was alone, I called to Templeman (acting as courier) 
 and asked as to the whereabouts of the other regiments. He could 
 not then inform me, but said that he would ascertain and let me 
 know, and galloping off, soon returned, stating the Fourth Texas 
 had crossed the creek opposite my right flank, had moved up and 
 taken a battery upon a ridge which he pointed out, and had moved 
 on over the ridge after the infantry support. I at once moved 
 by the right flank across the creek and upon the ridge desig- 
 nated. Having moved the right of the regiment to the top of 
 the ridge, and placed the regiment under cover from an enfilad- 
 ing fire from two batteries, to wit, the one above mentioned at 
 the orchard, and the second on a ridge running parallel to the 
 one upon the top of which my right was then resting, I advanced, 
 myself, to a point from which I hoped to discover the locality of 
 the Fourth Texas. I heard a heavy firing of musketry or rifles 
 
86 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 down in the hollow in front of where I was standing, but, owing 
 to a swell or second ridge upon the descending slope to the hol- 
 low, not a man could I discover. 
 
 About this time Barbee galloped up and informed me that all 
 of the brigade were down in the hollow, were hard pressed, and 
 needed assistance. Selecting a place where I could pass the ridge 
 with as little loss as possible, I fronted the regiment and moved 
 forward some 35 yards to a depression crossing the ridge. Once 
 in this depression, I believed I could cross the ridge protected 
 wholly from the fire of the orchard battery, and partially from 
 the battery upon the parallel ridge. Just as the regiment had 
 reached the depression alluded to, and just as I was in the act 
 of giving the order to move by the right flank. Captain Sellers 
 brought me an order to take my regiment under cover, and was 
 so earnest that he gave the order to right-about before I could 
 give it myself. As the regiment moved back over this 35 yards, 
 a heavy fire of grape and canister was opened on us from the 
 two batteries above mentioned, and it was here that several were 
 wounded. Having brought the regiment under cover, I was di- 
 rected by Captain Sellers to move down into the hollow, where 
 flowed the creek spoken of above, and there rest. About the time 
 I reached the last-mentioned hollow quite a number from the sev- 
 eral regiments of the brigade joined me, and, falling into the 
 ranks, remained until their respective regiments successively 
 reached the hollow and formed upon this. 
 
 "We lost 3 killed and 7 wounded. It is proper to state, that 
 of the killed, one, R. B. Stephens, of Company E, was killed by 
 
 a rifle ball while skirmishing, and a second, Walker, of 
 
 Company E, was killed while with the scouts, under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Upton, of the Fifth Texas. 
 
 It is a matter of regret that I received no notice and did not 
 discover the movements of the other regiments of the brigade in 
 time to have changed my front and contributed the best eff'orts 
 of the regiment in aiding in taking the battery captured, and in 
 the attack upon the troops routed by them. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Second Manassas (Continued) 
 
 The Fourth Texas held place in the line of battle, on the 
 right of the First Texas, and between that regiment and 
 Hampton's Legion. Relating the movements of the Fourth 
 on the 30th, one of its survivors writes: 
 
 "In front of the Fourth as it emerged from the timber, 
 stood two lines of the enemy's infantry in battle array— 
 the first, a hundred yards or so from the timber— the second, 
 beyond Young's branch. Beyond the second was posted on 
 commanding ground a battery of four guns, wliich, from 
 the time we came in view of it, poured shot and shell mto our 
 ranks with an accuracy of aim that caused much loss. The 
 first line seemed panic-stricken by the mere sight of us, for 
 holding its ground only long enough to fire one volley, and 
 that aimed too high to do much execution, it about-faced in 
 one movement and the quickest time on record, and receiving 
 our fire in its rear, fled at a speed that soon took it out of sight 
 and range. Then, neither consulting Colonel Carter, nor giv- 
 ing him'' time to utter a command, the men of the Fourth, 
 moved by a common impulse, began a charge upon the battery 
 
 " The Federal infantry in our front, beyond the branch, fired 
 two or three volleys at us as we plunged down the slope, and 
 into and across the little stream, but it no sooner saw us mov- 
 ing up the hill toward it, than it, too, took to precipitate 
 flio-ht. The battery, though, held its ground, and as we 
 neared it, began to hurl at us grape and canister that tore 
 great gaps in our ranks. Behind it lay, in a thicket of cedars, 
 a regiment whose special duty it was to support it, but when 
 that saw the two lines in front break into flight, it also broke 
 and fled, leaving the battery entirely without support. Then, 
 feeling themselves deserted, the men belonging to the battery 
 abandoned it and made for the rear, leaving only their cap- 
 tain to stand by it. And that he did, with a courage and hero- 
 
 87 
 
88 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 ism that, although wasted on the impossible, deserv^edl}" won 
 the admiration and even the sympathy of the foes he was 
 doing his best to destroy. Even when we had come within 
 forty yards of the guns, he stood at the only loaded one, and 
 was in the act of discharging it when he was shot down. That 
 gun was loaded with grape and canister, and, huddled to- 
 gether as the regiment then was, each man of us seeking to 
 be the first to lay hands on a cannon, had he discharged it, 
 fully one-half of the Fourth Texas would have been wounded 
 and killed. 
 
 " The battery captured, the Fourth Texas formed in line 
 facing in the direction of the enemy — forming, according to 
 my recollection, in a low swale not over fifty yards beyond 
 the battery and at no time advancing beyond the swale. Not 
 another Confederate command was in sight, either to right 
 or left, and naturally, our men felt lonely, the colonel, anxious. 
 To move forward, might be to invite disaster — to fall back, 
 was to abandon the trophies we had won at a terrible sacrifice 
 • — to stay there and, Micawber-like, wait ' for something to 
 turn up,' was not military conduct. The enemy solved the 
 problem. While Colonel Carter and other officers consulted 
 as to what should be done, it was discovered that a large force 
 of Federals, hidden from view in the valley of Young's branch 
 — which, making a bend to the right below where we had 
 crossed it, was now on our left — was moving on our rear. 
 
 " One glance over the brow of the hill convinced Colonel Car- 
 ter that at such a crisis, ' discretion was the better part of 
 valor,' and he moved the regiment, by the right flank, back to 
 Young's branch, at the point where we had crossed it, and 
 thence up it a couple of hundred yards, where it halted and 
 remained until after sunset. We were not there more than 
 five minutes, when a magnificently arrayed Confederate bri- 
 gade — it was Kemper's, I think — came marching up to and 
 over us, on its way to take part in the battle. ' What are 
 you fellows skulking here for.? ' asked one of its men. ' We 
 are not skulking,' replied a red-haired Texan: 'we are just 
 holding this branch for you folks to hide in when the Yankees 
 up yonder on the hill whip you back.' ' They'll never do 
 that,' boasted the man of Kemper's Brigade. But he 
 boasted too soon, for in less than twenty minutes, he and 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 89 
 
 many hundreds of his brigade came running back to the 
 branch for shelter from the bullets that pursued them. ' I 
 told you you'd come back a-ninnin', said the red-headed Texan, 
 but there was no rejoinder. 
 
 " Of what the other regiments of the Texas Brigade did, I 
 have little personal knowledge. We had evidence of what the 
 Fifth Texas had done in the ghastly, horrifying spectacle 
 that met our eyes as, while lying in the branch, we looked at 
 the hill-side then in our rear, nearly an acre of which that 
 regiment had covered with killed and wounded Zouaves, the 
 variegated colors of whose gaudy uniforms gave the scene, 
 when looked at from a distance, the appearance of a Texas 
 hill-side when carpeted in the spring by wild flowers of many 
 hues and tints. 
 
 " Certainly the career of the Fifth New York Zouaves was 
 neither a long nor a brilliant one. While camped in 1861-2 
 across the Potomac River, from the Fifth Texas, it is said 
 they threatened that if they ever met the Fifth Texas in 
 battle, they would ' wipe it off the face of the earth ' — the 
 Fifth Texas in retort, declaring that if it ever met the Zouaves* 
 it would cover the ground ' with their ring-streaked and 
 striped bodies.' At Gaines' Mill, the Fifth New York 
 Zouaves encountered the Fourth Texas, and driven in con- 
 fusion from the first line of works there, defeated, could only 
 boast of the speed that enabled them to outstrip their com- 
 rades of other regiments in a wild, go-as-you-please race to 
 the protecting shelter of the Chickahominy swamplands ; at 
 Second Manassas, they met the Fifth Texas, and instead of 
 wiping that command ' off the face of the earth,' as they had 
 boasted they would, were themselves, as a command, practi- 
 cally annihilated. Certainl}'^, the laurels they won on fields 
 of battle were not many, for the survivors of Second Manassas 
 proved too few to maintain a separate organization, and for 
 the remainder of the war, served only on details, as guards 
 and nurses at prisons and hospitals. Blotted from history 
 by the Fifth Texas, the regiment has remained ' unhonored 
 and unsung,' save in so far as that has been done in song 
 and story laudatory of the Fifth Texas, or descriptive of 
 * Carnage Hill,' as by Union veterans, the hill-side on which 
 so many of its men were killed, has been called. 
 
90 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " In all the annals of warfare, ancient and modem, no greater 
 mortality was ever inflicted in the same space of time by as 
 few men as were engaged in the affair. Actual and careful 
 account made after the battle was over for the day, dis- 
 closed that 443 of the Zouaves were killed, and that of these, 
 294 fell dead in the tracks where they stood when the Texans 
 of the Fifth fired their first volley. Only ten prisoners were 
 taken, and of these but four were wounded. One of the 
 wounded, an officer, said, while being taken to the rear, that 
 not over fifty of the regiment escaped death, wounds, or cap- 
 ture. Against that estimate should be placed the fact, 
 vouched for by many members of the Fifth Texas, that at 
 least twice that number were seen to reach the shelter of tim- 
 ber beyond Young's branch. 
 
 " Captain Mark Kenis, the commander of the battery cap- 
 tured by the Fourth Texas, deserves more than a passing 
 notice. A Virginian by birth, no braver soldier than he served 
 in either army. His experience with the Texans was some- 
 what similar to that of the Zouaves. His battery was one 
 of those that were massed on the high hill south of Powhite 
 Creek, at the battle of Gaines' Mill. There he was lucky 
 enough, when the capture of the position seemed inevitable, to 
 escape with four of his guns. With these same four guns he 
 fought the Fourth Texas again at Second Manassas. That 
 night, members of the Fourth Texas returned to the battery, 
 and finding its gallant commander still alive, offered to carry 
 him to a hospital for surgical attention. But he declined 
 such aid, saying that he knew he was mortally wounded and 
 must soon die, and that all he asked was to be let die by his 
 guns, as he had sworn to do when given command of them. 
 His wish was respected, and the watch, the keep-sakes and the 
 letter he wrote were a few days later sent through the lines 
 to the parties he named." 
 
 Another member of the Fourth Texas, General William R. 
 Hamby, writes as follows : 
 
 " Resuming our march early in the morning of August 29th, 
 we could hear cannonading in our front, causing our column 
 to press forward in a forced march, as we knew Stonewall 
 Jackson was already engaged. We struck the enemy near 
 
Lieutenant Ben M. Baker 
 Company B, Fifth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 91 
 
 the village at Groveton about the middle of the forenoon, and 
 at once formed line of battle, the Texas Brigade on the right 
 of the turnpike leading from Warrenton across Bull Run to 
 Centerville, and Law's Brigade of our division on the left of 
 the pike and connecting with the right of Jackson's line. The 
 balance of Longstreet's Corps forming to the right of the 
 Texas Brigade, thus placing us about the center of the Confed- 
 erate line of battle. Our line was formed in the edge of a nar- 
 row strip of timber ; in our rear was a small glade or abandoned 
 field; our skirmish line was at the further side of the timber 
 in front of us ; in front of our skirmish line was an open field 
 some three hundred yards wide; then came another body of 
 timber in which the enemy had formed their lines. Their sharp 
 shooters and their artillery kept up a regular fire, but did 
 little execution, 
 
 " Late in the afternoon we were ordered forward, but had 
 scarcely cleared the outer edge of the woods where our skir- 
 mish line had been on duty before we met the enemy advancing 
 to meet us. Raising a shout we charged them at double quick 
 and drove them from the open field back through the woods ; 
 while passing through this timber a cavalry charge was made 
 along the pike to our left, but was soon repulsed ; we then 
 crossed another field, passing over a small creek and advanced 
 up a hill into another body of timber. Night had overtaken 
 us sometime before we entered this last woods, which was 
 probably three-fourths of a mile from where we started. The 
 conflict here was close and obstinate and continued until it 
 was so dark we could not distinguish friend from foe. The 
 Federal and Confederate lines were badly mixed, resulting in 
 many cases of hand-to-hand conflict. It was here that Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Work, then in command of the First Texas, 
 was struck on the head with a gun by a Federal soldier. The 
 dense woods only added to the darkness and the embarrass- 
 ment of a battle at night, which is the most undesirable service 
 in which a soldier can engage. While our losses had been com- 
 paratively small that day, yet many of those brave Texans 
 were destined to join the innumerable caravan on the shores 
 of the great beyond before the setting of another sun. We 
 were far advanced inside the Federal lines and practically 
 surrounded on three sides. We remained in this position until 
 
92 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 after midnight, when we quietly withdrew and returned to the 
 same position we held before the fight commenced, bringing 
 with us a few prisoners and several flags as the result of 
 the engagement. The prisoners were New York troops and 
 said they belonged to Hatch's Brigade. 
 
 " In consequence of our withdrawal General Pope, the Fed- 
 eral commander, fell under the erroneous impression that Gen- 
 eral Lee's whole army was in retreat and telegraphed that fact 
 to Washington and issued orders that his troops be throwm 
 ' forward in pursuit of the fleeing rebels,' but he soon became 
 convinced that the rebels were not retreating, but were still 
 in strong force along his entire front, and before the close of 
 the day he realized that the ' fleeing rebels,' as he termed Gen- 
 eral Lee's army, not only had no intention of retreating, but 
 were actually advancing, and then it was the matter of but a 
 few hours when the pursuers became the pursued. 
 
 " During the forenoon of August 30, sharp firing was kept 
 up between the skirmish lines of the opposing armies. In ad- 
 dition to the whistling of the minie balls that would oc- 
 casionally hit a man in our lines, the Federal Artillery on a 
 hill about half a mile in front of us were shelling the woods 
 in which we were located and while not doing much damage, 
 were very annoying. As the shells came shrieking through 
 the tree tops over our heads, they seemed to say, ' Where are 
 you.'' Where are you? ' and when they burst there is no 
 question but what they plainly said, ' Found you.' 
 
 " About three o'clock we witnessed an artillery duel between 
 the Confederate batteries on our left and the Federal artillery 
 in our front. Our guns were under the direction of General 
 Stephen D. Lee, who at that time was a colonel of artillery. 
 The enemy's batteries were silenced and our batteries advanced 
 at a gallop about 200 yards in front of our lines and again 
 opened fire, with shot and shell and doing great execution. It 
 was one of the most brilliant artillery actions it was ever my 
 fortune to witness. The fire of our guns was so rapid and so 
 accurate that the Federal infantry, then seriously threatening 
 Jackson's line to our left, were broken and their artillery 
 forced to change position and seek shelter. 
 
 " It was about four o'clock, or possibly some later, in the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 93 
 
 afternoon of August 30th, when we were again ordered for- 
 ward. We advanced through the timber in front of us and 
 were met by the enemy in the open field near where we had 
 met them the previous day. Again raising a yell and charg- 
 ing at double quick we drove them from the field through the 
 timber to another field and across a creek where we made a 
 short halt, re-formed our lines and prepared for another 
 charge. The battery on the crest of the hill in our front and 
 their infantry supports were subjecting us to a heavy fire. 
 While we were re-forming our lines, Albert Nicholls of Com- 
 pany B, Fourth Texas, broke ranks and ran some thirty or 
 forty steps up the hill towards the enemy to pick up a hat 
 which he said had been left there for him by a gentleman from 
 New York. We started at a run, firing and reloading as we 
 advanced, and but for the fact that the enemy over-shot us, 
 we would never have reached the top of the hill, and yet with 
 that in our favor we lost heavily in making that charge of 
 about 200 yards. The Fifth Texas was to our right and 
 came in contact with the Fifth New York Zouaves, as gallant 
 a regiment of soldiers as ever fired a gun. The New York 
 Regiment covered the Fifth Texas, while in front of the Fourth 
 Texas was a battery of artillery. The Zouaves were dressed 
 in blue jackets, red trousers and white leggins, and presented 
 a picturesque appearance, but out of 490 who went into ac- 
 tion that day, 297 of them fell where they stood, and I verily 
 believe if any one had been disposed, he could have walked 
 from one end of their line to the other without touching the 
 ground. The officers and men of the battery shared a similar 
 fate, standing to their guns until we were upon them, the most 
 of them being either killed or wounded before they permitted 
 their four guns to fall into our hands, but the troops support- 
 ing the battery fled in disoi'der. When the Fifth Texas fired 
 their last volley into the ranks of the Zouaves, their right 
 could almost cross bayonets with the left of the New Yorkers. 
 The valor of the Zouaves was only exceeded by the gallant 
 charge of the Texans. 
 
 " It was a singular coincidence that the Zouaves and the 
 battery which suffered so heavily at the hands of the Texans 
 at Second Manassas should have also fought us at Gaines' 
 Mill the 27th of June previous, when the Zouaves lost about 
 
94 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 one-third of their number while the battery lost two of their 
 guns, besides many of their men killed and wounded. The 
 battery was composed of Pennsylvania soldiers and was com- 
 manded by Captain Mark Kerns, who although wounded early 
 in the day at Gaines' Mill, stayed with his guns until the Fed- 
 eral line was swept from the field, and at Second Manassas, al- 
 though nearly all his men had fallen, he loaded and fired his 
 guns until he himself was struck down when we were only a 
 few steps from him. When we reached the gun beside which 
 he fell, with his life blood fast ebbing away, he said : ' I prom- 
 ised to drive you back, or die under my guns, and I have kept 
 my word.' After crossing the hill on which Kerns' battery 
 was located we deflected somewhat to the left, while the Fifth 
 Texas, Hampton's Legion, and Eighteenth Georgia had gone 
 to the right, thus widely separating us from these regiments 
 of our brigade. We pushed on after the retreating Federals 
 down the hill across a small hollow and came in contact Avith 
 the Pennsylvania Reserves, who were in a pine thicket in front 
 of us. We here discovered the enemy in heavy force on the 
 hill to our left and almost in our rear. We were being en- 
 filaded by both infantry and artillery, which forced us to 
 change direction and fall back, as we were then about half a 
 mile in front of the balance of the Confederate line on this part 
 of the field. The friendly sides of a ravine protected us some- 
 what until we could re-form our line and take a survey of the 
 situation. We then crossed the hill in our rear, keeping up 
 a rapid fire and holding the enemy at a safe distance when 
 the Fourth Texas was joined by the First Texas, who had 
 been engaged on our left and nearer the turnpike. The Fed- 
 erals came up within about 200 yards of our line ; the inter- 
 vening space between the two lines was covered with the dead 
 and wounded, both Union and Confederate. It was on this 
 part of the field where Sergeant Bible, of Company E, and 
 Charley McAnnally and Niles Fawcett, of Company B, and 
 others were killed, besides many wounded, myself among the 
 number. 
 
 " A comrade who was wounded and unable to leave the field 
 gives a graphic description of his surroundings. He said he 
 laid on that field as the sun was slowl3'^ sinking behind the hills. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 95 
 
 and as the shadows of night came on, the feelings that came 
 over him were beyond his powers of expression; midway be- 
 tween two lines of battle with shot and shell from friend and 
 foe falHng thick, and every few moments some poor unfortu- 
 nate would cry out in anguish, ' Oh, God, I am hit again.' His 
 mother from his infancy had taught him to pray, but on this 
 day the thought of prayer never entered is mind, and yet, he 
 says, he could embrace every act of his hfe in a single thought. 
 " Evans' Brigade soon came up to our support, followed 
 soon thereafter by a general advance of the entire Confederate 
 line which swept the Union forces from the field. The battle 
 continued until darkness put an end to the conflict, the Con- 
 federate lines being about two miles in front of where we had 
 started, but if an hour more of daylight had remained. Pope's 
 army would have been captured or destroyed, as many organi- 
 zations left the field in a rout, and to use the language of a 
 distinguished Federal officer, ' The road was filled with fleeing 
 men, artillery and wagons, all leaving the field in a panic, the 
 shadows of night enabling them to escape In safety across Bull 
 Run.' 
 
 " A short time before the battle commenced, James Thomas, 
 of Company B, Fourth Texas, remarked to some of his com- 
 rades that if he went into the battle that day he knew he would 
 be killed. Captain McLaurin, then in command of the com- 
 pany, heard the remark and told him if he felt that way for 
 him not to go into action, and that he would send him to 
 the rear on a special detail, but Thomas promptly declined 
 and said he would rather be killed than to be left in camp 
 on any kind of a detail when his regiment was at the front 
 fighting. In less than an hour from that time he was killed 
 in our charge up the hill in front of Kems' battery. 
 
 " In striking contrast to the foregoing, there was another 
 soldier, who had the habit of skulking and who had done so in 
 the engagement the previous day. As soon as we were or- 
 dered to advance his captain said to him, calling him by 
 name, ' I noticed your conduct in the fight yesterday, and if 
 you attempt to skulk to-day I will have you court-martialed 
 and shot,' to which the man rephed, ' Captain, there is no use 
 talking, I just can't stand it; do with me what you please.' 
 
96 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 He was detailed to the litter corps and made one of the most 
 useful soldiers in the army and achieved a reputation for 
 bravery on the field that made him honored and respected by 
 all who knew him. 
 
 " I remained at the field hospital some ten or twelve days 
 until all the wounded who were able to be moved were trans- 
 ferred to the hospital at Warrenton, when I took an ambu- 
 lance and followed the army into Maryland, reaching the bri- 
 gade at HagerstowTi September 13, while the B. & O. bridge 
 was being destroyed. The route I traveled from the field hos- 
 pital led by the deep cut in the bed of the railroad in front of 
 Jackson's line, where I saw hundreds of dead bodies still 
 unburied, who were piled up like railroad crossties, and were 
 being buried by having the earth from the embankment above 
 thrown upon them. The stench was sickening and the sight 
 appalling. 
 
 " The genius and generalship of General Lee never shone 
 with greater splendor than in the second battle of Manassas, 
 which will go down in history as one of the great battles 
 of modern warfare. The Confederate position was strong and 
 well selected against which the Federals frittered away much 
 of their strength in their repeated and unsuccessful assaults 
 upon Jackson's line, and when final orders were given to ad- 
 vance, there was scarcely a halt in the entire Confederate lines 
 until the battle ended. General Lee with 50,000 men was 
 opposed by General Pope, the Federal commander, with an 
 ai-my of 70,000. The Confederate losses were 7244, while the 
 Federal losses were 14,462 men, in addition to thirty pieces of 
 artillery, 20,000 stand of small arms, numerous flags and a 
 large amount of army stores.' No troops in General Lee's 
 army bore a more conspicuous part in this great battle or 
 contributed in a greater degree to achieve the victory than 
 Hood's Texas Brigade, but the honors they won were bought 
 at the price of 627 killed and wounded, of which the Fifth 
 Texas alone lost 239." 
 
 In his ofl^cial report, Lieutenant-Colonel B. F. Carter says: 
 
 " After our return to the position of the previous day, early 
 
 on the morning of the 30th, we rested on our arms in line of 
 
 battle during the day. Soon after four o'clock in the after- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 97 
 
 noon we were ordered to advance In the same line of battle as 
 the day previous, the First Texas, on our left, being the 
 directing battalion. Company A (Captain S. H. Darden) 
 was deployed as skirmishers in our front early in the morning; 
 was engaged with the enemy during the day. Passing 
 through the skirt of wood we rested in, we advanced through 
 the first field, thence through the second skirt of timber to the 
 next field. While yet in the wood a heavy firing of musketrj' 
 commenced on the right of our brigade, but no enemy ap- 
 peared In front of my regiment. As we emerged from the 
 wood I discovered a battery stationed on the hill beyond the 
 small creek, supported by infantry in strong force, who 
 opened fire on us. The distance to the creek at the bottom of 
 the hill was about 300 yards. We advanced In double-quick 
 down the hill to the creek, where we halted In accordance with 
 your orders, and were pretty well protected by the banks itud 
 some trees growing there. Here the regiment, somewhat 
 broken in our rapid advance, was quickly re-formed. We had 
 halted scarcely a minute when I discovered the right of the 
 brigade advancing up the hill, and immediately ordered the 
 regiment to charge the battery. Two or three guns on the 
 right of the battery were directly in front of my regiment, at 
 about 100 yards distance from the creek, on a small eminence 
 sloping gradually to the bottom, the ground being bare and 
 smooth. We were greeted with a terrific fire of grape, canis- 
 ter, and musketry, and my principal loss was sustained here. 
 The regiment responded gallantly to the order to charge, and 
 carried the hill and battery on the run, utterly routing the 
 supports, and killing the gunners, who stood to their guns 
 until we approached to within twenty paces. I hurried the 
 regiment rapidly forward to the next valley beyond the hill, 
 where a dry, shallow ravine afforded some protection from the 
 fire of the enemy, who had taken refuge on the next hill, cov- 
 ered with a growth of short pine, and were keeping up a sharp 
 fire of musketry on us. The Eighteenth Georgia formed In 
 the same ravine on our right, but the First Texas had disap- 
 peared from my left, and I did not see It any more until our 
 return to the creek. While advancing through the first field, 
 before meeting the enemy, I had received a caution to look well 
 to my left ; that we had no supports there, the Third Brigade 
 
98 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 being held as a support for the batteries, and not advancing. 
 In crossing the different hills, and especially from the batter}'^ 
 hill, I discovered large masses of the enemy on our left moving 
 down at right angles to the course we were going. We re- 
 mained in the shallow ravine spoken of several minutes, driv- 
 ing the enemy from the short pines in front by our fire, when 
 I discovered the Eighteenth Georgia was moving hj the right 
 flank away from me along the ravine, and about the same time 
 the enemy commenced firing on me from a wooded ridge to my 
 left and in rear of my left flank. I sent Adjutant Price to 
 Colonel Wofford, of the Eighteenth Georgia, to ascertain 
 where he was going ; to tell him the enemy were moving in 
 large force around our left flank, and ask him for support. 
 The reply received Avas he could not come, but was going to the 
 right. I found myself exposed with my weakened force to an 
 increasing fire from the enemy in front, on my left, and in rear 
 of my left, with no support on either flank, and not a Con- 
 federate soldier but my own regiment in sight. To meet the 
 movement of the enemy around my left, I changed front per- 
 pendicularly to the left across the ravine we occupied, and 
 finding myself uncovered by this movement, I fell back about 
 fifty 3'ards to the dry bed of a shallow cross-ravine, where 
 for some time we maintained a steady fire on the enemy^. Here 
 several of my men fell from the severe crossfire of the enemy, 
 and some of the wounded, I fear, were taken prisoners here. 
 The ravine we were in extended to the left, up the hill on which 
 the battery was situated that we had taken. In the prolonga- 
 tion of it on the opposite side of the hill, was a thin hedge of 
 small growth, affording a partial protection. Seeing no pros- 
 pect of supports, and believing my whole command would be 
 sacrificed in the present position against the immense number 
 of the enemy, I ordered the regiment to march by the left 
 flank, keeping it as well as possible under cover of the ravine 
 and hedge spoken of. The movement was executed with re- 
 markably good order, the enemy being kept at a respectful 
 distance by our rapid fire. Reaching the small creek, the 
 regiment was formed under cover of its banks, and soon after- 
 ward, by your orders, I moved up the creek by the right flank 
 and connected with the First Texas, now on my right. Throw- 
 ing out skirmishers to the front on the hill-side, covering the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 99 
 
 captured guns with their fire, we rested here until dark. We 
 were not again engaged. 
 
 " About half an hour after forming in the creek, while rest- 
 ing. General Evans rode up from the woods in our rear and 
 was cheered by our men, to whom he addressed a few words in 
 return. 
 
 " I cannot speak too highly of the officers and men of my 
 command. The coolness, good order, and prompt obedience 
 to orders displayed under the most trying circumstances, and 
 the daring courage in the charge, were worthy of the reputa- 
 tion the Fourth had already established. The skulkers, if 
 any, were so few as to escape observation. 
 
 " Our loss was severe, including some of the best officers. 
 Major Townsend fell, badly wounded in the leg, while gal- 
 lantly leading the right of the regiment in its charge on the 
 battery. Previous to and during the action, he had rendered 
 invaluable services to me, and his loss was greatly felt by his 
 regiment. 
 
 "Captain (D. U.) Barziza, Company C; Captain (James 
 T.) Hunter, Company H; Lieutenant (M. C.) Holmes, Com- 
 pany H, and Lieutenant (A. D.) Jeffries, Company D, were 
 all wounded in the same charge — the first and last slightly; 
 the other two severely. 
 
 " Lieutenant (C. E.) Jones, Company H, and Lieutenant 
 (T. I.) Johnson, Company D, were killed on the field in the 
 same charge, and died as brave men should, in the front of 
 battle, and their loss is irreparable to their companies and 
 the regiment. 
 
 " Color-Sergeant Francis, of Company A, fell severely 
 wounded while leading the colors in front of the regiment, and 
 they were gallantly borne the remainder of the action by 
 Color-Corporal Parker, of Company H." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel M. W. Gary's official report of the move- 
 ments of Hampton's Legion is next in order and is as follows: 
 
 " The fight was opened about three o'clock by an attack 
 of the enemy upon the left wing of our army. About four 
 o'clock the brigade was ordered to advance, the Legion in line 
 of battle, with the Fifth Texas Regiment on the right and the 
 Eighteenth Georgia on the left. I ordered Captain H. J. 
 
100 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Smith's company thrown forward as skirmishers. We had 
 gone about a quarter of a mile when the skirmishers became 
 hotly engaged with the Duryea Zouaves near where we had 
 engaged the enemy the evening before. We received the volley 
 and charged upon them and delivered our fire at short range, 
 killing, wounding, and capturing a large number. They were 
 completely routed, and as they retreated over the ravine and 
 up the hill a large number were killed and wounded by the 
 well-practised aim of the men of the entire brigade. The whole 
 brigade moved forward in hot pursuit under a heavy fire of 
 grape and canister, driving the enemy back to their reserves, 
 capturing a large number of prisoners and a battery. Seeing 
 that in our eager pursuit we were about to be flanked by the 
 enemy on the right and left, I commanded the Legion to halt 
 as it was ascending the hill from the deep ravine. We were 
 then ordered to move by the right flank. We gained the 
 woods under a heavy fire, and immediately advanced upon the 
 enemy. Perceiving that they were now outflanked, they fled 
 in confusion after the first volley, the Eighteenth Georgia, 
 Legion, and Fifth Texas still pursuing. We were then hotly 
 engaged around the Chinn house, where the brigade captured 
 several pieces of artillery. At this place, the brigade of Gen- 
 eral Evans came up in gallant style and relieved us. 
 
 " During the fight, Lieutenant B. E. Nicholson captured a 
 stand of colors. Private Henry Brandies, Company C, also 
 captured a beautiful flag, 
 
 " The colors of the Legion were the first that were planted 
 upon a battery of four guns, which was successfully turned 
 upon the enemy by Lieutenant J. H. M. James and Private 
 John Pios, of Company C, assisted by several members of 
 Company H, who were practised artillerists. 
 
 " I cannot mention in too flattering terms the splendid cour- 
 age evinced b}' the officers and men of the Legion. Major J. 
 H. Dingle had his horse shot under him and again won new 
 laurels by his untiring gallantr}^ being always in the thickest 
 of the fight. Captain L. C. McCord was shot down at the 
 head of his company, wounded in three places. His first lieu- 
 tenant, J. D. Palmer, fell at his side dangerously Avounded, 
 and his second lieutenant, T. A. G. Clarke, shared the same 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 101 
 
 fate. Lieutenant R. A. Tompkins, acting-adjutant, was 
 wounded while rallying the men. Lieutenant John W. Austin, 
 of Company F, was wounded while leading his company. 
 Lieutenant James McElroy, of Company A, who fought with 
 conspicuous courage, was wounded. Sergeant J. H. Satter- 
 field, the color-bearer, was wounded. Never was a flag borne 
 with more dashing courage than he displayed, as the bullet- 
 rent folds will attest. Captain T. M. Logan, by his brilliant 
 fighting, won the admiration of every one. Captain R. W. 
 Tompkins distinguished himself by his cool and practical cour- 
 age. - Lieutenant W. Edward O'Connor, in command of a 
 scouting party, acted with his usual gallantry and rendered 
 important information as to the movements of the enemy. 
 Lieutenant W. A. B. Davenport, (J. J.) Exum, (J. J.) Cleve- 
 land, and (J. H. M.) James, commanding their respective 
 companies, proved themselves gallant guardians of the honor 
 of their commands." 
 
 Reporting the movements of the Eighteenth Georgia, its 
 colonel, William T. Wofford, says : 
 
 " On the morning of the 30th ultimo I was directed by Cap- 
 tain W. H. Sellers, your adjutant-general, to hold my regi- 
 ment in line of battle to move against the enemy at three 
 o'clock that evening; that our brigade would move after Gen- 
 eral Kemper's brigade had entered the woods in our front. 
 The enemy having commenced the attack, I received orders to 
 advance my regiment. On my right were Hampton's Legion 
 and Fifth Texas and on my left the Fourth and First Texas. 
 As we passed the field in front of our line the brigade moved 
 in splendid order, and with a shout, advanced through the 
 second strip of woods on the enemy's lines, which we carried 
 so quickly that no halt was perceivable. The right wing of 
 my regiment encountered the Fifth and Tenth New York 
 Regiments supporting and in front of a battery of the enemy. 
 We pursued these fleeing regiments to the ravine at the foot 
 of the hill in front of the battery, killing and taking prisoners 
 nearly every man, with the assistance and co-operation of 
 Hampton's Legion and Fifth Texas. As we advanced on the 
 battery up the hill from the branch, my regiment captured 
 
102 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 the colors of the Tenth New York Regiment. As our brigade 
 charged the battery and carried it most gallantly, the left of 
 my regiment passed over four guns, and my color-bearer 
 mounted one of the pieces and waved the colors over the cap- 
 tured trophy. Observing a second battery immediately in 
 front and on a hill, I gave the order to move rapidly to the 
 ravine between the two batteries, where I halted the regiment 
 to take breath. At this moment. Colonels Gary, of Hamp- 
 ton's Legion, and Robertson, of Fifth Texas, came to me 
 and said that we were being flanked on our left by a large 
 body of the enemy, which caused us to move by the right 
 flank up the ravine to the woods. I halted my regiment as 
 soon as my left was covered by the woods, and moved in line 
 to the second battery through the woods and over a slight de- 
 clivity, to within forty yards of the enemy's guns and their 
 lines of support, composed of two regiments of infantry placed 
 on the right and left of the battery. At this battery I had no 
 support but a fragment of a regiment (supposed to be the 
 Holcombe Legion), which fought with much spirit and gal- 
 lantry. Sergeant Weems, my color-bearer, who bravely 
 moved in front of the regiment, was shot down in forty yards 
 of this battery ; also two others — Sergeants McMurray and 
 Jones. Seeing my men falling rapidly, and having no support 
 and no reinforcements arriving, I withdrew my regiment in 
 the same order that we approached the batterj^, through the 
 woods to the branch to the right of where we took the first 
 battery, were I found the First and Fourth Texas Regiments, 
 when I halted and formed on their right, and where we re- 
 mained until you came to us. 
 
 " My regiment lost in killed 19, and wounded I'SS. Among 
 the former were Lieutenant (S. V.) Smith, commanding Com- 
 pany K, and Lieutenant (E. L. Brown), of Company E. 
 
 " I cannot find words to express the gallantry of my regi- 
 ment, both oflScers and men. Nearly all the men lost were 
 killed where we first encountered the two New York regiments 
 of Zouaves, and at the second battery. It would be invidious 
 to speak especially of any man or officer where all did their 
 part so well, but the great gallantry of my color-bearer. Ser- 
 geant Weems, who was shot down almost at the mouth of the 
 guns of the second battery, entitles him to particular notice." 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 103 
 
 Captain W. T. Hill, of the Fifth Texas, contributes the 
 following account of the movements of that command: 
 
 " Until 3 p. M. of the 30th, there was no disturbance of the 
 peace except such as was produced by occasional discharges of 
 small arms and artillery. At three o'clock the enemy ad- 
 vanced in force against Jackson, and for an hour, one of the 
 most terrible battles of the war raged. Jackson was pressed 
 so persistently and heavily, that at 4 p. m. General Long- 
 street was ordered by General Lee to join in the battle, and if 
 possible, drive the enemy from the field. Longstreet gave the 
 necessary commands to his subordinates, and, in line with the 
 other brigades of the corps, the Texas Brigade moved for- 
 ward — my company, then on the skirmish line in front of the 
 Fifth Texas, being ordered to form on its right when over- 
 taken by it. The brigade marched across an open field, and 
 through a skirt of timber, and in the open ground beyond the 
 timber, encountered the enemy, as, in line of battle he stood 
 awaiting attack — the Fifth New York Zouaves standing 
 directly in front of the Fifth Texas, but overlapped by the 
 length of my company, when that fell in on the right of the 
 Fifth Texas. 
 
 " Thus it happened that when the Fifth Texas, its men 
 yelling their loudest, came out of the timber into the open 
 ground, it came, practically, face to face with the Zouaves, 
 who, in their red, white and blue uniforms, stood in as perfect 
 ahgnment as if on dress parade. The Zouaves were first to 
 fire, but most of their shots went far astray from the mark: 
 they killed only two of our men, but wounded several others. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Upton, sad to say, was one of the killed. 
 Following almost on the instant, but with far better aim, was 
 the volley of the Fifth Texas, and seemingly, one-half of the 
 Zouaves fell, cut down in their tracks. Appalled by such a 
 storm of lead as fell among them, and by the sight of so many 
 fallen comrades, the surviving Zouaves, seized with panic, 
 wheeled and took to flight. With a shout, the Fifth Texas 
 followed, continuing the slaughter down to and until two 
 hundred yards beyond Young's branch. There, remembering 
 that his orders were to move no further forward than Young's 
 branch, Colonel Robertson called a halt. 
 
 " This halt, however, was not of long duration. Hardly 
 
104 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 had the last slow-coach of the regiment come up and found 
 his place in line, when somebody — a private, it was thoughV, 
 to have been, but nobody ever knew who — shouted at the top 
 of his voice, ' Forward ! ' Then, as General Hood said, ' the 
 Fifth Texas slipped the bridle,' Hearing that ' Forward,' 
 every man of the regiment sprang to his feet, and with a j'ell, 
 dashed forward at his topmost speed, reckless that at this 
 time we were two or three hundred yards in advance of the 
 foremost regiment of the brigade then in sight, and that, as 
 had been the case when they fell upon the Zouaves, not a single 
 Confederate command was in view on our right. 
 
 " What effort, if any, was made by officers to stay this 
 second charge of the Fifth Texas, I do not remember. But we 
 had not gone far, when a line of Federals sprang up from the 
 ground where they had been lying so flat we could not see 
 them, and poured a volley into our ranks that was terribly 
 destructive — many of our men falling dead or wounded. But 
 undismayed, the Fifth returned the fire, and with effect even 
 more deadly than was theirs. Broken and demoralized by it, 
 they fled, and following them, went the Fifth Texas, j^elling, 
 loading and firing as they ran. The pursuit carried the regi- 
 ment into open ground, and there it came in view and range 
 of two batteries — one on its left, and the other on its right, 
 at the Chinn house. 
 
 " As out of breath in the chase of infantry whose fleeter- 
 footedness had taken them out of sight, we came finally to a 
 halt, and looking to the right and left, saw what we were 
 ' up against,' we felt ourselves lost and bewildered orphans. 
 It was not comfortable, by a long shot, to be five hundred 
 yards or more in advance of our army, under the enfilading 
 cross-fires of two well-served batteries, and with enemies in- 
 numerable presumably waiting, just over the hill, to capture 
 or destroy us. To stay where we were, was suicidal — to go 
 straightforward was to get further from support — and to 
 retreat, not a man of us dared suggest to another. The officer 
 in command of the regiment — our officers were killed or dis- 
 abled, that day, too rapidly for one to know Avhicli one com- 
 manded at this or that place — solved our doubts and fears; 
 although around the Chinn house. Federal infantry was heavily 
 massed, we were far beyond the range of their rifles, and 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 105 
 
 might, in order to secure protection from the artillery, safely 
 lessen the distance between us, and therefore, he orderd the 
 regiment to double-quick, by the right flank, down the slope 
 of the hill toward the Chinn house, into a gully, two hundred 
 yards away. . 
 
 " We obeyed the order with alacrity, each man gomg at his 
 best speed, and the lame and the slow-coaches getting over the 
 gi'ound as fast as any of their comrades. But we had barely 
 passed the gully, found safety in the pine and cedar thicket 
 beyond it, and gotten into a semblance of ahgnment, when an 
 unknown voice again shouted the command, 'For\vard!' and 
 joining on the left of D. R. Jones' division, which just then 
 came in line with us, we made such a vigorous and determmed 
 assault on the Federal lines at the Chinn house, as to force 
 the enemy into retreat down a breach and valley leadmg m the 
 direction of Sudley ford on Bull Run Creek. It took us until 
 night, though, to get the Federals into the humor for gomg. 
 They fought gallantly and stubbornly, and inflicted a severe 
 loss on us. Exactly what our losses were in the day's fighting, 
 I cannot say. The Fifth Texas carried into the action about 
 800 men, but after the fighting was over, only 400 answered 
 
 to roll-call." ro • 1 
 
 Because of a change of commanders on the field, two ofticial 
 reports were required to tell the part the Fifth Texas 
 took in the battle of the 30th— one from Colonel J. B. Rob- 
 ertson covering what occurred up to the time he was disabled, 
 and one from Captain King Bryan, acting major, who suc- 
 ceeded Robertson in the command. Colonel Robertson reports 
 
 as follows: , • i t 
 
 " My regiment was on the right of the brigade. 1 was or- 
 dered to keep well-closed on the left of the First Regiment 
 Texas Volunteers, which was the battahon of direction. I was 
 notified that General Kemper, with his brigade, was on my 
 right, and that I need have no uneasiness about my right 
 flank As the brigade moved across the first field to the tim- 
 ber held by the enemy's skirmishers, a change of front forward 
 on the left battalion made it necessary to move my men at a 
 run across the field. At the edge of the timber the enemy s 
 skirmishers were encountered by my skirmishers and driven 
 back to a point in the timber about 100 yards from the open 
 
106 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 field beyond. Here I encountered the regiment of the enemy 
 tliat had deployed as skirmishers, who had rallied on their 
 right. I ordered the regiment to fire on and charge them. 
 They broke and were closely pressed to the open field, where 
 we encountered a second line of the enemy in the Fifth Regi- 
 ment New York Zouaves, who, after permitting the fleeing reg- 
 iment to pass its lines, presented a solid front for a short time. 
 
 " Their stand was but momentary. They gave way before 
 the impetuous charge of my men and fled, leaving the field 
 strewn with their dead and wounded. Such was the im- 
 petuosity of the charge and the unerring aim of my men, that 
 very few, if any, of that regiment reached the hill beyond. ]My 
 charge was continued across the branch and up the hill, in the 
 direction of a heavy battery the enemy had playing on us from 
 the hill beyond. 
 
 " Seeing nothing of General Kemper's brigade or any other 
 of our forces on my right, and no support visible in my rear, 
 I ordered my regiment to halt under the crest of the hill. See- 
 ing Major (Captain) Sellers, assistant adjutant-general, I 
 went to him for orders. He ordered me to halt. I returned 
 to the center of my regiment, which was but a few steps up 
 the hill, and found that my right wing had failed to receive 
 the order to halt, and had passed over the crest of the hill, 
 and was advancing under a murderous fire from two of the 
 enemy's batteries. As these batteries swept the field over 
 which our reinforcements had to come, I determined to charge 
 the one immediately in my front, in preference to recalling my 
 right. It was here that I first missed my gallant lieutenant- 
 colonel, J. C. Upton. His fall was the cause of my right 
 not getting the order to halt. 
 
 " The charge was gallantly made ; the battery cleared and 
 passed; the enemy fleeing before us. As I passed down the 
 hill bc3'ond the battery taken, I observed the enem^' in still 
 heavier force than any we had encountered on the hill before 
 us. They were drawn up in three lines of battle, the rear 
 line of which was moving by the left flank at a run, for a point 
 of timber on my right, some 400 yards distant. Seeing no 
 support on my right, it was evident that I must gain this 
 point of timber before him to prevent my right from being 
 turned. I sought Colonels WofTord, of the Eighteenth 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 107 
 
 Georgia regiment, and Gary, of the Hampton Legion, and 
 announced the movement of the enemy and my determination 
 to move by my right flank to the timber. They assented to 
 the move, and I moved by my right flank up the hollow as 
 rapidly as the exhausted condition of my men would permit 
 me. We gained the woods, the head of my column leading 
 the enemy's by some fifty yards, when we fired into them and 
 drove them from the woods. After getting distance sufficient 
 to cover the command, I ordered a halt, intending to collect 
 my men and giving them a few moments' rest (they had made 
 three separate charges and continued the run for one and one- 
 half miles and were very much exhausted) and await our 
 reinforcements. 
 
 " Before my lines were well-formed, a regiment of our forces 
 came up through the woods from the rear. As it passed my 
 lines, the command of forward was given. My command, mis- 
 taking it for them, moved forward, and thus became consider- 
 ably scattered by intermixing with that regiment. We rallied 
 and advanced to their right through the orchard and passed 
 the house, driving the enemy from his position there, and 
 gained the hollow beyond. Near the gate beyond the garden, 
 I was struck down, and must refer to the report of Captain 
 Ike N. Turner, who was left in command. Captain K. Bryan, 
 my acting major, being wounded. 
 
 " The separation of the regiments of the brigade during the 
 battle probably increased the casualties in my regiment, inter- 
 fering to some extent with its eflBciency, and demonstrated the 
 absolute necessity of having brigade commanders present with 
 brigades at all times during the engagement. 
 
 " My flag was borne into action by Color-Sergeant W. V. 
 Royston, of Company I ; next by Corpl. J. Miller, Company 
 B ; Private C. Moncrief, Company C ; Private Shepherd, Com- 
 pany B ; Sergeant Simpson, Company A ; Private J. Harris, 
 Company D ; Sergt. F. C. Hume, Company D, all of whom 
 were shot down while gallantly bearing the flag in front of the 
 regiment. It was borne through the remainder of the fight 
 by Private Farthing, Company D. 
 
 " I had three companies left without a commissioned officer, 
 viz.. Companies C, H and I, but they pressed forward with- 
 out faltering. 
 
108 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " Where all behaved so nobly distinctions cannot, with pro- 
 priety, be made. All, both officers and men, sustained well the 
 reputation of the Lone Star flag, under which they fought 
 through the battle. Among the list of killed I have to lament 
 the death of the brave and chivalrous Lieut. Col. John C. 
 Upton, who fell while gallantly leading the right wing of his 
 regiment to victory. My list of killed is 15, wounded 245, 
 missing 1. The regiment captured three stands of colors and 
 two batteries. Six guns and quite a number of prisoners were 
 sent to the rear." 
 
 Following the above report of Colonel Robertson, comes that 
 of Captain King Bryan, who was that day acting as major of 
 his regiment. No report from Captain Turner is to be found. 
 After saying that he (Bryan) was not wounded before Rob- 
 ertson was, and that he succeeded Robertson in the command, 
 Captain Bryan relates what happened after Robertson was 
 wounded; that is, after the Fifth Texas halted in the hollow 
 beyond the house referred to by Colonel Robertson. He sa3^s : 
 
 " By the time the line was halted and formed. General Evans' 
 brigade had come up on our left, when the command, forward, 
 was given, and the Fifth Texas and Hampton's Legion moved 
 off in good order to the edge of the field. Being then within 
 80 yards of the enemy, another of our impetuous charges 
 swept that wing of the enemy's line away like chaff before 
 the wind, the right remaining intact, supported by a battery 
 and another strong line of infantry formed perpendicularly 
 to the other line, distant from the Chinn house about 600 
 yards. Another battery was near the Chinn house on the 
 left and in rear of the line we had assailed and broken. 
 The pursuit was rapid, the rush being mainly directed toward 
 the last mentioned battery; but this was managed with such 
 precaution as to move in time to effect its escape, we capturing 
 two caissons only. In the charge some confusion occurred on 
 our right which caused me to hasten to that flank, and coming 
 in contact with a brigade of fresh troops, I moved rapidly 
 along its line, appealing to it to move faster, not knowing what 
 might be awaiting us beyond the house. The pursuit was con- 
 ducted to the left of the house and through the oi-chard and 
 yard. On the cast of the liouse is a wide hollow, and in it a 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 109 
 
 mass of timber running northeast, beginning opposite the 
 house and extending in the direction named about 700 yards, 
 when it turns more to the eastward, leaving a large open field 
 on the north. At the head of the hollow, about 400 yards 
 from where the timber makes the turn to the eastward, w^as a 
 batter}'. Opposite this point or turn in the timber, and on the 
 ridge upon which the Chinn house stands, rested the left of 
 that pei*pendicular line, which consisted of two heavy regi- 
 ments. Being delayed by going to the right, on arriving east 
 of the house I had the satisfaction of seeing our flag at the 
 timber, it having pursued that far and halted, and was waving 
 briskly, that the men might see and rally to it. I recognized 
 the tall and manly forms of Captains J. S. Cleveland and 
 Turner with it and directing its movements. I found a num- 
 ber of our men who had been forced to take shelter in a deep 
 wash in the side of the ridge from a terrible flank fire poured 
 upon them from the perpendicular line described. It was this 
 fire during this pursuit and subsequent advance upon it which 
 caused our very heavy losses on that day. We were not allowed 
 to remain long in our then secure position. A small brigade 
 came up, moving toward the last mentioned line of the enemy, 
 and the only unbroken one on that part of the field. 
 
 " As the brigade reached our thinned ranks, the command 
 forward was given, and all started off in the new direction 
 with the same spirit which had characterized their previous 
 movements on that day, but gradually settled down to conform 
 to the movements of the brigade. Our flag dashed up the 
 slope to the center of the brigade, and then led on in the direc- 
 tion of the enemy. About this time I joined the colors and 
 remained near them. I found Captain Turner and Sergeant 
 Hume, of Company D, and privates Jimmy Harrison and G. 
 W. Farthing, of the same company, with them. Captain Cleve- 
 land having just fallen, dangerously wounded in the neck, hav- 
 ing discharged his every duty as an officer and soldier, to his 
 company and his country. Harris had the flag when I joined 
 the party. His enthusiasm was such that it could not be re- 
 strained. He would from time to time rush to the front a dis- 
 tance of 60 or 70 yards, face to the advancing line, wave the 
 flag and shout, ' Come on ' ; but we were soon deprived of his 
 gallant and cheering example. He was cut down by a severe 
 
110 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 wound in the right thigh, falling far in the van of our line. 
 Sergeant Hume took the flag when young Harris fell, and bore 
 it high above all others which were then floating over the field, 
 as a beacon to our men who had been separated from it. Ser- 
 geant Hume, after bearing the flag about 200 yards, was also 
 shot down. Being near him, I received the colors from him as 
 he fell, and carrying them a short distance I transferred them 
 to Private Farthing, who carried them through the remainder 
 of the day. 
 
 " The brigade had steadily followed our flag, but I now dis- 
 covered that the line had diminished by the men falling be- 
 hind, and the nearer we approached the enemy the greater was 
 this evil; but as vacancies occurred in the rank they were 
 promptly closed from the flanks. On arriving within 70 yards 
 of the enemy I found that we had not more than 200 men in 
 line and in supporting distance of the flag; but the hill-side 
 was covered with those who had fallen behind, yet slowly ad- 
 vancing, still loading and firing as they came, the nature of 
 the ground being such that they could shoot over us with 
 effect upon the enemy. I halted the colors and closed the line 
 upon them, intending to await the coming up of those scat- 
 tered men before advancing the attack further. Here I dis- 
 covered that the whole command devolved upon me, all evi- 
 dence of any other organization than that of the Fifth Texas 
 having disappeared from the field. In this I was assisted by 
 Captain Turner; but the enemy would not permit our delay. 
 By the time the line had closed upon the flag, which had halted 
 immediately in front of the colors of his left regiment, the 
 commander of that regiment dashed through his lines to the 
 front and commanded his men to charge, the left of which 
 had gotten in motion, when some well-directed shots from our 
 side brought the officer and his horse both down. This was 
 followed by a yell and a rush from our side, which, together 
 with our well-directed fire, completed the work. They broke by 
 the left flank, and fled behind the batteries at the head of the 
 hollow, the whole line following in the same trace. On dis- 
 covering this, wc halted and poured our fire upon them as they 
 passed. We might have made an advantageous movement and 
 cut off the rear of their line, but their right was obstructed 
 from our view by high ground until they reached a point 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Shaepsbtjeg, or Antietam 
 
 Beueving that the only hope of the SnntI, (•„ 
 against the great numbers and resource of the V tl T"''' 
 rapcl fighting General Lee moved Wrrr™;tot:rd Mar Snd" 
 Jackson led the advance-marching nortlnvard on July 31-^ 
 
 WsXrr-rhe-i^-^^^ 
 
 M^^:^ arrN^th'"^-"''™- '' *^^ So^uth''aT;fea^: 
 
 bZZ"^' °\"^' ^^'[ °^ "^"Sust, buried its dead, the Te.as 
 Brigade marched northward ou the morning of September 1 
 and on the 5th forded the Potomac River at^Point of Rocks- 
 he men keepmg step, as best they could on the slippery bot- 
 tom to the tune of " Maryland, My Maryland," pkyed by 
 Colhns brass band. But the reception it and other Confed- 
 erate commands were accorded by the Marylanders was as 
 nearly freezing as the waters they waded4he truth being 
 that they were entering a section of the State the resident! 
 of which were, as a rule, pronounced Unionists. Two days 
 later, the brigade camped on the Monocacy, near Frederick 
 City whence, on the 10th, it marched on to Hagerstown 
 
 At Frederick City, General Lee had his army in a position 
 
 the North The Federal army was practically without a com- 
 
 Td Pn^e F k'-'I '"'™S}o>>t faith in both McClellan 
 
 and Pope. For a brief space of time, the game was in Gen- 
 eral Lee's hands. Not knowing it, though, he divided h"s 
 arniy, sending Jackson, with all his command and neariy half 
 of Longstreet's, up the river to capture Harper's Ferry, then 
 held by a force of 11,000 Federals who, he feared, mighf inter 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 111 
 
 about opposite to our left, and we deemed victory too secure 
 to hazard the result by a movement the certainty of which 
 could not be clearly foreseen. We pursued, keeping up our 
 fire till the last one had taken shelter behind their guns. 
 
 " Our attention was now attracted to the open field north of 
 the timber. Here was to be seen the heaviest line of the day 
 advancing steadily across the field, firing rapidly as they ad- 
 vanced upon our troops (Jenkins' brigade) who had fought 
 upon the right and up through the timber, and at that time 
 occupying a position in the timber fronting this line. Now 
 that we had disposed of our immediate foe, our next impulse 
 was to assist our friends, and accordingly we turned our fire 
 upon the flank of the advancing line, moving forward at the 
 same time, the range being too great for our fire to be fully 
 effective; but we had not gone more than 150 yards when we 
 encountered the line of fire from the enemy's battery, which 
 was playing across our front upon General Jenkins, when it 
 was determined to move down to the timber by the right flank 
 to a point opposite General Jenkins' line, and there file out 
 and form upon his left. In this movement I was wounded and 
 had to quit the field, when the command devolved upon Cap- 
 tain Turner. 
 
 " We went into the last attack with the new brigade not 
 expecting to act a very conspicuous part in the new drama, 
 but rather, as auxiliaries to the brigade, and I felt surprised 
 and disappointed when I found that we had the whole work 
 left upon our hands. Yet we shrank not from the responsi- 
 bility, and with the smiles of fortune upon our side, we suc- 
 ceeded in breaking the line, though it was fully five times our 
 strength. This was the third heavy line the Fifth Texas had 
 encountered that day, in each instance achieving complete suc- 
 cess. But for the timely breaking of that line the fortunes of 
 the day might have been changed. Had it remained intact ten 
 or fifteen minutes longer it might have co-operated with the 
 heavy line then advancing upon our front, before which our 
 men had to yield ground for a time, by flanking our position 
 in the timber. Such a movement at that time must have been 
 attended with very disastrous results to us." 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 113 
 
 rupt his communications with Richmond by way of the Shen- 
 andoah valley. The order for the movement was embraced in 
 Special Order No. 191, and in this was disclosed not only Lee's 
 plans but the position and the place it would hkely be in the 
 near future, of every command in his army. A copy of that 
 order fell into the hands of a careless staff officer, and was 
 used by him as a wrapper for cigars. The bundle was lost, 
 and picked up on the street by a Unionist; he smoked the 
 cigars and sent the wrapper to General McClellan, who, by 
 that time, was in command of the Federal army. 
 
 McClellan got possession of the order on the 13th. Up to 
 that date, his movements had been characterized by even more 
 caution and timidity than he had displayed when approach- 
 ing Richmond in May; but informed by the order that Jack- 
 son was at Harper's Ferry and Longstreet at Hagerstown, 
 he felt that his opportunity had come, and immediately ordered 
 his army forward — his aim, to crush Longstreet before Jack- 
 son could rejoin him. Thus it happened that in the late after- 
 noon of the 13th his advanced forces came in contact Avith the 
 Confederates, under D. H. Hill, left by Lee, who rode with 
 Longstreet to Hagerstown, to hold the gaps in the range of 
 mountains between Hagerstown and Frederick City. 
 
 Hearing the sound of Hill's guns, and informed by a scor.t 
 that the whole Union araiy was moving against the small force 
 then under his command. General Lee realized the peril In Avhich 
 he had placed his army by dividing it. Up to that moment 
 he had believed Jackson would have ample time to capture 
 Harper's Ferry and return to him before any advance was 
 made by the Federals. But he might yet, he thought, con- 
 test the passage of the gaps through which McClellan and his 
 army must come, long enough to reunite his scattered troops, 
 and he therefore, on the morning of the 14th, ordered Long- 
 street's command to the aid of Hill. 
 
 Hood's division left Its camp at Hagerstown in a frame of 
 mind that threatened Insubordination. At the close of the 
 last day's fighting at Second Manassas, Texas scouts captured 
 quite a number of well-appointed ambulances and their teams. 
 Hood ordered them distributed among the regiments of his 
 division, but Major-General Shank Evans, under whose com- 
 mand the division temporarily fell on the 1st of September, 
 
114 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 interfered, ordering the captured vehicles and teams turned 
 over to his South Carolina brigade, for its exclusive use. Hood 
 refused to do this, and, placed under arrest by Evans, was 
 ordered by Longstreet, a friend and crony of Evans in the 
 old United States army, back to Culpeper Court House, to 
 await trial on charges to be preferred by Evans. The matter 
 coming to Lee's ears, he countermanded Longstreet's order by 
 directing that Hood should remain with the army, but did not 
 release that officer from arrest. And, therefore, since Septem- 
 ber 1, Hood, bereft of command, had followed in rear of the 
 Texas Brigade. 
 
 Feeling that the commander they most trusted was deeply 
 wronged, the officers and men of the division had given loud 
 expression to their indignation, and now as they marched to- 
 ward what might be another battle, their wrath grew intense. 
 The Texans, naturally, felt most aggrieved, and were most 
 outspoken. Coming late in the afternoon to where General Lee 
 sat on his horse by the side of the road, almost within the 
 range of the enemy's guns, each man as he passed gave expres- 
 sion to the resolve that if any fighting was done by the Texas 
 Brigade, Hood must command it. General Lee was not inat- 
 tentive, and understanding the full significance of the demand, 
 he raised his hat courteously and replied, " You shall have him, 
 gentlemen." The men began to cheer, but " when the gallant 
 Hood, his head uncovered and his face proud and joyful, gal- 
 loped by to his rightful place at the head of the division, the 
 cheers deepened into a roar that drowned the volleys of the 
 hundred cannons that were even then vengefully thundering 
 at the gap. And, as the same order that released Hood from 
 arrest, relieved the division of Evans, and left the ambulances 
 in possession of it, happiness was at once restored. 
 
 Having reached the summit of Boonesboro Gap, Hood's 
 division took position on the left of the turnpike, its right 
 resting upon that road. From this point the advance of Mc- 
 Clellan's long lines could be seen moving up the slope in their 
 front, evidently intending to dislodge the Confederate forces 
 posted on the sharp ridges overlooking the valley to the east. 
 Half an hour later. Hood moved the command to the right 
 of the turnpike, our troops on that side having been driven 
 back. In the new position taken, the men were ordered to fix 
 
Dick Pincknkv 
 Company G, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 115 
 
 bayonets, and when the enemy came within a hundred yards, 
 to fire and charge. The charge was made to the accompani- 
 ment of a Confederate yell, and sent the Federals flying pell- 
 mell. 
 
 The Confederates on the left of the pike, however, yielded 
 ground to the enemy, who, advancing, took strong position 
 near the western foot of South Mountain. This fact reported 
 to General Lee, he decided to fall back toward Sharpsburg — 
 the movement beginning on the morning of the 15th, and 
 Hood's division, assisted by artillery and cavalry, forming the 
 rear guard, and holding the Federals in check until the other 
 troops of Longstreet's command marched quietly to their des- 
 tination west of Antietam Creek. This was no easy task. The 
 three days' rations issued to the division on the 13th included 
 no meat, and were therefore the sooner exhausted. No cloth- 
 ing or shoes had been furnished it since it left Richmond, and 
 in a month and a half of hard marching and harder fighting 
 hundreds of the men had become ragged and barefooted, while 
 lack of provisions forced them to subsist on green com and 
 green apples. Nevertheless, they remained in high spirits, and 
 contended as gallantly with the enemy as ever, on the 15th 
 and during the forenoon of the 16th, when they overtook the 
 main army, then in line west of Antietam Creek, confronting 
 the Federals in position on its east side. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 16th Hood's division took position 
 in an open field in front of the Dunker or Saint Mumma church 
 — the Texas Brigade on the left, Law's on the right — and 
 against it, about an hour before sunset, advanced Hooker's 
 Federal corps. With that it contended until a late hour in 
 the night, and, when the firing had in great measure ceased, 
 was so close to the enemy that it could distinctly hear his 
 orders to troops being massed on liis front. 
 
 From General Hood's official report is taken the following: 
 " I was ordered to take position in line of battle on the right 
 of the road leading to Boonesborough, but soon received orders 
 to move to the extreme left, near Saint Mumma church, on the 
 Hagerstown pike, remaining in this position, under fire of the 
 shells from the enemy, until nearly sunset on the evening of 
 the 16th. The enemy, having crossed higher up the Antietam, 
 
116 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 made an attack on the left flank of our line of battle, the 
 troops of this division being the only forces on our side en- 
 gaged. We succeeded in checking and driving back the enemy 
 a short distance, when night came on, and soon the firing 
 ceased. . . . The officers and men of my command having 
 been without food for three days, except a half ration of beef 
 for one day, and green corn, General Lawton, with two bri- 
 gades, was directed to take my position, to enable my men to 
 cook. 
 
 " On the morning of the 17th, about 3 o'clock, the firing 
 commenced along the line occupied by General Lawton. At 6 
 o'clock, I received notice from him that he would require all 
 the assistance I could give him. . . . Being in readiness, 
 I at once marched out on the field in line of battle, and soon 
 became engaged with an immense force of the enemy, consist- 
 ing of not less than two corps of their army. It was here that 
 I witnessed the most terrible clash of arms, by far, that has 
 occurred during the war. The two little giant brigades of 
 this division Avrestled with this mighty force, 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. 
 The battle raged with the greatest fury until about 9 o'clock, 
 the enemy being driven from 400 to 500 yards. Fighting, as 
 we were, at right angles with the general line of battle, and 
 General Ripley's brigade being the extreme left of General D. 
 H. Hill's fores and continuing to hold their ground, caused 
 the enemy to pour in a heavy fire upon the rear and right flank 
 of Colonel Law's brigade, rendering it necessary to move the 
 division to the left and rear, into the woods near the Saint 
 Mumma church, which we continued to hold until 10 a. m,, 
 when General McLaws arrived with his command, which was at 
 once formed in line and moved forward, engaging the enemy. 
 My command was marched to the rear, ammunition replen- 
 ished and returned at 12 m., taking position, by direction of 
 the general commanding, in rear of the church, with orders to 
 hold it. About 4 p. m., by order, the division moved to the 
 right, near the center, and remained there until the night of 
 the 18th, when orders were received to recross the Potomac." 
 
 General Hood is liberal in this report of the praises he be- 
 
Captain h. P. Hughes 
 Company- F, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
 FACINO Il6 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 117 
 
 stows upon subordinate officers of the division. Among the 
 Texas officers complimented by him is Major W. H. Sellers. 
 Of him he says : " Too much cannot be said of the members 
 of my staff, the chief, Major W. H. Sellers, having his horse 
 shot while ably directing the Texas Brigade at the battle of 
 Manassas during the time of my being sent for by the com- 
 manding general to receive additional orders. He has proven 
 himself competent to command a brigade under all circum- 
 stances. This distinguished officer, together with my two 
 aides. Major B. H. Blanton and Lieut. James Hamilton, had 
 their horses shot during the battle at Sharpsburg while most 
 gallantly pushing forward the troops and transmitting or- 
 ders." He also mentions the gallantry and the valuable serv- 
 ices rendered to him of his Texas couriers. Privates M. M. 
 Templeman, T. W. C. Lake, J. P. Mahoney, James Malone, 
 W. E. Duncan, J. A. Mann, W. J. Barbee, W. G. Jesse, J. J. 
 Haggerty, and J. H. Drake. But he does not mention the 
 tears that coursed down his cheeks, and the sobs that choked 
 his utterance, when he saw his brave men falling fast before 
 the merciless fire of the outnumbering enemy, and his every 
 appeal for aid to them was met by the statement that there 
 were no troops to send to their reKef until McLaws should 
 arrive. 
 
 To this report General Hood appends a list of the casual- 
 ties in the division from the date of its departure from Rich- 
 mond — the list showing that the Texas Brigade lost at Free- 
 man's Ford, 10 men; at Second Manassas, in the two days' 
 fighting, 628 men ; and at Sharpsburg, in the two days' fight- 
 ing, 548 men. 
 
 From the report made by Colonel W. T. Wofford, of the 
 Eighteenth Georgia, as commander of the Texas Brigade, it 
 is necessary to quote but few passages — his report as a whole 
 being covered by those of the regimental commanders. Speak- 
 ing of the movement to the right and in front of the church 
 mentioned by General Hood, Colonel Wofford says : " While 
 we were moving to this position, the enemy opened a heavy 
 fire upon us from their long-range guns, which was continued 
 after we were in position, and resulted in the wounding of a 
 lieutenant and a private of the Fourth Texas. Late in the 
 evening of the 16th, we were ordered by General Hood to move 
 
118 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 by the left flank through the open field in front of the church 
 and to its left about 700 yards, to meet the enemy, who, it 
 was then ascertained, had commenced to cross Antietam Creek 
 to our left. We then formed line of battle and moved up to a 
 corn-field in our front, and awaited the advance of the enemy, 
 who had, by this time, opened on us a brisk fire of shot and 
 shell from some pieces of artillery which they had placed in 
 position immediately in our front and to the left of our lines, 
 wounding one officer and some dozen men. 
 
 " While our line of battle rested upon the corn-field. Cap- 
 tain Turner, commanding the Fifth Texas, which was our 
 right, had been moved forward into some woods, where he met 
 a party of our skirmishers driven in by the enemy, whom he 
 engaged and finally drove back, with the loss of one man. Our 
 skirmishers, consisting of 100 men, under the command of 
 Captain W. H. Martin, of the Fourth Texas, who had been 
 moved into the woods in front and to the left of the Fifth 
 Texas, were hotly engaged with the enemy, but held their 
 ground until they had expended all their cartridges, and then 
 fell into our line of battle, about 9 o'clock at night, about 
 which time we were relieved by General Lawton's brigade, and 
 were withdrawn from the field to the woods in rear of Mumma 
 church, for the purpose of cooking rations, our men not hav- 
 ing received any regular allowance in three days. 
 
 " At '3 o'clock in the morning of the 17th, the picket firing 
 was very heavy, and at daylight the battle was opened. Our 
 brigade was moved foru'ard at sunrise, to the support of Gen- 
 eral Lawton, who had relieved us the night before. INIoving 
 forward in line of battle in the regular order of regiments, the 
 brigade proceeded through the woods into the open field to- 
 ward the corn-field, where the left encountered the first line of 
 the enemy. Seeing Hampton's Legion and Eighteenth Georgia 
 moving slowly fonvard, but rapidly firing, I rode hastily to 
 them, urging them forward, when I saw two full regiments, 
 one in their front and the other partly to their left. Perceiv- 
 ing at once that they were in danger of being cut off", I or- 
 dered the First Texas to move by the left flank to their relief, 
 which they did in a rapid and gallant manner. By this time, 
 the enemy on our left having commenced falling back, the 
 First Texas pressed them rapidly to their guns, which now 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 119 
 
 poured into them a fire on their right flank, center and left 
 flank from three different batteries, before which their well- 
 formed line was cut down and scattered; being 200 yards in 
 front of our line, their position was most critical. Riding 
 back to the left of our line, I found the fragment of the 
 Eighteenth Georgia regiment in front of the extreme right 
 battery of the enemy, located on the pike running by the 
 church, which now opened upon our thinned ranks a most de- 
 structive fire. The men and officers were gallantly shooting 
 down the gunners, and for a moment silenced them. At this 
 time the enemy's fire was most terrific, their first line of in- 
 fantry having been driven back to their guns, which now 
 opened a furious fire, together with their second line of infan- 
 try, upon our thinned and almost annihilated ranks. . . . 
 
 " During the engagement ... I was drawn to the left 
 of our line, as it first engaged the enemy, who had succeeded 
 in flanking us on the left, and to escape from being sur- 
 rounded, changed the direction to left-oblique, thus causing 
 large intervals between the regiments on the left and right of 
 the line. The Fifth Texas, under the command of Captain 
 Turner, moved with spirit across the field and occupied the 
 woods on our right, where it met the enemy and drove and 
 held them back until their ammunition was exhausted, and then 
 fell back to the woods with the balance of the brigade. The 
 Fourth Texas, which in our line of battle was between the 
 Fifth and First Texas, was moved by General Hood to the 
 extreme left of our line on the pike road, covering our flank 
 by holding the enemy in check. 
 
 " The brigade went into action numbering 854, and lost, in 
 killed, wounded and missing, 560 — over one-half. 
 
 " Without specially naming the officers and men who stood 
 firmly to their post during the whole of this terrible conflict, I 
 feel pleased to bear testimony, with few exceptions, to the gal- 
 lantry of the whole brigade. They fought desperately: their 
 conduct was never surpassed. Fragments of regiments, as 
 they were, they moved boldly upon and drove before them the 
 crowded lines of the enemy up to their cannons' mouths, and, 
 with a heroism unsurpassed, fired upon their gunners, des- 
 
120 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 perately struggling before yielding, which they had never been 
 forced to do before." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel S. Z. Ruff, commanding the Eighteenth 
 Georgia, says in his official report: " The next morning, 17th 
 instant, just after daylight, the brigade was drawn up in line 
 of battle, and ordered to lie down under cover of the hill from 
 a terrible storm of shell that the enemy's batteries were at that 
 time pouring into the woods. A heavy firing of musketry had 
 been going on in our front for some time. About 7 a. m. the 
 brigade was ordered to move forward in the direction of the 
 firing. Advancing about a quarter of a mile through the tim- 
 ber, we came upon the enemy posted in front of a piece of corn, 
 and immediately opened fire upon them. After one or two 
 rounds they gave way, and fell back to a considerable dis- 
 tance in the corn. Advancing, with the left of the regiment 
 resting on the right of the Legion, which had its left upon 
 the turnpike, we drove the enemy in fine style out of the com 
 and back upon their supports. At the far edge of the corn, 
 the ranks of the retreating line of the enemy unmasked a bat- 
 tery, which poured a round or two of grape into our ranks 
 with terrible effect ; but it was soon silenced by our riflemen, 
 and the gunners ran away. At this moment we discovered a 
 fresh line of the enemy advancing on our left flank in an oblique 
 direction, threatening to cut us off, and our ranks being re- 
 duced to less than one-third their original strength, we found 
 it necessary to fall back. At the edge of the woods we met 
 supports and rallied on them a part of our men ; but the regi- 
 ment was too much cut up for further action, and in a short 
 time, in connection with the whole brigade, was taken from 
 the field. 
 
 " We carried 176 men into the action, and lost 101 in killed, 
 wounded and missing; most of the missing are either killed or 
 wounded." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel M. W. Gary, of Hampton's Legion, 
 says: "The battle opened about day-break along the whole 
 line. The Legion was placed to the left of the brigade, the 
 Eighteenth Georgia being to its right. We began to advance 
 from under cover of woods in rear of a church, and engaged 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 121 
 
 the enemy as soon as we emerged from them, the enemy being 
 in line of battle near the edge of the cornfield immediately in 
 our front. We advanced steadily upon them, under a heavy 
 fire, and had not gone far when Herod Wilson, of Company 
 F, the bearer of the colors, was shot down. They were raised 
 by James Estes, of Company E, and he was shot down. They 
 were then taken up by C. P. Poppenheim, of Company A, and 
 he, too, was shot down. Major J. H. Dingle, jJr., then caught 
 them and began to advance with them, exclaiming, ' Legion, 
 follow your colors ! ' The words had an inspiring effect, and 
 the men rallied bravely under their flag, fighting desperately 
 at every step. He bore the colors to the edge of the com 
 near the turnpike road, on our left, and, while bravely uphold- 
 ing them within 50 yards of the enemy and three Federal flags, 
 was shot dead. I immediately raised the colors and again un- 
 furled them amid the enemy's deadly fire, when Marion Wal- 
 ton, of Company B, volunteered to bear them. I resigned them 
 into his hands, and he carried them gallantly and safely 
 through the battle. Soon after the death of Major Dingle, I 
 discovered that the men to our right were falling back from 
 being flanked on the right. I went to the fence of the turn- 
 pike road, and discovered, about 200 yards distant, a brigade 
 of the enemy in hne of battle, covering our entire left flank. 
 I immediately ordered the men to fall back under the crest of 
 the hill. I then rallied them and reformed them, and remained 
 with the brigade the remainder of the day. . . . Strength 
 of battalion in action, officers and men, 77. Killed, 3 officers 
 and 3 privates ; wounded, 3 officers and 46 privates." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel B. F. Carter, commanding the Fourth 
 Texas, says in his official report of the battle of the 17th: 
 
 " Soon after daylight the brigade formed line of battle in 
 regular order, the Fifth Texas being on my right and First 
 Texas on my left, and about 7 a. m. were ordered to advance. 
 I received no order as to which was the directing battalion, 
 but, advancing diagonally to the right through the woods, we 
 entered the open field on the right of the turnpike road. Here 
 the fire upon us became severe, and, owing to our troops being 
 in front of us, and the dense smoke pervading, we were unable 
 to return the fire or see the enemy clearly. Still advancing, I 
 
122 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 came directly behind the Eleventh Mississippi, when I received 
 the order from Captain Sellers for the Texas Brigade to halt. 
 Halting, I ordered the men to lie down. At the same moment, 
 the Eleventh Mississippi was ordered to advance, and a por- 
 tion of two companies on my right, mistaking the order, ad- 
 vanced with them. After a moment I received an order from 
 General Hood to move to the left until the left of my regi- 
 ment rested on the crest, in advance, next to the tum-pike 
 road. Moving left-oblique in double-quick, I occupied the po- 
 sition indicated, and was then ordered by General Hood to 
 move directly up the hill on the left of the troops then ad- 
 vancing. 
 
 " The enemy then occupied the hill in strong force, which 
 receded before our steady advance. Arriving on the top of 
 the hill, at the intersection of the corn-field with the tum- 
 pike, I found the enemy not only in heavy force in the corn- 
 field in front, but occupying a ravine in the field on the left 
 of the turnpike, from which position they poured a destructive 
 fire upon us. I discovered at once that the position was un- 
 tenable, but if I fell back the troops on my right who had 
 entered the corn-field would be surrounded; so, wheeling my 
 regiment to the left, I posted the men along the fence on either 
 side of the turn-pike, and replied as best we could to the tre- 
 mendous fire of the enemy. We held this position for some 
 time, until the troops in the corn-field on my right were falling 
 back, when I ordered the regiment to move along the line of 
 fence by the left flank. This movement, however, exposed us 
 so much that we fell back directly under the hill. Here I 
 ordered the regiment to halt and form, but at the same mo- 
 ment received an order from General Hood to move by the 
 left flank into the woods. Forming here, I advanced on the 
 left of the turnpike up to the fence at the edge of the field, 
 and rested in this position until I was ordered by Colonel 
 Woff'ord to fall back to the point we started from in the morn- 
 ing, where the remnant of the brigade was formed. 
 
 " I cannot speak in too high terms of the conduct of both 
 officers and men of my command. Exposed to a tremendous 
 fire from superior numbers, in a position which it was apparent 
 to all we could not hold, they fought on without flinching until 
 the order to fall back was given. These men, too, were half- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 123 
 
 clad, many of them barefooted, and had been only half-fed 
 for days before. The courage, constancy and patience of our 
 men is beyond all praise." 
 
 In the omitted part of his report, Colonel Carter, among 
 other things, states that he carried into action about 200 men. 
 The list of casualties that he appended is not published, but 
 elsewhere it appears that the Fourth Texas lost 10 killed and 
 97 wounded. 
 
 Gallant Captain Ike. N. M. Turner commanded the Fifth 
 Texas during the engagements of the 16th and 17th at 
 Sharpsburg, and is as laconic in his report as he was brave 
 in action. He says : " About 8 o'clock at night (on the 16th) 
 we were relieved, and retired to the woods in rear of the church. 
 Slept until about day, when firing commenced in front. We 
 were called to attention ; thrown around the hill in line of 
 battle to protect us from grape and shell. We had not occu- 
 pied this position more than half an hour before we were 
 ordered out as support for the Third Brigade. We caught 
 up with said brigade where our first line had been fighting. 
 Here the Fifth was ordered to halt, by Major (Captain) 
 Sellers, and allow the regiments on the right of the Third to 
 advance. While lying here. General Hood rode up, ordering 
 me to incline to the right, press forward, and drive the enemy 
 out of the woods, which we did. The enemy twice tried to 
 . regain their position in the woods by advancing a force 
 through the lower edge of the corn-field, which we repulsed. 
 From a point of timber about 400 yards to our front and 
 left, I discovered strong reinforcements marching out by the 
 left flank down a hollow, which protected them from our fire. 
 Allowing them to get within 75 yards of us with lines un- 
 broken, I saw we would soon be hard pressed. Sent four times 
 to Major (Captain) Sellers for support, determined to hold 
 my position as long as possible. My men were out of ammu- 
 nition, the enemy not more than 100 yards in my front, no 
 support, no ammunition ; all of our troops had fallen back 
 on my left ; I deemed it prudent to fall back also. 
 
 " Officers and men, with few exceptions, behaved well. 
 *' The casualties of the regiment were 5 killed and 81 
 wounded." 
 
lU HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 The brunt of the battle of the 17th on that part of the 
 hne occupied by the Texas Brigade, fell upon the First Texas, 
 and its men bore it like the heroes they were. By their brav- 
 ery on that field of carnage they proved that, given the same 
 opportunity, either one of the Texas regiments could be de- 
 pended on to do all that mortals may to punish a foe and 
 wrest from him a victory. The Fourth Texas had its day at 
 Gaines' Mill, where it was the first Confederate command to 
 break the enemy's lines ; the Fifth Texas secured its oppor- 
 tunity when at Second Manassas, having exterminated the 
 Zouaves, it " slipped the bridle," as General Hood said, and 
 breaking loose from the brigade, went a mile to the front and 
 never ceased fighting as long as its men could see to aim ; it 
 was the turn of the First Texas at Sharpsburg, and, when 
 weighed in the balance, it was not found wanting. As ex- 
 pressed in the nomenclature of camp, at Gaines' Mill it was 
 the " Hell-roaring Fourth " that carried off the honors ; at 
 Second Manassas it was the " Bloody Fifth," and at Sharps- 
 burg it was the " Ragged First." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel P. A. Work commanded the First Texas 
 at Sharpsburg. That part of his official report in which he 
 relates the movements of the regiment is as follows : 
 
 " The brigade, having been formed in order of battle upon 
 the ground occupied by it on the night of the 16th, in the 
 following order, to wit. First Texas in the center, Eighteenth 
 Georgia left center. Fourth Texas right center, Fifth Texas 
 on the right flank, and Hampton's Legion on the left flank, 
 was moved forward to engage the enemy about — o'clock, the 
 latter having made an attack upon our forces occup^nng a 
 position in front of this brigade. Advancing through the 
 woods some 200 yards, under a heavy fire of grape, canister 
 and shell from the enemy's artillery, the brigade emerged into 
 an open clover field some 200 to 250 yards in width, across 
 which the forward movement was continued for some 150 to 
 200 yards, when, it being discovered that the left flank of the 
 brigade was exposed to attack, I was ordered to move by the 
 left flank, following a corresponding move of the Eighteenth 
 Georgia and Hampton's Legion upon my left, which I did 
 until ordered to move by the right flank, which was also done. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 125 
 
 Advancing now by the right flank (my original front), I en- 
 tered a cornfield and soon became engaged with a force of the 
 enemy, driving them before me to the farther side of the corn- 
 field. As soon as the regiment became engaged with the enemy 
 in the cornfield, it became impossible to restrain the men, and 
 they rushed forward, pressing the enemy close until we had 
 advanced a considerable distance ahead of both the right and 
 left wings of the brigade. Discovering that this would prob- 
 ably be the case when my men first dashed forward, I dispatched 
 you two different messengers, to wit — Capt. John R. Wood- 
 ward, Company G, and Private A. G. Hanks, Company F — 
 stating that I was driving the enemy and requesting you to 
 hurry up the regiments on my right and left to my support. 
 It was not until we reached the farther side of the cornfield 
 that I could check the regiment. By this time we had broken 
 the first line of battle of the enemy and had advanced to within 
 some thirty steps of his second line, secreted behind a breast- 
 work of fence rails throAvn up in heaps upon the ground, when 
 a battery of artillery some 150 or 200 yards in our front was 
 opened upon us. My men continued firing, a portion of them 
 at the enemy's men and others at the artillerists, the result of 
 which was that the enemy's second line broke and fled, and the 
 artillery was limbered up and started to the rear, when the 
 whole fire of my regiment was concentrated upon the artil- 
 lerists and horses, knocking over men and horses with such 
 effect that the artillery was abandoned. Very soon, however, 
 a force of the enemy was moved up to the support of this ar- 
 tillery, when it again opened fire upon us. 
 
 " Just at the farther side of the cornfield was the point 
 where I was in great doubt as to the proper move to be made 
 by me. I was aware that my regiment had advanced 150 or 
 200 yards farther than the regiment upon my left, so diverg- 
 ing as to leave a wide interval between the right flank of the 
 Eighteenth Georgia and my left, thus exposing both regiments 
 to attack- — the Eighteenth upon the right and the First Texas 
 upon the left flank. I was aware at the same time that a 
 heavy force of the enemy was massed upon my left, and felt 
 confident that in case I moved farther to the front I would be 
 attacked upon my left and rear and annihilated. Had I moved 
 forward to carry the enemy's battery I would have exposed the 
 
126 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 regiment to attack from three different directions, to wit, from 
 the front from infantry and artillery and upon the left and 
 rear from infantry. I am told also by some of the men that 
 had I advanced a little farther to the front my right flank 
 would have become exposed to attack, and am assured that 
 some distance to my front, and obliquely to my right, was a 
 large force of the enemy. This I did not discover myself. 
 At this juncture I dispatched Acting Adjutant W. Shropshire 
 to say to you that unless the regiments upon my left were 
 moved up quickly to my relief and support upon my left, I 
 would be forced to abandon my position and withdraw. Be- 
 fore the return of Shropshire a fire of musketry was opened 
 upon me from my left and rear, which determined me at once 
 to withdraw, as I had but a handful of men left, all of which 
 must have been slain or captured had I remained longer. I 
 at once gave the order to fall back and the few men remain- 
 ing to me retired, turning to fire upon the enemy as rapidly as 
 their pieces could be loaded and fired. 
 
 " I entered the engagement with 226 men, officers (field and 
 staff) included, of which number 170 are known to have been 
 killed and wounded, besides twelve others who are missing, and, 
 doubtless, also killed or wounded. 
 
 " During the engagement I saw four bearers of our State 
 colors shot down, to wit: First, John Hanson, Company L; 
 second, James Day, Company M; third, Charles H. Kingsley, 
 Company L, and fourth, James K. Malone, Company A. 
 After the fall of these, still others raised the colors until four 
 more bearers were shot down. Not having seen plainly who 
 these were, I am unable to give their names in this report, but 
 will do so as soon as, upon inquiry, I can ascertain. 
 
 " It is a source of mortification to state that upon retiring 
 from the engagement our colors were not brought off. I can 
 but feel that some degree of odium must attach under the most 
 favorable circumstances, and although such are the circum- 
 stances surrounding the conduct of this regiment, the loss of 
 our flag will alwaA's remain a matter of sore and deep regret. 
 In this connection it is but proper to state, in addition to that 
 detailed in the above and foregoing report, the additional cir- 
 cumstances and causes which led to its loss. When the order 
 to retire was given, the colors began the movement to the rear, 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 127 
 
 when the color-bearer, after roving but a few paces, was shot 
 down. Upon their fall some half dozen hastened to raise them, 
 one of whom did raise them and move off, when he was shot 
 down, which was not discovered by those surviving. While fall- 
 ing back, and when we had nearly reached the cloverfield here- 
 inbefore alluded to (being still in the cornfield), I gave the 
 order to halt, and inquired for the colors, intending to dress 
 upon them, when I was told that the colors had gone out of 
 the cornfield. Then I gave the order to move on out of the 
 corn and form behind the crest of a small ridge just outside 
 of the corn and in the cloverfield. It was when I reached this 
 point that I became satisfied our colors were lost, for I looked 
 in every direction and they were nowhere to be seen. It was 
 then too late to recover them. There was no one who knew 
 the spot where they had last fallen, and, owing to the density 
 of the com, a view of no object could be had but for a few 
 feet. By this time, also, the enemy had moved up and was 
 within some thirty-five or forty yards of my left (proper) 
 and rear, and another force was following us. No blame, I 
 feel, should attach to the men or officers, all of whom fought 
 heroically and well. There was no such conduct upon their 
 part as abandoning or deserting the colors. They fought 
 bravely, and unflinchingly faced a terrible hail of bullets and 
 artillery until ordered by me to retire. The colors started 
 back with them and when they were lost no man knew save him 
 who had fallen with them. It is perhaps due to myself to 
 state that when I determined to retire I requested Captain 
 (U. S.) Connally to give the order upon the right and stepped 
 to the left to direct Captain Woodward to give the order upon 
 the left, from which point I moved on to the extreme left, to 
 discover, if possible, the locahty of the enemy attacking from 
 that quarter, in order to be prepared to govern the movements 
 of my regiment, so as to protect it as far as possible from 
 danger and damage. While I was at the left thus engaged, 
 the regiment commenced the movement to the rear, and, not 
 being near the center, I was unable, owing to the density of 
 the com, to see where the colors were and when they fell. 
 
 " Capt. John R. Woodward of Company G acted in the ca- 
 pacity of major during the engagement, and aided me greatly 
 in directing the movements of the regiment. Major (Matt) 
 
128 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Dale, acting as lieutenant-colonel, had moved from the right 
 and was conferring with me as to the propriety of advancing 
 or at once withdrawing, when he was killed. Feeling that it 
 was madness to advance with the few men left, I remained for 
 several minutes after the fall of Major Dale, awaiting orders 
 and information as to what my movements should be, being 
 unwilling to withdraw as long as I had the ability to hold ray 
 then position without orders to do so." 
 
 Colonel Work submitted with his report a list of the cas- 
 ualties in the First Texas, but it is not published. It is known, 
 however, that the First Texas carried into action on the 
 morning of the 17th, 226 men, officers and privates, and in 
 the tabular statement of killed and wounded made by Surgeon 
 Lafayette Guild, Medical Director of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia, its losses are given as 45 killed and 141 wounded. 
 
 As evidence that the flag of the First Texas was not cap- 
 tured, but was simply found lying on the ground and picked 
 up by a Federal soldier, the following excerpt from a letter, 
 dated December 17, 1908, and written by former Lieutenant 
 W. E. Barry, of Company G, Fourth Texas, to George A. 
 Branard, of Company L, First Texas, will be conclusive. At 
 Eltham's Landing Branard, a member of the color-guard of 
 his regiment, in the absence of the regular color-bearer, bore 
 the flag so daringly and gallantly as to deserve and receive an 
 appointment as color-bearer. Early in the action at Sharps- 
 burg he was disabled, and handed the flag to one of his guard. 
 Since the date of the letter he has passed over into the Great 
 Beyond. Lieutenant Barry sa3's : 
 
 I was captured that morning of September 17th, 1862, in a 
 lane that ran in front of the cornfield in which your regiment 
 fought so long and desperately, and was delivered by my imme- 
 diate captors to some cavalry under command of a major. While 
 standing by the side of a public road, I saw approaching from 
 the Federal front a party of infantry soldiers, one of whom was 
 waving a flag that I immediately identified as that of the First 
 Texas. When the party came up, the major asked what flag it 
 was and where it had been captured. The reply of the man who 
 held it was: "I did not capture it. Major — I found it in the 
 cornfield." The major then asked me if I knew the flag. " Yes/' 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 129 
 
 said I as the soldier handed it to me, " I know it well; it is 
 the flag of the First Texas regiment." And kissing it reverently 
 I returned it to the soldier and asked him where he got it. He 
 repeated his statement that he had found it in the cornfield, and 
 then told me that thirteen men lay dead within touch of it, and 
 that the body of one of the dead lay stretched across it. From 
 the description he gave of that body, and from subsequent infor- 
 mation, I have not a doubt that it was the corpse of Lieutenant 
 R. H. Gaston, a brother of Captain W. H. Gaston, of the First 
 Texas. 
 
 Writing of the battle of Sharpsburg, and of his observa- 
 tions and experiences as a member of the Fourth Texas, Com- 
 rade Vi. R. Hamby says : 
 
 " The Librarian of Congress in a recent letter to the Texas 
 State Librarian, asking for information touching Hood's 
 Texas Brigade, says : ' The known statistics of these regi- 
 ments are so remarkable that if missing figvires can be obtained 
 it will establish a record equaled by few, if any, organiza- 
 tions in the Civil War, or indeed in modern warfare.' 
 
 " When a soldier has been wounded, he has the scar to show 
 for his wound. When a regiment or brigade claims to have 
 suffered heavily in battle, you ask for the list of killed and 
 wounded. Judged by this standard, no brigade in the Con- 
 federate Army has more bloody laurels or stands higher on 
 the roll of honor than Hood's Texas Brigade. This article, 
 however, will only attempt to describe the action of the bri- 
 gade in the battle fought near Sharpsburg, Md., September 
 17, 1862. 
 
 " After the battle of South Mountain, September 14, we 
 were the rear guard of the army on the march to Sharpsburg. 
 On the morning of September 15, with a detail of one hundred 
 men under Major Sellers, I was with the rear guard of the 
 rear guard ; and after the army crossed the Antietam, we were 
 on the skirmish line along the west bank of that stream, until 
 the 16th. In the meantime the brigade had formed a line of 
 battle along the Hagerstown and Sharpsburg Turnpike, near 
 the Dunkard church. This modest and hitherto unknown 
 church was destined soon to become historical, as it was the 
 stoi-m center of the great battle fought September 17, 1862, 
 
130 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 called Sharpsburg by the Confederates, and Antietam by the 
 Federals. The church was about a mile north of the town of 
 Sharpsburg and about a mile west of the Antietam River. 
 From the church north, along the west side of the pike, the 
 woods extended about a quarter of a mile to an open field, 
 extending still farther north several hundred yards. Across 
 the pike east of the church were open fields, somewhat rocky 
 and hilly, extending about half a mile north, and intersecting 
 with a cornfield. East of the fields were woods extending to- 
 ward the river. 
 
 " About sunset, the evening of the 16th, the Federal skir- 
 mish line was seen advancing through the woods east of us, 
 closely followed by lines of battle in echelon with banners wav- 
 ing, drums beating, and bugles blowing. It was a magnificent 
 spectacle, and looked more like they were on a grand review 
 than going to battle. Our thin single line presented a striking 
 contrast. Since leaving Richmond, about one month previous, 
 we had marched over two hundred miles, and had participated 
 in engagements at Freeman's Ford, Thoroughfare Gap, Sec- 
 ond Manassas, and South Mountain, and had lost six hundred 
 and thirty-eight men, killed and wounded. For the past sev- 
 eral days, we had subsisted chiefly on apples and green corn. 
 Many of us were barefooted and ragged, and all of us were 
 foot-sore, weary, and hungry, but full of patriotic ardor and 
 inspired faith in the justice of our cause. 
 
 " The fight was opened by the artillery on our right, between 
 us and Law's Brigade, which was composed of the 4th Ala- 
 bama, 6th North Carolina, 2d Mississippi, and 11th IMissis- 
 sippi. They were as gallant soldiers, either collectively or in- 
 dividually, as ever fought a battle. Among the first to enter 
 the field, they were on the firing line when the last shot was 
 fired. Both brigades advanced across the field with our skir- 
 mish line in front, which fell in with the main line as we en- 
 tered the woods. The action continued for some time after 
 dark; and when firing ceased, the two lines were so close to- 
 gether that they could hear each other speak. We knew this 
 was only a preliminary skirmish, as we could tell from the 
 sounds in front of us that the Federals were massing their 
 troops for a desperate battle the following day. In this posi- 
 tion we remained until far into the night, when we were re- 
 
GeneraIv W1LI.IAM R. Hamby 
 Company B, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 131 
 
 lieved by General Lawton's division, and marched a short dis- 
 tance to the rear. After a long delay, some flour was issued 
 to us, which was the first ration of any kind we had received 
 since leaving Hagerstown ; but before the flour could be cooked 
 and eaten, the battle of Sharpsburg had begun. 
 
 " It was scarcely daylight Wednesday morning, September 
 17, when the Texas Brigade was ordered in line of battle, and 
 by sunrise it had crossed the pike in front of the Dunkard 
 church and entered the meadow to take the place of the troops 
 who had relieved us only a few hours before. The 5th Texas 
 was on the right of the brigade, and as it entered the field 
 was ordered into the woods east of the cornfield, where the 
 fighting had occurred the previous evening. The 4th Texas, 
 1st Texas, 18th Georgia, and Hampton's Legion entered the 
 meadow in the order named, and at once encountered a heavy 
 fire. The troops in front had lost half their numbers, had 
 exhausted their ammunition, and were retiring, and the smoke 
 was so dense that the enemy could scarcely be seen to return 
 his fire. The 4th Texas was ordered by the left flank, to the 
 left of the brigade, up the side of a hill towards the pike. In 
 this formation, the 4th Texas, Hampton's Legion, 18th Geor- 
 gia, and 1st Texas advanced and drove the Union lines out 
 of the open fields, back upon their reserves across the pike 
 on the west and beyond the cornfield on the north. 
 
 " The enemy's reinforcements appearing in strong num- 
 bers on the left, the 4th Texas changed from front to left 
 flank and took position along the pike near the south edge of 
 the cornfield. A short distance to the rear were some stone 
 bowlders, behind which some of our wounded were placed to 
 protect them as far as possible from further injury; but even 
 then several were struck the second and some the third time. 
 Hampton's Legion and the 18th Georgia were farther into 
 the cornfield, facing a galling fire from infantry and artillery 
 with a steadiness unsurpassed. The 1st Texas had advanced 
 some distance beyond the remainder of the brigade toward the 
 north side of the cornfield, breaking two lines of the enemy and 
 forcing them to abandon a battery and take shelter in the ra- 
 vine north of the field. Three times the enemy tried to check 
 the 5th Texas in the woods east of the cornfield, and each time 
 broke and fled before their intrepid advance. 
 
133 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " The Texas Brigade was now only a skirmish line ; in fact, 
 all of the Confederates on this portion of the field scarcely 
 covered a fourth of the Federal front. It was yet early in 
 the morning, although the battle had been hot and furious for 
 some hours. In addition to the infantry and artillery on front 
 and flanks, the heights above the Antietam were crowned with 
 long-range batteries that poured a merciless fire; while the 
 fresh troops of the Union forces seemed inexhaustible as they 
 were thrown upon the fragments of the Confederate lines. The 
 earth and sky seemed to be on fire, and it looked like here 
 would be the Thermopylae of the Texas Brigade. With sub- 
 lime courage the 1st Texas held their advanced position in the 
 cornfield against overwhelming numbers, and retired only to 
 escape annihilation. Unsupported and with both flanks un- 
 covered, the 4th Texas, Hampton's Legion and the 18th Geor- 
 gia met the advancing enemy from across the pike and drove 
 them back and held their line. Many of the men had ex- 
 hausted their ammunition and supplied themselves from the 
 cartridge boxes of the dead and wounded around them. They 
 were holding a position they knew they could not retain ; yet 
 men never fought better, and they withdrew only to keep from 
 being surrounded. Falling back slowly below the crest of the 
 hill, the line moved through the field, crossed the pike and 
 took position in the woods near the church. The Fourth 
 Texas was then ordered up through the woods west of the 
 pike near the edge of the field on the north, where they re- 
 mained about an hour, defiantly waving their flag over empty 
 muskets, when they were ordered to rejoin the other regiments 
 of the brigade. The Fifth Texas, finding their ammunition 
 exhausted and that they were being flanked, retired and also 
 rejoined the brigade. By this time the morning was far gone, 
 and the Federals had advanced down both sides of the pike 
 within a sliort distance of the line held by the remnants of 
 Hood's division, who stood facing them almost exhausted and 
 practically without ammunition. 
 
 " At last the long-looked-for reinforcements arrived, and 
 again the enemy were driven back upon their reserves. The 
 Texas Brigade was then ordered a short distance to the rear 
 for a fresh supply of ammunition, and again retunied to the 
 front about noon and found the woods near the church lately 
 
IvIKUTENANT B. Er.DRIDGE 
 
 Company E, Fifth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 133 
 
 occupied by them, in possession of the enemy; but as our line 
 advanced, the Federals fell back across the pike into the field, 
 about three hundred yards beyond the church. We steadily 
 held our line near the pike until about sunset, when we were 
 moved a short distance to the right, where we remained in line 
 of battle until the night of the 18th, when the entire army 
 withdrew and re-crossed the Potomac into Virginia. 
 
 " If the reinforcements had reached the firing line before 
 the Texas Brigade and Law's Brigade were forced to abandon 
 their advanced positions, the Federals would have been swept 
 from the field and another triumph would have been added to 
 the list of Confederate victories. Our dead lay in rows upon 
 the ground, where they had fought a fruitless fight ; and in- 
 stead of a Confederate victory, it was an indecisive contest, 
 giving hope and courage to the Federals and depressing in 
 its effect upon the Confederates. 
 
 " The battle of Sharpsburg was fought with desperate cour- 
 age by both the gray and the blue, and the 17th of September, 
 1863, stands out conspicuously as the bloodiest day in Ameri- 
 can history . . . More men were killed and wounded 
 that day than on any other one day during the war between 
 the States, and I doubt if the dead and wounded ever lay 
 thicker upon any field than was seen from the old Dunkard 
 church north, for more than half a mile. The action com- 
 menced about daybreak, and by sunset the bloody work had 
 ended. 
 
 " The First Texas went into battle with 226 men, and lost, 
 in killed and wounded, 186, a loss of eighty-two per cent. As 
 one flag-bearer would fall, another would seize the flag, until 
 nine men had fallen beneath their colors. Official records show 
 that the First Texas lost more men, killed and wounded, in 
 the battle of Sharpsburg, in proportion to numbers engaged, 
 than any other regiment engaged, either Federal or Confed- 
 erate, in any other battle of the war. The Fourth Texas went 
 into the fight with 200 men, and lost 107; the Fifth Texas 
 went into the fight with 175 men, and lost 86; the Eighteenth 
 Georgia went into the fight with 176 men, and lost 85 ; Hamp- 
 ton's Legion went into the fight with 77 men, and lost 55, in- 
 cluding four flag-bearers. In the aggregate the Texas Bri- 
 gade went into the fight with 854, rank and file, and lost 519, 
 
134. HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 killed and wounded, including sixteen flag-bearers, a loss of 
 over sixty per cent. This does not include the ' missing,' 
 many of whom were, no doubt, killed or wounded." 
 
 Both armies were completely exhausted by the fighting 
 and constant moving to and fro on the 17th, and each wel- 
 comed the night that came to call a halt on the terrible slaugh- 
 ter. While his army rested, Lee summoned his corps and 
 division commanders to meet him. General Stephen D. Lee, 
 who was present, says : " As each commander came up, Gen- 
 eral Lee inquired quietly, ' General, how is it on your part of 
 the line? ' To this inquiry, Longstreet, apparently much de- 
 pressed, replied to the effect that it was as bad as could be — 
 that his division had lost terribly, his lines had been barely 
 held, and there was little better than a good skirmish line along 
 his front, and he volunteered the advice that General Lee 
 should cross the Potomac before daylight, D. H, Hill came 
 next. He said that his division was cut to pieces, that his 
 losses had been terrible, and that he had no troops to hold his 
 line against the great odds against him. He, too, suggested 
 crossing the Potomac before daylight. Next came Jackson. 
 He quietly said that he had to contend against the greatest 
 odds he had ever met. He had lost many generals killed and 
 several division and brigade commanders were wounded, and 
 his losses in the diff^erent commands had been great. He, too, 
 suggested crossing the Potomac before daylight. Next came 
 Hood. He displayed great emotion, seemed completely un- 
 manned, and replied that he had no division. General Lee, 
 with more excitement than I ever witnessed him exhibit, ex- 
 claimed, ' Great God, General Hood, where is the splendid 
 division you had this morning? ' Hood replied, ' They are 1}^- 
 ing on the field where you sent them, sir; but few have strag- 
 gled. My division has been almost wiped out.' 
 
 "After the opinion of all had been given, there was an ap- 
 palling stillness over the group. It seemed to last several 
 minutes, when General Lee, apparently rising more erect in 
 his saddle, said: 'Gentlemen, we will not cross the Potomac 
 to-night. You will go to your respective commands, strengthen 
 your lines, send two officers from each brigade toward the ford 
 to collect your stragglers, and get them up. Many others 
 
135 
 
 Albert Sneed 
 Company F, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
134. 
 
 •A 
 
 \ 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 135 
 
 have already come up. I have had the proper steps taken to 
 collect all the men who are in the rear. If McClellan wants 
 to fight in the morning, I will give him battle again ! ' " 
 
 McClellan, though, did not want to fight next morning. All 
 day long of the 18th, Lee's army awaited assault — inviting 
 it, challenging it, tempting it — but none was made. Then 
 apprised of large reinforcements to his antagonist, and know- 
 ing he could hope for none, Lee, during the night, placed his 
 army on Virginia soil. 
 
 On the 21st, General Lee wrote to Senator Wigfall, of 
 Texas, a letter that furnishes evidence of his high estimate 
 of the services of the Texas Brigade. In it, he said: 
 
 " I have not heard from you in regard to the new Texas 
 regiments which you promised to raise for the army. I need 
 them very much. I rely upon those we have in all our tight 
 places, and fear that I have to call upon them too often. They 
 have fought grandly and nobly, and we must have more of 
 them. Please make every possible exertion to get them on for 
 me. You must help us in this matter. With a few more regi- 
 ments such as Hood now has, as an example of daring and 
 bravery, I could feel more confident of the campaign." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Fkedericksbueg and Suffolk 
 
 October 1st found the Texas Brigade, its numbers reduced 
 below that of an average sized regiment, encamped around a 
 bold and very large spring of clear, cold water, three miles 
 north of Winchester. Within the next two months a re- 
 organization of the army was effected, and there was much 
 shifting about of commands. General Hood was promoted to 
 a major-generalcy, and given command of a division com- 
 posed of Law's and the Texas Brigades, and Anderson's and 
 Benning's Georgia Brigades. Colonel Jerome B. Robertson, 
 of the Fifth Texas, was made brigadier-general and assigned 
 to command of the Texas Brigade, and the Eighteenth Georgia 
 and Hampton's Legion were transferred to other brigades, the 
 Texas Brigade securing in their stead the Third Arkansas. 
 This regiment consisted of nine companies of Arkansans and 
 one of Kentuckians that, like those of the First Texas, had 
 straggled to Virginia. Meeting at Lynchburg, Va., in July, 
 1861, these ten companies had organized into a regiment, with 
 
 Albert Rust as colonel, Barton as lieutenant-colonel, 
 
 and Van H. Manning as major, and began their active service 
 in West Virginia, and placed then under command of Jackson, 
 became veteran soldiers. 
 
 Colonel Law was also made brigadier-general, and assigned 
 to the command of the brigade heretofore mentioned as 
 Whiting's or Law's and sometimes as the Third Brigade. 
 That brigade lost in the all-round shuffle of regiments, the 
 Second and Eleventh Mississippi, getting in their places the 
 Forty-fourth Alabama and the Fifty-fourtli North Carolina. 
 Subsequently, it lost the Sixth and Fifty-fourth North Caro- 
 lina and secured in their places the Fifteenth and Forty-sev- 
 enth Alabama Regiments. 
 
 A law having been enacted by the Confederate Congress 
 creating that rank, Longstreet and Jackson were made lieu- 
 
 136 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 137 
 
 tenant-generals and assigned to duty under General Lee, who 
 divided his army into two corps — the First, under Longstrect, 
 embracing the divisions of McLaws', R. H. Anderson, Pickett, 
 Ransom and Hood, and the First Corps of Artillery— this 
 artillery consisting of the Washington (Louisiana) Artillery, 
 under Colonel J. B. Walton, and Alexander's Battahon, under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel E. P. Alexander. The Second Corps, un- 
 der Jackson, was composed of the divisions of D, H. Hill, 
 A. P. Hill, Ewell, Jackson's old division, and numerous bat- 
 teries of light artillery. The Reserve Artillery was placed 
 under command of Brigadier-General W. N. Pentleton, and 
 the cavalry, under that of Major-General J. E. B. Stuart. 
 
 The stay of the Texas Brigade in camp near Winchester 
 was long and restful. Barring the guard and fatigue duty 
 necessary to preserve order and keep the camp cleanly, and 
 occasional short drills, the men had little to do. Access to 
 the most fertile and productive section of Virginia, and unin- 
 terrupted communication with Richmond by two routes, en- 
 abled the quartermaster and commissary departments to sup- 
 ply large quantities of needed clothing and shoes, and ample, 
 if not abundant, rations. Here, too, came to the army the 
 mails withheld from it since its departure from Richmond. 
 
 October 26th, Longstreet's Corps broke camp, and falling 
 into hne, marched to the southeast, keeping within striking 
 distance of the Federal army, which about this time came 
 south of the Potomac and moved out toward Richmond. Our 
 movement was unhurried, and although we had the Blue Ridge 
 to ascend and descend, was not fatiguing; the roads were in 
 excellent condition; water, that great need of marching in- 
 fantry, plentiful, cold and clear; the weather propitious, and 
 the air cool and bracing. Our destination was Culpeper Court 
 House, and Jackson, with his corps, being assigned the duty 
 of guarding the passes of the Blue Ridge, we marched slowly 
 on — Hood's division by way of Manassas Gap, where Ben- 
 ning's Brigade had a brisk skirmish with a large body of Fed- 
 eral cavalry. On the 7th of November Longstreet's Corps 
 was in position behind Robertson River, near Culpeper Court 
 
 House. 
 
 McClellan remained in command of the Federal army but 
 a few days after it came south of the Potomac, General Bum- 
 
138 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 side being assigned to the command on November 5, and re- 
 lieAang McClellan on the 9th. Bumside was far more suc- 
 cessful in fixing a fashion in which to wear whiskers than in 
 conducting the operations of a large army. He planned a 
 demonstration with a large force in the direction of Gordon- 
 ville, calculating that while General Lee guarded against that, 
 the Federal army could reach Fredericksburg in advance of 
 the Confederates, and place itself between the latter army and 
 Richmond. But, though left in doubt for a day or two, Lee 
 penetrated the designs of the Federal commander, with the 
 result that when Bumside's advance reached Fredericksburg, it 
 found the south side of the Rappahannock well-protected. 
 Moving on down from the upper Rappahannock, Burnside 
 soon had his army in line on Stafford Heights, the line of hills 
 at the south foot of which the river runs. Thither marched 
 also Lee's army — Longstreet's Corps taking position along the 
 range of hills on the south side of the stream, its left extending 
 around the city and for a mile or two above it, its right, to 
 within a mile of Hamilton's crossing, a little railroad station 
 five miles below Fredericksburg — Jackson's corps on the right 
 of Longstreet's. 
 
 Hood's division held the right of Longstreet's corps — the 
 Texas Brigade, the center of the division, being stretched out 
 in line in the open valley. The main fighting was done by Mc- 
 Laws' division at Marye's Hill, and by Jackson's troops in the 
 vicinity of Hamilton's crossing, and between that and the river. 
 As save through its scouts and skirmishers, the Texas Brigade 
 took no active part in the battle, a description of the engage- 
 ment will be left to the general historian. The enemy com- 
 menced crossing to the south side of the Rappahannock, at 
 daylight of the 11th. It took him all that day and the next 
 to get his army across and in line, and the battle, therefore, 
 did not begin until the morning of the 13th. During the 11th 
 and 12th, however, the 350 pieces of artillery, many of them 
 guns of long range, that General Bumside had stationed on 
 Stafford Heights in positions commanding every part of the 
 wide valley south of the Rappahannock, kept the air hot with 
 flying projectiles, and there was hardly a minute of either day 
 but was marked by the roar of a cannon, the bursting of a 
 shell, or the passage of round shot. Out of range of the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 139 
 
 cannon, as a rule, the men of the Texas Brigade stood pas- 
 sive but deeply interested spectators of events as they oc- 
 curred on their right and left. At one trivial incident which 
 transpired, they were stirred to mirth that was long and loud. 
 
 The Forty-fourth Alabama and the Fifty-fourth North 
 Carolina regiments of Law's Brigade were made up, as a rule, 
 of conscripts — young men under twenty, and old men — dressed 
 in homespun, and presenting a very unsoldierly appearance. 
 But there were no cowards among them. Ordered to drive 
 back a force of the enemy which was coming too near our lines 
 for safety, they not only sprang forward in a charge of sur- 
 prising recklessness, but continued the charge until, to save 
 them from certain capture. General Hood peremptorily re- 
 called them. As they passed the Texas Brigade on their 
 return, one old fellow halted, wiped the powder-grime from 
 his weather-beaten and time-furrowed face with the sleeve of 
 his coat, and wrathfully exclaimed : " Durn ole Hood, any- 
 how! He jess didn't have no bus'ness 't all ter stop us when 
 we'uns was uh whippin' them ar durn blue-bellies ter h — 11 an' 
 back, an' efF we'uns hadder bin you Texikins, he'd never o' 
 did it." 
 
 How the battle of Fredericksburg would end was a foregone 
 conclusion. Lee and his 80,000 men held a position as im- 
 pregnable to any assault that could be made on it by Burn- 
 side's 116,000, as were Stafford Heights to the 80,000. Re- 
 pulsed with great slaughter at every point of the line they at- 
 tacked, the Federals abandoned the contest and recrossed the 
 Rappahannock. Then, having within six months driven Mc- 
 Clellan from before Richmond, defeated Pope at Second Man- 
 assas, won all the honors from McClellan, when again his an- 
 tagonist at Sharpsburg, and forced General Burnside to a 
 halt. General Lee ordered his army into winter quarters. 
 These to be constructed by the army, the Texas Brigade was 
 assigned heavily timbered ground. But it was so late in the 
 season, and there was such likelihood, the men thought, of an 
 early spring campaign, that they were content to erect only 
 temporary structures. Accustomed and inured by this time 
 to many discomforts, they deemed it a waste of labor and time 
 to build cabins they might have to vacate in a month or two. 
 But as in that month or two they would feel the need of 
 
140 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 amusement, they contributed liberally in labor and funds to- 
 ward the erection of a single story, log theater, in which they 
 might listen to concerts and see plays given and performed by 
 the members of Collins' Band, assisted by such other talent 
 as was to be found in the army. The weather was cold and 
 dry, although snow lay on the ground for days at a time ; fuel 
 was abundant, guard and fatigue duty light, and drilling not 
 required, and with little else for the men to do, the theater 
 had a large patronage — General Hood being a frequent at- 
 tendant, and even General Lee being, on one occasion, an audi- 
 tor. The favorite amusement in the day-time, when snow lay 
 on the ground, was snowballing. This began with battles be- 
 tween individuals, but soon extended to companies, regiments 
 and brigades. On one occasion, there was a battle royal be- 
 tween brigades of Hood's division in which generals, colonels 
 and many other subordinate officers participated — the align- 
 ments and movements of the opposing brigades being conducted 
 in regular military style, with regiments carrying their flags, 
 and drums and fifes in full blast. Indeed, such a racket was 
 made that day by the Confederate army — for the sport was 
 not confined to one division alone — that the Federals on the 
 other side of the Rappahannock took alarm, and at least one 
 of their cavalry regiments saddled its horses in readiness to 
 meet an expected attack. 
 
 The Texas Brigade was not mistaken in believing that its 
 stay in winter quarters would be short. About the middle 
 of February, 1863, there were indications of a move upon 
 Richmond, or Petersburg, from the direction of Suffolk. 
 President Davis and the members of the Confederate Congress, 
 which was then in session, became nuite uneasy, and to allav 
 their apprehensions. General Lee ordered Pickett's and Hood's 
 divisions to the neighborhood of the capital city. The two 
 commands marched on the 15th — Pickett's division halting on 
 the Chickahominy, but Hood's passing through Richmond and 
 camping between that city and Petersbure- — the Texas Bri- 
 gade, on Falling Creek, four miles south of Richmond. 
 
 The change was a welcome one. It brought us within easy 
 access of the " Texas depot," a warehouse in the city rented 
 by the officers of the brigade, in which was stored for safe- 
 keeping all such private property of members of the com- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 141 
 
 mand as could not be carried on the march. In addition, Hood 
 being exceedingly liberal in granting passes, It enabled the 
 men to make frequent visits to the city and indulge In the 
 many recreations It afforded. Its nearness to the main depot 
 of supplies for the army had Its advantages. Hood a fav- 
 orite with both civil and military authorities, his requisitions 
 on the quartermaster department were honored to such an ex- 
 tent that the ragged were clothed and the bare-footed shod. 
 Hats, however, were not to be had until some Inventive genius 
 — a member of the First Texas, it was said — hit upon a novel 
 scheme of securing them from the passengers on trains that 
 passed through the brigade camp. 
 
 A high bridge across the creek insured the slowing up of the 
 train at the point on the track most suitable for the execu- 
 tion of the scheme. A train due, all men in need of hats, and 
 many that did not need them and only went along to assist 
 their friends, would form In line on one side of the track, each 
 with a brush made of the tops of young pines In his hands. As 
 the train came by, a shout would be raised that, sounding high 
 above the roar and rattle of the train, would excite the alarm 
 or curiosity of the passengers who, springing to the windows, 
 would stick their heads out, and as at that moment the brushes 
 were brought into play, off the hats of the poor Innocents 
 would tumble. The first losers being plain, unassuming citi- 
 zens, were laughed at by the authorities as the victims of a 
 practical joke. But when, as soon happened, a brigadier- 
 general, the numerous members of his staff, and half a dozen 
 members of Congress on their return from some junketing 
 trip, lost their cocked and stove-pipe hats at the same place 
 and in the same high-handed way, complaint was made and 
 heeded, and thereafter there were no linings up along the track, 
 and the Texans and Arkansans that were still hatless were 
 compelled to make other calculations. 
 
 The rest of the brigade was not disturbed until the 18th of 
 March. Then it was discovered that some movement was in 
 progress or contemplation by General Hooker, who In Jan- 
 uary had been given command of the Federal army at Fred- 
 ericksburg, vice General Bumslde, removed, to gobble up Mr. 
 Davis, his cabinet and all the members of Congress. The blow 
 was to come from the direction of the Peninsula, and to sfuard 
 
142 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 against it, the Texas Brigade was routed out of its camp and 
 marched in haste through Richmond, down the Brook turn- 
 pike toward Ashland. When within five miles of Ashland, an 
 order from General Lee recalled it, he having assured himself 
 that no danger threatened the capital of the Confederacy. 
 Night close at hand, and the order of recall not enjoining 
 haste. General Hood ordered the command into camp until 
 morning. 
 
 Until nearly sunset, the day had been clear and comfortably 
 warm. At that hour, though, the sky clouded, and a brisk 
 cold wind blew from the north. By midnight, the wind lay 
 and snow commenced falling, and fell so heavily that by day- 
 light the ground was covered with it to the depth of three or 
 four inches, and it was still falling rapidly. General Robert- 
 son, who, on account of his democratic ways and a certain 
 fussiness over trifles, was by this time called " Aunt Pollie," 
 lost no time after sunrise in putting the brigade in motion 
 toward Richmond — the objective point of the day's march be- 
 ing the camp we had vacated the day before. Called into line 
 at 8 A. M. the men set forth in the blinding snow-storm, their 
 speed hastened by a natural longing to partake of the viands, 
 liquid and otherwise, so easily to be procured in Richmond since 
 a learned justice of the peace there had decided that the mili- 
 tary authorities had fractured the constitutions of both the 
 State of Virginia and the Southern Confederacy when they 
 prohibited the sale of liquor by the drink. 
 
 There was much straggling, but strange to say, it was not 
 in the rear but all to the front. When at last fairly in the 
 city, the brigade disintegrated, so to speak, every soldier not 
 a teetotaller making a flank movement to right or left. So 
 sudden, sui'prising and inexplicable was the depletion of ranks, 
 that when Aunt Pollie looked back through the obscuring mist 
 of yet fast-falling snow down the short and attenuated line 
 of shadowy figures following in his wake, he could give ex- 
 pression to his feelings only by exclaiming, " Where the 
 blankety blank is the Texas Brigade? " He was about to send 
 details in quest of the absconders, but luckily. General Hood 
 was near by and intervened. West Pointer that Hood Avas, he 
 not only knew Texas and Arkansas tastes and temperaments, 
 but was not unwilling they should be occasionally indulged. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 143 
 
 Callmg to Aunt Pollie, he said, " Let 'em go, General-let 'em 
 go; they deserve a little indulgence, and you'll get them back 
 m time for the next battle." ^ " 
 
 About this time, General Longstreet, then at Petersburo- and 
 m temporary command of all Confederate force, in" ™th 
 
 Lfr I A " """^ ™™ """'' '" the hands of citizens 
 
 hvmg along the coast south of Norfolk. To collect and 
 transport this to points accessible to the Confederate armv he 
 
 t°he Fed Tf' *"'f " '° ^"'^o"^' "'"^ i-tru:«o„s 7hoM 
 the Federal forces there closely within their lines and enable 
 
 Siv?r"a;rbto'''"iT ''%"°r''-y -■■''' "f '^"Ch^fan 
 Kiver all the bacon and forage to be found. Hood moved his 
 
 division about the 1st of April, and passing througTpeter^ 
 
 burg, proceeded to the neighborhood of Suffolk, by way of 
 
 Jerusalem and the Blackwater River. But the forti IT !„ 
 
 trenchments of the Federals at Suffolk were so surrounded ^^ 
 
 ^•o ected from land assault, by water, that to accomp i^f t,\";^ 
 
 capture was out of the question. Hence, while the Texas Bri 
 
 gade did a great deal of picketing, skir^iishing and scoutW 
 
 It engaged in no battles, and its losses were sBght-the nofl 
 
 notable and the most regretted being that of thf daring Cap 
 
 tain Ike N. M. Turner, of the Fifth Texas ^ ^ 
 
 daftrspea"7o Cot'Vr'^\"^'"P of the' Fourth Texas one 
 oay to speak to Colonel Key about some unimportant matter 
 
 something of his unique character. Hood winked at Kev and 
 m a loud tone, said: "Detail an officer and twenty:fl;e of 
 your best men. Colonel, and have them report time at my 
 headquarters within an hour. I have set my heart ™i sec"r^ 
 ing possession of one of those gunboats do™ „„ the Nlnse- 
 
 Tre it?'""' "' ' '"' "" ''''' "•^"^ ™» -" --'rcap- 
 
 acc^ptedTt'^ "^t "^"^"f' ™''7'""'"t - ™oment's hesitation 
 accepted It Stepping forward, and laying a hand on the 
 neck of the horse Hood rode, he touched his hat in salute and 
 looking straight into Hood's eyes, said: ' 
 
 Now look here. General Hood, eff you've jest got to 
 
 Fourth Te'nT"'' "P "'" ' "» «"' -y »' a? the 
 fourth Texas will buy you one. But hit ain't a goin' ter go 
 
144 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 foolin' roun' any o' them big boats down on the river, fur 
 they say the dum things are loaded. Besides, hit'll take 
 swimmin' ter gat at 'em, an' there's mighty few of us kin 
 do it." 
 
 It was in January, 1863, previous to the departure of 
 Hood's division from Fredericksburg, that General Buniside, 
 seeking to restore the prestige he had lost in his blundering 
 essay against Lee in December of 1862, and thus ward off im- 
 pending dismissal from high command, ordered his army to 
 undertake the famous " Mud march " — his aim, to cross the 
 Rappahannock above Fredericksburg and fall upon Lee's left 
 flank. He had hardly made a start, though, when a tremen- 
 dous storm of wind, rain and snow began, and compelled the 
 abandonment of the project. The only opposition to the 
 movement offered was by the Confederate cavalry, the infantry 
 of Lee's army making no move whatever. One of the grim- 
 mest jokes ever perpetrated on the commander of an army, 
 was that of the Southern troopers who placed on trees near 
 the roads on which the Federals were advancing, large and 
 plainly lettered signs bearing the legend, " This is the way 
 to Richmond." 
 
 Following immediately on this grand faux pas, came an 
 order relieving Bumside from command, and appointing 
 " Fighting Joe " Hooker as his successor. General Hooker 
 had his hands full at once. The Federal army had deeply re- 
 sented the removal of McClellan from its command after the 
 battles around Richmond. It had no time to voice its pro- 
 test until he was restored to command, just before the battle 
 of Sharpsburg. As it was thought he would be allowed to 
 continue in command, the disaffection ceased. When, how- 
 ever, he was again removed, and Burnside appointed to suc- 
 ceed him, the disaffection revived, and growing greater as 
 events proved the incapacity of the new commander, reached 
 its height when he was removed and Hooker appointed. An- 
 other cause for disaffection was the Emancipation Proclama- 
 tion issued by President Lincoln when assured by his advisers 
 that the battle of Sharpsburg, or Antictam, as they called it, 
 was a decisive victory for the Union arms. Many of the 
 officers in high command, and especially those who had served 
 in the regular army, were far from hostile to slavery. A large 
 
L/IEUTKNANT W. W. HKNDIiRSON 
 Company B, Fifth Texas Reg^inieiit 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 145 
 
 proportion of the pri\'^ate soldiers, especially in regiments 
 raised in the large cities of the North, looked with bitter aver- 
 sion upon the negro. 
 
 For quite a while after General Hooker took command, his 
 army appeared to be undergoing a process of disintegration. 
 Not only were there as many as 200 desertions a day, but the 
 soldiers at the front were encouraged and advised to desert 
 by their friends and relatives at home, and every aid given 
 them. Practically the entire army yet resented the removal of 
 McClellan, and the appointments first of Bumside and then 
 of Hooker, and believed that the Federal government would 
 be forced to restore McClellan to command and abandon its 
 policy of emancipation. What with deserters and those ab- 
 sent by leave, 85,000 men, of whom 4000 were commissioned 
 officers, left the army and scattered all over the North. 
 
 But the disaffection in the Union army neither became re- 
 volt nor lasted long. By the middle of April most of its men 
 and officers had returned to it, and it had been reorganized and 
 in various ways improved. When its numbers approached 
 100,000, General Hooker commenced looking for a route by 
 which he could fall upon Lee's army, and defeating it, march 
 his army on to Richmond. Hitting upon that least expected 
 by his wary opponent, he set his army in motion. Instead of 
 seeking to force a passage of the Rappahannock, he marched 
 to fords above the mouth of the Rapidan, and there crossing, 
 threw the bulk of his troops into the Wilderness country and 
 concentrated them at Chancellorsville. 
 
 This movement was so well-planned and executed that not 
 until the morning of May 1st did General Lee learn that, prac- 
 tically, the whole of the Federal army had crossed the Rap- 
 pahannock and was advancing upon him. In fact, Hooker 
 then had fully 70,000 men at Chancellorsville, Lee, a scant 
 20,000, and General Sedgewick was advancing from Fred- 
 ericksburg on the right flank of these. But Hooker made a 
 grave blunder. Instead of gaining position, as he might easily 
 have done on his arrival at Chancellorsvile, in the open country 
 a mile and a half southwest of Chancellorsvile, where he could 
 have kept vigilant watch on the movements of the Confed- 
 erates, he halted his troops so far back in the dense forest as 
 to allow Lee to form his line also in the timber, and thus con- 
 
146 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 ceal his small force. Having this advantage, Lee held the 
 overwhelming forces arrayed against him in check until Jack- 
 son made a long detour through the thick woods, and late 
 in the afternoon of the 3rd, fell upon the Federal rank flank, 
 and putting it to rout, compelled the retreat of the Federal 
 host to the north side of the Rappahannock. 
 
 May 1st, General Lee wrote to Longstreet, directing him to 
 recall Hood's division from Suffolk, and march it and Pickett's 
 division forthwith toward Chancellorsville. The letter did not 
 reach Longstreet until May 2nd. At that date, the wagon 
 trains of Hood's division were far down on Chowan River, 
 thirty miles south of Suffolk, engaged in hauling army sup- 
 plies from that section. To withdraw from Suffolk before 
 the trains were recalled would have been to subject them to 
 capture. Therefore, the investment of Suffolk was continued 
 until the 3rd of May, when, the wagons being on the east 
 and safe side of Blackwater River, Hood's division withdrew 
 to and crossed that stream, and on the 4th set out on its two 
 days' march to Petersburg. Early on that day, though, it 
 learned that the battle of Chancellorsville had been fought and 
 won, and that General Jackson had been mortally wounded. 
 Its assistance no longer needed, the speed of its march abated. 
 Marching leisurely through Petersburg and Richmond, it 
 moved on to Fredericksburg, and after a fortnight's stay in 
 that neighborhood, to Verdiersville, in the Wilderness, and 
 thence to the Rapidan River, at Raccoon ford. 
 
 The date of the departure of the Texas Brigade from the 
 Rapidan is not recalled. On the afternoon of June 18th, it 
 camped in timber near the little town of Millwood, on the 
 western slope of the Blue Ridge. On the 19th it was ordered 
 to Snicker's Gap and took position on the summit of a moun- 
 tain where for three days it remained invisible in the clouds 
 that enshrouded its camp. On the 23rd it returned to Mill- 
 wood, and next day, the 24th, began the march that canned it 
 across the Potomac at Williamsport, Md., through Greencas- 
 tle. Pa., and on to Chambersburg, Pa. At Williamsport, it 
 halted long enough to swallow rations of whisky. Non-im- 
 bibing members of the command gave their doles to comrades 
 that liked the stuff, and as a result, it was of the breadth, more 
 than of the length of the road, that many soldiers that after- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 147 
 
 noon found cause of complaint. " A fellow-feeling makes us 
 wondrous kind," it is said, and it was that fellow-feeling, per- 
 haps, that made the Texas regimental commanders look with 
 indulgent eyes on the disorder which marked the first few 
 miles of the march from Williamsport. The commander of 
 the Third Arkansas, though, did not appear to be possessed of 
 any fellow-feeling, for he found summary cures for the tor- 
 tuous locomotion of his men in the cold waters of the various 
 little streams crossing the route. 
 
 The Texas Brigade, on the afternon of the 27th, camped 
 in a grove of magnificent timber about a mile north of Cham- 
 bersburg. Commissary trains were belated, and when long 
 after dark they arrived, brought only slender rations of rancid 
 bacon and musty flour. In the country roundabout there was 
 a superabundance of all kinds of eatables. The Federal sol- 
 diers that had marched through Virginia had taken, with the 
 strong hand, whatever they wanted from the people down 
 there, not even offering to pay in greenbacks. General Lee's 
 order strictly prohibited depredations on private property, but 
 would there be any violation of that order if Confederate 
 soldiers persuaded the good citizens of Pennsylvania to sell 
 them provisions and accept in payment therefor Confederate 
 money .f* Surely not. 
 
 There was no violence used, no threats of any kind made by 
 any Confederate soldier, and none of the citizens complained 
 of having been intimidated and robbed. The greater part of 
 the supplies that found their way into camp were paid for in 
 Confederate money, the rest were voluntary off'erings. Soldiers 
 as hungry as were the Confederates could not be expected to 
 refuse proffers of food, even when they suspected such proffers 
 were made through unwarranted fear of ill-treatment. The 
 demanding and the giving were both good-humored; not a 
 house was entered save upon invitation, or consent obtained; 
 not a woman or child was frightened or insulted, not a build- 
 ing was burned, or ransacked for hidden silver and other val- 
 uables ; all that was wanted, all that was asked for, all that 
 was accepted, was food. And thus it happened that a member 
 of the Fourth Texas who came into the camp of the Texas 
 Brigade after dark on the 30th of June was able to write as 
 follows : 
 
148 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " Rejoining the brigade late that night, at its camp near 
 Chambersburg, and being very tired, I lay down near the 
 wagons and went to sleep. Awakened next morning by Col- 
 lins' bugle, and walking over to the camp, I witnessed not only 
 an unexpected but a wonderful and marvelous sight. Every 
 square foot of an acre of ground not occupied by a sleeping 
 or standing soldier, was covered with choice food for the 
 hungry. Chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese squawked, gob- 
 bled, quacked, cackled and hissed in harmonious unison as deft 
 and energetic hands seized them for slaughter, and scarcely 
 waiting for then! to die, sent their feathers flying in all direc- 
 tions ; and scattered around in bewildering confusion and grati- 
 fying profusion appeared immense loaves of bread and chunks 
 of corned beef, hams, and sides of bacon, cheeses, crocks of 
 apple-butter, jelly, jam, pickles, and preserves, bowls of yel- 
 low butter, demijohns of buttermilk, and other eatables too 
 numerous to mention. 
 
 " The sleepers were the foragers of the night, resting from 
 their arduous labors — the standing men, their mess-mates who 
 remained as camp-guards and were now up to their eyes in 
 noise, feathers and grub. Jack Sutherland's head pillowed it- 
 self on a loaf of bread, and one arm was wound caressingly 
 half-around a juicy-looking ham. Bob Murray, fearful that 
 his captives would take to their wings or be purloined, had 
 wound the string, which bound half a dozen frying chickens 
 around his right big toe ; one of Brahan's widespread legs was 
 embraced by two overlapping crocks of apple-butter and jam, 
 while a tough old gander, gray with age, squawked complain- 
 ingly at his head without in the last disturbing his slumber; 
 Dick Skinner lay flat on his back— with his right hand holding 
 to the legs of three fat chickens and a duck, and his left, to 
 those of a large turkey — fast asleep and snoring in a rasping 
 bass voice that chimed in well with the music of the 
 fowls. 
 
 " The scene is utterly indescribable, and I shall make no fur- 
 ther attempt to picture it. The hours were devoted exclu- 
 sively to gormandizing until, at 3 p. m., marching orders came, 
 and leaving more provisions than the}' carried, the Texans 
 moved lazily and plethorically into line — their destination, 
 Gettysburg." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Gettysburg 
 
 CoiNCiDENTALLY With the northward march of Longstreet's 
 corps from the vicinity of Millwood, Va., General Jeb. Stuart, 
 at the head of all the cavalry belonging to the Anmy of 
 Northern Virginia, save the brigades of Robertson and Im- 
 boden, began a ride that, whatever its aim and hope, served 
 only to detach his command from the army and deny to Gen- 
 eral Lee early and accurate information of the movements of 
 the Federal army. Not until June 29th did General Lee learn, 
 and then only through a scout traveling on foot, that General 
 Hooker had led the Union army to the north side of the Po- 
 tomac, and was marching it toward Gettysburg. This news 
 called for an immediate change of plan. Ewell's corps, then 
 far to the north on the march to Harrisburg, the capital of 
 Pennsylvania, was recalled, and A. P. Hill's corps was sent 
 across South Mountain to Cashtown, a little town on the turn- 
 pike leading from Chambersburg to Gettysburg, eight miles 
 east of the latter. 
 
 The topographic features of the country around Cashtown 
 were peculiarly favorable for a defensive battle, and for draw- 
 ing supplies from the fertile Cumberland valley west of South 
 Mountain. The presence there of the Confederate army 
 threatened not only Washington and Baltimore, but as well, 
 Philadelphia, and so seriously, that General Lee could safely 
 count on drawing the enemy to his front and thus relieving 
 his rear from danger. Therefore, he proposed to concentratt 
 his army there, and that he might have ample time for that, 
 his express orders both to Hill and Ewell were, that they 
 should not bring on a general engagement until the concen- 
 tration was effected. Whether it was Hill that was at fault, 
 or General Pettigrew, the commander of a brigade in Heth's 
 division, need not be argued, the fact remaining that instead 
 of halting at Cashtown, Pettigrew, whose brigade led Hill's 
 
 149 
 
150 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 advance on the 30th of June, moved his command beyond, to- 
 ward Gettysburg, in search of shoes for his men. In the 
 vicinity of Gettysburg the brigade encountered Buford's Fed- 
 eral cavalry, and after a hot skirmish with those troopers, 
 hastened back to Cashtown, somewhat the worse for wear. 
 
 Pettigrew's report of the mishap that had befallen his com- 
 mand, excited General Hill's curiosity " to discover what was 
 in his front," and setting at naught the positive instructions 
 of the commander-in-chief, he ordered the divisions of Heth 
 and Pender forward, next morning, to Gettysburg. Near the 
 town they were confronted not alone by cavalry, but by two 
 largely outnumbering corps of Federal infantry. In the en- 
 gagement that ensued, the Confederates soon got the worst 
 of it, and knowing that Ewell was approaching Cashtown, Hill 
 appealed to him for aid. Changing the course of his march, 
 Ewell took position north of Gettysburg, nearly at right 
 angles to the line occupied by Heth and Pender, and falling 
 upon the right flank and rear of the Federals, soon had them 
 in rapid and confused retreat. 
 
 Meantime, having ordered Ewell and Hill to Cashtown, Gen- 
 eral Lee remained at Chambersburg. There was no need of 
 hurry, he thought, and hence, he delayed putting Longstreet's 
 coi'ps in motion toward the rendezvous, until the morning of 
 July 1st. Even then he ordered only the divisions of Hood 
 and McLaws' forward — Pickett's division being left at Cham- 
 bersburg, and Law's brigade, of Hood's division, at New Guil- 
 ford, to perform services cavalry should have been there to 
 undertake. Lee himself rode across the mountain with Long- 
 street. He had gone but a few miles when he overtook the 
 head of Longstreet's column, and ordered it to halt and await 
 the passage of Ewell's fourteen-mile long wagon train and 
 the division of infantry, Johnson's, that guarded it. Then he 
 and Longstreet rode on up the mountain side, and having 
 gained the summit. General Lee, writes a Virginian historian, 
 " heard with amazement the noise of the battle which Plill had 
 begun that day at Gettysburg, at sunrise; for his express or- 
 ders had been, both to Hill and to Ewell, that they should not 
 bring on a general engagement until after the concentration 
 of his army at Cashto^v^l, and now Hill was engaged, at the 
 very beginning of the day, in hot contention eight miles away 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 151 
 
 from Lee's selected defensive position where ' the strength of 
 the hills' would have been his, in the open country about 
 Gettysburg, where mere numbers would have greatly the ad- 
 vantage in an engagement." 
 
 It was not amazement alone that Lee must have felt it 
 
 was also^ indignation and apprehension. It was a grave and 
 unique situation for the commander of an army, to be in an 
 enemy's territory without cavalry at hand— his positive orders 
 disobeyed, two corps of his army, Hill's and Ewell's, out of 
 place, and the other, Longstreet's, neither in place nor near 
 enough to be available either as an attacking or reserve force, 
 a fierce battle in progress miles distant from where he had 
 planned it, and himself without more information as to the 
 whereabouts and movements of the enemy than had been se- 
 cured, two days ago, from a scout who traveled on foot. It is 
 but natural that, taking it for granted, the battle had been 
 forced on Hill and Ewell, resolved to make the best of it, 
 knowing his imperative and immediate need of correct infor- 
 mation concerning the enemy, and remembering that he had 
 enjoined upon his cavalry chief to keep constantly in touch 
 with his right wing, his first expression should be of wonder 
 where Stuart was, of fear that he had met with disaster. 
 
 General Lee reached Cashtown shortly before noon, and 
 there awaited reports from the battle-field. A call for assist- 
 ance came from Hill, and Lee rode rapidly on to Gettysburg, 
 arriving there in time to witness Ewell's advance, the driving of 
 the Federals through the streets of the town, and the capture 
 of alaout 5000 prisoners — the beginning of a struggle which, 
 continued with spirit and determination that day, would have 
 secured for the Confederate army the identical position south 
 of the town that was that night and early next day occupied 
 by the Union army. Observing the confusion of the enemy 
 as they broke into retreat from this and that point, and aware 
 of the importance of seizing upon Cemetery Ridge and Gulp's 
 Hill before General Meade, then in command of the Federals, 
 could arrive with his main army, Lee ordered Ewell to " press 
 these people, and secure the hill if possible." 
 
 But neither the ridge nor the hill was secured. Early and 
 Ewell each called on Hill for support, and Hill would assist 
 neither. All that General Lee could do was to urge Long- 
 
152 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 street to hurry forward the divisions of Hood and McLaws, 
 neither of which was at that hour — 5 p. m. — within ten miles 
 of the scene of contention, and again say to Ewell that he 
 would support his advance as soon as he could, and that he 
 wished Ewell to use whatever opportunity he had to advance 
 and hold the ground in his front. Early pushed his men for- 
 ward ; Ewell delayed to re-form his lines on the left of Early ; 
 Early's command, Gordon's brigade leading, had the enemy 
 again on the run. At that moment, when Confederate victory 
 needed but a last rush foi*ward to clinch it, Early halted Gor- 
 don's brigade, and although, as he confesses in his official 
 report, he had no faith in a report that a large force of the 
 enemy was advancing on the York Road, ordered it to march 
 to the relief of General Smith, then far back in the rear. The 
 pursuit by other troops at once halted — Ewell desiring to 
 have Gordon's brigade on the firing line, and to have Johnson's 
 division, then guarding Ewell's wagon train, on the ground 
 to extend his line to the eastward, scale Gulp's Hill and turn the 
 Federal right. It was after sundown when Johnson's division 
 came on the field, and too late for another advance. But for 
 the untimely and absolutely unnecessary withdrawal of Goi'- 
 don's brigade, success must have crowned the efforts of the 
 day, and Lee must have won the heights of Gettysburg. As 
 it was, at nightfall of July 1st, the Federal army held Ceme- 
 tery Ridge and Gulp's Hill, and these advantages more than 
 counterbalanced its losses during the day. 
 
 After nightfall of July 1 General Lee conferred with Gen- 
 erals Ewell, Early and Rodcs. To his proposal that Ewell 
 attack the enemy at daylight next morning, that officer de- 
 murred, saying it would be better to make a gradual approach 
 on the Federal position for the westward. After a moment's 
 thought, Lee said : " Perhaps I had better draw you arounjj 
 to my right, as the line will be very long and thin if 3^ou re- 
 main here, and the enemy may come down and break through 
 it." But while advising the approach from the westward, 
 Ewell was not willing to make it, and when he declared that he 
 could not only hold the ground then in his possession but 
 could also, next morning, capture Gulp's Hill, Lee began to 
 consider the advisability of making an attack on the enemy's 
 left from the westward, simultaneous with that of Ewell on 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 153 
 
 his right, and finally observed : " Well, if I attack the enemy's 
 left, Longstreet will have to make the attack." Then he 
 added, musingly : " Longstreet is a very good fighter when 
 he gets in position and gets everything ready, but he is so 
 slow." 
 
 Following this conference, Lee had another with Hill and 
 Longstreet. The latter urged the withdrawal of the army 
 from before Gettysburg and the placing of it between Meade's 
 army and Washington, thus forcing the Federal commander 
 to offer battle or expose the capital city of the Union to 
 speedy capture. This was an enlargement of Lee's sugges- 
 tion that Ewell should move around to the right. Relying, 
 however, on Ewell's promise and assurance that on the morrow 
 he would capture Gulp's Hill, and arguing it unsafe, in the 
 absence of Stuart and his cavalry, to march eastward. Gen- 
 eral Lee decided against Longstreet's contention, and resolving 
 to make a contemporaneous attack on both flanks of the 
 enemy, ordered Longstreet to bring up his two divisions then 
 on the way as quickly as possible, and next day, at as eai'ly an 
 hour as practicable, assault the Federal left. 
 
 The truth is, that while he was a great general, a pro- 
 found and wily strategist, a consummate master of the art of 
 war, Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia, was in temperament a game cock. The mere pres- 
 ence of an enemy aroused his pugnacity, and was a challenge 
 he found it hard to dechne, and at Gettysburg, impossible. 
 In his official report of the battle of Gettysburg, he says: 
 " It had not been intended to deliver a general battle so far 
 from our base unless attacked. But coming unexpectedly 
 upon the whole Federal army, to withdraw through the moun- 
 tains with our extensive trains would have been difficult and 
 dangerous." Acting in direct disobedience to the orders he 
 had received, Hill and Ewell had brought on a general engage- 
 ment ; it was fairly in progress ; the pugnacity inherited from 
 a long line of fighting ancestors thrilled the nerves of the Con- 
 federate commander and dominated an ordinarily cool judg- 
 ment; the enemy invited and challenged a contest, and contest 
 he should have. 
 
 Hood's division. Law's Brigade excepted, said a regretful 
 good-by to its camp near Chambersburg, at 2 p. m. of July 1, 
 
154. HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 and, falling behind McLaws' already moving division, began 
 the march across South Mountain to Gettysburg — the Texas 
 Brigade, too heavily burdened, inside and out, with the extra 
 rations supplied by the citizenship of the country to make 
 active exercise a pleasure, but still able to keep going. But 
 a short distance was covered, when from an intersecting road 
 Ewell's long wagon-train, under protection of Johnson's divi- 
 sion, came into the Chambersburg and Gettysburg turnpike, 
 ahead of McLaws' leading regiment. Just then General Lee 
 and General Longstreet rode up, and, aware of the confu- 
 sion and delay sure to result should the train and two columns 
 of infantry attempt to move, side by side, along the turnpike, 
 General Lee, himself, ordered McLaws to halt his column and 
 await the passage of the train and its guard. 
 
 Four hours, at least, were consumed by this delay. The 
 length of the train, guess-work, neither division, brigade, nor 
 regimental commanders could say when the way would be 
 clear, and we could only wait, sitting and standing by the 
 roadside. And when, finally, we began to move on in the wake 
 of the last wagon, it was to go a hundred yards or so, and 
 then stop and stand still, not daring to sit down, for five, ten 
 or twenty minutes at a time. Nothing is so wearing on in- 
 fantry as such halting progress, and when, at 2 a. m. of July 
 2, near Cashtown, the Texas Brigade was allowed to rest 
 secure from interruption, the boys lost no time in divesting 
 themselves of their accouterments, stretching themselves out 
 on the bare ground and falling asleep. 
 
 At 4 p. M. the men of the Texas Brigade were awakened 
 from their deep slumber, and within ten minutes were on their 
 way to Gettysburg. Falling into a swinging route step, they 
 made the distance without a halt, amving near the head- 
 quarters of General Lee, on Seminary Ridge, not later than 
 an hour after sunrise. Held here for perhaps an hour and a 
 half, they then moved a mile or more to the south and east, 
 into a little valley where water and fuel were easily accessible. 
 Here they were notified that rations would be issued as soon 
 as the commissary wagons could be brought up, and as about 
 that time the skillet wagon drove up and unloaded each regi- 
 ment's share of cooking utensils, fires were built and skillet lids 
 put on to heat, preparatory to cooking the flour that was to 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 155 
 
 be issued. While his comrades attended to culinary affairs, 
 Ferdinand Hahn, of the Fourth Texas, strolled to the top of 
 a nearby elevation, and edged up as near as he dared to a 
 group of general officers and their staffs. Among the gen- 
 erals were Longstreet, Hood, and Lee, with each of whom he 
 had a personal acquaintance acquired prior to the war, while 
 he was a clerk at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio, and they 
 its guests. He remained in hearing distance of the group, 
 probably, half an hour. Returning then to his company, he 
 said : 
 
 " You might as well quit bothering with those skillet lids, 
 boys — it'll not be twenty minutes before we are on the move 
 again." 
 
 "What have you heard, H'ahn — what have you heard?" a 
 dozen voices eagerly inquired. 
 
 " Only this," he replied . " I got up pretty close to General 
 Lee, and old Longstreet and Hood, a while ago, and while I 
 stood there, an officer rode up, and adressing General Lee, re- 
 ported that the Yankees were moving troops on to Round Top. 
 General Lee at once turned his glasses in that direction, and 
 after looking through them a minute or two, said : ' Ah, well, 
 that was to be expected. But General Meade might as well 
 have saved himself the trouble, for we'll have it in our pos- 
 session before night.' That means, of course, that we'll have 
 to take it, and to do it, we'll have to move from here as soon 
 as Hood can send orders." 
 
 Sure enough, not ten minutes elapsed before the brigade was 
 called to attention and marched toward the position from 
 which, later, it advanced against Round Top — not six hours 
 had passed before it was fighting, its men bleeding and dying, 
 in the rocky fastnesses of Devil's Den and under the lofty, pre- 
 cipitous cliffs that guarded the approach from the west to the 
 crest of Cemetery Ridge and the Round Tops. 
 
 The movement now made was but preparatory. While still 
 adhering to his resolve to deliver battle, General Lee had not 
 yet decided from what line Longstreet's troops should advance. 
 If at this hour he betrayed anger and disappointment, it was 
 not at the failure of Longstreet's command to be up sooner — 
 it was because of Ewell's failure to seize Gulp's Hill, or even to 
 attack the Federals there with promising vigor: if he raani- 
 
156 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 fested anxiety and impatience, it was not due to the slowness 
 and deliberation with which Longstreet moved his troops, for 
 this he had expected — it was due to the delay of the officers 
 he had sent out, at daylight, to reconnoiter the ground. Not 
 until they reported to him, which was close on to mid-day, did 
 he announce his plan to Longstreet. Previous to that time, 
 though, he himself rode to his left wing and instructed HiJl and 
 Ewcll to lead their commands forward as soon as they heard 
 Longstreet's guns open. 
 
 In this connection the testimony of Longstreet is relevant. 
 In his book, " From Manassas to Appomattox," he says : 
 
 " It was some little time after General Lee's return .from 
 his ride to the left before he received the reports of the recon- 
 noissance ordered from his center to his right. His mind, pre- 
 viously settled to the purpose to fight where the enemy stood, 
 now accepted the explicit plan of making the opening on his 
 right, and to have the engagement general." 
 
 The following excerpt from " Confederate Military His- 
 tory " is also relevant. The incident related occurred at the 
 time General Lee was instructing Longstreet and his division 
 commanders concerning their movements : 
 
 " Lee pointed out to McLaws, on the map, the position on 
 the Emmitsburg road, at right angles to that near the peach 
 orchard, that he desired him to occupy, telling him to gain 
 that, if possible, without being seen by the enemy. Long- 
 street interposed, directing McLaws to place his line parallel 
 to the turnpike. Lee promptly made reply : ' No, General, 
 no : I want his position perpendicular to the Emmitsburg road,' 
 thus clearly indicating his design to move squarely upon the 
 Federal left." 
 
 To enable the reader to understand the relative positions of 
 the two contending armies on July 2, 1863, an attempt at 
 description is necessary. Cemetery Ridge, occupied that day 
 by the Federal army, runs first northward, then, with a sharp 
 curve, eastward, and then, again bending, southward for a 
 short distance. In shape, it is not unlike a fish-hook — Round 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 157 
 
 Top Mountain at the southern end of the stem — Little Round 
 Top half a mile further north — Cemetery Hill in the bend — 
 the town of Gettysburg in a valley, a mile north of Cemetery 
 Hill — Gulp's Hill at the barb of the hook. From Little Round 
 Top to Cemetery Hill is barely three miles, while from Culp's 
 Hill — at the barb of the hook — measuring straight across the 
 curve is scarcely a half mile. Owing to the curvature at the 
 end of the hook of the Federal line, that line was scant three 
 miles long, and no part of it was over an hour's march from 
 another. In half an hour, the Federals could concentrate two- 
 thirds of their entire force at any given point on it. 
 
 About a mile west of Cemetery Ridge, running parallel with 
 it but extending further northward, lies Seminary Ridge. On 
 July 2 the Confederate line stretched along the crest of Sem- 
 inary Ridge, from a point opposite Round Top to another 
 opposite the town of Gettysburg: here turning eastward, it 
 followed around the curve of Cemetery Ridge, and, bending 
 with that curve to the southward, terminated at a point oppo- 
 site and east of Culp's Hill — its shape being also much like 
 that of a fish-hook. Because of its length — seven miles, at the 
 least — and because, also, there could be no cutting across 
 bends, it would have required hours for the Confederates to 
 concentrate a heavy force at any given point. 
 
 Culp's Hill dominated Cemetery Hill and the ridge to the 
 south as completely as did either of the Round Tops. That 
 in the possession of the Confederates, the Federal position 
 would have been untenable. Aware of this, of how easily the 
 Federals could concentrate, and of how difficult concentration 
 would be to the Confederates, General Lee planned for a simul- 
 taneous assault by all of his troops. If at all points of their 
 line the Union troops were kept busy repelling attack, success 
 would depend on pluck and endurance, and not simply on po- 
 sition and numbers. Assailed at all points with the vigor and 
 determination characteristic of the Army of Northern Vir- 
 ginia, the elect of which was then at hand " to do or die," the 
 facilities of the enemy for rapid shifting of forces would be of 
 small avail. 
 
 The Federal commander intended, and so ordered, that his 
 lines should be formed along the crest of Cemetery Ridge, 
 north of Round Top. But mistaking a wooded hill, west of 
 
158 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 the crest a short distance, for the main ridge, the Federal Gen- 
 eral Sickles took position on that, slightly in rear of the peach 
 orchard, the position McLaws was enjoined by General Lee 
 to gain. To connect with Hancock on his right, and to rest 
 his left on Round Top, Sickles faced Bimey's division south- 
 westward, Humphrey's northwestward. The Emmitsburg road 
 ran southwest from the town of Gettysburg, diagonally across 
 the valley between Cemetery and Seminary ridges. It skirted 
 the base of Cemetery Hill and passed just west of the peach 
 orchard. This orchard is northwest and nearly a mile from 
 Little Round Top. Between it and the mountain, and beyond 
 a skirt of timber, was a wheat field. South of the wheat field, 
 and in the space between the two little branches that form 
 what is known as Plum Run, and which come together at a 
 point about opposite the center of the depression between the 
 Round Tops, is Devil's Den. Beneath its tall timber, and be- 
 tween the abundance of large, irregularly-shaped boulders that 
 covered full}"^ half its surface, grew an almost impenetrable 
 thicket of shrubs, vines, and small timber. East of it rose 
 the frowning, precipitous cliffs which marked the western 
 boundary of Cemetery Ridge, and which extended along the 
 west bases of the two Round Tops. The slope of Round Top 
 to the south, although rough, was not precipitous, and the 
 ground south of that mountain was comparatively open and 
 level. 
 
 In preparation for the battle of the 2d, Hill was ordered to 
 extend his line further to the right, Anderson's division being 
 chosen for the purpose. This division met such opposition 
 from the Federals that it was not until 1 p. m. that it got 
 into position. In the meantime Law's brigade joined its divi- 
 sion. Hood's. Anderson's division in line of battle. General 
 Pendleton was ordered by General Lee to conduct Longstreet's 
 command to its position by a route concealed from the enemy. 
 McLaws' division was to form on the right of Anderson's — 
 Hood's on the right of McLaws'. In the effort to conceal the 
 movement much time was occupied, and it was 3 p. m. before 
 the troops were in position. 
 
 General Hood made no ofBcial report of the operations of 
 his division at Gettysburg. June 28, 1875, though, he for- 
 warded an account of them to General Longstreet — the ac- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 159 
 
 count embracing all that was done up to the time he (Hood) 
 was wounded. The letter containing the account was pub- 
 lished by Hood in his book, " Advance and Retreat," begin- 
 ning on page 55. He says: 
 
 " Whilst lying in camp, not far distant from Chambersburg, 
 information was received that Ewell and Hill were about to 
 come in contact with the enemy near Gettysburg. My troops, 
 together with McLaws' division, were put in motion upon the 
 most direct road to that point, which, after a hard march, we 
 reached before, or at sunrise on the 2nd of July. So imper- 
 ative had been the orders to hasten forward with all possible 
 speed, that on the march my troops were allowed to halt and 
 rest only about two hours, during the night from the 1st to 
 the 2nd of July. 
 
 " I arrived with my stafF in front of the heights of Gettys- 
 burg shortly after daybreak, as I have already stated, on the 
 morning of the 2nd of July. My division soon commenced 
 filing into an open field near me, where the troops were allowed 
 to stack arms and rest until further orders. A short distance 
 in advance of this point, and during the early part of the 
 same morning, we were both engaged, in company with Gen- 
 erals Lee and A. P. Hill, in observing the position of the Fed- 
 erals. General Lee — with coat buttoned to the throat, saber- 
 belt buckled around the waist, and field-glasses pending at his 
 side — walked up and down in the shade of the large trees near 
 us, halting now and then to obsen^e the enemy. He seemed 
 full of hope, yet, at times, buried in deep thought. Colonel 
 Freemantle, of England, was ensconced in the forks of a tree, 
 not^ far off, with glass in constant use, examining the lofty 
 position of the Federal army. 
 
 "General Lee was, seemingly, anxious you should attack 
 that morning. He remarked to me : * The enemy is here, and 
 if we do not whip him, he will whip us.' You thought it bet- 
 ter to await the arrival of Pickett's division— at that time still 
 in the rear — in order to make the attack ; and you said to me, 
 subsequently, whilst we were seated together near the trunk of 
 a tree: * The General is a little nervous, this morning; he 
 wishes me to attack: I do not wish to do so without Pickett. 
 I never like to go into battle with one boot off.' 
 
160 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " Thus passed the forenoon of that eventful day, when in 
 the afternoon — about 3 o'clock — it was decided to no longer 
 await Pickett's division, but to proceed to our extreme right 
 and attack up the Emmitsburg road. McLaws moved off, and 
 I followed with my division. In a short time I was ordered 
 to quicken the march of my troops, and to pass to the front 
 of McLaws. 
 
 " This movement was accomplished by throwing out an ad- 
 vanced force to tear down fences and clear the way. The in- 
 structions I received were to place my division across the Em- 
 mitsburg road, form line of battle, and attack. Before reach- 
 ing this road, however, I had sent forward some of my picked 
 Texas scouts to ascertain the position of the enemy's extreme 
 left flank. They soon reported to me that it rested upon 
 Round Top Mountain: that the country was open, and that I 
 could march through an open woodland pasture around Round 
 Top, and assault the enemy in flank and rear: that their wagcn 
 trains were parked in rear of their line, and were badly ex- 
 posed to our attack in that direction. As soon as I arrived 
 upon the Emmitsburg road, I placed one or two batteries in 
 position and opened fire. A reply from the enemy's guns soon 
 developed his lines. His left rested on or near Round Top, 
 with line bending back and again forward, forming, as it were, 
 a concave line, as approached by the Emmitsburg road. A 
 considerable body of troops was posted in front of their main 
 line, between the Emmitsburg road and Round Top jMountain. 
 This force was in line of battle upon an eminence near a peach 
 orchard. 
 
 " I found that in making the attack according to orders, 
 viz., up the Emmitsburg road, I should have first to encounter 
 and drive off this advanced line of battle ; secondly, at the 
 base and along the slope of the mountain, to confront immense 
 boulders of stone, so massed together as to form naiTow open- 
 ings, which would break our ranks and cause the men to scat- 
 ter whilst climbing up the rock}^ precipice. I found, moreover, 
 that my division would be exposed to a heavy fire from the main 
 line of the enemy in position on the crest of the high range, of 
 which Round. Top was the extreme left, and, by reason of the 
 concavity of the enemy's main line, that we would be subject to 
 a destructive fire in flank and rear, as well as in front: and 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 161 
 
 deemed it almost an impossibility to clamber along the boul- 
 ders up this steep and rugged mountain, and, under this num- 
 ber of cross fires, put the enemy to flight. I knew that if the 
 feat was accomplished, it must be at a most fearful sacri- 
 fice of as brave and gallant soldiers as ever engaged in 
 battle. 
 
 " The reconnoissance of my Texas scouts and the develop- 
 ment of the Federal lines were effected in a very short space 
 of time; in truth, shorter than I have taken to recall and jot 
 down these facts, although the scenes and events of that day 
 are as clear to my mind as if the great battle had been fought 
 yesterday. I was in possession of these important facts so 
 shortly after reaching the Emmitsburg road, that I consid- 
 ered it my duty to report to you, at once, my opinion that it 
 was unwise to attack up the Emmitsburg road, as ordered, and 
 to urge that you allow me to turn Round Top, and attack 
 the enemy in flank and rear. Accordingly, I dispatched a 
 staffs oflicer, bearing to you my request to be allowed to make 
 the proposed movement on account of the above stated reasons. 
 Your reply was quickly received : ' General Lee's orders are 
 to attack up the Emmitsburg road.' I sent another oflicer to 
 say that I feared nothing could be accomplished by such an 
 attack, and renewed my request to turn Round Top. Again 
 your answer was, ' General Lee's orders are to attack up the 
 Emmitsburg road.' During this interim I had continued to 
 use the batteries upon the enemy, and had become more and 
 more convinced that the Federal line extended to Round Top, 
 and that I could not reasonably hope to accomplish much by 
 the attack as ordered. In fact, it seemed to me that the 
 enemy occupied a position by nature so strong — I may say 
 impregnable — that, independently of their flank fire, they 
 could easily repel our attack by merely throwing and rolling 
 stones down the mountain side as we approached. 
 
 " A third time I dispatched one of my staffs to explain fully 
 in regard to the situation, and suggest that you had better 
 come and look for yourself. I selected, in this instance, my 
 adjutant-general. Colonel Harry Sellers, whom you know to 
 be not only an officer of great courage, but also of marked 
 ability. Colonel Sellers returned with the same message, 
 * General Lee's orders are to attack up the Emmitsburg road.' 
 
163 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Almost simultaneously, Colonel Fairfax, of your staff, rode 
 up and repeated the above orders. 
 
 " After this urgent protest against entering the battle of 
 Gettysburg according to instructions — which protest is the 
 first and only one I ever made during my entire military ca- 
 reer — I ordered my line to advance and make the assault. 
 
 " As my troops were moving forward, you rode up in per- 
 son ; a brief conversation passed between us, during which I 
 again expressed the fears above mentioned, and regret at not 
 being allowed to attack in flank around Round Top. You 
 answered to this effect : ' We must obey the orders of Gen- 
 eral Lee.' I then rode forward with my line, under a heavy 
 fire. In about twenty minutes, after reaching the peach or- 
 chard, I was severely wounded in the arm, and borne from the 
 field. 
 
 " With this wound terminated my participation in this great 
 battle. As I was borne off on a litter to the rear, I could but 
 experience deep distress of mind and heart at the thought of 
 the inevitable fate of my brave fellow-soldiers, who formed one 
 of the grandest divisions of that world-renowned army ; and I 
 shall ever believe that had I been permitted to turn Round 
 Top Mountain, we would not only have gained that position, 
 but have been able finally to rout the enemy." 
 
 General J. B. Robertson, commanding the Texas Brigade, 
 says in his official report: 
 
 The division arrived on the ground in front of the position of 
 the enemy that we were to attack but a few minutes before we 
 were ordered to advance. I therefore got but a glance at the 
 field on which we had to operate before we entered it. I was or- 
 dered to keep my right well closed on Brigadier-General Law's 
 left, and to let my left rest on the Emmitsburg pike. I had ad- 
 vanced but a short distance when I discovered that my brigade 
 would not fill the space between General Law's left and the pike 
 named, and that I must leave the pike, or disconnect myself from 
 General Law on my right. Understanding before the action com- 
 menced that the attack on our part was to be general, and that 
 the force of General McLaws was to advance simultaneously with 
 us on my immediate left, seeing at once that a mountain held by 
 the enemy in heavy force with artillery to the right of General 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 163 
 
 Law's center was the key to the enemy's left, I abandoned the 
 pike, and closed on General Law's left. This caused a separa- 
 tion of my regiments, which was remedied as promptly as the 
 numerous stone and rail fences would allow. 
 
 As we advanced through this field, for half a mile we were 
 exposed to a heavy and destructive fire of canister, grape, and 
 shell from six pieces of their artillery on the mountain alluded to 
 and the same number on a commanding hill but a short distance to 
 the left of the mountain, and from the enemy's sharpshooters from 
 behind the numerous rocks, fences and houses in the field 
 
 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 
 
 ™ ^^ ^ """^ '■°'^^' ^"^ ^ '*°"^ f^"^^- The Fourth and 
 
 fifth Texas Regiments, under the direction of their gallant com- 
 manders (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 
 
 fp rTw"'; "".^^^^^ ^^"^"^ commanders (Lieutenant-Colonel 
 (F. A.) Work and Colonel Manning), were hotly engaged with a 
 greatly superior force, while at the same time a heavy force ap- 
 peared and opened fire on Colonel Manning's left, seriously threat- 
 enmg his left flank, to meet which he threw two or three com- 
 panies 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 McLaws' 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, hav- 
 ing 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 Major (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 his as- 
 sistance Colonel Manning drove the enemy back, and entered the 
 woods after him, when the enemy reoccupied the hill and his bat- 
 teries in Colonel Work's front, from which Colonel Work a-ain 
 drove him. * 
 
 For an hour and upward these two regiments maintained one 
 of the hottest contests, against five or six times their number that 
 1 have witnessed. The moving of Colonel Work to the left to 
 
164 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 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 
 front and right, 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 re- 
 call 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 Gen- 
 eral Law's brigade, and that they could not be moved without 
 greatly injuring the line. I sent a request to General Law to 
 look to them. 
 
 At this point, my assistant 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 mes- 
 senger to Lieutenant-General Longstreet for reinforcements, and 
 at the same time sent to Generals (George T.) Anderson and Ben- 
 ning, urging them to hurry up to my support. They came up, 
 joined us, 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 in our front from his reserves at the 
 base of the mountain to our right and front, and from his lines 
 to our right and front, and from his lines to our left. Having 
 no attack from us in his front, he threw his forces from there 
 on us. 
 
 Before the arrivals of Generals Benning and Anderson, Col. 
 J. C. Key, who gallantly led the Fourth Texas, 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 wound- 
 ing 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 strongly 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. 
 
Colonel R. M. Powell 
 Fifth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 165 
 
 Captain (J. R.) Woodward^ acting major of the First Texas, was 
 wounded near me while gallantly discharging his duty. 
 
 The Fourth and Fifth Texas, under the command of Majors 
 (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 charges strewn with their dead and wounded com- 
 rades, many of whom could not be removed, and were left on the 
 field. The First Texas, under Lieutenant-Colonel Work, with a 
 portion of Benning's brigade, held the field and batteries taken by 
 the First Texas. Three of the guns were brought off 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 Lieutenant-Colonel (R. S.) Taylor, ably 
 assisted by Major (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 Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Work, the senior officer present, under whose su- 
 pervision our wounded were brought out, our guns secured, and 
 our dead on that part of the field, buried. 
 
 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 3rd, 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, he was either killed or fell into the hands 
 of the enemy, as he has not been seen or heard of since. 
 
 About dark on the evening of the 3rd, the brigade, with the divi- 
 sion, fell back to the hill, and formed in line, where it remained 
 during the 4th. 
 
 In this, the hardest fought battle of the war, in which I have 
 been engaged, all, both men and officers, as far as my observa- 
 tion extended, fully sustained the high character they have here- 
 tofore made. Where all behaved so nobly, individual distinction 
 cannot with propriety be made. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Gettysbukg — (Continued) 
 
 To know what a battle is, one must be in the thick of it — 
 must one's self feel the consciousness of danger, the stern re- 
 solve to brave that danger, and the delight of giving play to 
 that instinct of the human being to kill and destroy whoever 
 and whatever bars his way. It is not like coming face to face 
 with " the grim monster. Death," by accident, or under the 
 impulse which bids one to do all he may to save the life of 
 another, for in neither of these cases is the risk taken delib- 
 erately as the soldier takes that assumed when he moves for- 
 ward to the firing line. 
 
 Hitherto, the Texans had fought on ground over which 
 they could move rapidly in line, and where the enemy was ac- 
 cessible — where the terror caused by their daring rush and 
 swift on-coming counted large. Here at Gettysburg the foe 
 lay concealed behind stone fences at the base of the ridge and 
 mountains, or flat on the ground on the crest of ridge or 
 mountain. If, when the line of Federals under General Sickles 
 was routed, the Texans obeyed orders and held their left on 
 the Emmitsburg road, thus moving up the valley between the 
 road and Cemetery Ridge, the enemy's fire came down their 
 line from right to left, from one flank to the other; if, obeying 
 the natural impulse to face the Federals opposing them, they 
 disobeyed orders and moved toward and against these, they 
 went into a bend of the Federal line, and subjected themselves 
 to a fire from both artillery and musketry, from the front and 
 on both flanks. 
 
 Either movement was a forlorn hope, and desperate; neither 
 off'ered immunity from annihilation — neither promised success. 
 But while such volunteer soldiers as the Texans and Arkan- 
 sans, while in camp or on the march, willingly obeyed such 
 orders as were given, when they came in contact with the en- 
 emy, and the fight was on and their blood grew warm, each 
 man of them fought " for his own hand," and in his own way. 
 
 166 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 167 
 
 General Robertson's orders were to keep the left flank of the 
 brigade on the Emmitsburg road, and its right flank in touch 
 with the left of Law's brigade. The distance from the road to 
 Law's left made this impracticable. Law's brigade soon found 
 that by moving north, up the Emmitsburg road, it would have 
 the enemy on its right flank ; therefore, it abandoned the effort, 
 and, facing to the east, began an attack on the enemy posted 
 at the base and on the crests of Cemetery Ridge and the 
 Round Top, thus leaving the right flank of the Fifth Texas, 
 if it continued its advance northward, exposed to a flank fire. 
 Noting this, and also fearing that if it continued northward, 
 the enemy would drop down on its rear, between it and Law's 
 brigade, the Fifth Texas also faced east, and the Fourth Texas 
 followed its lead. 
 
 The Third Arkansas, however, as will be seen from Colonel 
 Manning's report, hereafter given, clung to the Emmitsburg 
 road, and the First Texas stayed with it. Of the movements 
 of the First Texas, we will let a private, James O. Bradfield, 
 of Company E of that regiment, speak in advance of its com- 
 mander. The incidents that make a battle memorable and are 
 most thrilling are seldom mentioned and never narrated in de- 
 tail by field oflicers of a regiment. 
 
 " Hood's division held the right flank of our army. . . 
 We began forming our line of battle on a wide plateau leading 
 back to the rear, while in front about 200 yards distant was 
 a skirt of timber on the brow of a hill which led down to the 
 valley below. In this timber, our batteries were posted, and as 
 the Texas Brigade was forming immediately in their rear, we 
 were in direct range of the enemy's guns on the mountain 
 beyond. As our artillery began feehng for their batteries, the 
 answering shells struck our lines with cruel eff"ect. The Fourth 
 Texas suffered most severely. As they were passing this zone 
 of fire, one shell killed and wounded fifteen men. It certainly 
 tries a man's nerve to have to stand still and receive such a 
 fire without being able to return it. 
 
 "Just here occurred one of the little incidents that, hap- 
 pening at times like this, are never forgotten. In our com- 
 pany was a tall, robust young fellow named Dick Childers, 
 who was noted for the energy and talent he displayed in pro- 
 
168 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 curing rations. On this occasion Dick's haversack was well 
 stocked with nice biscuits which a kind Dutch lady had given 
 him. As we were marching by the right flank, our left sides 
 were turned towards the enemy. A shell from the mountain 
 in front struck the ground near our batteries, and came 
 bouncing along across the field, and as Dick happened to be 
 just in the line of fire, it struck him, or rather, his haversack, 
 fairly, and scattered biscuits all over that end of Pennsyl- 
 vania. But the strange part of it is, that it did not knock 
 the man down, but so paralyzed him that he fell, after it had 
 passed, and lay there unable to move a muscle. The litter 
 bearers picked him up and laid him on a stretcher, as if he had 
 been a log. The boys all contended, however, that it was the 
 destruction of Dick's rations, and not any shock the shell gave, 
 that paralyzed him. 
 
 " We marched onward by the right flank, about a quarter 
 of a mile, moving parallel with the enemy's lines, and halting, 
 left-faced and formed for work. We were on the brow of a 
 liill which here sloped quite abruptly down into the narrow 
 valley. We could see the enemy's lines of battle — the first on 
 the level space below us, behind a heavy rock fence ; the sec- 
 ond, at the top of a ridge a hundred or two yards further on, 
 while still further, and entirely out of our reach, at the sum- 
 mit of the higher range, their batteries were posted so as to 
 sweep the whole space over which we were to advance. Their 
 battle flags floated proudly in the breeze, above the almost 
 perfect natural breastworks formed by the fence and the large 
 rocks that crowned the low ridge upon which they stood. 
 There were but two small cannon on the lower ridge, and these 
 were captured and pulled off" the hill by the First Texas regi- 
 ment. 
 
 " About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the order was given to 
 advance all along the line. We moved quietly forward do^^^l 
 the steep decline, gaining impetus as we reached the more level 
 ground below. The enemy had already opened fire on us, but 
 we did not stop to return it. ' Forward — double quick,' rang 
 out, and then Texas turned loose. Across the valley and over 
 the little stream that ran through it, they swept, every man 
 for himself. The first man down was my right file man; Wil- 
 liam Langley, a noble, brave boy, with a minie-ball straight 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 169 
 
 through the brain. I caught him as he fell against me, and 
 laid him down, dead. As I straightened up to move on, that 
 same familiar ' spat ' which always means something, sounded 
 near, and looking around, I saw Bose Perry double over and 
 catch on his gun. He did not fall, however, but came on, 
 dragging his wounded leg, and firing as he advanced. But it 
 was getting too hot, now, to pay attention to details. 
 
 " The enemy stood their ground bravely, until we were close 
 on them, but did not await the bayonet. They broke away 
 from the rock fence as we closed in with a rush and a wild 
 rebel yell, and fell back to the top of the ridge, where they 
 halted and formed on their second line. Having passed the 
 rock fence, and as we were moving on up the hill, an order 
 came to halt. No one seemed to know whence it came, nor 
 from whom. It cost us dearly, for as we lay in close range 
 of their now double lines, the enemy poured a hail of bullets 
 on us, and in a few minutes a number of our men were killed 
 or wounded. We saw that this would never do, and so, with- 
 out awaiting orders, every man became his own commander 
 and sprang forward toward the top of the hill at full speed. 
 
 " By this time, Benning's brigade, which had been held in 
 reserve, joined us and together we swept on to where the Blue 
 Coats stood behind the sheltering rocks to receive us. Just 
 here, and to our right, in a little cove called the ' Devil's 
 Den,' which was covered by the Fourth and Fifth Texas, 
 Law's Alabama and Anderson's Georgia brigades, occurred 
 one of the wildest, fiercest struggles of the war — a struggle 
 such as it is given to few men to pass through and live. 
 
 " The opposing lines stood with only the sheltering rocks 
 between them — breast to breast, and so close that the clothing 
 of many of the enemy was set on fire by the blaze from the 
 Confederate rifles. This continued for some time, but finally, 
 our fire grew so hot that brave as they were, the Federals 
 could no longer endure it, but gave way and fled down the 
 slope, leaving us in possession of the field. The Lone Star 
 flag crowned the hill, and Texas was there to stay. Not 
 alone, however, for just to our right stood Benning — ' Old 
 Rock ' — that peerless old hero than whom no braver man ever 
 lived. Striding back and forth in front of his line, he was 
 calling to his gallant Georgians : ' Give them h — 11, boys — 
 
170 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 give them h — 11,' and the ' boys ' were giving it to them 
 according to instructions. 
 
 " On the right of Benning stood Anderson and Law, and 
 the Fourth and Fifth Texas, as firm as the rocks which shel- 
 tered them. I cannot hope to describe the deeds of daring 
 and heroism that were enacted. Beyond the valley in our 
 front, on the summit of the practically impregnable ridge that 
 stretched north toward Gettysburg, stood the enemy's bat- 
 teries, 200 guns. Of these, about forty were playing in close 
 range upon the position we occupied. Their fire and that of 
 our own batteries, and the constant roar and rattle of thou- 
 sands of muskets, made the earth tremble beneath our feet, 
 while the fierce, angry shriek of shells, the strident swirl of 
 grape and canister as they tore hurtling through the air and 
 broke like a wave from the ocean of death upon that devoted 
 spot, the hissing bullets, and their ' spat ' as they struck rock, 
 tree or human flesh — all this, with the shouts and impreca- 
 tions, the leaping to and fro and from boulder to boulder of 
 powder-begrimed men, seemingly gone wild with rage and ex- 
 citement, created a scene of such indescribable, awe-inspiring 
 confusion that an on-looker might well believe that a stonn 
 from the Infernal regnons was spending its fury in and around 
 a spot so fitly named, ' The Devil's Den.' Had it not been 
 for the protection afforded us by the large rocks and boulders 
 which lay scattered over the hill-top, no living thing could have 
 remained on its summit. 
 
 " The fearful artillery fire of the enemy was intended to 
 cover the massing of their infantry, who were now to make 
 one more grand effort to regain the ground they had lost. 
 Our boys prepared for this by gathering up all abandoned 
 muskets within reach, and loading them. Some of us had as 
 many as five or six lying by us, as we awaited the attack. 
 
 " We had not long to wait, for soon the long blue line came 
 in view, moving in gallant style up the valley. The Federals 
 were led by splendid officers, and made a noble charge: but 
 when they met the murderous fire from behind the rocks where 
 we crouched, they faltered. Only for a moment, though, and 
 on they came right up to the rocks. Again they faltered, for 
 now, most of their officers were down. Again it was but for a 
 second, and cheered on by some of the bravest men I have ever 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 171 
 
 seen, they rallied in the very face of death, and charged right 
 up to the muzzles of our guns. 
 
 " There was one officer, a major, who won our admiration 
 by his courage and gallantry. He was a very handsome man, 
 and rode a beautiful, high-spirited gray horse. The animal 
 seemed to partake of the spirit of the rider, and as he came on 
 with a free, graceful stride into that hell of death and car- 
 nage, head erect and ears pointed, horse and man offered a 
 picture such as is s'^ldom seen. The two seemed the very im- 
 personation of heroic courage. As the withering, scathing 
 volleys from behind' the rocks cut into the ranks of the regi- 
 ment the major led, and his gallant men went down like grain 
 before a scjrthe, he followed close at their heels, and when, 
 time and again, they stopped and would have fled the merciless 
 fire, each time he rallied them as if his puissant arm alone 
 could stay the storm. But his efforts were, in the end, un- 
 availing; the pluck of himself and his men only made the car- 
 nage the more dreadful, for the Lone Star banner and the 
 flag of Georgia continued floating from the hill, showing who 
 stood, defiant and unyielding, beneath their folds. 
 
 " In the last and most determined charge they made on us, 
 the gallant officer made his supreme effort. Riding into our 
 very midst, seeming to bear a charmed life, he sat proudly on 
 the noble gray, and still cheered on his men. ' Don't shoot at 
 him — don't kill him,' our boys shouted to each other ; ' he is 
 too brave a man to die — shoot his horse and capture the man.' 
 But it could not be. In a second or two, horse and rider went 
 down together, pierced by a dozen balls. Thus died a hero — 
 one of the most gallant men that ever gave up his life on the 
 red field of carnage. Though it was that of an enemy, we 
 honored the dead body as if it had been that of one of our 
 own men. Such courage belongs not to any one army or 
 country, but to mankind. 
 
 " It was about this time that a spectacular display of reck- 
 less courage was made by a young Texan, Will Barbee, of 
 the First Texas. Under twenty years old, he was ordinarily 
 a jolly, whole-souled lad, not at all given to extraordinary 
 performances. But when a fight was going on, he went wild, 
 seemed to have no sense of fear whatever, and was a reckless 
 dare-devil. Although a courier for General Hood, he never 
 
172 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 failed to join his regiment, if possible, and go into battle with 
 it. On the present occasion, when General Hood was wounded, 
 Barbee hunted us up. In the hottest of the fight, I heard 
 some one say, * Here comes Barbee,' and looking down from 
 the rock on which I was lying I saw him coming as fast as his 
 little sorrel horse could run, and waving his hat as he came. 
 Just before reaching us, the sorrel fell, but Barbee did not 
 stop to see what had happened to the brute. He hit the 
 ground running, and snatching up a gun as he came, was 
 soon in line. 
 
 " About five paces to my left was a large, high rock behind 
 which several of our wounded were sheltering themselves. To 
 the top of that, where the very air was alive with missiles of 
 death, Barbee sprang, and standing there, erect and fearless, 
 began firing — the wounded men below him passing up loaded 
 guns as fast as he emptied them. But no living being could 
 stay unhurt long in such a fire. In a few minutes, Barbee was 
 knocked off the rock by a ball that struck him in the right leg. 
 Climbing instantly back, he again commenced shooting. In 
 less than two minutes, he was tumbled off the rock by a ball 
 in the other leg. Still unsatisfied, he crawled back a second 
 time, but was not there more than a minute before, being 
 wounded in the body, he again fell, this time dropping on his 
 back between the rock that had been his perch, and that which 
 was my shelter. Too seriously wounded this time to extricate 
 himself from the narrow passageway, he called for help, and 
 the last time I saw him that day, he was lying there, crying 
 and cursing because the boys would not come to his relief and 
 help him back on to the rock. _ 
 
 " There were many in the regiment as brave as Barbee, but 
 none so reckless. The best blood of Texas was there, and in 
 the Fourth and Fifth Texas, and General Lee could safely 
 place the confidence he did in Hood's Texas Brigade. But God 
 must have ordained our defeat. As was said by one of the 
 speakers at a reunion of ' the Mountain Remnant Brigade ' : 
 * At the first roll of the war drum, Texas sent forth her no- 
 blest and best. She gave the Army of Northern Virginia 
 Hood's matchless brigade — a band of heroes who bore their 
 country's flag to victory on every field, until God stopped 
 them at Little Round Top.' " 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 173 
 
 Another private, Val C. Giles, of Company B, Fourth Texas, 
 has placed his observations and experiences as a participant in 
 the fighting at Gettysburg on record. His view of it is from 
 a humorous standpoint, and any lightening of the shadows of 
 war is always acceptable. He writes : 
 
 " It was near 5 o'clock when we began the assault against 
 an enemy strongly fortified behind logs and stones on the 
 crest of a mountain, in many places perpendicular. It was 
 more than half a mile from our starting point to the edge of 
 the timber at the base of the ridge, comparatively open ground 
 all the way. We started off at quick time, the officers keeping 
 the column in pretty good line until we passed through the 
 peach orchard and reached the level ground beyond. We were 
 now about four hundred yards from the timber and the fire 
 from the enemy, both artillery and musketry, was fearful. 
 
 "In making that long charge our brigade got 'jammed.' 
 Regiments overlapped each other and when we reached the 
 woods and climbed the mountains as far as we could go, we 
 were a badly mixed crowd. 
 
 " Confusion reigned supreme everywhere. Nearly all our 
 field officers were gone. Hood, our major general, had been 
 shot from his horse. Robertson, our brigadier, had been car- 
 ried from the field. Colonel Powell of the Fifth Texas was 
 riddled with bullets. Colonel Van Manning of the Third Ar- 
 kansas was disabled and Colonel Carter of my regiment lay 
 dying at the foot of the mountain. 
 
 " The sides of the mountain were heavily timbered and cov- 
 ered with great boulders, that had tumbled from the cliffs 
 above years before, which afforded great protection to the 
 men. 
 
 " Every tree, rock and stump that gave any protection from 
 the rain of minie-balls, that was poured down upon us, from 
 the crest above us, were soon appropriated. John Griffith and 
 myself pre-empted behind a moss-covered old boulder about the 
 size of a 500-pound cotton bale. 
 
 " By this time order and discipline were gone. Every fel- 
 low was his own general. Private soldiers gave commands as 
 loud as the officers — nobody paying any attention to either. 
 To add to this confusion, our artillery on the hill in our rear 
 
174 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 was cutting its fuse too short. The shells were burst- 
 ing behind us, in the treetops, over our heads, and all around 
 us. 
 
 " Nothing demoralizes troops quicker than to be fired into 
 by their friends. I saw it occur twice during the war. The 
 first time we ran, but at Gettysburg we couldn't. 
 
 " This mistake was soon corrected and the shells burst high 
 on a mountain or went over it. 
 
 " Major Rogers, then in command of the Fifth Texas regi- 
 ment, mounted an old log near my boulder and began a Fourth 
 of July speech. He was a little ahead of time, for that was 
 about 6-30 o'clock on the evening of the 2d. Of course, no- 
 body was paying any attention to the oration as he appealed 
 to the men to ' stand fast.' He and Captain Cussons of the 
 Fourth Alabama were the only two men I saw standing. The 
 balance of us had settled down behind rocks, logs and trees. 
 While the speech was going on, John Haggerty, one of Hood's 
 couriers, then acting for General Law, dashed up the side of 
 the mountains, saluted the major and said: 'General Law 
 presents his compliments and says hold the place at all haz- 
 ards.' The major checked up, glared down at Haggerty from 
 his perch and shouted : ' Compliments, hell ! Who wants com- 
 pliments in such a damned place as this.'* Go back and ask 
 General Law if he expects me to hold the world in check with 
 the Fifth Texas regiment.' 
 
 " The major evidently thought he had his regiment with 
 him, while, in fact, these men were from every regiment in the 
 Texas Brigade all around him. 
 
 " But I must back to my boulder at Gettysburg. It was a 
 ragged line of battle, strung out along the side of Cemetery 
 Ridge and in front of Little Round Top. Night began set- 
 tling around us, but the carnage went on. It is of that night 
 that I started out to speak. 
 
 " There seemed to be a viciousness in the very air we 
 breathed. Things had gone wrong all the day and now pande- 
 monium came with the darkness. 
 
 " Alexander Dumas says the devil gets in a man seven 
 times a day, and if the average is not over seven times he is 
 almost a saint. 
 
 " At Gettysburg that night it was about seven devils to 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 175 
 
 each man. Officers were cross to the men, and the men were 
 equally cross to the officers. It was the same way with the 
 enemy We could hear the Yankee officer on the crest of 
 the ridge m front of us cursing the men by platoons, and the 
 men telling them to go to a country not very far from them 
 just at that time. If that old satanic dragon has ever been 
 on earth since he offered our Saviour the world if He would serve 
 him, he was at Gettysburg that night. 
 
 "Every characteristic of the human race was presented 
 there the cruelty of the Turk, the courage of the Greek (old 
 style), the endurance of the Arab, the dash of the Cossack, 
 the fearlessness of the Bashibazouk, the ignorance of the Zulu, 
 the cunning of the Comanche, the recklessness of the American 
 volunteers and the wickedness of the devil thrown in to make 
 the thing complete. 
 
 " The advance lines of the two armies in many places were 
 not more than fifty yards apart. Everything was on the 
 shoot ; no favors asked, and none offered. 
 
 "My gun was so dirty that the ramrod hung in the barrel, 
 and I could neither get it down nor out. I slammed the rod 
 against a rock a few times and drove home ramrod, cartridge 
 and all, laid the gun on a boulder, elevated the muzzle, ducked 
 my head, halloed 'Look out!' and pulled the trigger. She 
 roared hke a young cannon and flew over my shoulder, tho 
 barrel striking John Griffith a smart whack on the left ear 
 John roared, too, and abused me hke a pickpocket for my 
 carelessness. It was no trouble to get another gun there. The 
 mountain side was covered with them. 
 
 " Just to our left was a little fellow 'from the Third Arkan- 
 sas regiment. He was comfortably located behind a bier 
 stump, loading and firing as fast as he could, and between 
 bitmg cartridges and taking aim, he was singing at the top 
 of his voice : o o t 
 
 Now, let the wide world wag as it will, 
 I'll be gay and happy still.' " 
 
 , r ^^^r?'^"^ ''''' sagging all right— no mistake about that, 
 
 i i.w '^ *° '^! ^^'"'^ *^^ ' S^y and happy ' part came in. 
 
 Ihat was a fearful night. There was no sweet music to 
 
 soothe the savage beast. The ' tooters ' had left the shooters 
 
176 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 to fight it out, and taken ' Home, Sweet Home ' and ' The Girl 
 I Left Behind Me ' off with them. 
 
 " Our spiritual advisers, chaplains of regiments, were in the 
 rear, caring for the wounded and dying soldiers. With seven 
 devils to each man, it was no place for a preacher, anyhow. 
 
 " A little red paint and a few eagle feathers were all that 
 was necessary to make that crowd on both sides the most ver- 
 itable savages on earth. ' White-winged Peace ' didn't roost 
 at Little Round Top that night. There was not a man there 
 who cared a snap for the Golden Rule or that could have re- 
 membered one line of the Lord's Prayer. Both sides were 
 whipped and all were mad about it." 
 
 Another member of the Texas Brigade, John C. West, of 
 Company E, Fourth Texas, relates an interesting story of his 
 experiences and observations at Gettysburg, saying: 
 
 " This was my first experience in a general engagement, and 
 though we had marched all night of July 1, reaching the 
 battlefield about 10 o'clock a. m. on the 2d, the interest and 
 excitement and novelty of the occasion kept me up with my 
 eyes and ears wide open. Our brigade was on the extreme 
 right of the Confederate line, with perhaps one other brigade 
 on our right. We marched and counter-marched and rested 
 until about three o'clock in the afternoon, when we 
 came into line in the edge of timber opposite Little 
 Round Top and Devil's Den. I could see the Federal bat- 
 teries, or rather the location of them, by the smoke of dis- 
 charge. They were about half a mile or more from us. This 
 was the first actual contact and full view of our enemy. We 
 stood in column of fours, with our faces towards our right, 
 for some time, during which the batteries commenced to play 
 on us, and the first shot — which I recognized — seemed to be 
 a solid shot, which struck the ground about 50 or 60 feet 
 from the line and passed by on a bound over us, scattering dust 
 and dirt over our company. The next shot passed about an 
 equal distance beyond us, tearing up the earth. The third 
 shot hit our line about eight feet in front of me, knocking off 
 one soldier's head and cutting another in two, bespattering us 
 with blood. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 177 
 
 " Just then we fronted to the left, facing the battery. There 
 was a short pause. I saw General Hood on horseback about 
 300 or 400 yards obliquely to my left, just out of direct range 
 of the battery fire, in the edge of the timber. He took his hat. 
 held it above him in his right hand, rose to his full height in 
 his stirrups, and shouted in a stentorian voice, 'Forward! 
 steady ; forward ! ' We started across the open field. As we 
 moved on I heard the word passing down the line, ' Quick, but 
 not double quick ! ' We went in pretty fair order across the 
 field. As we entered the timber and brush our line was more 
 broken. We soon struck a stone fence ; then came a branch. 
 Lieutenant Joe Smith, Company E, wet his handkerchief, 
 wrung it out and tied it around his head as he moved up the 
 slope, which we had now reached. Bullets and grapeshot were 
 coming thick and fast. A bullet passed through his head ; ex- 
 amination afterwards showed 11 holes through the folded 
 handkerchief. I think it made a white mark for a sharp- 
 shooter. As we advanced up the steep side of the mountain 
 we encountered boulders from the size of a hogshead to the 
 size of a small house. Our line at times could hardly be called 
 a line at all. The battery was taken. The First Texas suf- 
 fered the brunt of the battle. After we were up on the first 
 ridge the ground was so rough and broken that it was impos- 
 sible to form a straight line, but it was quite evident to me 
 from the sounds on our left that we were in advance of our 
 center. From this position we made sallies to our front, over 
 rocks and boulders and timber. It was impossible to make a 
 united charge. The enemy were pretty thick and well con- 
 cealed. It was more like Indian fighting than anything that 
 I experienced during the war. They had sharpshooters in 
 trees and on high places that made it exceedingly dangerous 
 to appear in any open place. One bullet passed through my 
 beard and grazed my left ear. Another missed the top of my 
 head about an inch. Both stinick the rock against which I 
 was sitting. I abandoned the position instanter. Just in 
 front of us, perhaps 50 yards, was a comparatively open space 
 on rising ground, very small in extent. It seemed almost 
 certain death to attempt to pass it. Singly and in squads we 
 made several experiments to test the presence of the enemy 
 beyond, and every time, night or day, a shower of bullets 
 
178 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 greeted us. About 10 o'clock on the night of the 2d Gold- 
 sticker of Company A ventured out. He was mortally 
 wounded, and lay there many hours calling for help. I can 
 hear his plaintive cry, * Water ! water ! Great God, bring me 
 water!' but there was no truce. Death released him before 
 the dawn. Poor Goldsticker ! He was a gambler, a Gennan 
 and a Jew, but he died at the front ! 
 
 " We held our position among the rocks all night and until 
 about 5 o'clock in the afternoon of the 3d. Colonel Carter 
 of the Fourth was severely wounded, aftei*wards captured, and 
 died in the Federal hospital. Major Winkler was also 
 wounded. Private Champ Fitzhugh of my company was also 
 captured, and I saw him no more, until by a strange coinci- 
 dence I met him in May, 1864, at 12 o'clock at night in the 
 swamp on the bank of the Mississippi River, each of us at- 
 tempting to cross the river. We crossed together in a canoe 
 with Yankee gunboats above and below us. (This by way of 
 parenthesis.) 
 
 " From 3 to 5 o'clock on the afternoon of the 3d the battle 
 raged in the centeV on the left of our brigade. We had re- 
 ceived the notice that the artillery on the whole line would 
 open about 2 o'clock, and upon cessation of artillery fire the 
 entire line would move forward. This order was carried out, 
 and when our artillery opened the enemy answered as promptly 
 as if a telephone message had said, * Shoot now.' 
 
 " This cannonade was the grandest and most sublime cir- 
 cumstance I ever saw or heard. I can conceive of nothing 
 grander, more portentous, or awful. An earthquake, a cy- 
 clone, a thunderstorm, a hurricane, all in one, coulrl not be 
 more terrific. It sounded veritably as if hell had broken loose 
 and the unchained demons and furies were shrieking in the air. 
 It was grand, sublime and glorious. The anticipation of the 
 assault which was impending at the close of this fearful storm 
 inspired the hearts of men with the joy of liattle, which so 
 filled us that there was no room for fear. While the earth 
 quivered the storm ceased and the forward movement began. 
 Our end of the line, crooked and curved bv the broken condi- 
 tion of the ground, made no progress. We were already in 
 advance of the troops on our left, ^^^len the contest seemed 
 hot on our left and towards the center we moved to the front, 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 179 
 
 hoping to find a weak place or an opening for flank movement, 
 but the enemy evidently recognized the importance of that 
 position, and we could gain no advantage there, but the fight 
 grew fast and furious on our left. We could see nothing, but 
 the Confederate yell and the Yankee huzzah alternated back 
 and forth with such regularity for nearly an hour as to satisfy 
 us that a critical moment was approaching at that point and 
 that we were in danger of being flanked. Soon the ' huzzah ' 
 advanced so far as to create uneasiness in our part of the line, 
 and directly notice came from our left to ' get out of here as 
 quickly as you can.' We did not consider the order of our 
 going, but rushed down the slope with better speed than we 
 had been able to make coming in. As we had obliqued to the 
 right coming up the mountain, and now obliqued to the left 
 coming out, we struck the open field several hundred yards to 
 the right of the stone fence and branch which we had crossed, 
 and looking to our right, saw the Yanks in full line in the 
 open field. We went across the field under fire without regard 
 to tactics. Bullets were pretty thick and hit about us with 
 that peculiar searching ' zip-zip ' which suggests rapid loco- 
 motion. 
 
 " Mr. H. Van Dusen of Company C, Fourth Texas, was 
 just in front of me about 10 feet. I heard a bullet hit him 
 and saw him tumble over. I thought he was dead, and I so 
 reported when our regiment got together after dark. Some 
 man said, ' No ; he is over there by a tree.' I went to the 
 place and found Van Dusen with head bound with a white 
 cloth. The bullet had struck him in the head, but failed to 
 penetrate. He went to the field hospital, was afterwards cap- 
 tured and got among Dutch kinsfolk in Pennsylvania. It was 
 said that they off'ered him every inducement to abandon the 
 Confederacy, which he declined, went to prison, and was after- 
 wards exchanged. He survived the war and returned to 
 Texas." 
 
 Of what the Third Arkansas did on that 2nd day of July 
 is officially told by Colonel Van H. Manning, as follows : 
 
 " About four o'clock on the evening of July 2, I was or- 
 dered to move against the enemy, keeping my right well con- 
 nected with the left of the First Texas Regiment, and hold 
 
180 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 my left on the Emmitsburg Road, then some 200 yards in my 
 front and out of view. 
 
 " Upon reaching this road, I discovered, from the direction 
 the directing regiment was taking, that I could not with the 
 length of my line carry out the latter order ; hence I decided 
 to keep my line on a prolongation of the line formed by the 
 troops on my right. After marching in line of battle at a 
 brisk gait (part of the way at a double-quick) for about 100 
 yards, all the time exposed to a destructive fire from artillery, 
 we engaged the enemy at short range, strongly posted behind 
 a rock fence at the edge of the woods. We drove him back 
 with but a little loss, for a distance of 150 yards, when I as- 
 certained that I was suffering from a fire to my left and rear. 
 Thereupon, I ordered a change of front to the rear on first 
 company, but the noise consequent upon the heavy firing then 
 going on swallowed up my command, ^nd I contented myself 
 with the irregular drawing back of the left wing, giving it an 
 excellent fire, which pressed the enemy back in a very short 
 while, whereupon the whole line advanced, the enemy fighting 
 stubbornly, but retiring. 
 
 " Soon I was again admonished that my left was seriously 
 threatened, when I ordered the command back fifty to seventy- 
 five yards, to meet this contingency. He was again driven 
 back, and I stretched out my front to twice its legitimate 
 length, guarding well my left, and advanced to the ledge of 
 rocks from which we had previously been dislodged by the 
 enemy's movement on my flank. I experienced some annoyance 
 from the exposure of this flank up to this moment, when the 
 Eleventh Georgia Regiment joined to my left. The Fifty- 
 ninth Georgia Regiment, coming also at this time, occupied 
 the hne with my command. Some little time after this I was 
 disabled by concussion and wound on my nose and forehead. 
 The command then devolved on Lieutenant Colonel Taylor, 
 who will report his operations subsequent to this time. 
 
 " It would be invidious to make special mention of gallantry 
 in either officers or men when all did so well, fighting greatly 
 superior numbers and at great disadvantage. I might safely 
 assume that the bearing of the entire command was of the 
 highest creditable character. 
 
 " No guns or colors were captured, and but few (some 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 181 
 
 twenty-five) prisoners, a number of whom were sent to the rear 
 with wounded men." 
 
 No report by Colonel Taylor is to be found. 
 
 Of the First Texas, Lieutenant-Colonel P. A. Work says : 
 
 " The regiment, together with the brigade having been 
 ordered forward to the attack about 4 p. m., continued to ad- 
 vance by the front for a distance exceeding half a mile, the 
 Fourth Texas upon the right and the Third Arkansas upon the 
 left, when Company I, commanded by Lieutenant J. H. Woot- 
 ers, and thrown out as skirmishers, engaged the skirmishers 
 of the enemy, driving them back upon a regiment supporting 
 the enemy's battery, and then, aided by volunteers from this 
 (First Texas) regiment, engaging the regiment and artillery, 
 succeeded in driving back the regiment and silencing the 
 enemy's guns, taking and holding possession of the latter. 
 
 " While this regiment was closely following our skirmish- 
 ers, and had reached to within 125 yards of the enemy's ar- 
 tillery, the Third Arkansas Regiment on my left, became hotly 
 engaged with a strong force of the enemy upon its front and 
 left, thus leaving my left flank uncovered and exposed, to pro- 
 tect which I halted, and threw out upon my left and rear Com- 
 pany G, commanded by Lieutenant B. A. Campbell (some 
 forty men), which soon engaged the enemy and drove them 
 from their threatening position to the left and the front of the 
 Third Arkansas. It was while in the execution of this order 
 that Lieutenant Campbell, a brave and gallant officer, fell, 
 pierced through the heart. 
 
 " Owing to the failure (as informed by Brigadier-General 
 Robertson) of the troops that were assigned to the position 
 on the left of this (Robertson's) brigade to arrive promptly, 
 neither this nor the Third Arkansas was able to advance, with- 
 out advancing against a vastly superior force, and with the 
 left flank of the Third Arkansas (protecting my left) exposed 
 to attack. 
 
 " After the lapse of several minutes, Benning's brigade made 
 its appearance, but instead of occupying the ground to the 
 left of Robertson's brigade, so as to enable the latter to move 
 forward with its left flank secure from attack, it occupied the 
 ground still occupied, by a portion at least, of this brigade, the 
 
182 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Fifteenth Georgia Regiment falling in and remaining with the 
 First Texas Regiment. After several inejffectual efforts upon 
 the part of both the commanders of the Fifteenth Georgia and 
 myself to separate the men of the two regiments, we gave the 
 order to move forward when both regiments, thus commingled, 
 moved forward and occupied the crest of the liill, some 100 
 yards or more to the front, and where the enemy's artillery was 
 stationed, where we remained until the close of the day and 
 until two o'clock on Friday morning. 
 
 " During the evening of the 2nd an incessant fire was kept 
 up by this regiment, and the enemy was several times repulsed 
 in their efforts to retake the hill. My position was such that 
 I was enabled to pour a deadly enfilading fire into the enemy 
 as they advanced through a wheat field to attack the troops 
 in position on my left, and I have no doubt that this fire con- 
 tributed greatly to the repulse of the enemy attacking our 
 forces some 300 or 400 yards on my left. 
 
 " Once during the evening the troops on my left were driven 
 back, and my left was exposed, when, directing Captain H'. 
 
 E. Moss, Company D, to take charge of the colors, and re- 
 taining them there with a few men to hold the hill until the 
 regiment could safely retire, I ordered the regiment to fall 
 back to a stone fence about 100 yards in my rear. The major 
 part of the regiment and the Fifteenth Georgia fell back as 
 ordered, but quite a large number, having noticed that the 
 colors were not moving to the rear, refused to withdraw, and 
 remaining upon the crest of the hill, succeeded in holding the 
 enemy in check in their immediate front, and obliquely upon 
 their front and left, until the troops upon my left had been 
 re-formed and were again advancing, when I directed Major 
 
 F. S. Bass to return to the crest of the hill with the body of 
 the regiment, and, with Captain D. K. Rice, of Company C, 
 proceeded myself to collect together all fugitives, slightly 
 wounded, and exhausted men, and placed them so as to protect 
 my right and rear from an attack in that quarter, one of my 
 advanced scouts in that direction having reported to me that 
 a column of the enemy was moving down a ravine or hollow 
 and threatening me in that quarter. 
 
 " Having made every disposition to guard my right and 
 rear, I placed Captain D. K. Rice in charge of such defense, 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 183 
 
 and proceeded to the Third Arkansas Regiment, of which 
 General Robertson had ordered me to take charge. After the 
 loss of some half hour in searching for the Third Arkansas, I 
 found Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor and Major Reedy, of that 
 regiment, both alive and uninjured, and in charge of the regi- 
 ment, which was doing its duty nobly and well. 
 
 " Late in the evening a terrific fire of artillery was concen- 
 trated against the hill occupied by tliis (the First) regi- 
 ment, many were killed and wounded, some losing their heads, 
 and others so horribly mutilated and mangled that their iden- 
 tity could hardly be established, but notwithstanding this, all 
 the men continued heroically and unflinchingly to maintain 
 their position. 
 
 " Immediately after dark, having detailed Companies E and 
 I for the purpose, I sent three pieces of the artillery captured 
 to the rear. There were three other pieces — two at one point 
 and one at another — that I was unable to remove, for the 
 reason that they were located between the lines of the enemy 
 and our own, and were so much exposed that they could not 
 be approached except under a murderous fire. While they 
 could not be removed by us, neither could they be approached 
 by the enemy, for the same fire that drove the artillerists from 
 their guns and the infantry from their support, was ever in 
 readiness to keep them in check and drive them 
 back 
 
 " Every man of the regiment proved himself a hero. Hun- 
 dreds might be mentioned, each of whom with reason and pro- 
 priety might point to his gallant acts and daring deeds, and 
 the lieutenant-colonel commanding feels that he cannot call 
 attention to the bearing of a few only of those, without doing 
 some share of injustice to those not mentioned; and though he 
 is urged to mention the names of Privates W. Y, Salter, Com- 
 pany I; J. N. Kirksey and G. Barfield, of Company B, and 
 W. J. Barbee, of Company L, for great and striking gallantry, 
 and does mention them, he feels that he is neglecting others 
 of equal merit. Private Barbee, though a mounted courier, 
 acting for Major-General Hood, entered the ranks of his com- 
 pany, L, and fought through the engagement. At one time 
 he mounted a rock on the highest pinnacle of the hill, and 
 there, exposed to a raking, deadly fire of artillery and mus- 
 
184, HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 ketry, stood until he had fired twenty-five shots, when he re- 
 ceived a minie-ball wound in the right thigh, and fell. 
 
 " Having exhausted their original supply of ammunition, 
 the men supphed themselves from the cartridge boxes of their 
 dead and disabled comrades, and from the dead and the 
 wounded of the enemy, frequently going in front of the hill to 
 secure a cartridge box. Many of the officers threw aside their 
 swords, seized a rifle, and going into the ranks, fought bravely 
 and nobly. 
 
 " The regiment lost in killed 25, in wounded 48, and missing 
 20, a list of the names of whom, giving the company and 
 character of wound of those wounded, is hereto annexed as 
 part of this report." 
 
 In the report of Major John P. Bane, of the Fourth Texas, 
 is told what that regiment did. He says : 
 
 " About 4.30 p. M., the 2nd instant, we were ordered to ad- 
 vance on the enemy, who occupied the heights about one and 
 one-fourth miles distant, the Fifth Texas, the directing bat- 
 talion, on my right, and the First Texas on my left. Ad- 
 vancing at double-quick, we soon met the enemy's skirmishers, 
 who occupied a skirt of thick undergrowth about one-quarter 
 of a mile from the base of the cliffs, upon which the enemy 
 had a battery playing upon us with the most deadly effect. 
 
 " After a short pause, while repelling the skirmishers, I was 
 ordered by General Robertson to move by the right flank, so 
 as to cover all the ground between us and the directing bat- 
 talion. Moving about 200 yards, I met the enemy in full 
 force in a heavy wooded ground, sheltering themselves behind 
 rocks, from which, after a sharp contest, he was driven to 
 the heights beyond in our front and in close proximity to the 
 mountain, and there I was pained to learn that the gallant 
 Lieutenant-Colonel B. F. Carter was severely wounded while 
 crossing a stone wall near the base of the mountain. I was 
 also informed that Colonel John C. G. Key, while gallantly 
 urging the men to the front, was severely wounded. The 
 command then devolved upon me. Many of the officers and 
 men had been killed and wounded by this time. 
 
 " Finding it impossible to carry the heights by assault with 
 my thinned ranks, I ordered my command to fall back to the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 185 
 
 skirt of timber, the position then occupied being enfiladed by 
 the batteries on the left, and exposed to heavy fire by mus- 
 ketry in my immediate front. Being joined by the Fifth 
 Texas on my right, I again attempted to drive the enemy 
 from the heights by assault, but with like results. Again, be- 
 ing reinforced by the Forty-eighth Alabama, commanded by 
 the gallant Colonel James L. Sheffield, and the Forty-fourth 
 Alabama, whose commander I did not learn, we again charged 
 their works, but were repulsed, and then, under the order of 
 General Law, I ordered my command to fall back under cover 
 of the timber on a slight elevation within short range of the 
 enemy. I formed my regiment in line of battle, leaving the 
 battle-field contested ground. 
 
 " At the dawn of day, I had a stone wall about two feet 
 high thrown up, which afforded some protection to the men 
 occupying the position from which we had driven the enemy, 
 until sunset of the 'Srd instant, at which time I was ordered 
 to move my command. In conjunction with the remainder of 
 the brigade, by the right flank, to occupy the ground from 
 which we first advanced upon the enemy. 
 
 " I accord to each and all of my officers and men my warm- 
 est congratulations for their continued and unceasing gal- 
 lantry during the entire engagement." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel King Bryan, of the Fifth Texas, writes : 
 " Colonel R. M. Powell having fallen Into the hands of the 
 enemy, It devolves upon me as lieutenant-colonel of the regi- 
 ment, to report the part taken by it as far as came under 
 my observation In the action of July 2 and 3, near Gettys- 
 burg, Pa. 
 
 " About 4 p. M. on the 2nd Instant, General Hood's division 
 was drawn up in line of battle, fronting the heights occupied 
 by the enemy. The Fifth Texas Regiment occupied the right 
 of the brigade, resting on General Law's left, whose brigade 
 was the one of direction. At the word, ' Forward,' the regi- 
 ment moved forward In good order. The enemy had a line 
 of sharpshooters at the foot of the first height, behind a stone 
 fence about three-fourths of a mile from our starting point, 
 which distance was passed over by our line at a double-quick 
 and a run. 
 
186 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " At our approach, the enemy retired to the top of the first 
 height, protected by a ledge of rocks. A short halt was made 
 at the stone fence, to enable those who had fallen behind to 
 regain their places. When the command ' forward ' again 
 fell from the lips of our gallant colonel, every man leaped the 
 fence and advanced rapidly up the hill-side. The enemy again 
 fled at our approach, sheltering himself behind his fortified 
 position on the top of the second height, about 200 yards 
 distant from the first. 
 
 " From this position we failed to drive them. Our failure 
 was owing to the rocky nature of the ground over which we 
 had to pass, the huge rocks forming defiles through which not 
 more than three or four men could pass abreast, thus break- 
 ing up our alignment and rendering its re-formation impos- 
 sible. Notwithstanding the difficulties to overcome, the men 
 pressed on to the pass of the precipitous stronghold, forcing 
 and securing the enemy's second position, many of our officers 
 and men falling in passing the open space between the heights. 
 Here we halted, there being small clusters of rocks far below 
 the elevated position of the enemy, which gave us partial pro- 
 tection. From this position we were enabled to deliver our 
 fire for the first time with accuracy. 
 
 " Seeing that the men were in the best obtainable position, 
 and deeming a further advance without reinforcements im- 
 practicable (a great many of the regiment having been already 
 disabled) I looked for Colonel Powell, to know his next order. 
 Failing to see him I concluded at once that he, like many of his 
 gallant officers and men, had fallen a victim to the deadly 
 missiles of the enemy, which were being showered like hail upon 
 us. I moved toward the center, passing many officers and 
 men who had fallen, having discharged their whole duty as 
 true soldiers. I had not proceeded far when I discovered the 
 prostrate form of our noble colonel, who had fallen at his 
 post, his face to the foe. I hastened toward him, when I re- 
 ceived a wound in my left arm. On reaching the colonel, 
 I found that he was not dead: but seeing the rent in his coat 
 where the ball had passed out, my fears were excited that his 
 wound would prove mortal. The hemorrhage from my own 
 wound forced me from the field, leaving the command upon 
 Major Rogers. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 187 
 
 " The officers and men of my wing of the regiment con- 
 tinued to discharge their duties in a manner worthy of our 
 cause so long as I remained upon the field, and from their 
 conduct heretofore I would not hesitate to vouch for them 
 during the remainder of the battle." 
 
 Following Colonel Bryan's report is that of Major J. C. 
 Rogers, who says : 
 
 " I have the honor to foi*ward a continuation of the report 
 of the part taken by the Fifth Texas Regiment in the action 
 of the 2nd and 3rd instant after the wounding of Colonels 
 Powell and Bryan, when the command devolved upon me, the 
 regiment still holding the position as left by Colonel Bryan, 
 firing with accuracy and deadly effect. 
 
 " The order to fall back came from some unknown source, 
 and, finding that the regiments on our right and left had re- 
 tired, it became necessary to follow. I therefore gave the 
 order for the regiment to about face and retire to the rear, 
 which they did in good order until they reached the position 
 mentioned in Colonel Bryan's report as the second position of 
 the enemy, and here they were halted and re-formed, in con- 
 nection with the other regiments. From the exhausted con- 
 dition of the men, it was deemed necessary to remain here for a 
 few moments. 
 
 " The regiments were again ordered forward, and obeyed in 
 the most gallant manner, and regained their first position, 
 which they held as long as it was tenable; and a further ad- 
 vance being impracticable, owing to the nature of the ground 
 as expressed in Colonel Bryan's report, they again retired in 
 good order to an open space about fifty yards in rear, when 
 here it was discovered for the first time that nearly two-thirds 
 of our officers and men had been killed and wounded. 
 
 " Only a few moments were here consumed to allow the men 
 to recover their breath, when, in obedience to orders, I again 
 moved the regiment forward to attack the enemy in their im- 
 pregnable position. The coolness and determination of the 
 men and officers were equal to the occasion. They advanced 
 boldly over the gi'ound strewn with the bodies of their dead 
 and dying comrades to the base of what they knew to be an 
 impregnable fortification. We held this position until it was 
 
188 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 discovered that we had no supports either on the right or left 
 and were about to be flanked, and therefore were again com- 
 pelled to retire, which the regiment did in good order, to the 
 point mentioned in Colonel Bryan's report as the second posi- 
 tion of the enemy, which place we were ordered to hold at all 
 hazards, which we did. 
 
 " Just before day on the morning of the 3rd, orders reached 
 me that breastworks must be thrown up, and the position 
 held. The order was obeyed. During the day, constant skir- 
 mishing was kept up with the enemy, which resulted in the loss 
 to us of many of our best scouts. Late in the evening, in 
 obedience to orders, I about-faced my regiment, and marched 
 three-quarters of a mile to the crest of the ridge from which 
 the charge of the day previous commenced. Here we threw 
 up breastworks, behind which we remained during the night. 
 
 " I would respectfully beg leave to call attention to the 
 valuable assistance I received from Colonel John S. Cleveland 
 in the management of the right wing of my regiment, and 
 Captain T. T. Clay on the left ; also, to the heroic conduct of 
 T. W. Fitzgerald, of Company A, who was color-bearer. He 
 pressed gallantly forward, and was badly wounded far in front. 
 J. A. Howard, of Company B, color-corporal, then took the 
 flag, and remained firmly at his post. He was almost in- 
 stantly killed. The colors were then taken by Sergeant W. S. 
 Evans, of Company F, who flaunted them defiantly in the 
 face of the foe during the remainder of the fight, always ad- 
 vancing promptly to the front when the order was given. 
 
 " The general conduct of officers and men was beyond all 
 praise." 
 
 In the report of Surgeon Lafayette Guild, medical director 
 of the Army of Northern Virginia, the losses at Gettysburg 
 of the regiments composing the Texas Brigade are given as 
 follows : 
 
 Third Arkansas — Killed, 26; wounded, 116. 
 
 First Texas — Killed, 24; wounded, 54. 
 
 Fourth Texas — Killed, 14; wounded, 73. 
 
 Fifth Texas— Killed, 23; wounded, 86. 
 
 Making a total of 87 killed and 329 wounded. Any dif- 
 ferences between this and a summation of regimental reports 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 189 
 
 of losses may be accounted for by the fact that in losses re- 
 ported by regimental commanders, missing men who after- 
 wards rejoin their regiments are included. 
 
 Judged by its losses, which are usually held true criterions 
 of the gallantry of a regiment and the dangers it faced, the 
 Third Arkansas bore the brunt of the battle at Gettysburg. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 Gettysburg to Chickamauga 
 
 That General Lee's plan of battle for July 2nd contem- 
 plated a united and practically simultaneous assault upon the 
 whole length of the Federal lines at Gettysburg, may be held 
 as established beyond controversy by the facts when viewed 
 in the light of a discriminating, dispassionate judgment. 
 Longstreet's opening guns were to be the signal for Hill, hold- 
 ing the center of the Confederate line, and Ewell, holding its 
 left, to move their veterans forward and engage the Federals 
 in their respective immediate fronts. The object in view was 
 two-fold ; such a general attack would engage the attention 
 of the enemy at all points and prevent the withdrawal by him 
 of forces from unthreatened positions for the purpose of rein- 
 forcing those seriously menaced ; and, with every Confederate 
 command on tlie firing line, instant advantage could be taken 
 of any confusion created in the enemy's ranks by such suc- 
 cesses as might be won by Longstreet's men. 
 
 Why Ewell and Hill failed to act in concert with Long- 
 street, as unquestionably they were instructed, has never been 
 satisfactorily explained. It is doubtful if it can be. Hill, 
 two hours and a half after Longstreet began his assault, did 
 send fon\'ard a few of his brigades, and three of these ad- 
 vanced to the very foot of Cemetery Ridge and captured eight 
 pieces of artillery, while another, Wright's, reached the sum- 
 mit of the ridge and seized and, for a while, held twenty Fed- 
 eral cannon. This cut in two the Federal line, and had the 
 success thus gained been promptly utilized, the Federal army 
 would have been compelled to retreat. Hill, though, did not 
 rise to the occasion, but held his other troops in line, but inac- 
 tive, a mile to the rear, when they should have been well to tlie 
 front. 
 
 At the time Wright's gallant brigade seized the twenty 
 
 190 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 191 
 
 tnTi: I ^"''f'^nd B«,„,ng's brigades had fought their wav 
 to the base of the precipitous cliffs forming the west wal7o^ 
 the same moun a>n, driving the enemy befol them and Mc 
 Laws d.v,s,o„ had advanced beyond the Peach O dm d Yhc 
 
 Fw^l-rr^ "" "°"'"''''" """1 *'"™y before it If th n 
 Ewel had but moved his men fonvard in a determined assault 
 and thus given employment to the Union forces „ his fron' 
 Federal General Warren could not so easily have found a br ' 
 gade and a battery to lead at full speed to the crest of ?; ' 
 Round Top and. with them, drive th^e AlabamLs to « e I 
 ter of Devil's Den. But Ewell made no movement of anv 
 kmd untd just before sunset-after Lon<,street™ battle h J 
 ended through exhaustion, and the Federal ne^as re stab 
 hshed and L.ttle Round Top heavily manned andTnned 
 
 Then Johnson's division assaulted and captur!^ the first 
 Ime of Federal mtrenchments on Gulp's Hill, and Earlv's 
 division forced ts way to the crest nf (^ I ^- ■ -^ 
 
 ■ for a while held the works there But uT^''^ R.%e, and 
 Johnson's and Early's forces left whollv , ™^ Tl Y^ 
 Federal General w. '""^es lelt wholly unsupported, but 
 
 had ceLSto adva,: a* thlTi ''' ^^^'^"''^ ™™''»'^ 
 Union center and left flb "'.fj''"g" "o longer menaced the 
 ■jnion center and left flank, withdrew troops from these nnints 
 and *ove both Johnson and Early back.^^ The sue s which 
 
 tnd befortl T™? "'f '■■""■"S the Federals before rhem, 
 and before these divisions had spent their strength and hone 
 less of aid from either Hill or Ewell, were retin^ from th^; 
 hard-won vantage ground, the chances of victory would have 
 been overwhelmingly in favor of the Southern arlny 
 
 and „r!'-n"' ""'f'"'- '''''^^' ■'"°"' ""'' deliberate movement 
 and unwillingness to give battle. General Longstreet maTbe 
 
 of t"me It T '."••'"" S"'"y' '"'-^ -asyrlTdInc 
 of time after the divisions of Hood and McLaws went into 
 
192 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 action, in which, by united effort, to drive the Union army 
 from its stronghold and put it to rout. In Volume III of Con- 
 federate Military History, the author of the volume says: 
 
 Longstreet's bold fight had, undoubtedly, won the day, if Hill's 
 corps had, in its entirety, performed its assigned duty. The writer 
 witnessed, from Seminary Ridge, the hurried movement of troops 
 from ]\Ieade's right on Gulp's Hill and the Cemetery, toward his 
 broken center and left. 
 
 Whatever the omissions and shortcomings of Longstreet, 
 Hill and Ewell ; out of time with each other as were the as- 
 saults made by the Confederates on right, left and center of the 
 Union position, General Meade was not only disheartened by 
 the day's contest, but so alarmed for the safety of his army, 
 as to be ready to retreat. That night he held conference with 
 his subordinate commanders, and with them discussed its ad- 
 visability. General Hancock's chief of staff has put on record 
 the statement that for the Union army " it was indeed a 
 gloomy hour." While they deliberated, though, and when an 
 agreement was almost reached to fall back to the line of Pipe 
 Creek, and there halting in defensive position, cover the ap- 
 proaches to Baltimore and Washington, one of their scouts 
 appeared, bringing with him dispatches he had captured from 
 a courier sent by President Davis to General Lee, in which Mr. 
 Davis refused to comply with Lee's urgent request that a Con- 
 federate force, under General Beauregard, be concentrated at 
 Culpeper Court House to threaten Washington. This in- 
 fonnation relieved INIeade of apprehensions for the safety of 
 the Federal capital, and be decided to hold on another day at 
 Gettysburg. 
 
 General Lee was not disheartened by the failures of July 
 2nd. Knowing the temper and spirit of the rank and file of 
 his army and having unbounded confidence in its ability and 
 willingness to accomplish any task he might assign it, and the 
 lust for battle still inspiring him, he detennined to renew on 
 the morning of July 3rd the attack as first planned. Ac- 
 cordingl}', Longstreet, reinforced by Pickett's division, which 
 had come up late in the afternoon of the 2nd, was ordered to 
 again attack the Federal left — Ewell, at the same time, to 
 assault the Federal right, and Hill to move simultaneously 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 193 
 
 and with hJs whole force against its center. But when the 
 morning of July 3rd dawned, it was discovered that two Fed- 
 eral corps had taken possession of and fortified the Round 
 Tops, and as these dominated the Confederate right and pro- 
 tected the Federal center, General Lee abandoned the plan 
 and resolved to make a vigorous and well-supported assault 
 on Cemetery Ridge, hoping thereby to break through the 
 Union center and take its right in reverse. 
 
 It is not within the province of this volume to give an ac- 
 count of a battle in which the Texas Brigade took no direct 
 and active part, and of which its members caught but fleeting 
 ghmpses, and heard only the noises. Beginning about 1 a m 
 tor an hour or more, 140 Confederate and 70 Federal cannon 
 belched forth their thunders and dealt destruction to every- 
 thing living within their range. Flame and smoke rose from 
 the long lines of the opposing ridges ; the roar of the guns 
 was deafening to the ears of all within miles of the conflict 
 and a dense dark cloud of smoke settled down between the 
 opposing armies and concealed them from each other. Gen- 
 eral Francis A. Walker, Hancock's chief of staff*, says of the 
 effect of the Confederate artillery : 
 
 The whole space behind Cemetery Ridge was in a moment ren- 
 dered uninhabitable. General headquarters were broken up; the 
 supply and reserve ammunition trains were driven out; motley 
 hordes of camp-followers poured down the Baltimore pike, or 
 spread oyer the fields to the rear. Upon every side caissons ex- 
 ploded ; horses were struck down by the hundreds; the air was 
 filled with flymg missiles; shells tore up the ground and then 
 bounded for another and, perhaps, more deadly flight, or burst 
 above the crouching troops and sent their ragged fragments down 
 m deadly showers. Never had a storm so dreadful burst upon 
 mortal man. '■ 
 
 Then began the brave and heroic, the superbly magnificent, 
 the awe-inspiring charge of Pickett's and Pettigrew's divisions 
 Language beggared, it would yet remain undescribed and in- 
 describable. Even those whose fortune it was to witness it 
 can grasp but a small part of its splendid pluck and daring, 
 fetill it failed. Resolute, fearless and indomitable as were the 
 assailants, the assailed were equally so; American valor was 
 
194 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 matched against American valor, and having the advantage 
 in position, the Federals, standing manfully to their guns, 
 shattered the Confederate columns and drove them back. The 
 courage manifested that day by the Union soldiers proves that 
 it was not to their lack of pluck that their failures and defeats 
 were due — it was to the timidity of their commanders. It has 
 never been confessed, but in effect and deed, McClellan, Pope, 
 Bumside, Hooker, Meade, and even Grant, each in his turn 
 acknowledged Robert E. Lee as his superior in generalship. 
 Not one of them ever attacked or dared attack him with 
 equal forces. Each insisted on having as nearly two men to 
 his one as was possible, and this advantage they respect full}'' 
 held in the days of battle around Richmond, at Second Man- 
 assas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, The Wil- 
 derness, and at all the many hard-contested battles after the 
 Wilderness. The streams of courage and confidence, do not, 
 as a rule, flow from foot to head — they move do^vnward from 
 head to foot. The bravery of the rank and file of the army 
 he commands is not so inspiring to the general as the mani- 
 festation of his own is to them. 
 
 Longstreet's game but unsupported and fruitless battle of 
 July 2nd ended at sunset of that day. Whether true or not 
 that he made it unwillingly and directed it half-heartedly, he 
 stayed on the firing line from its inception to its finish, and 
 by his presence encouraged his men to their bravest efforts. 
 Hopeless at last of further assistance from Hill, and none at 
 all coming from Ewell, it only remained for him to hold as 
 much of the ground won as he safely could with the shattered 
 remnants of his command. Quite early in the engagement 
 General Hood was wounded and carried from the field, and 
 the command of his division fell upon General E. j\I. Law, its 
 senior brigadier. The Texas Brigade was withdrawn from 
 it advanced position, and from the new line formed, pickets 
 were sent forward to watch the movements of the enemy. It 
 was not until 2 a. m. of July 3rd, though, that the First Texas 
 and Third Arkansas, which, during the fighting, had borne 
 well to the left and thus separated themselves from the Fourth 
 and Fifth Texas, reached the new position. 
 
 While on the 3rd the gallant Confederates under Pickett 
 and Pettigrew were so heroically battling against no less gal- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 195 
 
 lant Federals — the one, to break, the other, to hold fast the 
 Union center, the regiments of the Texas Brigade were neither 
 idle nor unexposed to danger. Hood's division was the right 
 flank of the Southern army ; Law's brigade guarded the right 
 flank of the division, and next in line to Law's but on its left, 
 all that day stood the Texans and Arkansans, most of the 
 time in line of battle, and all the time ready, at a moment's 
 notice, to move to right or left, or fon\'ard, as the exigency 
 might require. For while such a large part of Lee's army 
 engaged, or was held ready to engage, in the tragic struggle 
 far to the left, the time was opportune for a movement from 
 the Round Tops on our right flank, and several tentative ones 
 were made, both by infantry and cavalry. None succeeded, 
 though, and after the loss his army suff'ered in repulsing the 
 assault upon his center, Meade had little stomach for further 
 battle, big or little. Still, activity on the skinnish lines con- 
 tinued during the whole of that day, and was not entirely lack- 
 ing on the next. 
 
 Nor was General Lee inclined to renew the struggle. In 
 his official report, he says : " The severe loss sustained b}"^ 
 the army, and the reduction of its ammunition, rendered an- 
 other attempt to dislodge the enemy unadvisable, and it was 
 therefore determined to withdraw." Yet he did not withdraw 
 in such haste as to endanger the safety either of the amny or 
 its long wagon trains. All day of the 4th he held his army 
 in line waiting for such attack as Meade with his remaining 
 72,000 men might dare make on the 38,000 Confederates left. 
 But Meade made none ; lofty and difficulty of ascent as were 
 Cemetery Ridge and the Round Tops, and skilfully and cour- 
 ageously as they were defended, he had lost 23,000 to Lee's 
 20,000, and on each day of battle had barely held his ground ; 
 if while fighting " on his own dung-hill " strictly in defense, 
 he had so nearly suff'ered defeat, it would be, he must have 
 thought, suicidal to take the off'ensive. 
 
 In a letter written April 15, 1868, which may be read in full 
 in Volume VII of Southern Historical Papers, beginning on 
 page 445, General Lee wrote: 
 
 As to the battle of Gettysburg, I must again refer you to the 
 official accounts. It was commenced in the absence of correct 
 
196 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 intelligence. It was continued in the effort to overcome the diffi- 
 culties by which we were surrounded, and it would have been 
 gained could one determined and united blow have been delivered 
 by our whole line. As it was, victory trembed in the balance for 
 three days, and the battle resulted in the infliction of as great 
 an amount of injury as was received and in frustrating the Fed- 
 eral campaign for the season. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1864, save during the hours devoted to 
 caring for the wounded and burying the dead, the two armies 
 rested. Only occasional shots on the picket lines broke a still- 
 ness grateful and comforting to Confederates and Federals 
 alike. In the afternoon it commenced raining, at first gently, 
 but as night approached, very heavily — the down-pour con- 
 tinuing all night, and making the march the Texas Brigade 
 began at daylight of the 5th, toward the Potomac at Wil- 
 liamsport, exceedingly difficult and wearisome. But there was 
 no grumbling, no depression of spirits, notwithstanding the 
 fact that with the assurance of their own defeat came the un- 
 welcome news of Pemberton's surrender of Vicksburg and its 
 defending army. For that surrender, the Army of Northern 
 Virginia was in no way to blame, and with troubles of their 
 own at hand, they had neither time nor inclination to bewail 
 it as the great misfortune it really was. 
 
 For their repulse on the 2nd, — the first they had ever en- 
 countered — the members of the Texas Brigade found comfort 
 in the reflection that it was due, not to the superior bravery 
 of their antagonists, or to any lack of effort on their part, but 
 to the insurmountable physical obstacle with which nature had 
 strewn their line of advance. As said by one of them and 
 endorsed by all within hearing : " Even if we didn't have 
 wings to fly up on top of those steep bluffs and put the 
 Yankees there to making tracks for tall timber, we crippled 
 and slaughtered without mercy or let-up those we met in the 
 lowlands. We whipped them to a frazzle, and good Lord, 
 didn't we put speed in the legs of such of them as tried to get 
 away ! Fact is, boys, we won a big and glorious victory before 
 we got to those high, precipitous cliffs and bluffs. There, we 
 butted up against God Almighty's everlasting and immovable 
 handiworks, and we just had to stop." 
 
 The march from Gettysburg was unmarked, as far as the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 197 
 
 Texas Brigade was concerned, by any incident worthy of note. 
 General Meade was too glad of Lee's withdrawal from Gettys- 
 burg to make any determined effort to hold him north of the 
 Potomac, or, when finding that river impassable, Lee halted, 
 to attack him at once. Instead, he waited till the 14th, and 
 then advanced to discover that the Confederate army was 
 across the Potomac and beyond his reach. 
 
 From the Potomac, Hood's division moved by way of Cul- 
 peper Court House to Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock, 
 halting and staying at first one point and then another on the 
 route, for periods of from two to ten days — its longest stop 
 being at Culpeper. That its marching was slow is evident 
 from the fact that it was not until August '3rd that it reached 
 and camped on the south side of the Rapidan, near Raccoon 
 ford. Thence, it proceeded to Fredericksburg, where, for 
 three weeks, it rested undisturbed by any call to active duty. 
 Along the Rapidan and the upper waters of the Rappahan- 
 nock, but too far away for Hood's men to hear even the echoes 
 of the guns fired, there was much marching and countermarch- 
 ing, and many skirmishes, but knowing that the corps of Hill 
 and Ewell, and Stuart's cavalry, were the only troops engaged, 
 they stood indifferent. " Let 'em fight, let 'em fight," said a 
 Texan ; " it's high time they were doin' it, durn 'em. If the 
 cavalry had kept its place on our right, and if Hill and Ewell's 
 men had come half-way up to the scratch over yonder at 
 Gettysburg, we'd be feasting to-day on brotherly love at Phila- 
 delphia, or on terrapin and canvas-back ducks at Baltimore 
 instead of being down here in old Virginia nibbling carefully 
 at our rations lest they run short. Let 'em fight — it's not our 
 funeral." 
 
 While neither the fall of Vicksburg nor the reverse with 
 which the Army of Northern Virginia met at Gettysburg 
 weakened its confidence in the final success of the Confeder- 
 acy, the former event had the effect of curtailing rations. Up 
 to that time the hunger with which it had suffered was due to 
 the failures of commissary trains to keep in touch with the 
 troops they supplied — now it was due to the inability of the 
 Commissary Department to supply the rations needed ; up to 
 that date the soldiers stayed hungry only until the wagons 
 came up — now they stayed so all the time, the ration issued 
 
198 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 having been reduced so largely in quantity. Texas could no 
 longer be depended on for herds of beeves, and economy be- 
 came the rule enforced by the Commissary-General. 
 
 September 3rd Hood's division moved down the river to 
 Bowling Green, a little town on the south side of the Rappa- 
 hannock, twenty miles below Fredericksburg. Here it re- 
 mained a few days, when it and McLaws' division was ordered 
 south to reinforce the army commanded by General Bragg, 
 then somewhere in the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tenn. The 
 situation in September, 1863, was not comforting to the South, 
 and many viewed it with grave apprehension. The fall of 
 Vicksburg and the unrestrained possession and control it gave 
 the Federals of the Mississippi River, divided the Confederacy 
 into two distinct theaters of war, neither of which could aid 
 the other in men, material or food supplies. It was now pro- 
 posed by the military authorities of the North to cut in twain 
 that part of the South east of the Mississippi, and a large and 
 well-appointed Union army, under command of General Rose- 
 crans, was now moving toward the northern borders of Georgia 
 — its aim a march through that State to the sea — its objective 
 point. Savannah, Ga. From west of the Mississippi, the 
 Trans-]Mississippi Department, so-called, no aid to the Con- 
 federate armies east of that stream could be expected ; Ten- 
 nessee and a large part of Mississippi were in the possession of 
 the Union forces ; the Confederate States lying along the At- 
 lantic and Gulf of Mexico were largely exhausted of supplies, 
 and altogether, the situation was one for serious concern. 
 
 To drive the advancing Federal armies out of Tennessee, 
 Mississippi, and perhaps, Kentucky, was the need of the hour, 
 and to aid in the accomplishment of that purpose, two divisions 
 of Longstreet's corps were detached from the Army of 
 Northern Virginia and ordered to the reinforcement of Bragg's 
 army. jMore was hoped for from the movement than in rea- 
 son should have been expected. General Braxton Bragg did 
 not prove capable of profiting by the aid given himself and his 
 army. The successes gained were not followed up as they 
 should have been. 
 
 At what date the Texas Brigade took train at Richmond 
 cannot be stated. It started, and made the journey down to 
 Georgia, in unseated flat and box cars — slept on the floors and 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 199 
 
 tops of these as best It could — and subsisted on hard-tack and 
 uncooked bacon. Save at Wilmington, N, C, where it stayed 
 a day and night and made its only change of train, it had 
 no relief between Richmond and Atlanta from the constant 
 joltings of springless freight cars running over roadbeds 
 made rough by constant usage, and seldom repaired. It ar- 
 rived at Atlanta on the morning of September 17, and on the 
 18th boarded a train that carried it to Ringgold, Ga., to the 
 near vicinity of wliich General Bragg had suffered his army 
 driven. Thence, about mid-day, it marched westward, toward 
 the Chickamauga River and the enemy. Late in the afternoon 
 a body of Federal cavalry appeared in its front, but was soon 
 put to flight by Forrest's Confederate cavalry. The brigade, 
 however, was called into line of battle. While thus formed. 
 General Hood, last seen by it at Gettysburg where he was 
 crippled in the arm, rode from the front, mounted on the 
 sturdy roan horse, " Jeff^ Davis," that he usually rode in bat- 
 tle. It was with difficulty that a shout of welcome was re- 
 pressed lest it give notice to the enemy that Confederate in- 
 fantry was at hand. But every hat was lifted in acknowledg- 
 ment of Hood's presence as he passed through the line to take 
 his place in its rear. 
 
 A few minutes later the Terry Rangers — Eighth Texas cav- 
 alry — passed along in the rear of the brigade. It was the first 
 Texas command we had met since the beginning of the war, 
 and as many of them were personally known to us, salutations 
 were exchanged by the lifting of hats and the waving of 
 handkerchiefs. 
 
 Next to the Fourth and Fifth Texas — the First Texas, it 
 must be remembered, straggled to Virginia — the Rangers were 
 the first Texas command to volunteer for service east of the 
 Mississippi River. Its ranks filled by the flower of the Lone 
 Star State, it was not long in gaining a reputation for daring 
 that, while seemingly reckless, was too resolute to bring dis- 
 aster. Its victories many, its defeats few, we Texans of the 
 Virginia army watched its career Avith an interest not felt in 
 any other troops from our State. In sober truth, it was the 
 only body of Texas cavalry which, emulating the bravery 
 and heroism of Bonham, Travis, Crockett and their com- 
 patriots in the Alamo, had won distinction, and for that rea- 
 
200 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 son the members of the First, Fourth and Fifth Texas recog- 
 nized and hailed its members as kindred spirits. 
 
 The Federal cavalry dispersed, the Texas Brigade again 
 moved forward, and about midnight crossed the Chickamauga 
 on Reid's bridge, and filing to the left a short distance beyond 
 the stream, bivouacked for the night. The march from Ring- 
 gold had been long and fatiguing, and nobody had the heart 
 to blame the boys of the Third Arkansas infantry for surrep- 
 titiously impressing into their service the fifty odd horses of 
 the Third Arkansas cavalry, of Harrison's cavalry brigade, 
 whose riders had carelessly tied them in fence corners by the 
 road-side. The victims of the joke, however, found compensa- 
 tion for it when they accepted the invitation extended in the 
 following lines, written on a scrap of paper that was tacked 
 to a tree: 
 
 " Tired of long walking and needing a rest. 
 Your steeds we have gratefully seized and impressed, 
 Feeling it but fair you should do a little walking, 
 And put yourself where you can do a lot of talking 
 With the Third Arkansas infantry, your old friends and neigh- 
 bors. 
 Who have come from Virginia to share in your labors. 
 And, the Lord being willing, the Yankees to smite 
 And set them to running with all of their might. 
 We'll camp, beyond doubt, after a while, 
 Though you may have to foot it, mile after mile; 
 But come till you find us — it will give you exercise. 
 As well as a heart for gallant enterprise 
 When, the Yanks on the run, we follow them close. 
 And of bullets and steel, give them a dose." 
 
 Because of his loss of a leg at Chickamauga, General Hood 
 made no official report of the part taken by his division in that 
 bloody engagement. If General Robertson or the regimental 
 commanders of the Texas Brigade made reports they have 
 been lost, and at any rate, are not accessible. The only ac- 
 count Hood gave of the battle appears in his book, " Advance 
 and Retreat." This is in the nature of a reminiscence, and 
 as such, comes well within the province of a narrative in which 
 military technicalities are eschewed as far as they may be 
 without risk of inaccuracies. He writes : 
 
John D. Murray 
 Company F, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
 FACINC 200 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 201 
 
 I arrived at Ringgold, Georgia, on the afternoon of September 
 18th, 1863, and there received an order from General Bragg to 
 proceed on the road to Reid's bridge, and assume command of the 
 column then advancing on the Federals. I had my horse to leap 
 from the train, mounted with one arm in a sling, and, about 3 
 p. M., joined our forces, then under the direction of General Bush- 
 rod Johnson and in line of battle. A small body of Federal cav- 
 alry was posted upon an eminence a short distance beyond. On 
 my arrival upon the field I met for the first time after the charge 
 at Gettysburg a portion of my old troops, who received me with a 
 touching welcome. After a few words of greeting exchanged with 
 General Johnson, I assumed command in accordance with the in- 
 structions I had received, ordered the line to be broken by filing 
 into the road, sent a few picked men to the front in support 
 of Forrest's cavalry, and began to drive the enemy at a rapid 
 pace. 
 
 In a short time we arrived at Reid's bridge across the Chicka- 
 mauga, and discovered the Federals drawn up in battle array be- 
 yond the bridge, which they had partially destroyed. I ordered 
 forward some pieces of artillery, opened fire, and, at the same 
 time, threw out flankers to effect a crossing above and below and 
 join in the attack. Our opponents quickly retreated. We repaired 
 the bridge, and continued to advance till darkness closed in on us, 
 when we bivouacked in line, near a beautiful residence which had 
 been fired by the enemy, and was then almost burned to the 
 ground. We had driven the Federals back a distance of six or 
 seven miles. Meantime, the main body of army crossed the Chick- 
 amauga at different points, and concentrated that night in the vi- 
 cinity of my command. 
 
 General Bragg having formed the plan of attack next morning, 
 I was given, in addition to my own division, the direction of Ker- 
 shaw's and Johnson's divisions, with orders to continue the ad- 
 vance. We soon encountered the enemy in strong force, and a 
 heavy engagement ensued. All that day we fought, slowly but 
 steadily gaining ground. Fierce and desperate grew the conflict, 
 as the foe stubbornly yielded before our repeated assaults; we 
 drove him, step by step, a distance of fully one mile, when night- 
 fall brought about a cessation of hostilities, and the men slept 
 upon their arms. 
 
 In the evening, according to my custom in Virginia under Gen- 
 eral Lee, I rode back to army headquarters to report to the 
 commander-in-chief the result of the day upon my part of the 
 line. I there met for the first time several of the principal officers 
 of the Army of Tennessee, and, to my surprise, not one spoke in 
 
202 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 a sanguine tone regarding the result of the battle in which we 
 were then engaged. I found the gallant Breekenridge, whom I 
 had known from early youth, seated by the root of a tree, with 
 a heavy slouch hat upon his head. When in the course of a brief 
 conversation, I stated that Ave would rout the enemy the following 
 day, he sprang to his feet, exclaiming, " My dear Hood, I am 
 delighted to hear you say so. You give me renewed hope; God 
 grant it may be so ! " 
 
 After receiving orders from General Bragg to advance the 
 next morning as soon as the troops on my right moved to the at- 
 tack, I returned to the position occupied by my forces, and camped 
 the remainder of the night with General Buckner, as I had noth- 
 ing with me save that which I had brought from the train upon 
 my horse. Nor did my men have a single wagon, or even ambu- 
 lance in which to convey the wounded. They were destitute of 
 almost everything, I might say, except pride, spirit, and forty 
 rounds of ammunition to the man. 
 
 During that night, after a hard day's fight by his old and 
 trusty troops. General Longstreet joined the army. He reported 
 to General Bragg after I had left army headquarters, and, the 
 next morning, when I had arranged my columns for the attack 
 and was awaiting the signal on the right to advance, he rode up, 
 and joined me. He inquired concerning the formation of my 
 lines, the spirit of our troops, and the effect produced upon the 
 enemy by our assault. I informed him that the feeling of officers 
 and men was never better, that we had driven the enem}'^ fully 
 one mile the day before, and that we would rout him bfore sun- 
 set. This distinguished general instantly responded with the con- 
 fidence that had so often contributed to his extraordinary success, 
 that we would of course whip and drive him from the field. I 
 could but exclaim that I was rejoiced to hear him so express him- 
 self, as he was the first general I had met since my arrival who 
 talked of victory. 
 
 He was assigned to the direction of the left wing, and placed 
 me in command of five divisions: Kershaw's, A. P. Stewart's, 
 Bushrod Johnson's, and Hindman's, together with my own. The 
 latter formed the center of my line, Avith Hindman upon my left, 
 Johnson and Stewart on the right, and Kershaw in reserve. About 
 9 A. M. the firing on the right commenced ; we immediately ad- 
 vanced and engaged the enemy, when followed a terrible roar of 
 musketry from right to left. Onward we moved, nerved with a 
 determination to become masters of that hotly contested field. We 
 wrestled with the resolute foe till about 2.30 p. m., when, from a 
 skirt of timber to our left, a body of Federals rushed down upon 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 203 
 
 the immediate flank and rear of the Texas Brigade, which was 
 forced to suddenly change front. 
 
 Some confusion necessarily arose. I was at the time on my 
 home coni ^idge about three hundred yards distant, 
 
 anJ'^alloped down'^ in the midst of the men who speed- 
 
 flv c?r eS their alignment. At this moment, Kershaw s splen- 
 i'dTi^ot led by Its gallant commander, ^^^^J^^ll^^^^, 
 Hindman advanced to the attack a httle further to tj- eft^ Kjr 
 Shaw's line formed, as it were, an angle with that of ti.e 1^ ederai 
 
 Lne?r.ted into L wood, over and beyond the enemy s breast- 
 Trks, and^thus achieved another glorious victory for our arms^ 
 ILit this time I was pierced with a minie-ball in the upper 
 fvv^ of theXht leg; I turned from my horse upon the side of 
 fhf crlhe^^ liS:, aSd fell-strange to say, jince J - com- 
 mandinff five divisions— into tlie arms of some of tlie troops ol my 
 dd br?fJe,%vl,iA I l>ad directed so long a penod. and upon so 
 
 "™Lf'!fndtnsttt service with tl,is noble brigade most prove 
 snificTent apology for a brief reference, at this juncture, to its 
 Sfraordina'ry mflitary record from the hour of '*J «- ;-™"' ^ 
 with the enemy at Eltham's Landing on York «■;"'■" '86., to 
 the surrender at Appomattox Court House In almost e^ery 
 battle in Virginia it bore a conspicuous part. I* »eted as the aa 
 van 5 guard *of Jackson when he moved upon MeClellan, arovmd 
 Eicbmo^nd; and almost, without - , '^-^P'--' "f .^"^^' „'' 7,! 
 amongst the foremost of Longstreet's corps m an attack or pur 
 s,^t of the enemy. It was also, as a rule, with the rear guard of 
 th corps whenever falling back before the adversary^ If a 
 di h Ts'to be leaped, or fSrtif.ed position to b^-ned Genera 
 Lee knew no better troops upon which to rely. In tiuth, its si nai ; 
 acWevenTents in the war of secession have never been surpassed I 
 
 '"xt meS°s' of t^'- heroic baud were possessed of a streak 
 of super"« on, as in fact I believe all men to be; and it may here 
 proveTf ntJrest to cite an instant thereof. I had a favorite roan 
 hor e named by them, "Jeff Davis"; whenever he was in eon- 
 dmon iTode him in battle, and, remarkable as it may seem he 
 re^erallv received the bullets and bore me unscathed. In this 
 Ettle le was severely wounded on Saturday; the followmg day, 
 I was forced to resort to a valuable mare in my possession, and 
 
204 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 late in the afternoon was shot from the saddle. At Gettysburg 
 I had been unable to mount him on the field, in consequence of 
 lameness; in this engagement I had also been shot from the sad- 
 dle. Thus the belief among the men became nigh general that, 
 when mounted on old Jeff, the bullets could not find me. This 
 spirited and fearless animal performed his duty throughout the 
 war, after which he received tender care from General Jefferson 
 and family, of Seguin, Texas, until death, when he was buried 
 with appropriate honors. 
 
 General Hood parted from his old brigade and division on 
 that second day of battle at Chickamauga. Never again did 
 he command the division, or come in touch with the brigade. 
 For " distinguished conduct and ability in the battle of the 
 29thj" he was recommended for promotion by General Long- 
 street, and on the 1st of February, 1864, was commissioned 
 as a lieutenant-general, and assigned to the command of a 
 corps in the Army of the Tennessee, then under the leadership 
 of General Joseph E. Johnston. 
 
 A mutual confidence and trust, a mutual admiration and 
 love existed between John B. Hood and the Texas Brigade. 
 Each felt it was indebted, and each was grateful to the other. 
 If to Hood's training, teaching and example, was largely due 
 the victories won by the brigade, it was none the less its cour- 
 age, endurance and unconquerable spirit that uplifted and 
 gave him distinction and promotion. Each trusted the other 
 — Hood, that the brigade would accomplish all he asked of 
 it— the Texas Brigade, that he would make no demand on it 
 beyond its power. 
 
 It was this feeling between them that prompted the brigade 
 to adopt and cling to the distinctive title of " Hood's " Texas 
 Brigade — it was this feeling that was uppermost in the mind 
 of Hood, when at Chickamauga, believing himself, perhaps, 
 mortally wounded, he fell from his horse into the waiting arms 
 of members of his old brigade, and as he fell, gave his last 
 order on that field, " Go ahead, and keep ahead of every- 
 thing," in the words of the command they had so often heard 
 him shout to them in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. 
 The insistence of the sur\nvors of the command to which that 
 order was addressed on being known as members of Hood's 
 Texas Brigade, is not intended as a disparagement of the 
 
Captain J. T. Huntkr 
 Company H, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 205 
 
 military ability of their subsequent brigade commanders, Gen- 
 erals Jerome B. Robertson and John Gregg. Each of these 
 was brave and capable and his memory is yet cherished in the 
 hearts of the soldiers he commanded; but neither had the per- 
 sonal magnetism of Hood, nor the swinging dash and reck- 
 less yet cool disregard of danger, which, from the outset, won 
 the love and admiration of a brigade largely composed of boys 
 just flowering into manhood. And, although both Robertson 
 and Gregg had lived many years in Texas, neither made as 
 just an estimate as Hood, of Texas character, nor felt and 
 acted in such accord with it. 
 
 The larger part of the fighting done at Chickamauga was 
 in the somber shadows of thick growths of large pine timber. 
 The soil sterile, it was only now and then that a clearing gave 
 the combatants access to uninterrupted sunlight. Under the 
 trees there was much undergrowth of various kinds. It was 
 difficult for an officer on horseback to get an extended view 
 in any direction, and to footmen it was simply impossible. 
 Short as was the line occupied by the Texas Brigade, neither 
 flank of it could be seen from the other. Therefore, when 
 it is told that the First, Fourth and Fifth Texas and the 
 Third Arkansas went into action side by side, were met by a 
 murderous fire of artillery and musketry, and, by resolute and 
 steady advance and more than one seemingly desperate charge, 
 drove the men from the Western States who so largely com- 
 posed Rosecrans' army, a distance of fully one mile, about 
 all is said that can be, in description of the fight made by the 
 Texas Brigade on the 19th of September. 
 
 As a rule, the Western men of Rosecrans' army were as 
 plucky as the Southerners in the " stand-up-and-fire " or the 
 " lie-down-and-shoot " fights that were so much in vogue in 
 both Rosecrans' and Bragg's armies. As said by Bill Cal- 
 houn, " at them ar games, they was powerful hard to handle." 
 
 Unaccustomed, though, to have their antagonists rush 
 against their hues in the wild charges so common in Virginia, 
 the Western men were about as easily forced out of the way 
 of the Texas Brigade as had been the foes of that command 
 in the State mentioned. It was a Spanish officer who, as he 
 tendered his sword to his captor at San Juan, Cuba, said in 
 indiOTiant tone: "You Americans do not fight like gentle- 
 
206 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 men — you rush right up to us and make a personal affair of 
 a battle that should be strictly impersonal." Just so may 
 have thought the Western men we encountered at Chicka- 
 mauga. Whether they did or not, it is but justice to say that 
 when driven from a position by a charge, they hung together 
 well, and soon recovering from their consternation, formed in 
 battle array at the next good position, ready for the next 
 charge, and that while such charges were being made and until 
 we were quite near them, they fired with an accuracy that in- 
 flicted great loss on their assailants. 
 
 Referring to official reports and histories for positions of 
 the opposing forces and general description of the battles of 
 the 19th and 20th, place will now be given to an account writ- 
 ten by a participant from the view-point accessible to soldiers 
 who moved in line with, or, as officers, close in rear of their 
 comrades. 
 
 " Notwithstanding its long and weary tramp of the day 
 before, the Texas Brigade was early astir on the morning of 
 September 19. While munching hard-tack and nibbling at the 
 rancid bacon issued to us at Atlanta, the one absorbing ques- 
 tion of the hour was ' What next.'' ' Not a soul of us dreamed 
 that we were then within two miles of fully 45,000 Yankees, 
 and that before the day ended we would be wresting with them 
 in deadly battle. The firing we had heard the day before 
 came, we supposed, from opposing bodies of cavalry, and as 
 the cavalry we were accustomed to in Virginia had never been 
 in sight when we got within ten miles of any considerable body 
 of armed Federal infantry, we took it for granted that ' hoofing 
 it ' would be the program of the day. It was, therefore, with 
 astonishment we listened, when Captain Howdy Martin came 
 down from ' Aunt Pollie's ' headquarters and announced, not 
 only the near proximity of the Federal arm}^ but the prob- 
 ability that before noon we would be engaged. 
 
 "We had barely regained the composure old Howdy's an- 
 nouncement robbed us of, when there broke upon our ears a 
 tcrrif3^ing roar, the like of which we had never heard in our 
 lives. It came from the direction of Chattanooga, from some 
 place quite a distance from us, and it appeared to be station- 
 ary. The earth beneath us seemed to tremble with its con- 
 cussions, the trees above us to rock back and forth. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 207 
 
 " ' It's a tornado,' ventured one fellow ; ' I was right in the 
 middle of one, up about Dallas, Texas, four years ago, and it 
 roared just like this does. It's time we were hunting for 
 holes, I reckon,' and he began looking around in search of 
 one. 
 
 " ' It's a stampede of bee-^es,' volunteered a Texas cow-boy, 
 - as he measured with his eyes the girth and height of the tall 
 pine trees beneath which we s^ood; ' and by the Lord Harry, 
 boys, there must be a million of 'em or they wouldn't make 
 such a racket. If there was a tree in sight that I thought 
 I could climb, you wouldn't catch me standing here — I'd be 
 up on its topmost limb.' 
 
 " ' You are all mistaken, gentlemen,' interposed the wise 
 man, a school teacher, who, like the jester, Wamba, in the 
 story of Ivanhoe, believed in the doctrine held by Oldhelm of 
 Malmsbury, ' Better a fool at a feast, than a wise man at a 
 fray.' ' It is an earthquake — an upheaval of the crust of the 
 earth, that is tumbling Lookout, and half a dozen other moun- 
 tains into the Tennessee River. Do you not feel the trembling 
 of the ground under us, and see the swaying of the tree- 
 tops.?' 
 
 " For two seconds the earthquake theory held our minds 
 fast-bound by its appalling terrors ; then the irreverent dare- 
 devil of the regiment came to the rescue. Addressing the wise 
 man, he said : ' It's your cowardly legs, Mr. School Master, 
 that are doing all the trembling and making you imagine the 
 tree-tops are swaying. That isn't an earthquake, a stampede, 
 or a tomedo — it's music. All the bands in the Yankee army 
 are playing, " Hell Broke Loose in Georgia." I've danced all 
 night, many a time, to the tune, but d — d if I ever heard it 
 played quite so loud.' 
 
 " The laugh that all joined in, dissipated the solemnity that 
 was fast stealing upon our minds, and just then a comrade who 
 a little while ago had visited friends in Bragg's army, re- 
 marked : ' You are all mistaken, boys, and you will find out 
 you are, sooner than you care for. That is the noise of a 
 battle between large forces of Yankees and Confederates.' 
 
 " 'You are joking, Patterson — you are surely joking,' said 
 an officer; 'that noise is stationary. It neither approaches 
 nor recedes, as it would were troops engaged in battle, and 
 
208 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 advancing and retreating, as one or the other side gained or 
 lost.' 
 
 '" I thought just that way, Captain, the first time I heard 
 such a noise,' rejoined Patterson. ' But I soon learned bet- 
 ter. These Yankees and Confederates here in Tennessee and 
 Georgia don't fight like we do in Virginia — they just get 
 within fairly close range of each other, and then coming to 
 a halt, indulge in a stand-up-and-fight, or a lie-down-and-shoot 
 game; there is no charging and counter-charging. When one 
 side gets all the punishment it can stand, it quits, and the 
 victory is awarded to the other side.' 
 
 " As usual. Bill Calhoun claimed the last word. * Well, 
 boys,' he said, ' if we have to stand up or lie down in a straight 
 line, and let the Yankees shoot at us as long as they want to, 
 this old Texas Brigade is going to run like h — 11.' 
 
 " An hour passed. Then the brigade was called to atten- 
 tion, and moving forward a mile or more, it halted a half a 
 mile in rear of the troops then holding our front. There we 
 remained fully three hours, at first giving undivided atten- 
 tion to the desultory firing in progress, and then relaxing from 
 strain, falling into an exchange of gossip and pleasantries — 
 the latter, aimed as a rule, at Confederates who expected to 
 win battles without charges. Habe Brahan and myself, I 
 recollect, had a long conversation over long-past college hap- 
 penings, with Captain Jemmison of the First Texas, who had 
 been one of our class-mates. 
 
 " Toward the close of the long wait. Jack Sutherland and I 
 indulged in a friendly smoke and chat. We were both puffing 
 at our pipes when the command, ' Attention ! ' was given. 
 Jack at once removed his pipe from his lips, and surmising his 
 purpose I said, * Go on with your smoking, man — it'll be an 
 hour befoi'e we get under fire.' ' No, I'll not smoke any more, 
 just now,' he replied, and knocking the ashes and embers from 
 the pipe, he stuck it in his pocket. I held on to mine ; it was ray 
 last pipeful of the Zarvona tobacco I had brought Avith me from 
 Virginia, and I felt bound to realize the full benefit of it. But 
 I did not. 
 
 " Within three minutes a fierce battle began at the front, 
 and the brigade moved into line of battle — the movement has- 
 tened by the divers and sundry bullets, round shot and shells 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 209 
 
 that came flying in our direction. Jack and I stood side by 
 side, and I was still smoking. General Hood rode back from 
 the front, and as he passed through our line on his way to its 
 rear, was greeted by a shout of welcome. He had not gone 
 twenty yards to the rear, though, when a solid shot or shell 
 struck the ground about thirty feet in front of Jack and my- 
 self, and ricochetting, passed over, but so close to our heads 
 that I felt the wind of it. It scared me, and, I am confident, 
 my face turned white as a sheet. I pulled my hat down over 
 my pallid countenance, and, fear loving company as well as 
 misery does, stole a glance at Jack's face, and to my relief, 
 it was as white as I believed my own to be. It is hardly neces- 
 sary to add that I ceased to smoke, and so lost the benefit of 
 half a pipeful of precious Zarvona. 
 
 " In another minute the order was given to forward. We 
 had not gone far when we met the troops we were going to rein- 
 force. Of what command they were, I have never learned. 
 They came toward us in squads, and, though not running, 
 were not idling by the wayside. ' You fellers'll catch h — 11 in 
 thar,' one of them shouted as he came near us ; ' them fellers 
 out thar you ar goin' up agin, ain't none of the blue-bellied, 
 white-livered Yanks an' sassidge-eatin' forrin hirelin's you have 
 in Virginny that'll run at the snap of a cap — they are Western 
 fellers, an' they'll mighty quick give you a bellyful o' fightin'.' 
 
 " A hundred yards further the Federals caught sight of us, 
 and their bullets as well as the shot and shell from their well- 
 served artillery came fast and furiously at us, many of our 
 bravest and best falling, dead or wounded, before they pulled 
 a trigger. For almost a minute we failed to locate their line. 
 Then we discovered they were lying down, and shooting from 
 behind trees, fallen logs and other cover, and we commenced 
 firing as we advanced rapidly toward them. Their main body 
 gave way before our impetuous rush, but with a reluctance that 
 was not encouraging, and formed another line a hundred yards 
 in rear of the first. Such of them, though, as had shelter, 
 stood their ground behind it and fought gamely until disabled, 
 or surrounded and forced to surrender. The need to capture 
 such squads compelled our folks to make the battle somewhat 
 personal and individual, and while as a command the brigade 
 moved steadily on, its units fought on their own hook. 
 
210 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " In timber as thick as that in which the battle raged that 
 afternoon, it was impossible for one in the ranks to see what 
 was happening to right or left. To do his share of the work 
 on hand, he could only look straight before him, and tackle 
 the foe immediately facing him. Doing that with all my 
 might and will, incidents occurred within twenty yards of me, 
 to the right or left, that were wholly unwitnessed by me. The 
 truth is, that along about then, the only incidents in which 
 I was particularly interested, were those in which I was myself 
 figuring. All too soon for my comfort, one of these happened, 
 and called a peremptory halt on the assistance I was then 
 giving the Confederacy. Placed hors-de-combat, I hastened 
 from the firing line, and hence have no personal knowledge of 
 what transpired that day, or the next. But I heard a great 
 deal, and part of that hearsay will now be related. 
 
 " At home, Jack Sutherland was known as an ardent and 
 indefatigable, if not mighty, Nimrod. His acquaintance with 
 the habits and haunts of deer, turkeys and smaller game, his' 
 unerring aim, and his trusty rifle, kept his father's table well 
 supplied with fresh meat. The same qualities that made him 
 a successful hunter in the wilds of Texas, stood him in good 
 stead when, as a soldier in battle, or as a scout or skirmisher, 
 his marksmanship was employed against human beings. Dur- 
 ing the second day's battle at Chickamauga, Jack pressed far 
 to the front in search of the human game then being hunted. 
 Catching sight of a rock from behind which a lone INIississip- 
 pian, obviously an estray from his own command, was firing 
 at the enemy, he made for it. ' Glad to see you, comrade — 
 glad to have you with me,' said the Mississippian as Jack 
 found a place beside him ; ' I've been having a little picnic here 
 all by myself, and have got lonesome. Help me send some of 
 those Yankees over yonder to kingdom come, will you?' 'Of 
 course I will,' said Jack, as he took aim at one of the blue- 
 coated gentry; ' that's just what I came for.' 
 
 " Loading and firing as rapidly as they could, the two had 
 laid more than one enemy low, when, close on their right, a 
 hundred or so Georgians appeared, and each from behind his 
 own tree or rock, commenced firing. They were all that was 
 left of Benning's Georgia Brigade of Hood's division, but the 
 fight was not yet knocked out of them. They were busy load- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 211 
 
 ing and firing, when ' Old Rock,'— that was the pet name for 
 General Benning— rode up behind them and shouted, G— d 
 d_n you, men, get from behind those trees and rocks, and 
 give 'em hell ! ' The words were hardly uttered before a shell 
 came along, killed ' Old Rock's ' horse, and tumbhng the lion- 
 hearted rider sprawhng on the ground, gave him an instant 
 change of view. Springing to his feet unhurt, he shouted, 
 * G— d d— n you, men, stay behind those trees and give em 
 
 hell ' ' 
 
 "Five minutes passed. Then, as Jack stood on his feet to 
 take aim, a low-flying fragment of a bursted shell cut m two 
 the straps of both his canteen and haversack, and plowed 
 a fun-ow across his right shoulder. The blood spurted from 
 the wound, and realizing the need of surgical ^^d. Jack decided 
 to quit the picnic ground, and make his way back to the held 
 hospital. As he turned to go, the MIssIssippian cried. Leave 
 me your cartridge box, Texas— mine is empty, and I want to 
 stay here as long as there is light enough to get a bead on a 
 Yankee.' ' Cut it off me, then,' said Jack, and that done, he 
 left the gallant MIssIssippian to continue the fight alone 
 
 « In Company D, of the Fourth Texas, was a German, Juhus 
 Glazer On the afternoon of the 19th— Jack Sutherland says 
 it was the 20th, but he is mistaken— twenty odd of the bravest 
 of the many brave men in the army commanded by General 
 Rosecrans, gathered together In and behind a dilapidated og 
 house built for a blacksmith's shop, and resolved from that 
 point of vantage to contest the advance of the Texas Brigade 
 as iono- as possible. The house stood at the far edge of the 
 wood through which the brigade was making its way, and on 
 account of Intervening timber and undergro^v^h, ^^^^Id be 
 seen from only a few points along our hne. The fire from 
 it was rapid and damaging, but for quite a while our folks 
 failed to discover whence it came. Glazer was the first to 
 locate the spot, and springing forward with a shout, he made 
 for the house, followed, as soon as they saw his Purpose, by 
 ten to fifteen First, Fourth and Fifth Texans and Third Ar- 
 kansans. Their attention directed to Texans on heir left 
 who iust then came within their view, the Federals at the 
 house had no warning of Glazer's approach until, when withm 
 twenty feet of it, he called on them to surrender. 
 
212 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 " To this demand the Federals replied by firing half a dozen 
 times at Glazer, and inflicting upon him a couple of flesh- 
 wounds. He acknowledged the courtesy shown him by a more 
 eff'ective shot from his own gun, wounding one of the Federals 
 mortally. But before he could lower his gun, and with the 
 bayonet it carried, guard against attack, two men ran from 
 behind the house and plunged their bayonets into his body. In 
 all reason, Glazer should have fallen to the ground, and laid 
 there content. But he did not; he simply sprang back, and 
 reached for a cartridge. Unwilling to risk a loaded gun in 
 his hands, the two men again rushed at him with levelled 
 bayonets, and in the desperate fight that followed, he placed 
 one of these hors-de-combat. His remaining antagonist was 
 instantly reinforced by another couple of Federals, and Glazer 
 fought the three, and held them at bay, until the comrades who 
 had followed his lead came up and shot down two of the as- 
 sailants, and the other escaped into the house. 
 
 " ' Surrender,' was the cry of the Confederates — ' Take us 
 if you can,' the answer of the still defiant Federals. And with 
 a pluck useless to themselves, and to the assaulting party, dan- 
 gerous, the Federals held the house until half of them dead 
 or wounded, the remainder acknowledged themselves prisoners. 
 Then and then only, did Julius Glazer remember his hurts and 
 quit fighting. 
 
 " To the question why they did not shoot Glazer instead of 
 attacking him with the bayonet, the lieutenant In command of 
 the squad of Federals replied: ' Because he was a mere boy, 
 and after he fired his one shot we thought it would be cowardly 
 to shoot him. But If the fighting he did against two of our 
 best men at first, and then against three, and that too, after 
 he was four times wounded. Is a sample of what you Texans are 
 in the habit of doing, I am going to throw up my commission 
 and return to peaceful pursuits.' " 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Chattanooga and Knoxville 
 
 The Confederates victorious, the Union army in swift de- 
 moralized flight, now was the time, it would seem, for instant 
 vigorous pursuit, or for well-planned flank movement — the one 
 promising its measure of advantage — the other, insuring the 
 expulsion of the Federal forces from Tennessee and Kentucky 
 and access to large fields of supply for the now half-starving 
 Southern armies east of the Mississippi. But General Bragg 
 neither pursed nor flanked; instead, he held his troops inactive 
 until, recovering breath and wits, the Federals fortified and 
 intrenched themselves at Chattanooga, and then moved his 
 army within artillery range of their lines and proceeded to in- 
 vest the city on the east, the only side of it from which his 
 opponent could have no hope of drawing supphes — a course 
 that rendered fruitless a victory gained at such cost of blood 
 and life. It was what General Rosecrans, the Federal com- 
 mander, most preferred that Bragg should do; Chattanooga 
 was impregnable by direct assault, and with his hnes of com- 
 munication with Nashville unbroken, Rosecrans had well- 
 founded hope of maintaining his army and holding his posi- 
 tion until reinforcements arrived. 
 
 The Texas Brigade devoted the 21st of September to rest 
 and recuperation. A thousand miles of rough travel, the long 
 and rapid march of the 18th, and the two days of strain and 
 hard fighting its men had undergone, had well-nigh exhausted 
 their energies. That day, Jenkins' South Carolina brigade 
 joined Hood's division, to which it had been previously as- 
 signed, at the request of General Longstreet. Ranking Gen- 
 eral Law by seniority. General Jenkins at once relieved that 
 officer of the command of the division. This was not pleasing 
 to the Texas regiments. They had been too long associated 
 with Law's brigade, and too often under Law's command, not 
 
 213 
 
214 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 to know and place a high estimate on his courage and ability, 
 and to regard him as the logical successor of General Hood. 
 But the right of protest was not theirs, and they fought as 
 hard and desperately under Jenkins as they would have fought 
 under Law. 
 
 On the morning of the 22nd, Hood's division marched in a 
 direction that if pursued would have taken it to the Ten- 
 nessee River some distance above Chattanooga. That night 
 it bivouacked in the woods, and resuming the march next 
 morning, had not gone a mile when it filed squarely off to the 
 left on a road leading toward Lookout Mountain, in the 
 shadows of which, that afternoon, it found its position in the 
 line of investment. There, about a mile and a half east of the 
 northern foot of Lookout Mountain, its camp just in rear of 
 the first line of breastworks it ever built, the Texas Brigade lay 
 idle and inactive, save for the picket duty its men did along 
 Chattanooga Creek, until the afternoon of October 28th — 
 time hanging as heavily on its hands as the rations on which 
 it subsisted did to its stomachs. It was not accustomed to an 
 unvarying diet of corn meal and lean beef, the only rations 
 issued, and to the muddy and tepid water that alone was ac- 
 cessible to its camp, and bowel complaints prevailed to an 
 alarming extent. Even the privilege of scouting, so liberally 
 extended in the Virginia army, was denied them. 
 
 However, the 28th of October brought removal from the 
 line and relief from an idleness that bred discontent. Two 
 Federal corps from the Army of the Potomac, under com- 
 mand of " Fighting Joe " Hooker, having crossed the Ten- 
 nessee River at Bridgeport, thirty miles below Chattanooga, 
 were moving to the relief of Rosecrans' partly hemmed-in army, 
 and were to camp that night in the vicinity of Wauhatchie, a 
 hamlet just east of Raccoon Mountain, and about two miles 
 west of Lookout Mountain. It was the opportunity for which 
 General Jenkins had been praying. Hood was sure to be pro- 
 moted to higher rank — his old division must have its own ma- 
 jor-general, and why should it not be Major-General Jenkins? 
 And to help along such a consummation, Jenkins proposed to 
 lead Hood's division around Lookout Point, and with it, make 
 a moonlight attack on Hooker's command. Longstreet was 
 more than wilhng that Jenkins should win the coveted rank 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 215 
 
 — Law and he had never been in agreeable accord — and to 
 make sure of success, promised to order McLaws' division to 
 support Hood's. He failed to give the order, though, to Mc- 
 Laws, and so Jenkins went unaided. 
 
 The plan of assault was well conceived, but its execution and 
 success were frustrated by many blunders, the unwillingness of 
 the veteran troops of the division to engage in a night attack, 
 and the halt of Jenkins' own brigade at the very crisis of the 
 affair to plunder the wagon-trains it had captured. Of the 
 Texas Brigade, only the Fourth Texas was ordered to the 
 firing line. To it was assigned the duty of protecting General 
 Law's right flank. But although it took position to do that 
 effectively, its services were not called into requisition — such 
 of the Alabamians as went to the front that night not stay- 
 ing long enough to even smell danger. What happened to the 
 Fourth Texas is graphically told by one of its members. Be- 
 fore offering that, however, it is well to say that the affair 
 of which it is a partial description is known in history as the 
 battle of Wauhatchie, although always called by the Texas 
 Brigade the battle of Raccoon Mountain. The Fourth Texan 
 says: 
 
 " I have often boasted that the Fourth Texas never showed 
 its back to an enemy, but I am more modest since that little 
 affair of October 28, known as the battle of Raccoon Moun- 
 tain. There, the regiment not only showed its back, but stam- 
 peded like a herd of frightened cattle, it being one of those 
 cases when ' discretion is the better part of valor ' ; and, in- 
 stead of being ashamed of the performance, we are merry over 
 it. Raccoon and Lookout Mountains, you must know, are 
 separated by Lookout Creek. Between the creek and Raccoon 
 are half a dozen high, parallel ridges, whose tops are open and 
 level enough for a road-way, and whose thickly timbered sides 
 slope at angles of forty-five degrees, into deep, lonely hollows. 
 
 " Hooker's corps, of the Federal army, coming up from 
 Bridgeport to reinforce Rosecrans, camped on the night of the 
 28th, in the vicinity of Raccoon. Imagining that here was an 
 opportunity to win distinction, General Jenkins proposed to 
 Longstreet to march Hood's division to the west side of Look- 
 out Mountain, and by a night attack, capture ' Fighting Joe ' 
 Hooker and his corps. Longstreet, of course, offered no 
 
^16 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 objections; success would place as brilliant a feather in his 
 cap as in that of Jenkins, while the blame of defeat would nec- 
 essarily rest upon the projector of the affair. As for us poor 
 devils in the ranks, we had no business to be there, if we hesi- 
 tated to risk our lives in the interest of commanding officers. 
 
 " The plan of operations appears to have been for Ben- 
 ning's, Anderson's, and Jenkins's brigades to cross Lookout 
 Creek two miles above its mouth, and, forming in line parallel 
 with the Tennessee River, force the Yankees to surrender, or 
 drive them into deep water; while the Texas and Law's bri- 
 gades should occupy positions west of the creek, at right 
 angles with the river, and prevent them from moving toward 
 Lookout Mountain, and alarming Bragg's army. What be- 
 came of the First Texas and Third Arkansas, I cannot say, 
 every movement being made at night, but the Fifth Texas 
 guarded the bridge, across which the Fourth marched and 
 thence proceeded in the direction of Raccoon ]\Iountain, climb- 
 ing up and sliding down the steep sides of intervening ridges, 
 until brought to a halt on the moon-lit top of the highest, and 
 formed in line on the right of an Alabama regiment. 
 
 " Here, in blissful ignorance of General Jenkins' plans, and 
 unwarned by the glimmer of a fire or sound of a snore that 
 the main body of the enemy lay asleep in the wide and deep 
 depression between them and Raccoon, the spirits of the gal- 
 lant Texans rose at once to the elevation of their bodies, and 
 dropping carelessly on the gi'ound, they proceeded to take 
 their ease. But not long were they permitted thus to dally 
 with stem and relentless fate. A gunshot, away off to the 
 left, suddenly broke upon the stillness of the night, and was 
 followed by others in rapid succession, until there was borne 
 to our ears the roar of desperate battle, while the almost simul- 
 taneous beating of the long roll in the hitherto silent depths 
 below us, the loud shouts of officers, and all the indescribable 
 noises and hubbub of a suddenly awakened and alanned host 
 of men, admonished us that we stood upon the outermost edge 
 of a human volcano, which might soon burst forth in all its 
 fury, and overwhelm us. 
 
 " The dolcc far niente to which, lulled by fancied security 
 and the beautiful night, we had surrendered ourselves, van- 
 ished as quickly as did the dreams of the Yankees. The emer- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 217 
 
 gency came unexpectedly, but none the less surely. Scouts dis- 
 patched to the right, returned with the appalUng intelHgence 
 that between the regiment and the river, half a mile away, not 
 a Confederate was on guard; skirmishers sent to the front, re- 
 ported that the enemy was approaching rapidly and in strong 
 force. To add to the dismay created by such alarming intel- 
 ligence, the thrilling whisper came from the left, that the Ala- 
 bamians had gone ' hunting for tall timber ' in their rear. 
 Thus deserted in a soHtude soon to be invaded by a ruthless 
 and devouring horde, the cheerless gloom of an exceeding 
 great loneliness fell upon us like a pall — grew intense, when, 
 not twenty feet away, we heard the laborious struggling and 
 puffing of the Yankees as, on hostile thoughts intent, they 
 climbed and pulled up the almost precipitous ascent — and be- 
 came positively unbearable, when a dozen or more bullets from 
 the left whistled down the Hne, and the mild beams of the full 
 moon, glinting from what seemed to our agitated minds a 
 hundred thousand bright gun-barrels, revealed the near and 
 dangerous presence of the hated foe. 
 
 " Then and there — deeming it braver to live than to die, and 
 moved by thoughts of home and its loved ones — the officers and 
 privates of the gallant and hitherto invincible Fourth Texas 
 stood not upon the order of their going, but went with a ce- 
 lerity and unanimity truly remarkable; in short, they disap- 
 peared bodily, stampeded nolens volens, and plunged reck- 
 lessly into the umbrageous and shadowy depths behind them, 
 their flight hastened by the loud huzzaing of the triumphant 
 Yankees, and the echoing volleys they poured into the tree- 
 tops, high above the heads of their retreating antagonists. 
 
 "Once fairly on the run down the steep slope, voluntary 
 halting became as impossible as it would have been indiscreet. 
 Dark as it was among the somber shadows into which the flee- 
 ing men plunged, the larger trees could generally be avoided, 
 but when encountered, as too frequently for comfort they 
 were, they wrought disaster to both body and clothing; but 
 small ones bent before the wild, pell-mell rush, as from the 
 weight and power of avalanche or hurricane. The speed at 
 which I traveled, let alone the haunting apprehension of being 
 gobbled up by a pursuing blue-coat, was not specially favor- 
 able to close observation of comrades, but, nevertheless, I wit- 
 
218 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 nessed three almost contemporaneous accidents. One poor un- 
 fortunate struck a tree so squarely and with such tremendous 
 force, as not only to flatten his body against it and draw a 
 sonorous groan from his lips, but to send his gun clattering 
 against another tree. As a memento of the collision, he yet 
 carries a face ragged enough to harmonize admirably with his 
 tattered garments. Another fellow exclaimed, as, stepping on 
 a round stone, his feet slipped from under him and he dropped 
 to the ground with a resounding thud, ' Help, boys — help,' 
 and then, with legs wide outspread, he went sliding down the 
 hill, until, in a wholly involuntary attempt to pass upon both 
 sides of a tree, he was brought to a sudden halt, or, as it 
 might be called, a sit-still. 
 
 " But adventure the third was the most comical of all. The 
 human actor in it was a Dutchman by the name of Brigger; 
 a fellow nearly as broad as he is long, who always carries a 
 huge knapsack on his shoulders. Aided by this load, he struck 
 a fair-sized sapling with such resistless momentum, that the 
 little tree bent before him, and, straddling it and exclaiming 
 in prayerful, not irreverent, accents, ' Jesus Christ and God 
 Almighty,' with a long-drawn and lingering emphasis on the 
 first word, he described a parabola in the air, and then drop- 
 ping to the ground on all-fours, continued his downward career 
 in that decidedly unmilitary fashion. His was the novelty 
 and roughness of the ride, but alas, mine was all the loss ; for, 
 as the sapling tumbled him off and essayed to straighten itself, 
 an impudent branch of it caught my hat, and flung it at the 
 man in the moon. Whether it ever reached its destination, I 
 am unable to say — the time, the inclination and the ability to 
 stop and see if it did were each sternly prohibited by the exi- 
 gency of the occasion and the accelerating influence of gravi- 
 tation. Anyhow, I am now wearing a cap, manufactured by 
 myself, out of the nethermost extremity of a woolen overshirt, 
 and having for a frontispiece a generous slice of a stirrup 
 leather. Colonel Bane well dcsen'es the loss he has sustained; 
 he is not only careless about his saddle, but, as well, of his 
 head, on which he still bears a reminder of the battle of Rac- 
 coon IMountain, in the shape of a very sore and red bump. 
 
 " But to return to my story. Altliough I lost my hat, I 
 neither lost physical balance, nor collided with a tree suffi- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 219 
 
 clentlv sturdy to arrest a fearfully swift descent, as did many 
 of my comrades. Indeed, the scars imprinted -P- /^^ ^S: 
 mentil physiognomy by large and small monarchs of the for 
 XareVt nuTneroL, and in some i-tances were at first so 
 disUisina: that the wearers were recogmzable, for a day or 
 two only by heir melodious voices. ' Honors ' were so easy 
 rthat respe t, between the members of the regiment officer 
 as wel Z privates, that when they at last emerged from the 
 darlness oF the woods, and talcing pl-es m Ime began to 
 look at each other and recount experiences, their shouts 
 lauditer must have reached old Joe Hooker. . . „ 
 
 "One poor fellow, though, was too sore of body and down- 
 cast in spirit, and had been too much trampled upon to .pm 
 in the mh-th hat prevailed. He was a litter-bearer his name 
 wa Den^ , and he^as six long feet in height, and Falstaffian 
 Tn abdominal development. His position m the -ar gav him 
 the start in the stampede, and his avoirdupois enabled him to 
 brush alide, or bear down, every obstacle encountered m hi 
 downward plunge. But his judgment was d.a^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 fault Forgetting the ditch-like dram that marked the Imc 
 where descent of one hill ended and ascent of the other began 
 he tumbl d, broadcast, into it. The fall knocked all the breath 
 out oThim and he could only wriggle over on his broad back 
 Tnd make L pillow for his head of one ^-W tjiej^^^^^^^ 
 resting-place for his number twelve feet, of the other, i^ym 
 there, his big body looked, in the moon-light, like a rather 
 short butt cut off of the trunk of a large tree 
 
 "The litter-bearer had barely got himself m the com ort- 
 able position described, when Bill Calhoun came plungmg down 
 the hill with a velocity that left a good-sized vacuum m his 
 wake Observant by nature and made the more sojy he 
 fear that if he came to grief m his passage of the diam the 
 Yankees would capture him, Bill no sooner saw Dennis re- 
 cumbent body than, taking it for the log it appeared to be, 
 and su e that'it spanned the drain, he made a ti.mendous leap 
 and landed his foremost and heaviest foot right m the middle 
 :? Dennis' expansive corporosity, and on that particular par 
 of it for which the owner had the most tender regard. The 
 udden compression produced .h/. fm^ suddenly i^^^^^^^^^ 
 weight, produced as sudden artificial respiration, and gnmg 
 
220 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 vent to a howl of agony, Dennis cried, ' For the Lord Al- 
 mighty's sake, man, don't make a bridge of me!' Bill was 
 startled, but did not lose his presence of mind, and shouting 
 back, * Lie still, old fellow — lie still ! The whole regiment has 
 to cross yet, and you'll never have another such chance to 
 serve your beloved country,' continued his flight at a speed 
 but little abated by the rising ground before him." 
 
 Hood's division did not again occupy any part of the line 
 of investment — military operations were in contemplation in 
 which it was to take part. On the day after the Wauhatchie, 
 or Raccoon Mountain affair, the Texas Brigade hid itself 
 from the prying eyes of the enemy in the shady recesses of the 
 timber that grew along the west side of Lookout Mountain, 
 and there the Fourth Texas spent the hours of daylight in 
 ascertaining and repairing the damages to persons and cloth- 
 ing received during the stampede of the night before. The 
 other brigades of Hood's division occupied the front along 
 Lookout Creek — their object, to check any attack which the 
 two Federal corps under General Hooker might be induced to 
 make. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 30th, some alarm occurring, the 
 Texas Brigade climbed up the side of Lookout and took posi- 
 tion in line under the frowning cliffs by which the level land 
 on its top is encircled. Why it went so high was a question 
 much discussed by the boys. A Fifth Texas man said to one 
 of the Fourth Texas : " It's Aunt Pollie that's done it. He 
 has heard of the speed you fellows made night before last in 
 that stampede down-hill, and he has got an idea from it that 
 he wants to test. If the Yankees line up anywhere below us, 
 he is going to order the brigade to charge them. He calcu- 
 lates, I reckon, that the force of gravity and the momentum 
 we acquire will combine with our bravery to make the down- 
 set — it'll be no onset, you know — absolutely irresistible, and 
 that we'll knock the Yankees, guns and all, into Lookout 
 Creek, and there let the last one of 'em drown." 
 
 That night we bivouacked in line on ground so steep and so 
 loosely covered with small shingle and rock that only by 
 bracing our feet against trees could we avoid rolling down- 
 hill. Indeed, many who were careless in lying down, or whose 
 
W. H. B URGES 
 Company I), Fourth Texas Reoinient 
 
 Facing 220 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE mi 
 
 slumbers were restless because of the roughness of their 
 couches, did roll until brought to a halt by some obstacle 
 firmly fixed in the ground ; and as such obstacles often proved 
 to be the bodies of comrades, the air was occasionally sul- 
 phurous. The next day we marched around Lookout Point, 
 and went into camp east of Lookout Mountain ; for about this 
 time General Bragg decided that it was time for him to do 
 something. 
 
 General Grant had arrived at Chattanooga, and superseded 
 Rosecrans in the command of the Federal army. Hooker had 
 reinforced it with two army corps from Virginia, and Sher- 
 man, with a large force, from Memphis, was due to arrive 
 about the 15th of November. Yet, although to his own army 
 had not and could not come any additions. General Bragg 
 reduced its strength by ordering Longstreet, with Hood's and 
 McLaws' divisions and a large force of cavalry, up to Knox- 
 ville, to capture or drive out of that portion of Tennessee the 
 Federal forces there, under command of General Burnside. 
 Such a campaign if begun immediately after the battle of 
 Chickamauga would have been not only wise and feasible, but 
 also, a commendable effort to harvest a part of the fruits of 
 victorious battle ; now, prohibited by every consideration for 
 the safety of the army Bragg was still allowed to command, 
 it was suicidal. 
 
 While protesting that to send his two divisions of infantry 
 and the larger part of the Confederate cavalry on such a 
 mission at such a critical stage of affairs was unwise and fool- 
 ish, Longstreet, nevertheless, obeyed the order, and at once set 
 about making preparations for the movement. It offered him 
 a practically independent command, and a fine field for mili- 
 tary operations, which, if successful, would likely insure him 
 the rank of a full general. Believing, as he said, that if 
 haste was made, Knoxville could be captured and Hood's and 
 McLaws' divisions returned to his army in time to resist any 
 attack on it by the Federals then at and coming to Chatta- 
 nooga, General Bragg promised ample and speedy transpor- 
 tation and all that was needed in the matter of food supplies. 
 But the promise was not performed, and the troops detached 
 for the expedition did not reach Sweetwater until November 
 12. There more delay occurred. Wagon- trains were lack- 
 
222 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 ing, subsistence stores had not been foin\'arded, and as a re- 
 sult, Longstreet was compelled to abandon his plan of ap- 
 proaching Knoxville from the east, by way of Maryville, and 
 to cross the Tennessee at Loudon and march directly on 
 Knoxville by way of Campbell's Station. 
 
 Passage of the river was effected on the 14th, and daylight 
 had barely dawned on the 15th when Hood's division formed 
 into line of march and hastened in pursuit of the enemy, then 
 known to be in full retreat toward Knoxville. Between him 
 and McLaws' division there was a foot-race — McLaws' effort 
 being to reach Campbell's Station first. But fear lent wings 
 to the Federals, and they won, and gave the Confederates a 
 hot fight at the Station — holding their ground until late in 
 the afternoon, then continuing their retreat, and in the early 
 forenoon of the 16th taking refuge behind their defensive 
 works at Knoxville. Thither followed the Confederates, and 
 by niglit the town was surrounded by their infantry, cavalry, 
 and artillery. 
 
 To the Texas Brigade was assigned a position east of the 
 Holston and below the town — its mission, to assist Wheeler's 
 cavalry in preventing the escape of the enemy in that direc- 
 tion. From that date until the siege was abandoned, it re- 
 mained under fire, and, perhaps, under a more constant and 
 vigorous one than any other command. Burnside's army was 
 composed almost entirely of men from the Western States, 
 and in them the Texans and Arkansans found foemen as dar- 
 ing, as courageous and as accurate of aim as themselves. It 
 was a kind of hide-and-seek game both sides played ; to be 
 seen was to be shot at, and many a poor fellow fell dead 
 or wounded at the moment he felt himself most safe. 
 
 But with the time and force at his command, Longstreet 
 had undertaken the impossible. His infantry numbered scarce 
 12,000, and his cavalry could do no effective work against the 
 fortifications surrounding Knoxville. Bumside, his opponent, 
 had fully 20,000 infantry, and held an interior line that was 
 both naturall}' and artificially strong. The Confederate com- 
 mander, however, was determined to make one desperate strug- 
 gle to gain entrance into the town. Receiving on the 28th a 
 reinforcement of two brigades, Bushrod Johnson's and Gracic's, 
 he ordered a night assault upon Fort Sanders, the key to the 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 223 
 
 Federal position. It failed to succeed, the troops engaged in 
 it being repulsed with great slaughter. 
 
 Half an hour after the fighting ceased, General Longstreet 
 received positive information that the battle of Missionary 
 Ridge had been fought and won by the Federals, then under 
 command of General Grant, and that Bragg's army was in 
 retreat. With this information came an order directing him 
 to rejoin Bragg. As a march to the south and to Bragg's 
 army would not only be over a mountainous and extremely 
 rugged country, but also expose him to pursuit by Bumside 
 and a Federal force then approaching Knoxville from Cumber- 
 land Gap, he decided to move north, up the Holston River, 
 into a field offering admirable opportunities for the maneu- 
 vering of a small army and soldierly enterprise ; moreover, it 
 would take him beyond the reach of Bragg's authority. 
 
 To mask the withdrawal of the Texas and Law's brigades 
 from the east side of the H'olston, they and the cavalry on 
 their right, on the morning of December 3, made a vigorous 
 demonstration against the Federals in their front. These 
 stood their ground well until about noon ; then they abandoned 
 their first line of intrenchments, and took cover in another 
 nearer the river. Night coming on, the two brigades quietly 
 marched to the ferry over the Holston, crossed the river, and, 
 moving around the city, went northward toward Strawberry 
 Plains, as the advance guard of their little army. Silence pre- 
 vailed and the utmost caution was observed among the Texans 
 and Arkansans until they were well beyond sight and hearing 
 of the Union soldiers they had so long helped to hold in prac- 
 tical captivity. Then, giving expression to their feelings, they 
 made the woods ring and resound with loud and unchecked 
 rejoicings that they were on their way to rejoin " Marse 
 Robert's " army. Some enthusiastic broke into song, and as 
 the opening words of the old melody, " Carry me back to ole 
 Virginny," floated in musical cadence from his lips, a shout 
 went up that made the welkin ring, and there was not a man 
 " with music in his soul" but joined hopefully in the chorus: 
 
 " Oh, carry me back to ole Virginny, to ole Virginny 's shore." 
 Crossing the Holston River at Strawberry Plains about 
 
224 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 noon, the Texas Brigade bivouacked that night on the open 
 level ground east of the stream. Resuming the march next 
 morning at sunrise, and still the advance guard of Longstreet's 
 command, it moved rapidly on to Rogersville, arriving there 
 on the 8th. On the 9th it went to Bean's Station to support 
 Wheeler's cavalry, then in contention with a pursuing column 
 of cavalry dispatched by Bumside from Knoxville. But, al- 
 though under artillery fire for a while, it took no active part 
 in the engagement. Remaining at Bean's Station until the 
 19th, the brigade that day marched down the Holston toward 
 Morristown, and, arriving there on the afternoon of the 22d, 
 went into winter-quarters on the top of a wooded hill, a mile 
 north of the little town. Lacking any assurance of a long 
 stay in them, the men wasted little strength in the erection of 
 cabins. A liberal issue of tents, an abundance of wood and a 
 plentiful and near supply of excellent water, together with a 
 fairly generous distribution of rations, enabled them to make 
 themselves as comfortable as their great need of shoes and 
 clothing peraiitted. Altogether, their lot as soldiers was not 
 so hard as to warrant special complaint. 
 
 Relaxation and more or less of exciting adventure, - experi- 
 enced and related, was furnished by the many details made for 
 scouting west of the Holston River and east of the French 
 Broad. The enemy was held in check on the south by the 
 cavalry which, while the infantry rested in winter-quarters, 
 was almost constantly on the go — fighting, as could be told 
 by the sound of artillery, every day, and aften far into the 
 night. Early in January of 1864, railroad communication was 
 secured with Richmond, Va., and the shoes and clothing, and 
 the mails that came over it to the Texas Brigade, added 
 largely to its comfort and content. 
 
 While his army was encamped around Bean's Station, Gen- 
 eral Longstreet received a telegram from President Davis giv- 
 ing him discretionary authority over all Confederate troopS;, 
 of whatever service, then in East Tennessee. Invested, tem- 
 porarily at least, with autocratic power, Longstreet took 
 leisure to do a little pruning among his subordinate com- 
 manders. General McLaws was the first officer to be relieved 
 of command, and following him went General Robertson and 
 General Law. With McLaws' removal we have no concern. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 225 
 
 Law was relieved of command, beyond doubt, in order to give 
 General Jenkins a better chance of securing the commission 
 of a major-general and the command of Hood's division — it 
 having become known by this time that Hood would be pro- 
 moted to a lieutenant-generalcy. 
 
 Against General Robertson charges were preferred by Gen- 
 eral Jenkins by express direction of General Longstreet. These 
 did not complain that Robertson lacked ability as a brigade 
 commander, or had been guilty of any unsoldierly conduct on 
 the field. The gist of his offense was that when Jenkins or- 
 dered a movement of the Texas Brigade that would entail 
 upon it a long and hurried march over a rough and moun- 
 tainous country and great hardship, he (Robertson) had in- 
 formed his regimental commanders that he was opposed to 
 the movement, would require written orders for it, and would 
 obey it under protest; that his men were in no condition for 
 active campaigning, and that he had no confidence in the 
 campaign as conducted. 
 
 That these charges did not affect the standing of " Aunt 
 Pollie " with the Texas Brigade, is proven by the fact that 
 not a member of it ever blamed him for what he did ; on the 
 contrary, the brigade heartily approved of his course, and 
 its survivors are yet grateful to him for the firm stand he 
 took and for the interest and fatherly solicitude he always man- 
 ifested in the well-being of his men. The truth is, at that 
 time the Texas Brigade was in worse plight than any brigade 
 in the division. It could get no supplies from Texas or Ar- 
 kansas, as could and did the other brigades from their home 
 States. However, the charges against its commander went up 
 in smoke. President Davis and the Secretary of War held 
 them frivolous and utterly insufficient to justify, even if proved 
 true, the removal of an able and well-liked brigade commander. 
 Still, rather than remain in a corps with whose commander he 
 was persona non grata, and in a division of which, as then 
 appeared probable, Jenkins would be appointed major-general, 
 Robertson sought and obtained a transfer to Texas, on re- 
 cruiting service for the army of the Confederacy. 
 
 The stay of the Texas Brigade at Morristown was of brief 
 duration. On the 15th of January, 1864, the enemy con- 
 fronted our cavalry in such strong force that it called lustily 
 
g26 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 for reinforcement. Heeding the call, Longstreet ordered his 
 infantry divisions down to the neighborhood of Strawberry 
 Plains, Before they reached that point, though, the enemy 
 retired, and the Texas Brigade halted at Mossy Creek. It 
 remained there until February 10, and while there the men 
 composing it were invited to re-enlist, for and during the war, 
 last as long as it might. As it was enlist or be conscnpted, 
 not a man declined. 
 
 From Mossy Creek the Texas Brigade moved down to 
 Strawberry Plains, and, crossing to the east side of the H'ol- 
 ston River, took position to support Confederate cavalry then 
 feeling its way toward Knoxville, against which stronghold of 
 the enemy General Longstreet was making a demonstration 
 in hope of bringing troops to its relief, and thus reducing the 
 pressure on the army so lately commanded by Bragg, but now 
 by General Joseph E. Johnston. That object accomplished, 
 and President Davis about that time having ordered all cav- 
 alry belonging to Johnston's command to be returned to him, 
 Longstreet wisely withdrew his army from its advanced posi- 
 tion and marched it back to Bull's Gap. There Hood's divi- 
 sion found awaiting it a commanding major-general in the 
 person of General Charles W. Field, a graduate of West Point, 
 who, as the brigadier-general of a Confederate brigade in Lee's 
 army, had gained considerable distinction. To the Texas Bri- 
 gade also came a new commander. General John Gregg. 
 
 In their respective spheres, both Field and Gregg proved 
 themselves competent and efficient officers. That the former 
 did not win from the division the admiration and confidence it 
 felt for and in General Hood, and that the latter failed to 
 secure such a hold on the affection of the Texas Brigade as 
 Robertson had gained, was due, perhaps, more to lack of 
 opportunity than to any want of merit in either. Of each of 
 them it may be said that in character he was almost diamet- 
 rically the opposite of his predecessor. Field was of phleg- 
 matic temperament, and seemed indifferent whether the division 
 liked him or not. Gregg's service on the bench in Texas had 
 developed in him an austerity of manner and a positiveness 
 of utterance altogether unlike the free, easy, and somewhat 
 fussy ways of General Robertson that had won for him the 
 sobriquet of " Aunt Pollie." Moreover, Gregg held himself 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 227 
 
 aloof from his inferiors in rank, and so did not afford his men 
 any opportunity to acquaint themselves with the good qual- 
 ities he undoubtedly had in abundance. In truth, the stand- 
 ard of excellence in a commander for whom they would " do 
 or die," which had been adopted by the members of the Texas 
 Brigade, was John B. Hood. It was impossible that any officer 
 could be to them what Percy Gregg, the English historian, says 
 Hood was ; that is, " a splendid soldier peculiarly suited to the 
 command of his reckless, daring and indomitable Texans, with 
 whom he was a special favorite. Commander and men alike 
 exaggerated the proverbial quality of EngHshmen — they never 
 knew when they were beaten, or, when they must be." 
 
 On the 24th of March, 1864, President Davis wired General 
 Longstreet to make all needful preparations for the march of 
 his command to that of General Johnston, to join in a spring 
 campaign planned by Bragg, who, proven incompetent to con- 
 duct the operations of a single army, was yet considered ca- 
 pable of directing the movements of all the armies of the Con- 
 federacy from an office in Richmond. April 7, though, Bragg 
 changed his mind, and Longstreet was ordered to rejoin Gen- 
 eral Lee's army, then holding the line of the Rapidan in Vir- 
 ginia, with all the troops he had carried from Virginia to 
 Bragg's army. Thus it came about, that about the 15th of 
 April the Texas Brigade broke camp at Bull's Gap, and 
 marching to Bristol, took trains to Lynchburg, Va. Remain- 
 ing there a few days — for there was neither need nor order for 
 haste — it boarded a train for Charlottesville, whence, on the 
 23d, it marched slowly to the eastward, finally halting and 
 camping near Gordonsville, about twenty-five miles from the 
 battlefield of the Wilderness. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The Wilderness — Spottsylvania — Cold Haebor — Peters- 
 burg 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1864, the hopes of the Southern Con- 
 federacy rested upon the two armies of Lee and Johnston — 
 that of Lee holding the line of the Rapidan in Virginia — that 
 of Johnston, at Dalton, Ga. General Meade was in command 
 of the army opposing Lee's, General Sherman of that con- 
 fronting Johnston's, and each of their armies was largely 
 superior in numbers and equipment to that of his antagonist. 
 All Confederate ports were blockaded, and along the Atlantic 
 and Gulf coasts the Federals held various important positions. 
 Tennessee, Kentucky, a large part of Mississippi, and parts 
 of Alabama, Florida and Virginia were in practically unop- 
 posed possession of the Federal troops. In the Trans-Missis- 
 sippi department, Arkansas was overrun by them, as well as a 
 large part of Louisiana. In Texas alone, save at Point Isabel, 
 they had no holding. 
 
 In March, 1864, Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant was in- 
 vested with command of the armies of the Union. Looking 
 over the situation, it was apparent to him that the armies 
 of Lee and Johnston could receive little reinforcement except 
 from each other. Therefore he planned a campaign against 
 each that would be so vigorously prosecuted as to keep it 
 busy, and prevent it from aiding the other — these campaigns 
 to begin on the same day. Once begun, there was to be no 
 halt by either. Sherman was to move against Johnston's 
 army, to break it up, to get into the interior of the South, 
 and to inflict all the damage he could against its war resources 
 — his objective points, first, Atlanta, and next. Savannah. 
 Meade's army was to be under Grant's own immediate super- 
 vision — his order to Meade being : " Lee's army will be your 
 objective point; wherever he goes, there will you g6." The 
 characteristic of the campaign, as stated by Grant in this 
 
 228 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 229 
 
 order, was "to hammer continuously against the anned forces 
 of the enemy and his resources, until, by mere attrition, if 
 nothing else, there shall be nothing left him but submission." 
 His desire was, he told a friend, "to fight Lee between the 
 Rapidan and Richmond, if he will stand." As developed in 
 the field, though, it was to place the Union army between 
 Lee's and Richmond, and to do the " hammering," not by di- 
 rect and continuous strokes at the Wilderness and other places 
 where Lee did stand, but intermittently, while the Federal 
 army, under his orders, by crab-like sidling, moved southward. 
 On the 4th day of May, 1864, Meade's army, numbering 
 fully 125,000 men of all arms, and said by one of its oflScers 
 to be " the best-clothed and the best-fed army that ever took 
 the field," crossed the Rapidan and made its way into what 
 was then, and except to the boldest hunters, still is, a terra 
 incognita, as impenetrable in many places as the jungles of 
 Africa — the Wilderness. What ghastly scenes, what thrill- 
 ing and horrifying incidents, what terrifying sounds throng 
 to the memories of the survivors of the armies. Confederate 
 and Union, which, for nearly two months, grappled there in 
 deadly struggle! The bloody carnage — the moans and 
 screams of the wounded as they lay helpless on the ground, or 
 limped painfully to the rear — the piles of the dead and the 
 dying — the acrid smell of burning gunpowder — the sickening 
 stench of putrefying corpses — the roaring cannon and the 
 shrieking shells, round shot, grape and canister — the crack- 
 ling musketry, and the spat or dull thud of hissing, whistling, 
 vengeful bullets — the dark, damp, dense, miasma-breeding for- 
 ests into which sunlight never penetrated, and the tangled un- 
 dergrowth of swamplands and morasses, are remembrances that 
 are yet vivid, and at which old soldiers yet shudder. 
 
 Strictly, the name. Wilderness, applies to a section of coun- 
 try, ten or twelve miles square, bounded north and east by 
 the Rapidan and Rappahannock Rivers, and lying between 
 Fredericksburg and Orange Court House. Seams of iron ore 
 and traces of gold were discovered there at an early day, and 
 for several generations, more or less mining was done. The 
 forests then growing were cut down to supply fuel for iron 
 furnaces — the first built in North America — and to clear the 
 land for the cultivation of tobacco. The mines finally aban- 
 
230 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 doned, the soil robbed of its fertility, the region was left to 
 nature, and was soon covered with pines, oaks, hickory and 
 other varieties of timber, beneath which grew vines, brambles 
 and all sorts of undergrowth in astonishing profusion. The 
 general surface, while elevated, is undulating, and between 
 the ridges course sluggish streams and lay swamps, bogs and 
 morasses. 
 
 But although the Wilderness proper lies as above described, 
 in 1864 it may be said to have extended to within a few miles 
 of Richmond, distant from the battle ground of May 6 about 
 seventy miles on a bee-line, but on the route taken by the 
 armies, nearly, if not quite, a hundred. Across this extension 
 of it run the waters of the Mattapony, North Anna, Little 
 River, South Anna, Chickahominy and other streams of less 
 size and note — their many uncultivated valle3's, covered with 
 timber and undergrowth, and often marshy and always 
 miasmatic. 
 
 General Lee was neither taken by surprise, nor unprepared 
 for Meade's passage of the Rapidan and advance into the 
 Wilderness. Ewell's and Hill's corps were in their places, 
 and on May 5, in an engagement beginning at daylight and 
 lasting until after nightfall, gave bloody check to the Federal 
 army. On the same day, Hood's old division, hereafter to 
 be designated as Field's, was on the march to find position in 
 the line held by the Confederates. That night it bivouacked 
 within eight miles of the line occupied by Hill's corps, and at 
 3 A. M. on the morning of the 6th, the Texas Brigade leading 
 the column — moved at a rapid gait to the front. Between 
 daylight and sunrise, when within two miles of the firing line, 
 the noises of volleys of musketry and occasional reports of 
 cannon gave notice that the struggle of the day had com- 
 menced, and at the sound General Gregg gave the command, 
 " Double quick ! " 
 
 " Breaking instantly into a double quick movement," writes 
 a member of the Fourth Texas, " we pressed on toward the 
 Plank Road. Half a mile from it, an order came to Gregg to 
 report, with the Texas Brigade, as soon as possible to General 
 Lee. Reacliing the Plank Road, we found it a scene of utter, 
 and apparently, irremediable confusion, such as we had never 
 witnessed before in Lee's anny. It was crowded with standing 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 231 
 
 and moving wagons, horses and mules, and threading their 
 way through this tangled mass, each with his face to the rear, 
 were hundreds of the men of Wilcox's and Heth's divisions, 
 which were being driven from their lines. 
 
 " Filing to the right as it came into the road, the Texas Bri- 
 gade continued at a double-quick down it, toward the sound 
 of the firing, for nearly a mile. Then called to a halt, it 
 formed line of battle facing the north side of the road, loaded 
 its guns, and by a right wheel brought itself into position 
 fronting the enemy, on an open hill, the highest probably in 
 the section, and immediately in rear of a battery said to have 
 been Poague's. Not more than three hundred yards in our 
 front was a line of Yankee skirmishers, who, but for interven- 
 ing pine thickets and large timber, might have done us great 
 damage. 
 
 " At this juncture. General Lee rode up near our line. 
 Mounted on the handsome dapple gray horse he bestrode at 
 Fredericksburg in 1862, and which he always rode on the 
 battle-field, he was a picture of noble grace that I can never 
 hope to see again. Having given General Gregg an order 
 to advance at once and check the on-coming enemy, he added: 
 ' The Texas Brigade always has driven the enemy, and I want 
 them to do it now. And tell them, General, that they will fight 
 to-day under my eye — I will watch their conduct. I want 
 every man of them to know I am here with them ! ' Gregg rode 
 out in front of us, and told us what General Lee had said, 
 and then gave the command, ' Forward ! ' The word had 
 barely passed his lips when General Lee himself came in front 
 of us, as if intending to lead us. The men shouted to him to 
 come back, that they would not budge an inch unless he did 
 so, and to emphasize the demand, twenty or more of them 
 sprang forward and made an effort to lead or push his horse 
 to the rear. I was too far from him to join in this attempt, 
 or, like any other man in the brigade I would have done so. 
 Exactly what occurred, not even those nearest Lee can tell, 
 but just as they got 'Traveler' headed to the rear, General 
 Longstreet rode up and said something, whereupon General 
 Lee rode silently back through our ranks. 
 
 " Then General Gregg again shouted the command to for- 
 ward, and forward the old brigade went. The enemy's skir- 
 
S5a HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 mishers discovered our approach before we had gone a hundred 
 yards, and opened a fire on us that killed or wounded many of 
 our best and bravest before they had fired a shot. Three 
 hundred yards further, the leaden hail poured upon us by the 
 skirmishers began to tliin our ranks greatly, and five hun- 
 dred yards from our starting point, we were confronted by a 
 line of battle. This could not withstand our assault, and so 
 fled in confusion. Across the Plank Road was another line, 
 and against it we moved rapidly. The storm of battle was 
 now terrific. Our brigade was alone, no support on our right, 
 none on the left, and an enfilading and terrible fire from the 
 left. The Plank Road ran diagonally across our line of ad- 
 vance, and down the road came the fire of a dozen cannon. 
 But across it we went, and drove the enemy back behind their 
 breastworks, to within a hundred yards of which we advanced. 
 Then it was discovered that a column of the enemy was com- 
 ing at a double-quick down the Plank Road, with the evident 
 intention of cutting us off, and General Gregg gave the order 
 to withdraw. But the object of our attack was accomplished, 
 General Lee's faith in the Texas Brigade justified. The 
 ground from which two Confederate divisions had been driven, 
 had been recaptured, but at a terrible sacrifice, for one-half 
 of our men were killed and wounded. Of the 207 men of the 
 Fourth Texas that went into the action, 30 were killed or 
 mortally wounded, and 100 wounded more or less seriously. I 
 do not know the extent of the losses in either of the other regi- 
 ments, but they were likely as great in the Fifth Texas as in 
 the Fourth, both of which regiments crossed the Plank Road. 
 The First Texas and Third Arkansas, however, although ad- 
 vancing and keeping in line with the Fourth and Fifth Texas, 
 did not get to the Plank Road, but fought to the left of it. 
 " The Fourth and Fifth Texas, the only regiments in dan- 
 ger of being cut off, fell back hurriedly, but not in confusion, 
 and the brigade was soon in line, a couple of hundred yards 
 in front of the battery near Avhich General Lee came to us. 
 As we were forming, another brigade passed over us on its 
 way to hold the enemy in the position to which we had driven 
 him. Ten minutes later we moved to the brow of a hill on 
 the left, and formed in hne at right angle to the general hne. 
 Then wheeling to the right, we moved down the hill, across a 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 233 
 
 morass and to the summit of another elevation, where we en- 
 countered a heavy Hne of Yankee skirmishers, and in the fight 
 with them lost quite a number of our men, killed and wounded. 
 The skirmishers dispersed, other troops took our place, and 
 we were given a long rest. That evening, though, the bri- 
 gade drove back a line of skirmishers, and thus held the at- 
 tention of the enemy until Anderson's and Law's brigades made 
 a flank movement and captured a part of the enemy's first 
 line of breastworks. ^ 
 
 " I was not with the brigade in that last affair of the day. 
 Taken sick at noon, I made my way back to the field-hospital, 
 and was there when at 9 p. m. our division marched toward 
 Spottsylvania Court House. Too unwell on the 7th to be fit 
 for duty, I was in the act of leaving the hospital on the 8th 
 to rejoin my command, when Dr. Jones forbade my going, 
 detailed me as a nurse and ordered me to remain there until 
 our wounded were carried back to Richmond. That was not 
 done until the last of April, and before it was, I visited the 
 battle-field twice, once on the 12th, and again on the 24th. 
 At the time of the first visit, its aspect was terrible and sick- 
 ening. The stench from the putrifying corpses and carcasses 
 of the thousands of men and horses that lay in every conceiv- 
 able shape and position on the ground, pervaded the air and 
 made impossible any long stay in the gloomy shades of the 
 veritable wilderness in which the battle was waged. All the 
 Confederate dead that could be found had been buried, but 
 the Yankees had not buried a tenth of their dead. Vast quan- 
 tities of clothing, ammunition and arms lay strewn over acres 
 of ground, the enemy, seemingly, having abandoned the field 
 in too great haste to remove them. I counted five lines of 
 breastworks that had been erected for the defense of the 
 Union army — one, immediately in front of our only line of 
 intrenchments, and the others in rear of that one, at distances 
 of from fifty to a hundred yards apart. In front of the first 
 line the timber had been cleared off for a distance of fifty 
 yards or more. At places, I saw acres of ground, the trees 
 on which were riddled with bullets, and on several portions of 
 the field where small timber and undergrowth only grew, the 
 trees were actually cut in two, and the undergrowth topped at 
 about the height of a man's head. The bodies of our Texas 
 
234 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 boys, brave fellows all, who had fallen, had been gathered to- 
 gether and buried under a large tree by the side of the 
 Plank Road. Although one large opening in the earth re- 
 ceived them, at the head of each was placed a board with his 
 name rudely carved on it, while nailed to a tree nearer the road 
 was another board on which were carved the simple but elo- 
 quent words, ' Texas Dead.' 
 
 " At the date of my second visit, the road and all the path- 
 ways leading into it were alive with worms, and above them 
 swarmed myriads of flies. The flesh had rotted from the 
 corpses and only bones marked the spots where brave spirits 
 had taken leave of their tenements of clay. Most of the cloth- 
 ing left on the field had been appropriated by the citizens 
 living near by, and the arms and ammunition had been hauled 
 away in wagons sent out by the Confederate Secretary of 
 War." 
 
 To the daring and successful charge of the Texas Brigade 
 that day, is unquestionably due the check given the enemy 
 at a moment when, Wilcox's and Heth's divisions driven from 
 their positions, the Confederate army was in imminent peril 
 of being cut in two by an unexpectedly early dash forward 
 against its center of Hancock's always hard-fighting corps. 
 That the loss of the open and commanding hill from which 
 it advanced and repulsed the on-coming Federals, would have 
 wrought disaster to his army, and that General Lee so be- 
 lieved, is evident from his presence there, the anxiety he mani- 
 fested, his message to the Texas Brigade, and his effort to lead 
 it. So, while acknowledging the aid given it by the other 
 commands of Field's division, and by those of McLaws' which 
 fought on the right of Field's, the survivors of the Texas Bri- 
 gade claim now, as always since that day of struggle and 
 bloodshed, that it saved the Confederate army, and that to it 
 alone belongs that distinction. 
 
 Of the day's battle in general, it may be said that from sun- 
 rise till 11 A. M., it was fought by Longstreet's corps alone, 
 neither Hill's nor Ewell's corps taking more than desultory 
 parts in it. General John B. Gordon is authority for the 
 statement that had General Jubal Early, at sunrise of the 6th, 
 been less obstinate in his expressed belief that Sedgewick's 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 235 
 
 corps was close in rear and support of the Federal right flank 
 — which it was not — or had General Ewell been less under the 
 domination of General Early, a flank movement by Gordon's 
 command was not only possible but invited and tempted, 
 which, assisted by Longstreet's bold and successful assault a 
 little after sunrise, would either have destroyed the Union 
 army, or forced it into hurried and disorderly retreat. Gen- 
 eral Gordon further says that when about 5 p. m. General Lee 
 rode to his left and was informed by himself of the situation 
 there, he immediately ordered the flank movement made, and 
 that but for the lateness of the hour, it would even then have 
 proven a mortal blow to the enemy. 
 
 About ten o'clock in the forenoon Hill's troops, now rested, 
 were again sent to the front. Longstreet sent Mahone, with 
 four brigades, to turn Hancock's left, which they did. Then, 
 moving forward, they rolled up that flank, as Hancock him- 
 self said, " like a wet blanket." By eleven o'clock Hancock's 
 front and both his flanks were driven back, and by noon the 
 left of the Federal army was defeated and disorganized. 
 Seeking to press the advantages gained, Longstreet formed 
 Kershaw's division in line of battle across the Plank Road, and 
 led it, in person, in pursuit of the now fleeing enemy. He had 
 gone but a short distance, though, when, mistaken by Ma- 
 hone's men, then halted in line and facing the Plank Road, for 
 a Federal officer accompanied by his staff, he was fired upon 
 and wounded, and the onset of Kershaw's men was checked. 
 General Lee rode at once to the front, and restoring order, 
 sent the division forward again, with a part of Field's di- 
 vision on its left. These troops followed the Federals to the 
 Brock Road, which crosses the Plank Road at right angles, 
 and there were confronted by a wall of fire, made by the 
 burning of the front line of the enemy's breastworks, and 
 also by a more dangerous line of artillery and infantry which 
 poured shot and shell into their ranks from the second and full- 
 manned line of works. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Confederates drove the enemy from that 
 second line, and planted their flags on the breastworks, but, 
 owing to the continued terrible artillery fire, soon fell back a 
 quarter of a mile to a line they held the balance of that 
 and all the next day. The outcome of the day's battle was 
 
^6 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 an advance of the Confederate lines, and the placing of the 
 Union army on the defensive. 
 
 Peace and comparatively absolute quiet reigned on the 7th. 
 That night Grant moved his army southward, to Spottsyl- 
 vania Court House, but when on the morning of the 8th his 
 advance, under Warren, arrived there, it found Longstreet's 
 corps, now commanded by R. H. Anderson, in its front. 
 Thenceforward, until Grant shifted to the south side of the 
 James River, there was little cessation of battle between the 
 two armies ; if not all along the lines, it was on this or that 
 flank, or in the center, that Grant " hammered." 
 
 To follow the movements of the Texas Brigade and relate 
 them in detail, would be wearisome and unprofitable. It was 
 one of the component parts of a live machine that, although 
 guided and directed by General Lee, seemed to move automati- 
 cally. In light and In darkness, it shared with comrade com- 
 mands a relentless, ceaseless and ever-present danger. In the 
 trenches its men looked their perils In the face without blench- 
 ing, and grew Inured to them ; in camp or on the march, they 
 swooped down on us unexpectedly — now coming in the guise 
 of bullets from far-off concealed sharpshooters, and again from 
 overhead, when shells from the enemy's long-range cannon 
 burst in the air. Death or wounds came at all hours of 
 the night and day. Absolute safety was nowhere to be found 
 within the zone of five miles in width through the center of 
 which ran the opposing lines of breastworks. Lee's whole 
 force barely sufficient to man the line confronting the enemy's, 
 his soldiers could not be allowed, when relieved from service 
 at the front, to seek resting places beyond the zone, lest, in 
 case of sudden attack, they fail to reach threatened parts of 
 the line in time to avert disaster. 
 
 Wherever a halt was made on the firing line, breastworks 
 were immediately erected — the Federals, notwithstanding their 
 overwhelming preponderance in numbers, being as insistent as 
 the Confederates on having such protection. The Confeder- 
 ates soon grew to be experts in the manipulation of the pick 
 and the spade, and when, as frequently happened, such tools 
 were not at hand, and the enemy threatened a speedy attack, 
 resort was had to bayonets — tin-cups and frying-pans and 
 such few axes and hatchets as were carried by Individual sol- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 237 
 
 diers. With these and such logs and rails as could be found 
 near, fairly safe breastworks were thrown up in an hours 
 
 *™The rations issued to the Confederates, slender as they were 
 at its beginning, grew less and less as tl^/^^^^^^P^iP P??" 
 gressed. Flour became a luxury, corn-bread the staff of lite 
 Hunger— incessant, never-satisfied hunger— prevailed and 
 the soldiers grew thin and gaunt. Still, on the pound of corn- 
 meal to the man, and the less than half a pound of bacon, or as 
 much of beef which was occasionally issued, Lee's soldiery man- 
 aged to live and retain the strength and the courage for al- 
 most continuous battle with a well-fed foe. , 
 
 The Texas Brigade moved, as did the other commands m 
 the Southern army, always to the right, and only as Grants 
 army sidled to its left-Lee's constant effort being, and he 
 seldom failed to accomphsh it, to confront the Federals at all 
 times and places. Grant's effort seemed to be, not to cru h 
 the Confederate army, but to evade it. But move as secretly 
 as Grant might, Lee was either informed of the movement or 
 divined it in time to meet it; and dangerous as it otten was, 
 to weaken a part of the Hne then held by him, kept his troops 
 
 well in front of Grant's. -o • j 4-1, 
 
 In the early hours of May 8 the Texas Brigade threw up 
 breastworks along the part of the hne assigned to it at bpott- 
 svlvania. It was not attacked until about sunset of the 10th. 
 For many hours of the 8th, and all day of the 9th, the dull 
 but incessant roar of small arms and the wicked boom^ of artil- 
 lery told of repeated assaults on Ewell's lines on its right, and 
 behind breastworks for the first time and anxious to learn what 
 execution it could do from them, it felt slighted At daylight 
 of the 10th it appeared that its hopes would be gratified. 
 Fruition, however, was denied until late in the day. ihen, 
 having failed after repeated trials, beginning ^^ s^Jf ' ^j^ 
 make headway against either Hill's corps, on the le^ « ^ong- 
 street's, or Ewell's, the enemy as a last resort decided to move 
 against Field's division. Their heaviest blow was directed 
 against the Texas Brigade, and, it must be confessed, they 
 
 took it by surprise. i- .i • u • /i«c 
 
 Giving no notice of their intentions, five of their brigades, 
 under cover of the heavy timber, crawled close up to the breast- 
 
238 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 works. Then, with loud huzzas they sprang forward in a 
 seemingly reckless charge. Having made up their minds that 
 they would not be attacked at all that day, the Texas regi- 
 ments were not as ready as they should have been, and for a 
 few seconds it looked as if the enemy would win the breast- 
 works. But when his hope was strongest, a sheet of flame and 
 a yell of defiance burst from the intrenchments, the bullets 
 mowing the assailants down by the hundreds, and in front of 
 the Fourth and Fifth Texas and the Third Arkansas the onset 
 was soon checked. 
 
 The First Texas was not as successful as its comrade regi- 
 ments in repelling the enemy. About the middle of the part 
 of the line occupied by it a gap, probably forty feet wide, had, 
 for some reason, been left unprotected by breastworks, and 
 into this, a double line of the Union soldiers poured, shoot- 
 ing right and left, and to some extent, using their bayonets. 
 But although taken more by surprise than the other regiments, 
 being habitually more careless, and driven from their works, 
 the First Texans immediately rallied, and joining in a hand- 
 to-hand contest with their assailants, soon drove them back 
 over the works ; and as by this time the balance of the bri- 
 gade was idle and turned their fire on the Federals still in front 
 of the First, they were soon compelled to precipitate flight. 
 But for a while, the aff^air looked ugly to the Confederates, 
 and troops were hurried to the reinforcement of the Texas 
 Brigade. By the time they arrived, though, the part of the 
 line seized was recaptured, and the Union troops in its front 
 were on the run. 
 
 The " Ragged First " was a peculiar regiment in many 
 
 respects. Its personnel were as brave and daring as any, 
 but they were never strong on dress, drill and discipline, as 
 laid down in Hardee's tactics. Their long stay in the corn- 
 field at Shai'psburg, and their repulse there of all the Federal 
 commands that had the nerve to assail them, shows how well 
 they could stand fire, and how vigorously and eff'ectively they 
 could deliver it. While in East Tennessee they took a notion 
 that they could march with greater ease if relieved of the 
 weight of bayonets, for which they had never had need and 
 never expected to have, and they threw them away. When 
 at Spottsylvania quite a number of them felt the points of 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 239 
 
 bayonets in the hands of the enemy, they " saw the point " 
 that such weapons were good things to have, and quiet was 
 no sooner restored than they went in search of them and were 
 soon well-equipped with them— securing many from the aban- 
 doned guns of the Federals, and borrowing, "unbeknownst" 
 to the owners, others from an Alabama brigade of another 
 
 division. 
 
 In the matter of dress, as above indicated, the First Texans 
 were neither dudes nor dandies. Their fondness for and fre- 
 quent indulgence in games of cards, naturally had a disastrous 
 effect upon the seats of their trousers. One day when the 
 army was marching from Sharpsburg toward the Rapidan, 
 General Lee and a distinguished English guest sat on their 
 horses by the roadside — Lee naming the commands by States 
 as they passed, and the Englishman observant and critical, 
 his look, that of admiration. As the First Texas filed by, 
 though, the look changed to one of derision, and noting it, 
 General Lee said : " Never mind their raggedness. Colonel— 
 the enemy never sees the backs of my Texans." 
 
 On the 11th, Grant let his army rest. It needed it httle 
 less, if any, than Lee's did. On the morning of that day, 
 Grant wired to Washington: 
 
 " We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting, the 
 result to this time in our favor. But our losses have been heavy, 
 as well as those of the enemy. We have lost to this time, eleven 
 general officers, killed, wounded and missing, and probably 20,000 
 men. ... I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes 
 all summer. The arrival of reinforcements will be very encour- 
 aging to the men, and I hope they will be sent as fast as possible 
 and in as great numbers. ... I am satisfied the enemy are 
 very shaky, and are only kept up to the mark by the greatest 
 exertions on the part of their officers, and by keeping them in- 
 trenched in every position they take." 
 
 The statement, " I am satisfied the enemy are very shaky," 
 was the outcome of desire they should be, and not of Grant's 
 six days' experience in trying to drive the Confederates. In 
 truth, the Army of Northern Virginia was never more en- 
 thusiastic and sanguine of success than it was on that day. 
 Grant's insistence that speedy and large reinforcements of his 
 
240 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 army would be " very encouraging to the men," is a confession, 
 that discouraged by their failures and appalled by the butch- 
 ery to which they had already been subjected, and appeared 
 doomed, his own men were shaky. His assertion that only by 
 the greatest efforts on the part of their officers were the Con- 
 federates kept up to the mark, is not only absolutely untrue, 
 but is another case where " the wish was father to the 
 thought." And finally, liis complaint, for it is nothing else, 
 that the Confederates would fight only from behind their 
 breastworks, is puerile in view of the great difference in num- 
 bers of the two armies, and the fact that wherever a Federal 
 command took position, it hastened to protect itself by in- 
 trenchments. 
 
 On the 12th, although to its right and left the storm of 
 battle raged continuously all day long, the Texas Brigade was 
 not attacked. Demonstrations, however, were frequent in its 
 front, and 'the men were kept busy watching lest one of these 
 be converted into a real attack, and firing at every Federal 
 and body of Federals that came in sight and within range of 
 their rifles. Both for this pui*pose, and to repel an assault, 
 they had guns and ammunition in superabundance, gathered 
 from the large supplies left on the 10th by the flying Union 
 soldiers. It was at the great salient occupied by Edward 
 Johnson's division that the real battle of the 12th was waged. 
 The brave, determined assault by the Federals, the courageous 
 obstinacy of the Confederates as they contested the issue 
 whether Lee's center should be broken and his army divided, 
 made the engagement far the bloodiest of the campaign, and 
 christened the salient as the " bloody angle." It was Grant's 
 grandest and most hopeful effort to break Lee's center, and 
 for long hours victory hung in the balance. Success crowned 
 the initial assault made on the apex of the angle by twenty- 
 two Federal brigades. Their approach hidden by the thick 
 woods and a dense fog, these crept up to within a hundred 
 yards of the breastworks, and then charging, captured John- 
 son's division, and only by the almost superhuman exertions 
 of the Confederates was their advance to the base of the angle 
 stayed, and finally, after the most desperate fighting on both 
 sides, repulsed. 
 
 It is wonderful how rapidly information as to what was 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 241 
 
 occurring, or had occurred, passed from lip to lip up and down 
 the Confederate lines. Hancock's assault at the " bloody 
 angle " was known to the Texas Brigade within three minutes 
 after it began, and so of every other important happening. 
 Jokes, jests and accounts of the ludicrous had as swift trans- 
 mission, and received a most grateful Avelcome, for they took 
 the minds of the soldier off the tragic. At nightfall of the 
 12th hardly had the firing ceased when came the comforting 
 words : " All right on the left," " All right on the right," 
 and " We've had a desperate time of it in the center, but 
 we're not whipped to hurt." While such reports came and 
 were received exultingly, behind them, in cases where the fight- 
 ing had been severe, we could hear the groans of the wounded 
 and dying, and in the light of our own experiences, see the 
 fast stiffening bodies of the slain. It was war, and it might 
 be the turn next of any one of us to fall wounded or dead, and 
 if wounded, to writhe in pain and agony, or, using musket as 
 a crutch, limp slowly and painfully to the rear. Yet, not a 
 man of Lee's army lost heart, and ceased to be brave, defiant 
 and hopeful. 
 
 On the 13th quiet prevailed. On the afternoon of the 14th 
 it was discovered that the enemy had again sidled to the south- 
 ward, and that night the Texas Brigade was again on the 
 march, this time to the North Anna River. The tramp, how- 
 ever, was interrupted at several points where it halted to con- 
 front the threatening enemy, and to build the short line of 
 breastworks that was to be its shield should an assault come. 
 On the 21st it reached the North Anna, marching thence on 
 the 27th, and on June 1st taking position and throwing up 
 breastworks on the identical ridge north of the Chickahominy, 
 from which, in June, 1862, it had helped drive Fitz-John Por- 
 ter's command, of McClellan's army, to the south side of that 
 stream. Then it faced and moved southeast — now, it faced 
 northwest — the positions of the contending armies being ex- 
 actly the reverse of what they were in 1862. 
 
 The Federal breastworks were too close to those occupied 
 by the Texas Brigade to permit a picket line, and June 2nd 
 was spent in an almost continuous exchange of rifle shots from 
 the main lines. The morning of June 3rd dawned clear and 
 hot, not a breath of air stirring. A day of comparative quiet 
 
242 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 in prospect, the men were no sooner awake than they com- 
 menced reading the morning papers, just out from Richmond, 
 then but seven miles distant, breakfasting as they read on 
 clammy corn-bread and raw bacon — the latter too precious 
 then to be wasted by cooking. Such as had neither paper 
 to read nor rations to eat, strolled up and down the trench, 
 casting occasional watchful glances across the breastworks. 
 Not a man dreamed that an attack would be made by the 
 Union army ; our position was too strong. 
 
 But the improbable, the wholly unlooked for, happened nev- 
 ertheless. Grant made preparations for an assault on the 2nd, 
 and Lee, alert to every threat, took steps to defend against 
 it. Half a mile to the left of the Texas Brigade, Kershaw's 
 division guarded a salient, the weak place on the Confederate 
 line, and in front of this Grant massed the half of his immense 
 army, and made his last desperate effort to break through 
 Lee's line and gain a direct " on to Richmond." In the 
 trenches between Kershaw's right and the Texas Brigade stood 
 Anderson's and Law's brigades. These and Kershaw's troops 
 bore the brunt of the assault. Against the Texas Brigade 
 there was scarcely the threat of attack, but, as in their ad- 
 vance the Federals exposed their left flank to its fire, they got 
 it as fast as experienced soldiers could load, aim and pull 
 triggers. 
 
 The charge of the Federals was gallant enough to deserve 
 success. They came forward in four lines, about fifty yards 
 apart, and thus presented the fairest of targets for Texas 
 and Arkansas markmanship. But they essayed the impos- 
 sible ; men could not live in the fire poured on them from front 
 and flanks, and although in the first rush a few came within 
 seventy yards of our lines, they halted, about-faced, and fled 
 as fast as legs could carry them. The slaughter was terrible ; 
 in the fifteen minutes their struggle lasted, 10,000 Union sol- 
 diers were killed and wounded. This assault on the Confeder- 
 ate center was supported by one made at the same hour, a 
 mile or more to the right of the Texas Brigade, by Hancock's 
 corps, which, though fruitless, cost it the loss of '3000 men. 
 The Confederate loss during the day was less than 1300. 
 
 At nine o'clock of the same morning Grant ordered the 
 assault renewed. But not a man in the Union ranks moved 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 243 
 
 forward, for not a man of them but knew it was suicidal to 
 undertake the task ordered. Swinton, the Northern historian, 
 is candid enough to say : " The order was issued through 
 these officers to their subordinate commanders, and from them 
 descended through the wonted channels, but no man stirred 
 and the immobile lines pronounced a verdict, silent, yet em- 
 phatic, against further slaughter." 
 
 Until nightfall of June 7th the Texas Brigade remained at 
 Cold Harbor without change of position, the stench of the un- 
 buried, rotting corpses of the Federals slain on the 3rd con- 
 stantly in its nostrils — Grant having delayed asking leave to 
 bury his dead until the 5th, lest the request be construed as an 
 admission of defeat, and when given permission, having failed 
 to bury the half of them. Relieved then by other troops, it 
 was given a day's rest in a camp in the woods, whence it went 
 over to Totopotomy Creek to hold a position from which 
 Ewell's troops were retiring, against Federal cavalry with 
 which it had a rumpus from which the cavalry emerged con- 
 siderably the worse for wear. Thence, on the 13th, along 
 with the other commands of Field's division, it went to the 
 south side of James River, crossing that stream on a pontoon 
 bridge above Drury's Bluff, and on the morning of the 16th, 
 taking position in an old line of earthworks at Bermuda Hun- 
 dreds. Grant, hopeless of forcing his way into Richmond by 
 the route originally chosen by him, was transferring his army 
 to the south side — his aim to capture Petersburg and move 
 against Richmond from that point — and Lee was hurrying his 
 to the support of Beauregard, then commanding an insignifi- 
 cant force at Petersburg. 
 
 On the crest of the hill at the foot of which the Texas 
 Brigade lay, stretched a short line of intrenchments from 
 which, a day or two before, the Federals had driven Beaure- 
 gard's troops. They were now occupied by the enemy in 
 heavy force. For a while an effort to recapture them was in 
 contemplation. At noon all thought of such an attack was 
 abandoned, and the men of the Texas Brigade settled them- 
 selves down for a good rest. At 5 p. m., though, Pickett's 
 division was ordered forward to make a reconnoissance in force 
 and discover the strengh and position of the enemy in its im- 
 mediate front. The gallant Virginians soon converted the re- 
 
244. HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 connoissance into a real attack, and unwilling to meet this, 
 the Federals broke in confusion and fled. The ground open 
 and the Texas Brigade not half a mile from the right of 
 Pickett's men, it witnessed every movement made, and when 
 the Federals broke, a Texas private — who it was, has never 
 been known — shouted : " Now's our time, boys ! " The eff^ect 
 of the call seemed magical, for the words had scarce passed the 
 speaker's lips when every member of the brigade sprang to his 
 feet, gun in hand, and leaping over the breastworks, joined in 
 a wild, reckless charge up the slope of the hill on the enemy. 
 
 No order was given by any officer; none was needed. Each 
 man wanted to do, just then, while the enemy were in confusion, 
 what he felt sure he would be ordered to do, perhaps an hour 
 later, when the Federals had recovered from their panic, and 
 probably, received reinforcements. There was no alignment, 
 no attempt at any, and such a yell as resounded was never, 
 before or since, heard between Richmond and Petersburg. 
 Company, regimental and brigade officers, followed the lead 
 of their men, and the other brigades of the division joined with 
 a yell in the movement. The outcome was that the Union 
 soldiers in front of the Texas Brigade took to their heels, and 
 it gained the breastworks unopposed — to find them half torn 
 down, and to discover that just over the crest beyond them 
 the enemy had built a strong line of intrenchments, along 
 which were two heavy-gunned and well-manned forts that had 
 the exact range, and poured a brisk but ineff^ective fire on 
 the dismantled works behind whose low walls the Confederates 
 crouched. The cannonading ceasing when darkness came, the 
 brigade worked all night to reconstruct the captured works. 
 But it was not allowed to enjoy the fruits of its bold, unor- 
 dered charge and its subsequent labor, for shortly after sunrise 
 it moved to the right, and an hour later was on the cars, 
 speeding toward Petersburg, which but the day before had 
 barely escaped seizure by the Federals. 
 
 The siege of Petersburg — it was really the siege of Rich- 
 mond — commenced on the 18th day of June, 1864. Then it 
 was that the Federal armies of the Potomac and the James. 
 and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under their 
 respective commanders, confronted each other south of James 
 River in the positions they were respectively to occupy until 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 245 
 
 the opening days of April, 1865. Grant wrote to General 
 Meade on the 18th, saymg: "Now we will rest the men and 
 use the spade for their protection, until a vein can be struck." 
 That kind of resting suggests the story of the plantation and 
 slave-owner, who, one hot summer's day in the fifties, said to 
 his darkeys when they came from the cotton-field at noon: 
 " Now, boys, while you are resting, you may as well hoe out 
 that five-acre garden patch." It was not a new kind of rest, 
 though, to the soldiers in the Army of the Potomac who had 
 constructed a line of intrenchments which stretched from the 
 Rapidan to James River. 
 
 Until the 19th the Texas Brigade moved from place to 
 place in the strip of country, a mile and a half wide, that lay 
 between Petersburg and the semi-circle of intrenchments on 
 the east and south that held the enemy at bay — halting an 
 hour or two here, a day there, or a night at another point. 
 The position then assigned it lay east of the city, far down on 
 the eastern and untimbered side of a long ridge — its left flank 
 south and within five hundred yards of the " crater," the yet 
 visible evidence of the great mine exploded July 30, 1864 — 
 its right resting on a rather wide branch which, in its passage 
 eastward through the breastworks, left a gap in them. The 
 Federal line of intrenchments was in the thinly timbered hol- 
 low at the foot of the ridge, and in front of the brigade, and 
 for a mile to its left was scarcely two hundred yards from that 
 of the Confederates. 
 
 Here for tliirty long, weary days the Texas Brigade stayed 
 on guard, under a hot, almost blistering sun, and with only 
 the shade made by blankets and tent-cloths, stretched across 
 such rails and planks as could be brought long distances on 
 the shoulders of its men through an incessant storm of bul- 
 lets, to protect them from its heat and glare. There was lit- 
 tle breeze, scant rain, and much dust. The opposing lines 
 too close together to permit either side to send pickets to the 
 front, the watching of each other and the guarding against 
 surprise was done in and from the main lines, and lest the 
 vigilance exercised there prove insufficient, each side main- 
 tained a rifle fire, which, although in the day time somewhat 
 scattering and perfunctory, was at night an unceasing volley. 
 Through this storm of bullets had to come on the shoulders 
 
246 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 of commissary sergeants and such men as ^yere detailed to 
 assist them, the rations on which soul and body were barely kept 
 together. The corn-bread, a pound a day to the man, was 
 cooked by details far in the rear; the bacon, a scant fourth 
 of a pound per diem to the man, or the same quantity of 
 tough, lean beef, was brought, uncooked, on the same shoul- 
 ders, as were also, but only at long interv^als, the small sup- 
 plies of beans, peas, rice and sugar then procurable. Coffee 
 — not more than thirty beans to the man — was a rarity. 
 
 The water that satisfied thirst, and in which such provisions 
 as the men dared waste by cooking, were boiled, had to be 
 brought in canteens from a spring on the far side of the branch 
 which made a gap in the breastworks, and to cross that branch, 
 by night or by day, was to risk life and limb — the Federals 
 guarding the gap as they did no other point on the line, and 
 keeping it hot and sizzling with death-dealing bullets. After 
 one man was mortally wounded, and two or three others, se- 
 riously, the risk was minimized, and at the same time equitably 
 distributed, by sending, in regular turn, two men of a com- 
 pany, with all its canteens, after water. One of these, carry- 
 ing all the canteens, would spring across the gap, and if he ar- 
 rived safe, toss them as they were filled, back across it to his 
 comrade. 
 
 To stay in the trenches alive, was to suffer with heat, 
 smother with dust, keep heads below the top of the breast- 
 works, and half-starved, long the more for a " square meal " 
 because there was little else to occupy one's mind. Thor- 
 oughly inured to danger as were the Texans and Arkansans, 
 they accepted its presence as inevitable, and now that it stayed 
 by them so constantly, it grew monotonous and ceased to be 
 worthy of more attention than could be given it mechanically 
 and subconsciously. Their experiences of hardship and peril 
 were neither singular nor uncommon. Not a brigade of Lee's 
 army that did duty in the trenches east of Petersburg as 
 long on a single stretch as did the Texas Brigade, but suf- 
 fered and endured as much during those excessively wami, sul- 
 try months of June and July, 1864. Nevertheless, the same 
 Texans and Arkansans welcomed, with unfeigned gratitude, 
 the arrival, on the morning of the 20th of July, of the brigade 
 that relieved them. Up to about that date it had been im- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 247 
 
 possible without great exposure of life, to move troops held 
 in reserve into the trenches — now, it was made easy and safe 
 by long traverses leading from the trenches to points beyond 
 the range of the enemy's rifles. 
 
 Gathering up their belongings and shouldering their guns, 
 the members of the Texas Brigade bade what proved to be a 
 final farewell to the scene of thirty days and nights of dis- 
 comfort, ever-present danger and continuous noise, and their 
 steps quickened by the fear that the tons of powder it was 
 known the Federals were placing under ground somewhere 
 along that part of the Confederate line, would be exploded 
 before they could get beyond reach of its terrors, filed into the 
 long traverse and marched to a point a mile southeast of the 
 city. There, under the shade of trees, near a little stream of 
 clear, running water, and sufficiently far from the firing line 
 to dull the roar of guns, big and little, the brigade rested, 
 held in reserve, nine days that were all the more pleasant be- 
 cause absolutely uneventful. At 3 a. m. of the 28th, how- 
 ever, it marched, without beating of drum or blowing of bugle, 
 to the extreme left of the Confederate line, where, taking 
 refuge in a hollow that ran up into wooded hills, it awaited 
 further orders. An effort to capture one of the enemy's forts 
 was in contemplation, and the brigade had been selected to 
 lead the assault. Some Confederate officer blundered, and 
 surmising Lee's intention. Grant not only reinforced that part 
 of his line, but turned loose his artillery, and for more than 
 two hours the brigade lay under a stonu of shells and round- 
 shot which, notwithstanding its ineffectiveness, was far from 
 agreeable. 
 
 The project abandoned by Lee, and the artillery fire having 
 ceased, the brigade marched back into Petersburg, and thence, 
 crossing the Appomattox, proceeded to Dunlap's Station, the 
 then terminus of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. 
 There it boarded a train and rode to Rice's turnout, whence, 
 leaving the train, it marched across James River, and came 
 to a halt, an hour before sunset, some distance in rear of 
 breastworks, on the heights overlooking that portion of the 
 valley of the James known as Deep Bottom, which were then 
 occupied by Kershaw's division. On the 27th, it seems. Grant 
 had sent a large force to the north, side, and to meet it and 
 
24S HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 compel its return, Lee had sent over Field's and Kershaw's di- 
 visions. But there was only a little skirmishing done, and a 
 reconnoissance made after sunset developed the fact that the 
 Federals had withdrawn to the protection of their gunboats 
 on the river. That night, Kershaw's division returned to Pe- 
 tersburg, leaving Field's division to guard against another 
 advance of the enemy. Next morning, between daylight and 
 sunrise, such members of the Texas Brigade as were then 
 awake, heard the roar of the explosion of the long-talked-of 
 mine at Petersburg. Confident as they were that the mining 
 had been done under that part of the breastworks so long oc- 
 cupied by the brigade, it is small wonder that they and all 
 their comrades heartily congratulated themselves on their 
 timely removal from the vicinity. Bill Calhoun voiced the sen- 
 timent of all when he said: "Well, boys, hit's a d — d sight 
 more comfortabler ter be stannin' here on good ole Virginny 
 terror firmer than ter be danglin', heels up an' heads down, 
 over that cussed mine, not knowin' whether you'd strike soft 
 or hard groun' when you lit." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Charles City Road, Darbytown Road, Chaffin's Farm, 
 Williamsburg Road 
 
 Thenceforward, until the curtain rose on the last act of 
 the tragedy that culminated at Appomattox Court House, the 
 Texas Brigade remained on the north side of James River. A 
 few days after the affair of July 30 General Grant withdrew 
 from that side the bulk of the troops sent there, and Ander- 
 son's, Law's and Jenkins' brigades returned to Petersburg — 
 only the Texas and Benning's brigades of infantry, and 
 Gary's, of cavalry, being left on the north side to protect the 
 Confederacy's capital from attack and capture. General 
 John Gregg was assigned to the command of these. 
 
 Peace and quiet reigned until August 13, and in shaded 
 camp and with nothing to disturb its rest, the Texas com- 
 mand felt that its lines were cast in pleasant places. Vege- 
 tables were to be had in abundance from the Portuguese, negro 
 and " poor white " truck-farmers of the section, and having 
 been recently paid off, the men fared as sumptuously as their 
 wretchedly small allowance of bread and meat permitted. On 
 the 13th, though, their rest was broken by two Federal army 
 corps, which,, advancing from Deep Bottom, at daylight of 
 the 14th, assailed the Confederate left with a strong line of 
 skirmishers. Their force fully twice that of the Confederates, 
 the latter, in order to cover their front, formed in single 
 line, the men standing six feet apart. As was characteristic 
 of the Federal generals ©f that day, those in command lost 
 the advantage of their superior numbers by excess of caution 
 and slowness of advance. Not until convinced they had 
 double the strength of the Confederates did they order an at- 
 tack in force on Gary's cavalry, then holding the Confederate 
 left. 
 
 The cavalry was driven from its position, but at that junc- 
 ture Law's and Anderson's brigades arrived and by a desperate 
 
 249 
 
S50 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 charge regained the line lost. Then came darkness, and with 
 it a rain that lasted until morning, and the conflict ceased. 
 About 10 p. M. the brigades of Wright and Sanders rein- 
 forced the Confederates. An hour later the Texas Brigade 
 was ordered to the left to assist the cavalry to check the 
 steady movement of the enemy in that direction, and until 
 nearly sunset of the 16th it played a game of " hide and seek," 
 — the hiders being the two brigades of Union cavalry, which 
 crossing White Oak swamp on the Charles City Road, were 
 moving around the Confederate left toward Richmond — the 
 seekers, the Texas Brigade. 
 
 The sky was cloudless, the sun had a full head of steam on; 
 not a breath of air was astir in the dense woodlands through 
 which the infantry brigade marched and countermarched, and 
 water was not to be had except at the slow-flowing wells of 
 the few denizens of the section. Still, the hiding and seeking 
 went merrily and diligently on until, about the middle of the 
 afternoon, the Federal troopers learned that Texas and Ar- 
 kansas infantry were doing the latter, and decided to quit the 
 game. Leaving a regiment to act as rear-guard, their main 
 body beat a hasty and safe retreat. The rear-guard was not 
 so fortunate. Cornered by the Texas Brigade, about sunset, 
 on Eraser's farm, and cut off from the corduroy on which only 
 was the passage of White Oak swamp feasible, a couple of 
 hundred of them were killed, wounded and captured, and half 
 as many more rode their steeds into the swamp, hoping by 
 some miracle to escape its bogs. The remainder, more daring 
 and sensible, faced the bullets long enough to gain the cor- 
 duroy road, and go clattering down it, followed by a rifle 
 fire that emptied many saddles before their occupants were out 
 of range. Of those who plunged into the swamp, a few es- 
 caped capture, but none a submersion, head and ears, in the 
 foul-smelling ooze into which they and their steeds sank. 
 Quite a number of the men and ten or fifteen horses were pulled 
 out of the mire by the Confederates, but many valuable ani- 
 mals had to be left to die of starvation. 
 
 While the Texas Brigade was thus engaged, severe fighting 
 was done on that part of the line it had left the night before. 
 Grant had reinforced his north side contingent until the 
 enemy outnumbered the Confederates three to one, and to hold 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 251 
 
 their lines at all, the latter were driven to fight in single rank. 
 All day long seven brigades of infantry and three of cavalry 
 — all the troops Lee could spare from the south side, num- 
 bering at the outside, about 10,000 — contested the field 
 against 35,000 Federals ; and although at one time they were 
 driven out of their intrenchments, at another, in the late after- 
 noon, they retook these works by a gallant charge in which 
 they inflicted on the enemy a loss of 2500. The total loss 
 of the Union troops during the day was about 6000, and of 
 these, the larger part were negroes. The Texas Brigade lost 
 none killed, and very few wounded — its heaviest loss being 
 occasioned by sunstroke. One of the negroes captured, who 
 was interviewed by a Texan, said: " Yassir, Marster, I use 
 ter lib down dar on de Eas'ern Shoah, an' de Yankees day come 
 erlong an' tole me ter jine de ahmy an' fight fur de brack 
 man's freedom. Dar wahnt no way outer jinin', but fo' God, 
 Marster, dis chile wouldn't nebbah un chawged you white 
 folkses breas' wuks lack we did, eff der Yankkees hadn't er 
 tole us day'd shoot us efF we didn't. Hit war defF eeder way, 
 fur all de Yankees war er talkin' de same way, an' er stannin' 
 right dar behin' us, wid dar guns in dar ban's." 
 
 Returning to its old position on New Market Heights on 
 the night of the 16th, the Texas Brigade spent the 17th in de- 
 sultory, long-distance sharpshooting. The enemy appeared 
 content with the defeat of the day before, and so made no 
 movement forward, or to right or left. On the 18th the fore- 
 noon passed without incident ; in the afternoon there was a 
 cavalry engagement on the Confederate left, and some artillery 
 firing and much sharpshooting at New Market Heights ; and 
 that night, despairing of reaching Richmond from the north, 
 General Grant recalled the bulk of his troops to the south side, 
 leaving only two or three negro brigades to guard his pontoon 
 bridge at Deep Bottom. The Confederate commander also 
 ordered all his brigades, save the Texas, Benning's, Bushrod 
 Johnson's and Gary's, back to Petersburg. 
 
 On the 21st the Texas Brigade was assigned position at the 
 Phillips house — its duty, to watch the movements of the negro 
 brigades in Deep Bottom, and give notice of any attempt to 
 reinforce them. It remained there five weeks. But they were 
 not idle weeks, for the maintenance of a line of pickets that 
 
252 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 would cover the whole front of the negro brigades required 
 the daily detail of one-third of its men. But for all that, life 
 at the Phillips house was not unen joy able. Many vegetables 
 and fruits were in season, and high-priced as they were, they 
 were bought as long as the last two months' pay lasted. 
 Moreover, not only were the Richmond papers brought daily 
 to camp, but the New York Herald and other Northern jour- 
 nals were easily to be had from negro pickets, in exchange for 
 the tobacco with which Commodore Dunn, our sutler, kept 
 the brigade so well supplied. 
 
 Along toward the last days of September General Grant 
 believed the time ripe for renewed activity on the north side; 
 wherefore, he started 40,000 men in that direction, under Gen- 
 eral Ord, with instructions to proceed without delay into 
 Richmond. On the 27th these crossed the James River at 
 Deep Bottom, got well into position on the 28th, and at day- 
 light of the 29th, with negro troops in the van and covering 
 their entire front, moved forward against the 3000 Confeder- 
 ates, all told, then between them and their goal. Of this 3000, 
 Johnson's brigade was on the river above Drury's Bluff — Ben- 
 ning's, at New Market Heights — Gary's, guarding the Charles 
 City Road — and the Texas, at the Phillips house, between 
 Benning's and Johnson's, two miles to the right of the one and 
 three to the left of the other. Half way between the Texas 
 and Johnson's commands, was Fort Harrison, then occupied 
 by a small force of Confederate artillery. On the inner hne 
 of intrenchments around the city, a mile and a half in rear 
 of the Texas Brigade, and a like distance in rear of Fort Har- 
 rison, was Fort Gilmer, which was defended by a few heavy 
 siege guns, under the management of a few trained artiller- 
 ists and the City Battalion, composed of old men and boys, 
 and such clerks in governmental departments as were able to 
 bear arms. The line to be defended against the 40,000 Fed- 
 eral soldiers extended from Drury's Bluff down the river about 
 eight miles. 
 
 With daylight came a dense, obscuring fog, and through 
 it was heard a roar that sounded like the bellowing of ten 
 thousand wild bulls ; it was the shout of the negroes as they 
 valorously charged the picket line in their front. A minute 
 later it was learned that the first attack would be up a narrow 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 253 
 
 creek valley across which ran the Confederate line, and thither 
 the Texas Brigade hastened. In this little valley the fog was 
 so thick as to render large objects, a hundred feet distant, in- 
 distinguishable. Forming in single line, six feet apart, the 
 Texans and Arkansans awaited the onset of the enemy. They 
 could distinctly hear the Federal officers, as in loud tones they 
 gave such commands as were needed to keep their men moving 
 in line, but until the line approached within a hundred feet, 
 could see nothing; even then, only a wavering dark line was 
 visible. As it became so, and as was usual in those days, with- 
 out waiting for orders, the Confederates sprang to the top of 
 the low breastworks, and commenced firing — " shooting at 
 shadows," one of them said. 
 
 About the same instant a Federal officer shouted in sten- 
 torian voice, " Charge, men — ^Charge ! " But only by the 
 negroes immediately in front of the First Texas was the order 
 obeyed by a rush forward that carried a regiment of the poor 
 wretches up to, and in one or more places, across the breast- 
 works, and right in among the First Texans. The latter, since 
 Spottsylvania Court House well-provided with bayonets, were 
 experts in the use of them, defensively and offensively, and in 
 less than three minutes one-half of the assailants were shot 
 down or bayoneted, and the other half, prisoners. In front 
 of the other regiments the darkey charge lasted but a second 
 or two, and covered not more than five paces. It was, in fact, 
 simply a spasmodic response to the order. Then the black 
 line halted, and for a moment stood motionless, obviously de- 
 liberating whether the more danger was to be apprehended 
 from the Southern men in front, or the Northern men in rear. 
 Apparently, they decided on a compromise, for the half of 
 those that survived the terrible fire poured into their ranks, 
 threw down their guns, and wheeling, fled to the rear, and the 
 other half dropped flat on the ground, and lay there until 
 they were led away as captives. 
 
 In eff^ect, it was a massacre. Not a dozen shots in all were 
 fired by the blacks, not a man in the Texas Brigade received 
 a wound, and save in the First Texas, not a man was for a 
 second in danger. The firing lasted not exceeding five min- 
 utes, but in that short space of time, if the New York Herald 
 be good authority, a Confederate brigade numbering scant 800 
 
254 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 men, killed 194 ncfrroes and 23 of their white officers. Es- 
 timating the killed as one-fifth of the total loss, it will appear 
 that about 1000 of the colored defenders of the Union were 
 shot out of service in that five minutes. Of the many negroes 
 who dropped to the ground unhurt, quite a number preferred 
 to serve their individual captors as slaves, to confinement in 
 Southern prisons, and did so serve them until the close of the 
 war. 
 
 The firing had hardly ceased when word came that Gary's 
 cavalry and Benning's brigade had been driven from their 
 positions, and were in rapid retreat to the inner line of in- 
 trenchmcnts on which stood Fort Gilmer, and that if the- 
 Texas Brigade did not " get a move on," and a fast one at 
 that, it would be cut off from Richmond and its comrade 
 commands on the north side. Immediately following that in- 
 formation, came a courier from General Gregg with the more 
 alarming intelligence that Fort Harrison had been captured 
 by the enemy, and with an order that the Texas Brigade re- 
 port as quickly as possible to Gregg at that point. The 
 capture of the fort, as every man knew, placed the brigade in a 
 critical position, and within a minute it was double-quicking up 
 the outer line of intrenchments it had so long guarded — the 
 broad, level ditch affording not only the shortest route, but 
 as well, the best footing for rapid travel. It had not gone a 
 mile, though, before it was a long, straggling line of panting, 
 perspiring and almost exhausted men. 
 
 But no halt was made until Fort Harrison came in view, and 
 General Gregg met it. Having waited a quarter of an hour, 
 perhaps, for the men to close up, he led them around in rear 
 of the fort, intending to order a charge upon it. Before they 
 gained a desirable position, however, Gregg learned that the 
 Federals on the left were rapidly nearing the inner line of 
 intrenchments, and knowing that with these in their posses- 
 sion Richmond was at their mercjs he ordered the men to 
 make the best speed possible to that inner line. It was a race 
 with them and the enemy which would get there first, but they 
 won, lining up in the undefended works to the right of Fort 
 Gilmer, in the nick of time to prevent their seizure by the 
 Federals. It was the " last ditch " between the Union forces 
 and Richmond, and had they won it then, or at any time within 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 255 
 
 the next eight hours, as by one determined attack on its few 
 defenders — a mere corporal's guard as compared with their 
 40,000 — they might unquestionably have done, Appomattox 
 would have been anticipated by fully six months. 
 
 But they made no determined attack ; such advances as were 
 made were by unsupported brigades, but to meet even these, 
 and repel them, the Confederates were compelled to hurry from 
 one to another widely separated point, and there fight in single 
 rank and far apart. The Texas Brigade alone defended a 
 line of breastworks a mile and a half long, and to do that each 
 of its men had to be practically ubiquitous. How long they 
 could have held out was not fairly tested, for at 3 p. m. rein- 
 forcements from the south side came to their aid and at sight 
 of them the 40,000 Federals abandoned a contest in which, 
 up to that hour, they had held all the winning cards, and fell 
 back to the shelter and concealment of the forests. 
 
 The defense of Richmond against odds of more than thir- 
 teen to one by the four little brigades that fought so gallantly 
 and obstinately until three o'clock that day, deserves a tribute 
 of praise that has never been awarded them. Excepting as 
 they obeyed the general directions of their officers, the fight 
 was made by the privates alone, each man his own general — 
 the officers, figureheads. The loss of the Federals was about 
 2300— that of the Confederates, about 100. But for the 
 pluck, the uncommanded pluck of the heavy artillerists and of 
 privates of the Texas and Benning's brigades. Fort Gilmer, 
 the one place where the attack of the Federals seemed most 
 determined, must have fallen, and had it, Richmond would 
 have been in the grasp of the Union army. It was here that 
 Caw'pul Dick, a burly black corporal, met his death. The 
 incident is related in the letter of a Texan, as follows : 
 
 " A brigade of negroes, supported — or, rather, urged for- 
 ward — by white troops, made an assault on Fort Gilmer, but 
 the artillerists there were game, and, by the help of half a 
 hundred Georgia and Texas infantry, easily repelled the at- 
 tack. Death in their rear as surely as in their front, — the 
 prisoners taken declared that they would have been fired upon 
 by their supports had they refused to advance — the poor dar- 
 keys came on, for a while, with a steadiness which betokened 
 disaster to the Confederates. But suddenly the line began to 
 
256 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 waver and twist, and then there was a positive halt by all, 
 except perhaps a hundred, who rushed forward and, miracu- 
 lously escaping death, tumbled head-long and pell-mell into 
 the wide and deep ditch surrounding the fort. 
 
 " ' Surrender, 3^ou black scoundrels ! ' shouted the com- 
 mander of the fort. 
 
 " ' S'rendah yo'sefF, sah ! ' came the reply in a stentorian 
 voice. ' Jess wait'll we'uns git in dah, efF yer wanter.' Then 
 they began lifting each other up to the top of the parapet, but 
 no sooner did a head appear above it than its owner was killed 
 by a shot from the rifles of the infantry. 
 
 " ' Less lifF Caw'pul Dick up,' one of them suggested ; ' he'll 
 git in dah, suah ; ' and the corporal was accordingly hoisted, 
 only to fall back lifeless, with a bullet through his head. 
 
 " ' Dah now ! ' loudly exclaimed another of his companions ; 
 * Caw'pul Dick done dead! What I done bin tole yer? ' 
 
 " Yet, notwithstanding the loss of Corporal Dick, it was 
 not until the inmates of the fort threw lighted shells over into 
 the ditch that the darkeys came to terms and crawled, one 
 after another, through an opening at the end of the ditch, 
 into the fort." 
 
 Their capture on the 29th of September, of Fort Harrison, 
 was a distinct gain to the Federals. Holding it. General Lee 
 had been able to confine the enemy on the north side to the 
 valley of the James, below Drury's Bluffs ; losing it, he was 
 compelled to withdraw his forces from the heights north of the 
 James, and place them within a line of intrenchments encir- 
 cling Richmond, and, at various points, not over three mile? 
 from the city. This gave the Federals outlet into the country 
 north of Richmond. Lee, however, did not withdraw without 
 an effort to recapture Fort Harrison, and with it, regain pos- 
 session of the ground lost on the 29th, for on the 30th he or- 
 dered an assault made on the fort by a portion of the troops 
 sent over from the south side. But, though well-managed and 
 made with great vigor and determination, the attack failed of 
 success, and emboldened by the defeat administered their op- 
 ponents, the Federal commanders led their troops out of the 
 river valley on to the heights from which, for the first time, 
 they caught sight of the high church steeples of the doomed 
 capital of the Southern Confederacy — Kautz's cavalry, sup- 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 257 
 
 ported by several brigades of infantry, taking position on, 
 and building formidable intrenchments and fortifications 
 across the Darbytown Road, at a point six miles from 
 
 Richmond. . . « ,, 
 
 The Texas Brigade took no part m the operations of the 
 30th, and remained unemployed, save in the Performance of 
 arduous picket duty, until October ^\h- ^n that day at 3 
 A M., it was called into line, and with the other brigades of 
 Field's, and several brigades of Hoke's division marched in 
 the direction of the intrenchments across the Darbytown Road 
 —General Lee having planned a reconnoissance m force, to de- 
 termine the position and strength of the enemy north of James 
 River That he deemed this of great importance, is evident 
 from the fact that he directed the movement m person. 
 
 Kautz's cavalry was easily handled; attacked at early dawn, 
 from front and flank, by a strong line of skirmishers, it 
 abandoned its artillery, and lost little time m placing itself 
 well in rear of its infantry supports. These occupied a Ime 
 of well-constructed intrenchments, extendmg a ong the crest 
 of a long ridge, in front of which much timber had been felled 
 and fashioned into an abatis exceedingly difficult of passage. 
 Half a mile from and in front of the center of the breastworks 
 stood an uncompleted fort in which were several of the cannon 
 captured-its defenders making but a brief stand agamst the 
 Confederate skirmish line. Passing to the left of this or t and 
 a little beyond it, the Texas Brigade fell into hne of battle, 
 and waited for the other troops to march into position on its 
 riffht and left— General Lee having planned to use the larger 
 part of the forces he had at hand in a simultaneous advance 
 
 and assault. .. , .^ ••• e av.^ v>of 
 
 Captain W. T. Hill, of the Fifth Texas, writmg of the bat 
 tie relates the follo'wing incident: "The Texas Brigade 
 formed in line about twenty yards from a dim road, on which, 
 immediately in front of my company, General Lee, unattended 
 sat on his 'horse, obviously awaiting reports ^-^ -^^^-^f 
 his staff engaged in fox-ming the troops in line. After quite a 
 little while? one of his aides approached him and aluted, 
 and Lee asked if all the commands were ready for the ad- 
 vance. 'None but the Texas Brigade, General, said the 
 aide 'The Texas Brigade is always ready,' commented 
 
258 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 General Lee. His tone was not loud, but in the still, frosty 
 air of the early morning, every member of my company could 
 distinctly hear his words." 
 
 Another member of the brigade, a private, says : 
 " It was a case of ' noblesse oblige ' with the Texas Brigade 
 — ' a ground hog case,' as one of the boys put it. ' Marse 
 Robert ' was on the field and had his eye on it, and inspired 
 by the consciousness of that fact, every man in it went for- 
 ward with the resolve to do his level best. But luck and the 
 odds were overwhelmingly with the Yankees that day. Their 
 position was strong, and every tree of the many lying on the 
 ground over which we charged, pointed its sharpened branches 
 at our eyes, faces, bodies and clothing. No sooner was a fel- 
 low out of the detaining clutch of one, than another presented 
 itself, and taking hold of flesh or clothing, held him captive 
 a while. There was no staying in line, and could be none — 
 it was each one for himself, in the effort to get through, over 
 or around the abatis. Yet, the brigade moved gallantly on, 
 by jerks and spurts, until an enfilading fire commenced sweep- 
 ing down on it from the right, and a look in that direction in- 
 formed it that Hoke's division had come to a halt. Glancing 
 then to the left, and noting that small headway was being 
 made by the Confederates there, the main body of the bri- 
 gade halted in a depression, about 300 yards short of the 
 breastworks, in which, to some extent, protection against the 
 enemy's rapid and withering fire was afforded. 
 
 " But although the brigade halted short of the breastworks, 
 individual members of it went close to them, and while the 
 fight lasted, the space between brigade and intrenchments was 
 dotted with such stragglers to the front — some of them, in- 
 deed, going so far that retreat would have been unwise, and 
 they surrendered. The loss of the brigade in killed, wounded 
 and prisoners was greater than in any engagement since the 
 Wilderness, but there is no record from which exact figures 
 can be obtained. Its most notable loss was that of General 
 John Gregg, who was killed while closely following his com- 
 mand and directing its movements. A brave and capable 
 officer, he had won its respect and confidence, if not its love, 
 and his untimely death was sincerely regretted. His remains 
 were followed by the Texas Brigade to Richmond, and buried 
 
i^^'''^^ 
 
 J. B. POI.LEY 
 Private, Company F, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 259 
 
 in Hollywood Cemetery. He was the last oflScer holding the 
 rank of brigadier-general that commanded the Texas Brigade, 
 and the battle in which he fell proved the last, worthy of the 
 name, in which the brigade engaged." 
 
 Unsuccessful as was the attack of the 7th on the enemy's 
 intrenchments, it sufficed to reveal to General Lee the strength 
 and position of the Federals on the north side, and he did not 
 order a renewal of the assault. Along toward the middle of 
 the day Field's division filed to the left and, taking advantage 
 of protecting hills and hollows, withdrew from in front of the 
 breastworks. The Texas Brigade marched to and took posi- 
 tion at the place, four miles from Richmond, where it was des- 
 tined to remain until the following spring, practically undis- 
 turbed by the Federals — General Butler's forces wisely, if not 
 valorously, keeping at long-distance range from its rifles, even 
 when, on the 27th of October, they essayed to force their way 
 into Richmond. On that day, for the purpose, it was said, of 
 strengthening " Lincoln's prospects in the near-at-hand presi- 
 dential election '' of 1864, by a couple of victories, General 
 Grant sent a column of 32,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry to 
 turn Lee's, right at Hatcher's Run, fourteen miles southwest 
 of Petersburg, and also ordered General Butler to make a dem- 
 onstration against Richmond. Neither movement was crowned 
 with success — Hancock, at Hatcher's Run, being not only de- 
 feated, but losing heavily in men and cannon, and Butler, on 
 the north side, moving with a caution that defeated his object. 
 
 Of the battle of October 27th, Captain W. T. Hill, who was 
 then commanding the Fifth Texas, writes as follows : 
 
 " All of Field's division were then on the north side — the 
 Texas Brigade holding the left of the infantry line, and Gary's 
 cavalry being on the left of the Texas Brigade. About the 
 middle of the afternoon, the advance guard of the Federals 
 attacked and drove back to the breastworks a portion of 
 Gary's cavalry, then holding position somewhat in advance of 
 their comrades. The Texas Brigade was instantly double- 
 quicked to Gary's relief, and to cover the front of the advanc- 
 ing Federals, our men stood in single line, about eight feet 
 apart. Benning's and Anderson's Georgia brigades followed 
 the movement to the left, and also fell into single line. Just 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 as the three commands got fairly into line and position, a 
 Federal battery and two regiments of infantry emerged from 
 the woods in our front — the artillery taking position on the 
 north side of the Williamsburg road, and the infantry on the 
 south side. From their movements, it was evident that they 
 were somewhat surprised at finding infantry, instead of cavalry 
 alone, in their front. 
 
 " Finally, the Federal infantry moved forward against us. 
 But they came only about two hundred yards when, met by 
 our bullets, they lay down. Their battery did effective work, 
 though, at one time blowing up one of our caissons and com- 
 pelling our men near it to jump over to the outside of the 
 breastworks. Two men of each company of the brigade were 
 at once ordered to concentrate their fire on the battery, and, 
 if possible, to kill all its horses. Their fire was so accurate 
 and destructive that fearing they would lose the battery for 
 want of teams to pull the guns, the Federals hitched up and 
 galloped away with it, leaving their infantry still recumbent 
 on the ground. They lay there for an hour. Then W. A. 
 Traylor, of Company D, Fifth Texas, sprang over the breast- 
 works and, entirely alone, made for them. I called to him and 
 ordered him to come back and rejoin his company. Halting 
 and facing me, he said : ' But, Captain, these slow-going gen- 
 erals of ours are going to sit still until night comes, and let 
 those Yankees out yonder get away.' And facing to the front 
 again, he continued his solitary advance. But he had not gone 
 thirty yards when, waiting for no orders, the men sprang over 
 the breastworks, and forming in line with him, proceeded to 
 the capture of the Federals. Traylor's line of advance led him 
 to a little gulley quite near our breastworks in which lay, con- 
 cealed from our view, a brave Federal who had done us much 
 harm by his constant and generally accurate fire. When Tray- 
 lor was within forty yards of the gulley, this man fired at him, 
 but missing his mark, paid for his gallantry with his life — 
 Traylor firing and killing him. By this unordered advance, 
 several hundred Federals were captured, the greater part of 
 the two regiments having crawled back to the woods. It is 
 but fair to say, that with the Texas Brigade in its unordered 
 advance, went both the Georgia brigades.'' 
 
 It was on the Williamsburg road that the Texas Brigade 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 261 
 
 was stationed. But at no time during the day did the Fed- 
 erals assault the intrenchments it held, their effort on that 
 part of the line being, seemingly, to frighten the Confederates 
 into precipitate flight, by a show of immensely superior num- 
 bers, at a distance never less than a quarter of a mile. Butler 
 had under his command '30,000 men — Longstreet had only 
 6000. Grant's army then numbered 110,000 — Lee's, 40,000; 
 Grant's was well-fed, and well-clothed, and shod — Lee's was 
 starving, ragged, and barefooted — and, if of spirit and resolu- 
 tion, if of courage and honest conviction. Grant's army had 
 possessed a tithe of that which animated Lee's, it could have 
 marched into Richmond any day it pleased. But it lacked 
 even that tithe, and knowing it. General Grant allowed it to 
 remain idle and inactive after October 27th, until the last days 
 of March, 1865. It was, perhaps, wise that he should; many 
 in numbers and well-equipped as the Union army was, its 
 morale was at a low ebb, and had been since his butchery of 
 his men at Cold Harbor, after which they fought but half- 
 heartedly. That truth is confessed in Walker's life of Gen- 
 eral Hancock, in Greeley's work, " The American Conflict,'' 
 and in many contemporaneous writings. 
 
 At that time — November 1, 1864 — and thereafter until 
 April, 1865, Lee's 40,000 Confederates defended and held a 
 line of intrenchments forty miles in length, and stretching from 
 Hatcher's Run, south of Petersburg, to the Chickahominy. To 
 man its entire length they must have stood in single rank, five 
 feet apart. Of guns and ammunition only, of courage and 
 determination alone, had they abundant supplies. Even fuel 
 for the fires needed to warm their shivering bodies was doled 
 out to them with sparing hand, for there was no forage for 
 the skeleton teams that hauled it. The quarter of a pound of 
 bacon and the pound of meal that, under the rules of the War 
 Department, were the daily assignment to each man were barely 
 enough to maintain their strength, but even this allowance 
 failed when the railroads broke down and left immense quan- 
 tities of such provisions piled up beside their tracks in Georgia 
 and the Carolinas, and for lack of them the daily ration was 
 reduced to less than one-half. 
 
 Just across the way, beyond the two opposing lines of 
 pickets and at many places in plain view of the hard-run 
 
262 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Confederates, lay the abundantly-tented winter-quarters of the 
 well-fed and comfortably-clad Federals. Among the Confed- 
 erates, and ever present to the end, at Appomattox, famine 
 stalked, grim, gaunt, unrelenting, and cold penetrated the thin 
 clothing of the men and chilled them to the marrow — among 
 the Federals, plenty reigned, no man went hungry and none 
 cold. Yet, great as were the material differences between the 
 two armies, it is neither venture nor boast to say that thence- 
 forward until Appomattox the Union army remained convinced 
 and could not be shaken in the belief that any one of Lee's 
 men was equal to any three of its own in fighting ability. 
 Nor can it be doubted by the dispassionate and unprejudiced 
 student of the history of those days that both General Grant 
 and the most able of his subordinate commanders had not only 
 a profound respect for the generalship of Lee, but, as well, a 
 wholesome and abiding fear of it. 
 
 Grant confessed as much when, at the outset of his cam- 
 paign, he declined to maneuver, and declared his intention of 
 exhausting Lee's army by attrition. Its movements, well-di- 
 rected, there w^as never a day after May 4, 1864, that the 
 Union army, fighting with spirit, confidence, and obstinacy, 
 could not have brushed the Confederate army out of its way 
 and marched into Richmond. Pluck and daring, resolute and 
 unyielding as it may be, can accomplish little when confronted 
 by equal pluck and daring on the part of such vastly superior 
 numbers as Grant had under his command. Weight tells in 
 any contest. 
 
 Winter at hand, and the Federals appearing inclined to a 
 cessation of active hostilities, the men of the Texas Brigade 
 set about the construction of shelters from the cold. These 
 were neither imposing nor very comfortable structures. Little 
 timber had been left standing inside the intrenchments, and 
 that north of them was so jealously guarded by the enemy 
 that it could not be counted on as available. The only lumber 
 accessible was that in deserted buildings, and this, for lack of 
 teams, had to be carried on the shoulders of the soldiers lucky 
 enough to be in time to secure shares in such material. Nails 
 were things of the past — hatchets, saws, and hammers were 
 few — and axes, seldom more than one to the company, were 
 the only tools procurable. But with these, hovels were built 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 263 
 
 which, when roofed with tents, blankets and like makeshifts, 
 and provided with fireplaces and chimneys made of mud and 
 sticks, proved desirable dwelling places for men so long inured 
 to hardship. In them the soldiers cooked, ate and slept, played 
 cards, checkers, cribbage and chess, laughed, talked, jested 
 and joked, and, strange to say, were not altogether unhappy. 
 
 Not all of their time, by long odds, though, was spent in 
 the hovels and in idleness. Picketing had to be done against 
 the Federals in their front. This being but a duty and pre- 
 caution, offered little of adventure and excitement, and these, 
 eagerly sought for, not only were details made of organized 
 and instructed parties of scouts under command of trusted 
 officers, but permissions to scout were given liberally to indi- 
 viduals and parties desiring to operate on their own hook. 
 The organized parties, as a rule, gave little annoyance to the 
 enemy, but the independent scouts went right in close to his 
 camps and kept his men in constant alarm ; in fact, during 
 that winter, not a Federal within five miles of the Texas Bri- 
 gade dared, after nightfall, stray beyond the guarded limits 
 of his regiment's camp, or in broad daylight go far from it 
 alone, lest he be pounced upon by Texan or Arkansan, relieved 
 of his valuables and led into captivity. 
 
 The only movement made by the Texas Brigade as a com- 
 mand during the winter of 1864-5 was on the 20th of Decem- 
 ber, 1864. Its objects and incidents are related by Private 
 J. H. Cosgrove, of Company C, Fourth Texas, as follows : 
 
 " The cold, chilly winds of December had stolen all military 
 ambition from the older officers of ' Lee's Army ' ; the weather, 
 combined with the seeming hopelessness of our cause, had pro- 
 duced that lassitude which, to the practiced eye, is a token 
 of coming dissolution. 
 
 " Not so, however, with that indefatigable, red-headed Col- 
 onel, who, the winter before, had alarmed the enemy at Ply- 
 mouth, N. C, and under Hoke's command had gained no small 
 repute as a leader in bold and dashing enterprises. His name 
 was Anderson. Small of stature, quick spoken, leaving more 
 to be understood than expressed, and quite nervous in his 
 movements, he suggested the reconnoissance of the 20th of 
 December, 1864; the last aggressive movement made by the 
 
^64 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Texas Brigade, except such as covered the retreat to the Ap- 
 pomattox. 
 
 " li was a bitter cold day ; a day preceded by times of 
 heavy snow and a freeze which so hardened the crust that it 
 bore up the men, though the artillery sunk through and into 
 the rotten soil, and the cavalry cut it up dreadfully. To add 
 to this, the day was gloomy. Murky clouds hung low and 
 depressed the men's spirits. 
 
 " In this weather, Colonel Anderson suggested a dash on 
 the enemy''s lines on the ' North Side,' not so much to achieve 
 important direct results as to annoy the Yankees, keep them 
 in the open, and disturb as much as possible their repose. And 
 then important direct results might develop, which could be 
 taken advantage of. 
 
 *' These did develop, but Anderson with all his dash was not 
 equal in that regard to the Texas Brigade skirmish line. I 
 remember that I was acting Clerk to Haywood Brayhan, Lieu- 
 tenant Co. F, and since Jack Sutherland's disabling, acting 
 Adjutant, and that as the Brigade moved out to the ' sally 
 port ' on the Charles City road, I slipped and fell several times, 
 as I ran along the line of march, delivering the mail to the 
 regiment. At the ' sally port ' was a Washington artillery 
 battery which had moved out before us. Some mile or so be- 
 yond we took a ' woods ' road which led to and intersected 
 the pike to the ' Pottery ' and to ' Deep Bottom.' 
 
 " As we had scouted all through this country, our Brigade 
 was placed in front, and with Ed Crockett, Dansby, Kay, Ben- 
 net Wood and others, I went on the skirmish line, which was 
 made up of Texans and South Carolinians. There were about 
 sixty or eighty of us under command of Major Martin; and 
 sixty or eighty men those late days in the war in Virginia 
 made what was then called a Regiment, in size and front cov- 
 ering. And then the sixty or eighty men were a survival, not 
 of the fit, but of those who were at first the fittest. They were 
 trained, and as Joe Polley would remark, ' tried and true.' 
 
 " Just beyond the New Market Pike we struck the enemy's 
 pickets, and with a rush and a yell, ran in on the reserves 
 at the heels of the videttes. Just then it began to snow lightly, 
 and the sight at that moment was indescribably grand. 
 
 " At the Yankee reserves' bivouac, fires made from rails 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE ^65 
 
 burning their entire length, cast a crimson glow ; the snow 
 was lazily drifting in huge flakes ; the red flash of the small 
 arms against a white background ; the flying enemy — dark 
 from their blue uniforms — and the pursuing Confederates, have 
 left with me a lasting impression. At the moment, I called 
 Crockett's, Wood's and Dansby's attention to the picture, and 
 began to dilate on its sublimity, when some smart-alex of a 
 staffs officer, as unpoetic as a mummy, remarked : ' We'll defer 
 your fancies, young man, to a season less serious.' General 
 Fields, riding near, retorted, ' You're right, my Texas friend. 
 It is beautiful. Something like Moscow.' To which I replied, 
 ' General, I hope not in results.' And forward we pushed. 
 
 " The ' bitterness ' of the cold that day came with a thaw 
 which ' slushed ' the snow, and from then on it was to keep 
 feet from frost bite. Mine became so cold at times that, find- 
 ing an open, unfrozen spring stream, I would bathe them in 
 its icy water to find relief from the cruel pain. All my dry 
 socks went, as did those of all the boys. 
 
 " Always moving to the left and obliquely forward, we 
 came, towards the noon of that short winter day, to the 
 broken holly-grown lands, through which deep worn gulleys 
 debouch into the James River's second-bottom land, a plateau 
 following that stream to the coastlands below. I had been all 
 day with Major Martin, Ed Crockett and Dansby, practically, 
 as the last two were nearly always my camp and scouting 
 companions. But in this broken and thickety country I be- 
 came separated from them. Coming up a deep ravine-side to 
 the crest of a hill covered by scrub pine and holly, with no 
 openings except the stock trail I followed, I came suddenly 
 upon a Yankee skinnisher. We were face to face and not ten 
 feet apart. He was in a stooping position, looking at me 
 from over a large and, as I afterwards found, rotten log. My 
 gun was at an easy trail, and I fired quickly from the hip. 
 
 " I hit that log, and the rotten dust flew like a cloud. I 
 knew my best chance was to charge him, and as there was no 
 return fire I was sure I had my man. A step or two and I 
 was at the log, but that Yankee had rolled down the hill and 
 was clean gone. I never touched him ; but he was at least 
 worse scared than I was, and that was enough. 
 
 " I could hear firing at the hill's foot, and going down its 
 
266 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 steep sides I found a South Carolina crowd trying to go 
 through an open apple orchard which the enemy defended from 
 the other side. I clambered over the fence, but a sharp fire 
 drove me to an apple tree, where I heard Dansby's voice: 
 
 ' Jim, you fool,' he cried, ' what in h are you doing in 
 
 there? ' My reply, I remember, was, ' Nothing just now, but 
 you fellows can get me out alive if you'll go around and flank 
 this patch.' 
 
 " And go around they did, to my great pleasure, for I 
 thought, for some time, that I was a goner. The Yankees 
 were about 200 yards away, and that apple tree felt so small 
 to me when they would clip all around it. As far as my 
 movements were concerned, I hugged the earth and let them 
 do the shooting. After that, I got with Dansby, and we kept 
 together, all along, till the finish. 
 
 " You remember the Dutchman who was so brave and so 
 bad.'* Well, that day he was with us. He had lately returned 
 from Saulsbury, N. C, where he had served a term for ' mug- 
 ging ' a comrade and robbing him of his money. After his 
 pardon and return Colonel Winker had him marching along 
 the breastworks, two hours on and four hours off, with a 
 placard tacked to his back containing this legend in large 
 letters : ' Stole his comrade's rations ' — an offense deadly se- 
 rious when 6 ounces of flour or meal, and 4 ounces of meat 
 daily, was all we got — except cow peas. But he would fight, 
 and fight as bravely as the best of us. On that cold day, his 
 legs became so swollen he could not drag himself along. The 
 heavy ball and chain he had worn in North Carolina had done 
 him up. 
 
 " Doctor Terrell advised him to go to the rear, but he said : 
 ' Doc, I can't do that. My honor as a soldier won't permit it.' 
 Terrell turned to me, with the peculiar smile that wrinkled his 
 nose, and said : ' Well, I'm damned ! Cosgrove, how is that 
 for a psychologic phenomenon ? ' I gave it up. 
 
 " Dansby and myself scouted around the enemy's right, and 
 found them not so numerous. We got well behind their line, 
 and into an old saw pit. From this, we began to fire on a 
 horseman out in the open, and soon had him dodging to beat 
 the band. But he was too far away to hit except by accident, 
 and after several shots at him, no accident happened. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 267 
 
 "Behind him was a breastwork with troops in it, and a 
 forted battery. This seemed their main line, and built to 
 protect their James River pontoon and their lines along Deep 
 Bottom. We found Major Martin and told him of it. He 
 said he didn't know where the brigade was. Dansby and I 
 were in the same fix, but we told the INIajor we knew where we 
 were, and he was perfectly satisfied. 
 
 "Crockett came up just then and suggested to the Major 
 to charge the Yankees out of the woods, as their fire was 
 annoying and hurting somebody, now and then. ' I gad, boys, 
 we'll do it,' said Martin, and yelled out, ' Charge 'cm, which 
 Crockett emphasized by 'dad blame 'em,' and Dansby and 
 myself more sulphuriously. ^ _ r ve 
 
 "At 'em we went, shooting and yelling like H — ahfax. 
 They broke and fled, and we followed across the snow-covered 
 field, close on their heels. Major Martin cried out, ' Go into 
 the breastworks with 'em,' and go we did! 
 
 "Do any of you remember Dansby's smile; a grin rather, 
 that covered his 'face. When we got breath he turned to Mar- 
 tin, and with that grin, remarked, 'Major, d^^'^ ^^"^ J^^^* 
 you?' The Major, dear old soul, laughed and said, VA ell, 
 nighly.' Here we were in possession of the enemy's breast- 
 works, and ' slap-dab ' in their rear, as Martin remarked, with 
 about 40 men, and to put it as Dansby did, ' forty miles from 
 nowhere.' Martin's query, ' I gosh, where you reckon the bri- 
 gade is.? ' I can hear to this day. A wandering cavalry man 
 was sent to find them. 
 
 " In a little while ' our friends, the enemy,' came back with 
 a big force and a battery, and after a sharp fight drove Major 
 Martin and his 40 Texans back to the woods where we had 
 'flushed' them just before we took their line. 
 
 " Here we hung on. They shelled and shot at us, but the 
 Major kept us at it. We found big trees, built fires behind 
 them to keep us wann, and when night fell, the South Caro- 
 lina brigade found us. General Fields was along and took a 
 look at the enemy, but under a sharp fire, and concluded it 
 was now too late. 
 
 "Wasn't that a sad word to us all, many and many the 
 time.? Well, the old Major had done all he could, and as he 
 remarked, ' I gad, I couldn't whip the whole Yankee army 
 
268 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 with forty Texans, but I did carry their works and whip a 
 whole lot of 'em, by gad.' 
 
 " Going back to our huts, miles away, through that dark 
 and slush and cold, was one of my most trying experiences,; 
 but when I had warmed up, had supper and a smoke, and 
 was cozy in my bunk, I heard the horsemen coming along the 
 Charles City Pike, and remarked to my comrades : ' Well, at 
 least I wouldn't be a cavalryman.' " 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 Appomattox 
 
 From and after November, 1864, the Southern Confederacy 
 lay in the throes of fast-approaching death. Its credit, even 
 at home, was gone — its prestige abroad was lost — its resources 
 were exhausted. Following the uplifting excitement of the 
 practically continuous battle which, since early spring, had 
 wasted the strength of the Confederate armies on the firing 
 lines in Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee, and especially after 
 the disastrous ending of Hood's Nashville campaign, a reac- 
 tion came. The hopes that had sustained and encouraged 
 people and armies grew faint, and to thinking men whose 
 pride could humble itself to an abandonment of its dream of 
 Southern independence and separate nationality, the one and 
 only thing that seemed desirable, or even possible, was an 
 honorable peace. 
 
 Of the Confederate soldiers then in the field but a scant 
 fourth were at the front, or, at that late period, could be 
 brought there. Of the remainder, more than half of them 
 stood inactive in the Trans-Mississippi department of the Con- 
 federacy — held there as much by their own reluctance to share 
 the danger of active service elsewhere as by the presumed 
 military necessity of securing that section against invasion and 
 devastation. The residue operated in scattered detachments 
 in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and eastern Louisiana, and 
 along the Atlantic coast, fighting, it is true, bravely and un- 
 flinchingly, but, save the gain of occasional temporary advan- 
 tage, unavailingly. In brief, except in those sections of the 
 South where Lee's and Hood's armies confronted the enemy, 
 and in Texas, the war, ceasing to be national, had degenerated 
 into the guerilla stage, in which this or that quasi-independent 
 band of partisans sought not so much to aid the cause they 
 espoused as to gratify personal animosities and wreak revenge 
 on personal enemies. 
 
 On December 1, 1864*, Lee's army held Richmond and Peters- 
 
 269 
 
270 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 burg against the hosts under command of Grant; and Hood's, 
 then marching on Nashville, had just lost its opportunity at 
 Spring Hill to deal the enemy a crushing blow, but at Frank- 
 lin, though at immense sacrifice, had driven him out of his 
 works and into hurried retreat. General Dick Taylor, in com- 
 mand of a small force of infantry and cavalry, was operating 
 in the vicinity of Mobile, but doing neither harm to the enemy 
 nor good to the Confederate cause. Kirby Smith and Ma- 
 gruder played at soldiering in the Trans-Mississippi depart- 
 ment, effecting naught save to keep Federal troops out of 
 Texas. Of the Federal armies, that under Grant confronted 
 Lee's in Virginia — that under Thomas was at Nashville, await- 
 ing the coming of Hood's — that under Shennan was well on 
 its way to Savannah, Ga. — the route over which he had passed 
 marked by a swath of destruction, thirty miles wide, in which 
 not a house or a hovel was left standing — and the others were 
 stationed, in large and small bodies, at points where the}' 
 might hold the Mississippi River open to navigation, protect 
 lines of communication between supply depots and armies, op- 
 press and despoil the non-combatant citizenship, and by occa- 
 sional threatening activities furnish excuse for thousands of 
 Confederate soldiers to absent themselves from their commands 
 in the main Confederate armies, in order, they said, to protect 
 their families and homes. 
 
 The patrol of the Mississippi River by Federal gunboats 
 had long since prohibited dependence on Texas for beef, cut 
 that State, Arkansas, Missouri and a large part of Louisiana 
 out of the Confederacy, and left them " a law unto themselves." 
 Sherman's march to the sea, and destruction, as he went, of 
 all railroads, together with the Federal occupation of east 
 Tennessee, threatened to cut the remainder of the Confederacy 
 in two. The rolling stock and roadbeds of such lines of rail- 
 way as led into Richmond were worn beyond even temporary 
 repair, and although at Lynchburg and Danville in Virginia, 
 and at different places in North and South Carolina, large 
 quantities of meat, meal and flour were in storage, they could 
 not be transported rapidly enough to Richmond to supply the 
 needs of Lee's army. It was not defeat that threatened the 
 army — it was famine. 
 
 Along about the middle of December came the news that 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 271 
 
 Hood's army had been disastrously defeated at Nashville, and 
 was retreating, demoralized and in confusion. Much as the 
 movement of that army had been condemned by the military 
 experts in the rank and file of the Army of Northern Virginia, 
 there had always been the possibility that it might succeed, 
 and its signal failure was a shock to the most sanguine. 
 Thenceforward, whatever the desire, hope, and aim of Mr. 
 Davis and his admiring followers, " Lee's miserables," as the 
 soldiers around Richmond and Petersburg called themselves, 
 had at heart only the purpose of securing honorable terms 
 of surrender and peace ; a peace that would permit them to 
 return to their homes and begin life anew, not as repentant 
 criminals, but as men who had fought for the right as they 
 saw it, and, having failed, were willing, if no disavowal of 
 their principles were required, to lay down their arms and re- 
 turn to the Union. As it looked to them, and as in fact it 
 was, Lee's was the only effective organized Confederate army 
 left in the field, and on it only could reliance be placed to win 
 — not the independence of the South, or the continuance of 
 slavery — vanished dreams both — but such terms of surrender 
 for the soldiers of the Confederacy as were due to a brave foe 
 from a magnanimous antagonist. 
 
 For this purpose, unacknowledged to others and scarcely to 
 themselves, the soldiers in Lee's army held their lines, forty 
 miles in length, with a grip that neither cold nor hunger, nor 
 shot nor shell, could loosen. There was no complaining against 
 the grievous condition of affairs that existed, there was no 
 shirking. Shivering with cold and weak for want of food, they 
 stood always ready for duty, and when on duty, whether on 
 field of fierce battle, or of skirmish, on guard, or on picket, 
 did their devoir as firmly, faithfully, and unshrinkingly as 
 when their hopes were highest and brightest. Yet, lest it 
 weaken the resolution of their comrades, they gave no expres- 
 sion to the thought in their minds that only honorable sur- 
 render was possible. Apparently, they still fought for inde- 
 pendence — still believed it was to be won. There was no cessa- 
 tion of the jest and the laugh, of pranks and practical jokes; 
 fun and frolic was the order of the day, and sadness of face 
 or speech was discountenanced and seldom witnessed or heard. 
 
 The feeling that prevailed among them is well illustrated 
 
272 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 by a story told by General Gordon, in his " Reminiscences of 
 the Civil War.'' A prayer meeting was in progress, but fer- 
 vent and uplifting as were the petitions to God, there was a 
 touch of humor in the proceedings that was irresistibly amus- 
 ing. Brother Jones, in behalf of himself and his comrades, 
 was praying fervently for more courage. Not content with 
 asking for it once, he repeated the supplication with even 
 greater fervency. Then he was interrupted by a middle-aged 
 private whose resolute bearing, scarred face and maimed hand 
 gave evidence that he had often heard the bullets whistle ; to 
 him it seemed a waste of time to be asking for a virtue already 
 possessed, and springing to his feet, he cried : " Hold on 
 there. Brother Jones ! Hold on ! There's no sense in asking 
 God for more courage, for He knows we have got plenty of 
 it. Ask Him for more grub — that's what we need most of all," 
 That the old fellow had touched the sore spot, was evident 
 from the amens that escaped on all sides. 
 
 In February, 1865, came the Hampton Roads conference 
 between commissioners appointed by Mr. Davis, on the part of 
 the Confederacy, and Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward, represent- 
 ing the Union. That it should fail to settle the questions at 
 issue, was a foregone conclusion in the minds of thinking men. 
 Mr. Lincoln had no right to consent to a dissolution of the 
 Union as it existed at the beginning of the war — Mr. Davis, 
 none that would justify him in consenting to a peace based 
 upon the return of the seceding States to the Union. Follow- 
 ing the conference, or, to be exact, on the 5th day of Feb- 
 ruary, 1865, Mr. Davis appointed General Robert E. Lee 
 commander-in-chief of all the Confederate armies. Had he 
 done this in February of 1864 much good might have been 
 acconiphshed. Now it was too late; the Confederacy was 
 gasping for breath, its armies were scattered, disorganized, 
 and, practically, commanderless, and there was no time to 
 gather together and weld the fragments into fighting ma- 
 chines. But Lee accepted the trust and did his best, by in- 
 stantly calHng General Joseph E, Johnston to the command 
 of all the troops in Georgia and the CaroHnas, and thereby 
 rebuking Mr, Davis for his failure to retain that officer in 
 command at Atlanta, and for not appointing him as successor 
 to General Hood, immediately after the Nashville disaster. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 273 
 
 In the meantime Sherman had accomplished his march to the 
 sea, captured the cities of Savannah and Charleston, and was 
 moving up the coast into North Carolina— his object, to come 
 within such range of Grant's army as would enable that and 
 his own to co-operate against the forces under Lee and such 
 as might follow Johnston. Gripped by famine and tortured 
 by cold as Lee knew his army to be, he yet felt it his duty, 
 in deference to the obstinate insistence of Mr. Davis, to hold 
 it in line as long as possible at Richmond and Petersburg. 
 Untrammeled by the Confederate executive and commander- 
 in-chief, in 1864, he would undoubtedly have abandoned those 
 cities to their fate, and, falling back, as he then might easily 
 and safely have done at any time prior to September, to the 
 mountainous regions of Virginia, in their fastnesses have tried 
 conclusions with his opponent. That it would have been good 
 generalship and the wisest course to pursue, is too far beyond 
 question for argument. Now, but alas, too late, he contem- 
 plated that move and began planning for it. 
 
 On the 27th of March there was hard fighting in the vicm- 
 ity of Dinwiddie Court House, in which the Federals gained 
 the advantage. Grant had at this time, in his immediate com- 
 mand, 124,700 men, 13,000 of whom were well-mounted cav- 
 alry. To oppose these, Lee had about 45,000, less than 5000 
 of whom were cavalry, under Fitz Lee, mounted on mere skele- 
 tons of poorly fed horses. On the 30th, at Five Forks, Pick- 
 ett, with a force of 10,000 infantry and cavalry, drove Sheri- 
 dan from Five Forks back to Dinwiddie Court House ; but on 
 the 1st of April, having retired to Five Forks, his command 
 was attacked, front and flanks, and routed. On the morning 
 of the 2d the Federals broke through Lee's attenuated hne at 
 a point four miles southwest of Petersburg, then made a gen- 
 eral attack, and, unable to stay or withstand it, Lee's army 
 began its first compulsory retreat, as a body, before an eagerly 
 pursuing Federal army. Its retreat, though, was neither pre- 
 cipitate nor disorderly — it was organized and well-conducted, 
 the evacuation of Petersburg not beginning until after night- 
 fall. By that time every Confederate command in position 
 along the forty-mile line of intrenchments had received explicit 
 directions what route to pursue in order to join the mam 
 column. Among these was the Texas Brigade, which was still 
 
S74 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 occupying its winter-quarters on the Williamsburg road, north- 
 east of Richmond. The story of its retreat, its surrender at 
 Appomattox, and its return to Texas, is told by Captain W. 
 T. Hill, as follows: 
 
 " The Texas Brigade held position north of the James 
 River from the 29th of July, 1864, until April 2d, 1865. 
 During the fall of 1864, it found active and almost contin- 
 uous employment in watching the enemy and fighting him 
 when occasion permitted or demanded, and because it so often 
 supported General Gary's mounted command, soon won the 
 sobriquet of ' Gary's foot cavalry.' About the middle of Oc- 
 tober, affairs quieted on the Northside, and settling down the 
 brigade built huts and hovels and went into so-called winter- 
 quarters. With no duty to perform save that of picketing 
 our front, time hung heavily on our hands, and to make it 
 lighter, the men sought recreation and profit in scouting — 
 the government offering $1500 for every horse captured from 
 the enemy. This munificent offer tempted many that would 
 otherwise have remained idle, to active enterprise, and competi- 
 tion for the privilege of going on a scout became so eager that 
 when scouting parties were called for from the different regi- 
 ments, four times as many persons volunteered as were called 
 for, and, quite often, there was difficulty in settling the ques- 
 tion of who got there first. 
 
 " On Saturday night, April 2d, 1865, the brigade received 
 orders to be in readiness to march at daylight next morning. 
 Starting at the appointed hour, it marched into Richmond, 
 there boarded cars, and about noon reached the north side of 
 the Appomattox, opposite Petersburg. The regiments com- 
 posing it were commanded as follows : the Third Arkansas, by 
 Colonel R. C. Taylor; the First Texas, by Colonel F. S. Bass; 
 the Fourth Texas, by Lieutenant-Colonel C. M. Winkler, and 
 the Fifth Texas, by myself. Captain W. T. Hill. Colonel R. 
 M. Powell, of the Fifth Texas, commanded the brigade. Our 
 orders were to take position at the fords and crossings of the 
 Appomattox, and prevent the passage of the enemy to its 
 north bank. That our army on the south side of the stream 
 had abandoned its intrenchments, and was now in full retreat, 
 was evident, for we could see long lines of Federals marching 
 
Captain W. T. Hill 
 Company D, Fifth Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 275 
 
 westward from Petersburg. They made no effort to cross the 
 Appomattox, though, and we had httle to do. About 11 
 o'clock that night the brigade commenced its march westward, 
 bringing up the rear of Lee's army. Fires lighted up the 
 heavens in every direction, the Confederates seeming deter- 
 mined to destroy everything that would be of service to the 
 enemy. Near where the Fifth Texas was stationed on the 
 Appomattox, a house stored with bacon was burned, and as 
 we were without food and hungry, we felt it a hardship not 
 to be allowed to fill our haversacks with bacon before it was 
 destroyed. 
 
 " Our march that night and next day was uninterrupted 
 by attack from the enemy. We moved along the railroad lead- 
 ing from Petersburg to Lynchburg, and, like the balance of 
 our army, expected to find a supply of rations at Ameha Court 
 House, where General Lee had ordered provisions to be sent, 
 and where he had been officially infonned they had been sent. 
 But it was a mistake, and a fatal one at that; not a pound 
 of the supplies ordered had arrived, but from the store of 
 provisions kept on hand there, the Texas Brigade managed to 
 secure a little meal, which the men made into gruel and ate 
 without salt, none of that having been issued. 
 
 " In the hope of the arrival of supplies at Ameha Court 
 House, General Lee held his army there one entire day. ^ This 
 loss of time allowed Sheridan, with his cavalry, to cut him off 
 from Danville, his objective point. Baffled in the attempt, by 
 this route, to join forces with General Johnston, he moved 
 toward Lynchburg. During the day, the Federal cavalry 
 made several assaults on our wagon-trains, and did much dam- 
 age, but were finally driven off by our infantry. The Federal 
 infantry overtook the Texas Brigade, then the rear-guard of 
 the rear-guard of our army, on the evening of the 5th, after 
 we left Rice's station, and the brigade skirmish hne had a hot 
 fight with them — so hot that it had to be heavily reinforced 
 before it drove the enemy back. The battle ended at night- 
 fall, by which time all of our army had crossed the Appo- 
 mattox excepting our brigade. 
 
 " Having crossed the Appomattox, the brigade went into 
 bivouac on the first hills near the stream. The next morning, 
 the 6th, it marched up the river to a high railroad bridge, 
 
^6 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 its purpose to hold the enemy in check till the bridge could be 
 effectually destroyed. It remained in position near the bridge 
 until noon ; then a courier came to Colonel Powell, command- 
 ing the brigade, with the information that the command was 
 about to be cut off from the main army, and an order for 
 instant and hurried retreat. No time was lost in obeying the 
 order, and marching west along a blind road running parallel 
 with the railroad, we succeeded in eluding the enemy and mak- 
 ing our way safely to the wagon-bridge spanning the river. 
 Over that we passed, and moving to the north of Farmville, 
 ascended the high hills in Cumberland County, and on one of 
 them halted. On our way from the High Bridge to the wagon- 
 bridge, we had been compelled to march through the front yard 
 of Colonel Hilary Richardson's residence. There, meeting a 
 citizen of the country, I dispatched a message to Dr. Wood, 
 of Farmville, requesting him to buy all the bread in the town 
 and hold it for my regiment, the Fifth Texas. But, alas, there 
 was not a loaf of bread in the town, and the Fifth had to 
 remain hungry, for when, late in the afternoon, a little meat 
 and corn-meal was issued to it along with the other regiments, 
 its march was resumed before any cooking could be done. 
 
 " When we had marched a couple of miles further, one of 
 the Georgia brigades of our division (Field's) was attacked by 
 a brigade of Federal cavalry under General Gregg. The at- 
 tack was most gallantly repulsed — the Federals losing heavily 
 in killed and wounded, and their commander, Gregg, being cap- 
 tured. While the fight was in progress, the Texas Brigade 
 held position on a hill, overlooking the country for miles 
 around. For the time we could spare to observation, the 
 larger part of both armies was in view : Lee's men, moving 
 rapidly but in the most admirable order, to the west, seeking 
 to avoid attack, not because of fear of it, but lest the delay it 
 caused interfere with the plans of General Lee ; Grant's, mov- 
 ing steadily in pursuit, his purpose, seemingly, to get around 
 Lee's right flank. But we had little leisure for watching other 
 movements than those immediately in our front and directed 
 at ourselves. Perched on a high and perfectly open hill as 
 our brigade was, the enemy hidden in the dark at the foot of 
 the hill, and his sharpshooters behind trees, they could see all 
 we did and we could see nothing they did. To escape bullets 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 277 
 
 they could not return in kind, our men, while digging little 
 holes in the ground and building fires of twigs in them, over 
 which to cook their corn-meal gruel, crawled around Uke so 
 many lizards. 
 
 " We held position on the hillside until about 10 p. m. that 
 day, then resuming the march westward, went into bivouac on 
 the night of the 8th, at a point two miles east of Appomattox. 
 During this march, evidences of rapid retreat and fast pur- 
 suit began to appear. Cannons, wagons and ambulances in 
 large numbers had been abandoned by the troops ahead of us, 
 for lack of teams strong enough to pull them. Horses already 
 dead, and many others fast dying from exhaustion and for 
 lack of feed, lay in the mud, in and by the side of the road. 
 
 "On the morning of the 9th, the Texas Brigade made its 
 last march as a Confederate command. This took it to within 
 a mile of Appomattox, where, after facing, in turn, east, west 
 and north in the effort to meet the threatened but never-coming 
 attacks, we formed in a semi-circle across a road, and began 
 building a breastwork of such material as was at hand — the 
 Fifth Texas, I remember, appropriating a rail fence for the 
 purpose. 
 
 " Up to this point. General Gordon, with his corps, led the 
 advance. On the 7th, he had dnven before him such of the 
 enemy as sought to stay the retreat. But on the evening of 
 the 8th, he failed to drive them, and on the morning of the 
 9th, again failed. Lee's hne of retreat was blocked, the shat- 
 tered remnants of his once matchless army were surrounded 
 on all sides. Premonition of the inevitable swept through the 
 air, and a death-like stillness prevailed. Work ceased, hunger 
 stayed its gnawing, and expectant of evil tidings, but yet un- 
 prepared for the worst, faces grew grave and serious, and 
 men when they talked at all spoke in whispers. Then, in the 
 afternoon, some of our teamsters came from the front and re- 
 ported that General Lee had surrendered the army. It could 
 not be, and sure the report was false, the men gi-ew indignant, 
 and for a while the teamsters stood in jeopardy. But their 
 statements were soon confirmed by intelhgence of the same 
 purport from other sources, and the men of the brigade, sub- 
 mitting to the inevitable, began to wonder what terms General 
 Lee had obtained for his army, and when and how they would 
 
^78 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 return to their homes. There was no hasty disbandment of 
 company, regiment or brigade. The morale of the men had 
 never weakened, and if Lee had but asked it, there was not 
 a man but would have continued to fight as gamely as ever 
 he had. 
 
 " During the afternoon and following night, we learned 
 what terms General Lee had obtained. On the next day, the 
 10th, his farewell address to the army was read on the color 
 line, the men listening to it in silence, but with tears in their 
 eyes. All felt that he had done his best, all that could be 
 done, and that he had surrendered the army only when every 
 avenue of escape was closed and to struggle longer was to in- 
 vite destruction. Of what followed, little need be said. Some 
 of the scenes that occurred are indescribable, and many are 
 too pathetic to have place here. And while all were sad at the 
 thought of the end that had come, and of speedy partings 
 with the comrades who had shared their dangers and toils, 
 something of humor crept into their conduct and language. 
 Many members of the Fifth Texas declared that even if they 
 had surrendered to General Grant, he should not have a gun 
 from them that would be serviceable, and to make their threat 
 good, they commenced bending the barrels of their guns, and 
 otherwise injuring them. My attention called to this work of 
 destruction, I told the men engaged in it that no parole would 
 be granted by General Grant to any Confederate soldier who 
 did not deliver his arms in good condition. Convinced that I 
 was right, those engaged in the work of destruction said : ' If 
 that is the case, we'll straighten them back again.' But they 
 made signal failures in their efforts ' to straighten them back 
 again.' Nevertheless, all got their paroles, for there was no 
 inspection of the arms delivered. All that our men did, as 
 they halted in front of a line of armed Federals, was to lean 
 their guns up against huge stacks of those already there. Our 
 color-bearers did the same with the flags they surrendered. 
 
 " Official records show that the First Texas surrendered at 
 Appomattox, 133 men — the Fourth Texas, 145 — the Fifth 
 Texas, 149 — and the Third Arkansas, 130; making, in the 
 aggregate, 557 officers and privates, as the number of the 
 Texas Brigade who surrendered. The three Texas regiments 
 surrendered 427 officers and privates. Estimating their entire 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 279 
 
 enlistment, from the beginning to the close of the war, to have 
 been, in round numbers, of officers and privates, 4000, it will 
 be seen that 3573 are not accounted for. Of these, some were 
 dishonorably absent, many hundreds were dead, and many more 
 hundreds were sick or disabled. 
 
 " All the formalities of the surrender over, the question of 
 how we should get back to our homes came to the front. To 
 the Third Arkansas, as brave and noble a regiment as was 
 ever mustered into the Confederate service, this was not as 
 difficult as to the Texans, for it could return to Arkansas by 
 way of Chattanooga and Memphis, which it did. The Texans, 
 though, had further to go, and what route was best to take 
 was a problem that required much discussion. Although many 
 of them stayed in Virginia, and others chose to go to York- 
 town and avail themselves of transportation by water, offered 
 them by the Federal government, the majority decided to stay 
 together and, as a command, march to Danville, and there 
 taking passage on a railroad train, go by way of Atlanta, 
 Montgomery and Mobile to New Orleans, where they could 
 find conveyance by water to Galveston, Texas. 
 
 " On the 12th of April, after bidding farewell to the Third 
 Arkansas, such of the Texans as had chosen to travel as a 
 command fell into line, and under command of their officers, 
 marched in the direction of Danville. But they stayed to- 
 gether only a day or two. Food was difficult to obtain for 
 as large a party as we were. Many of the men were both 
 weak and footsore, and finding it easier to secure needed pro- 
 visions by scattering out, they soon began to straggle. Wrong 
 roads were taken, long stops were made, and it was several 
 days after the main body reached Danville, before everybody 
 caught up with it. 
 
 " Railroad transportation not to be secured at Danville — 
 Sherman's troops having wrecked all railroads leading to the 
 South — we footed it to Greensboro, N. C. There we were joined 
 by the Texans of Johnston's recently surrendered army, and 
 with them proceeded to Montgomery — footing it most of the 
 way, in couples and squads, all effort to retain organization 
 having by this time ceased. At Montgomery, the Federal pro- 
 vost officer assigned us quarters in a large two-story building, 
 located near the artesian well. Major W. H. Martin, the ' Old 
 
280 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Howdy ' of the Fourth Texas, shared with me the responsi- 
 bility of assuming command of the Texans that came in, what- 
 ever their regiment or brigade, and we had our hands full — 
 the major in securing rations as needed, and I in attending to 
 official matters, 
 
 " It was seven days before we secured transportation to Mo- 
 bile, and then we had to work for it. A steamboat arrived, 
 loaded with supplies for the Federal troops in and near the city, 
 and the provost told us that if we would unload it, he would 
 send us to Mobile on it. Informed of the offer, the Texans 
 went to work with such energy as, in six hours, to unload and 
 place in piles on the wharf, a mass of freight that it would 
 have taken the negroes employed for the purpose and working 
 in relays of fifty men, full twenty-four hours to unload. When 
 the job was done, one of our boys, noticing the large quan- 
 tities of bacon, hard tack, sugar, coffee, pickles, canned goods, 
 wagons, picks, spades and other military necessities, exclaimed: 
 * Boys, we never could have whipped the Yankees. Look at 
 all them good things to eat, and handy things to work with, 
 and compare them with the little we had ! ' 
 
 " The boat unloaded, we were ordered to report that after- 
 noon at the office of the provost, to have our paroles counter- 
 signed. The order was obeyed, and next morning we boarded 
 the steamboat we had worked for, and were soon steaming 
 down the river. But at Selma our boat was halted, we were 
 invited to disembark, and a regiment of negroes, destined for 
 service at Mobile, was ordered on it. We protested, of course, 
 and bitterly, against what some of our men denounced as ' a 
 regular Yankee trick,' but our protest was unheeded, and we 
 had to wait at Selma until the next day. Then another steam- 
 boat came along, and taking us on board, carried us to Mo- 
 bile, where we were assigned to comfortable quarters, fur- 
 nished with rations, and had our paroles again inspected. 
 
 " Six days later, we boarded a steamboat for New Orleans, 
 and landing there, were assigned quarters in a large cotton 
 shed. To offset their kindness in not requiring us to have our 
 paroles again countersigned, the military authorities detailed 
 a company of negro soldiers to guard us. The next morning, 
 every Texan wearing brass buttons, whether of Confederate or 
 foreign make, was accosted by one or the other of these blacks 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 281 
 
 with the order, ' Stop, dah, suh, tell I cuts dem buttins off yer 
 clo's ! ' But the Texans were quick to ' catch on,' and by 
 cutting off their brass buttons themselves, denied the negroes 
 the great satisfaction of doing so. 
 
 " During the nine days we were compelled to stay in New 
 Orleans, awaiting transportation to Galveston, the better 
 classes of the citizens treated us with kindness and courtesy ; 
 from people in the lower classes only came incivility. Guarded 
 though we were, we went and came at our pleasure. The Irish 
 ladies of the city could not do too much for us. They visited 
 us at our quarters, and not only insisted on having our cooking 
 done for us, but on our coming to their homes and taking our 
 meals there. In addition, they furnished every one of us with 
 a suit of good clothes. 
 
 " On the last night of our stay in New Orleans, Colonel 
 Henry, a grand old ' rebel,' gave the rank and file of the 
 Texans an elegant supper at his house, and Dr. Greenleaf en- 
 tertained the officers in like manner. Next morning, we went 
 aboard the steamship Hudson, at 10 a. m. An hour later a 
 fire broke out in the neighborhood of Colonel Henry's resi- 
 dence. The Texans rushed to the rescue, and not only re- 
 moved from the old Colonel's house everything of value, with- 
 out damage to a single article, but placed a watchful guard 
 over it, and when the fire was subdued, carried everything back 
 into the building, uninjured. Then they returned to the steam- 
 ship, which at 4 p. m. got under weigh. 
 
 " All went well until, just before day the next morning, the 
 boat reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, and stuck her 
 nose so deep into the mud that she could neither go forward 
 nor back out. Here we lay an exceedingly long forty-eight 
 hours, under a broiling sun, suffering both with impatience 
 and the discomforts of the bad ventilation and the foul-smell- 
 ing odors of the bilge-water in the hold of the vessel, where 
 for lack of room on the upper deck more than half of our 
 crowd were compelled to stay. On the second day, two tugs 
 lashed to the Hudson but failed to drag her from the mud. 
 At ten o'clock of the third day, much to our relief, a freight 
 steamship came down the river, and taking us on board, 
 steamed for Galveston — arriving there and coming to anchor 
 near the blockading fleet, just after daylight next morning. 
 
282 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 She was kept at anchor until noon ; then only did General E. 
 J. Davis, commanding Federal troops in the city, give his kind 
 consent to our approaching and landing on the wharf, and 
 that we lost no time in getting ashore, you may well beheve. 
 " Notified in advance of our coming, the good people of 
 Galveston and Houston had arranged for us to take a Buf- 
 falo Bayou boat at Galveston, and journeying to Houston 
 in comparative comfort, there partake of a sumptuous ban- 
 quet. But General Davis had taken no shots at ' rebels ' when 
 the bullets were flying, and it was time, he thought, to begin 
 fighting. Having already shown his loyalty to the Union by 
 keeping us out at anchor until noon, he gave another evi- 
 dence of it by prohibiting the employment in our service of 
 the Buffalo Bayou boat ; rebels, he said, were entitled to no 
 courtesies. The only chance of getting us to Houston, the 
 railroad, the Galveston people patched up an old engine until 
 it could be depended on foy the fifty-mile run, and hitching 
 to it a lot of seatless flat cars, which the Irish women of the 
 city, God bless them, had swept clean, placed the train at 
 our service. Boarding it about sunset, by midnight we were 
 in Houston partaking of the banquet tendered us by its hos- 
 pitable people. The next day, rejoicing that we had been 
 spared to again set our feet on Texas soil, and feeling that 
 we had done our duty, our whole duty, and nothing but our 
 duty, we separated, each of us going home." 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Addenda 
 
 It is from well-meaning but careless friends that we must 
 often pray to be delivered. No man had a greater admiration 
 for the Texas Brigade, or ever stood higher in the esteem of 
 its members, living and dead, than did the late John H. 
 Reagan, and jet, in his memoirs, published after his death, 
 he has unintentionally made a number of mistakes with refer- 
 ence to that command. Coming from one less noted for the 
 truth and accuracy of all his statements, they might be safely 
 left uncorrected ; coming from Judge John H. Reagan, Post- 
 master General of the Southern Confederacy, it is imperative 
 that attention should be called to them in this History of 
 the Texas Brigade. In his " Memoirs," beginning on page 
 143, appears the following: 
 
 In the course of the seven days* fighting around Richmond, 
 there occurred, at, the battle of Gaines' Mill, a struggle which has 
 few parallels for heroic courage and valor in all the annals of war. 
 Because of the part taken in it by Texans, I shall relate some of 
 the circumstances. 
 
 A part of the Federal force occupied a very strong position 
 on a hill on the east side of Gaines' Mill Creek, with three lines 
 of infantry; one was stationed about a third of the distance from 
 the foot of the hill, the second about half way up, and the third 
 between that one and the top of the hill, which was probably 300 
 or 400 feet high. Their lines were protected by fallen trees, with 
 a swamp and abatis one or two hundred yards wide in their 
 front. The crown of the hill was occupied by the field batteries 
 of the enemy. In order to attack this position the Confederate 
 soldiers had to advance through a gradually descending open 
 field. Two assaults had been repulsed, when, in the general 
 movement of the forces, Hood's Brigade was brought to its front. 
 General Lee inquired of him whether he thought he could take 
 it. Hood's answer was in the affirmative. 
 
 It so happened that the First Regiment of Texas Infantry, 
 
 283 
 
284 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 commanded by Colonel John Marshall, was launched against the 
 Federal stronghold. Colonel Marshall was soon killed; the lieu- 
 tenant-colonel was very seriously and the major mortally wounded 
 before the advance reached the creek, and many others of the 
 regiment were killed or wounded before they got through the 
 abatis. This regiment, with no officer above the grade of cap- 
 tain, drove the three lines of infantry from their defenses, and 
 captured the artillery which crowned the hill, and which had 
 been pouring a deadly fire into the charging columns. A few 
 hundred yards further on the Texans saw two field batteries across 
 a depression of the field. Before they had gone far, however, 
 they were assailed by a brigade of Federal cavalry under Gen- 
 eral McCook. This was put to flight, and then the Texans again 
 rushed forward and captured the batteries. 
 
 The Fifth Texas Regiment, commanded by Colonel Jerome B. 
 Robertson, had also broken through the Federal lines and come 
 in view of what was left of the First Regiment. Robertson's 
 statement made afterward to me was that when he saw General 
 McCook's cavalry moving rapidly to the attack of the First Texas 
 Regiment, and saw the small remainder of that regiment, it made 
 his heart ache, as it seemed out of the question for them success- 
 fully to resist such a force. But he said the men quickly aligned 
 and stolidly awaited the attack, and that when the brigade got 
 within range he never saw saddles emptied so fast. 
 
 The cavalry recoiled, defeated, and as soon as this was accom- 
 plished, and the field batteries taken, the Texans started for a 
 Federal siege battery, nearly a mile further on. General T. J. 
 Chambers, who had followed them, as a looker-on, hastened after 
 them and got them to stop, saying that the enemy was then in 
 their rear, and that if they went forward they would certainly 
 be captured. Colonel Robertson's regiment then joined the re- 
 mainder of Marshall's, and on their return they found that the 
 gap they had made in passing through the Federal line had been 
 occupied by a New Jersey regiment, which on demand sur- 
 rendered. The beautiful silk banner of this regiment was sent 
 as a trophy to Austin, Texas, and was after the war returned to 
 New Jersey by the military governor, Hamilton. 
 
 The First Texas Regiment went into the battle with more than 
 eight hundred men; but came out of it, after this brilliant ex- 
 ploit, with a roll-call of a little over two hundred. After that 
 on different occasions General Lee urged me to aid him in get- 
 ting a division of Texans for his command, remarking that with 
 such a force he would engage to break any line of battle on earth 
 in an open field. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 285 
 
 That Judge Reagan was in fact writing of the Fourth 
 Texas instead of the First Texas, is evident from his mention 
 of Colonel John Marshall, who commanded the Fourth, and 
 not the First Texas. But Judge Reagan makes a number of 
 other mistakes. It was east of Powhite Creek, and not east 
 of Gaines' Mill Creek, that the Federals were stationed — it 
 was but a regiment of cavalry, and not a brigade, that 
 charged the Fourth Texas — that charge was made, not before 
 the Fourth Texas captured the batteries, but immediately 
 afterwards — it was the Fifth Texas, alone, that captured the 
 New Jersey regiment — and if any Texans " started for a 
 Federal siege battery nearly a mile further on " it was the 
 First or Fifth Texas, and not the Fourth. 
 
 On page 194 of the same " Memoirs," Judge Reagan gives 
 Field's division credit for a battle occurring on August 29, 
 1864, which did not in fact take place until September 29, and 
 then, the Texas and Benning's brigades were the only brigades 
 of Field's division that took part in it, until late in the after- 
 noon, when the enemy had been whipped back. Again, on 
 page 187 of the same " Memoirs," he gives an account of a 
 voluntary charge made by the Texas Brigade between Rich- 
 mond and Petersburg that is not at all in accord with the ac- 
 tual facts, which are given in Chapter XIV of his history. 
 
 In the Richmond Dispatch, of some date in February, 1865, 
 appears the following account of the presentation of gold 
 stars to members of the Texas Brigade selected by their 
 comrades as most worthy of them. It is to be regretted that 
 the modesty of the fair donor forbade the mention of her name 
 by General Lee, and has continued to withhold it. It was a 
 tribute of Beauty to Valor, that should never be forgotten, 
 and for which no commendation is too great. The Dispatch 
 said: 
 
 We learn that a very interesting scene occurred some days ago 
 in the camp of the Texas Brigade (Senator Wigf all's old com- 
 mand), the occasion being the presentation of some golden stars, 
 designed for the brave men of the brigade by a lady of Texas, 
 and forwarded through the hands of General Lee. 
 
 After brigade inspection the men were addressed by Senator 
 Wigfall in a stirring speech. He said that he would be more 
 than man if he did not, and less than man if he could not, feel 
 
286 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 deeply and solemnly the changes that had taken place, and the 
 absence of the familiar faces of his former companions in arms. 
 It was not to be considered when or where soldiers die; but how 
 they die. Better a thousand times fill the grave of a brave man 
 than be the slaves of insolent knaves and unprincipled tyrants. 
 
 The Senator reminded his old command that the roads were 
 drying up ; that a few days would bring the familiar sound of 
 the battle, the roaring of artillery and the rattling of the rifles. 
 There was more bloody work to be done, and they were to prepare 
 for the fray. 
 
 Senator Wigfall also took occasion to dispose of the tiresome 
 though oft-repeated story, " rich man's war, poor man's fight." 
 The final reverse to our arms, he said, should it ever come, must 
 certainly fall upon the poor man, the man in moderate circum- 
 stances, leaving him no chance to escape. He would inevitably be 
 crushed, whilst the man of wealth and talents and the distinguished 
 officer would buy or demand protection in any part of the world. 
 There would be no refuge for the poor man. The vengeance of the 
 enemy would be poured upon his head and those of his posterity 
 unless he carved out his liberties with his sword and bayonet. 
 
 At the conclusion of Senator Wigfall's speech the following let- 
 ter was read from General Lee: 
 
 " Headquarters Army Northern Virginia, Jan. 21, 1865. — Com- 
 manding Officer of Hood's Texas Brigade: Sir — I have received 
 from * a young lady of Texas ' some golden stars which she desires 
 may be presented to the brave men of your brigade. Where all 
 are so meritorious and have done so much for the honor of their 
 State, I know it will be difficult to select the most worthy, but 
 from your intimate knowledge of their deeds and conduct in action, 
 you can with more certainty than any other bestow them in ac- 
 cordance with the wishes of the donor. I therefore commit them 
 to you. They are nine in number and said to be made of gold 
 too precious for common use. 
 
 " As a gift of a lady from their State, who has watched with 
 pride their gallantry on every field and off'ered daily prayers to 
 the throne of the Almighty for their happiness and safety, I feel 
 assured they will be highly appreciated and long preserved. I 
 have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
 
 " R. E. Lee, General." 
 
 The stars were presented to the following named men: William 
 Durram, Company D, First Texas; James Knight, Company H, 
 First Texas; Corporal James Burke, Company B, Fourth Texas; 
 Sergeant James Patterson, Company D, Fourth Texas; Corporal 
 W. C. May, Company H, Fourth Texas; Sergeant C. Wilborn, 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 287 
 
 Company F. Fifth Texas; Sergeant J. Hemphill, Company H, 
 Fifth Texas; Private J. D. Staples, Company E, Third Arkansas; 
 Private J. W. Cook, Company H, Third Arkansas. 
 
 Modesty denies to the individual the privilege of repeating 
 and boasting of the compliments paid him by distinguished 
 men. The same rule is not applicable to a military com- 
 mand, and Hood's Texas Brigade is glad that it is not. Proud 
 of its achievements, its survivors delight to recall and repeat 
 the praises bestowed on its gallantry, its pluck and its en- 
 durance, by the great military leaders and men in high civil 
 position who witnessed its conduct on the field of battle. 
 
 In a letter written to Hood's Texas Brigade Association a 
 few years before his death, Judge John H. Reagan said: 
 
 " I would rather have been able to say that I had been a 
 worthy member of Hood's Texas Brigade than to have en- 
 joyed all the honors which have been conferred upon me. I 
 doubt if there has ever been a brigade, or other military or- 
 ganization in the history of the world, that equalled it in the 
 heroic valor and self-sacrificing conduct of its members, and 
 in the brilliancy of its services." 
 
 The following excerpts from a letter written August 6, 
 1907, to General W, R. Hamby, of Austin, Texas, by Gen- 
 eral Stephen D. Lee, are too flattering to be omitted : 
 
 " If any brigade in the Union or Confederate army should 
 have its history written describing their skirmishes and bat- 
 tles. Hood's Texas Brigade is the one, and if no survivor of 
 that brigade can do this, some brilliant Texan should take 
 the record as found in the Government publications, read it 
 carefully both sides. Union and Confederate, and then con- 
 verse with the survivors and write a full and complete history 
 of that immortal brigade. 
 
 " There were very many splendid brigades in the army on 
 the Confederate side, and while I would not say that Hood's 
 Brigade surpassed them all, still, if I were to select a brigade 
 to do honor to the average fighting Confederate brigade, I 
 would select this brigade. 
 
 " It was my fortune to hear the volleys of Hood's Brigade, 
 one of the first volleys in the war, between Richmond and West 
 Point on the York River, when McClellan tried to turn the 
 
288 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 flank of Johnson's araiy by getting in his rear with a corps 
 from the West Point landing. That volley of five thousand 
 or more muskets, answered by five or ten thousand in reply, 
 is still ringing in my ears, and I heard no other volleys to 
 equal it till I heard it again at Second Manassas in front of 
 Longstreet's corps in their magnificent charge on that field. 
 I saw them pierce the Federal line at Gaines' Mill ; I saw their 
 magnificent charge at Second Manassas, and I witnessed the 
 glory the brigade won at Sharpsburg. They were under my 
 eyes all the time. I saw them go in on the evening of the 
 16th ; I saw them come out to get their rations when they were 
 relieved ; I saw them go in again a little before day, on the 
 17th. I saw them sweep the enemy from their front ; I saw 
 them almost annihilated, and even then, I saw them contribute 
 the greater part to the repulse, first of Hooker's coi'ps, then of 
 Mansfield's corps of the Union Army. I saw them hold off 
 Sumner's corps until reinforcements came. I saw them de- 
 livering volley after volley lying on the ground not 150 yards 
 from the muzzle of my guns to the east of the Dunker Church. 
 I saw them rise, and pursue the enemy ; I saw them broken, 
 shattered and falling back before overwhelming numbers ; the 
 few who were left giving the rebel yell with more spirit than 
 the hurrahs of the Union troops." 
 
 At the date of the battle of Gettysburg, Dr. Sam R. Bur- 
 roughs, now a leading physician and surgeon residing at 
 Buffalo, Texas, was one of the wildest and woolliest of the 
 many " wild and woolly " young fellows in the First Texas. 
 Writing of his observations and experiences during the fight- 
 ing on July 2, 1863, Dr. Sam says : 
 
 " Mrs. Wigfall, you know, gave the First Texas a beauti- 
 ful Lone Star flag made from her wedding dress. When Saint 
 Andrew's cross was adopted as the battle flag of the Con- 
 federacy, the unfolding of State flags in action was pro- 
 hibited. Nevertheless the First Texas carried along with it 
 the flag given it by Mrs. Wigfall. Its bearer was a young 
 fellow under twenty whose name has escaped my memor}^ but 
 he never unfolded it in battle after the order mentioned was 
 given, until the battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 " There, while the Texas Brigade was forming in line of bat- 
 tle, a Federal battery got its range and began to play upon 
 
Dr. Sam R. Burkoughs 
 Company G, First Texas Regiment 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 289 
 
 it. One of the round shots fired wounded several men of the 
 First Texas and then, passing on, swept the head off of 
 William Floyd of Company F of the Fourth Texas. 
 
 " Just as this occurred I saw the bearer of the Lone Star 
 flag begin to pull ofF the oilcloth case that protected it. 
 Having completed the task he stuffed the case into his haver- 
 sack and then commenced unrolling the flag. 
 
 "'What are you doing that for?' I asked, ' don t you 
 know it's against orders to show but the one flag, and that 
 
 our battle flag.?' u j ? 
 
 " ' Yes, I know what the orders are as well as anybody, 
 he repHed; ' but orders be d— d in a case like this ; I am going 
 to straddle the gun that fired that shot and wave this Lone 
 Star flag over it or die a trying.' 
 
 " At that moment Hood came in front of the brigade and 
 a dozen voices shouted: 'Have that fence pulled down. Gen- 
 eral, and we'll take that infernal battery ! ' 
 
 " Hood ordered a detail to level the fence and in less than 
 ten minutes the battery was captured, and that Httle dare- 
 devil bearer of the Lone Star sat astride of the gun which 
 had fired the shot mentioned, waving his flag and yelling loud 
 enough to be heard above the roar of cannon. 
 
 " In another twenty minutes the First Texas was engaged 
 in the fierce, and sometimes hand to hand, struggle that oc- 
 curred in the Devil's Den. During the progress of the fight 
 there, about a dozen of us forged far to the front and finally 
 secured a commanding position high up on the side of Little 
 Round Top. 
 
 " Here we commenced shooting at everything Federal that 
 came into view. It was not a one-sided performance,^ though, 
 for some of the Federals on the field had as much gi-it as the 
 Confederates, and while we drove them as long as we moved 
 forward, they came to a halt when we did and began firing 
 at us. But we did not mind them as much as we did the de- 
 termination and good aim of some far-off Yankee whose loca- 
 tion for a long time we could not fix. The gun he used made 
 a report hke a small cannon, and the balls from it wounded 
 two or three men. 
 
 " Long and close watching revealed the fact that he was 
 concealed in the branches of a tall oak tree, fully half a 
 
290 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 mile distant, and standing In the open. The puffs of smolce 
 from his rifle appeared to proceed from a limb on the south 
 side of the trunk, and, thinking to put an end to his game, 
 our little squad waited until he fired, and then poured a vol- 
 ley Into the south side of the tree-top. The return shot came 
 immediately, and demonstrated plainly that we had done no 
 damage, A second time we took aim and pulled trigger, only 
 to be replied to by another pufF of smoke out of the tree- 
 top and the whistle of a bullet dangerously close to our ears. 
 Then an Alabamlan, 200 yards or more off to our right, gave 
 us the hint we needed. He called out : 
 
 " ' Say, Texans, you'ns ar' lettln' that ar plaguey sharp- 
 shooter fool yer. He don't stay on the limb whar he shoots 
 from. The moment he pulls trigger he jumps for the body 
 of the tree. Eff yer'll all center on that yer'll shorely git 
 him.' 
 
 " And ' shorely git him ' we did. One of our boys shoved 
 his hat well above the big rock sheltering his body. The 
 sharpshooter fired at It, and just a second later we sent a vol- 
 ley of bullets into the tree-top, this time, however, aiming so 
 as to scalp the trunk of the tree In which our enemy was 
 lodged, and had the satisfaction of seeing the fellow's body 
 come tumbling to the ground. 
 
 " ' You got him that time, Johnny,' sang out a Yankee that 
 was nearer by. 
 
 " ' We shorely did,' answered one of our party. ' We saw 
 him drop, and we heerd 'im strike the ground, damn him.' 
 
 " These little amenities exchanged with the enemy, we 
 looked to our rear and saw, far down the hill below us, that 
 our main force was making a change of position that would 
 leave us entirely unsupported and subject to capture. That 
 was the signal to us for an immediate retreat, and I don't 
 mind acknowledging that it was precipitate. It couldn't have 
 been otherwise, for not only was our flight downhill, but It 
 was hastened by the bullets of the enemy. I know that I went 
 with the velocity of a shell just out of the cannon's mouth — 
 so fast, indeed, that I could distinctly hear the thunder of 
 the air as It rushed together behind me to fill the vacuum my 
 body left." 
 
 The only Texas commands that served In the Army of 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 291 
 
 Northern Virginia were the First, Fourth and Fifth Texas 
 regiments, and the only Arkansas command so serving was 
 the Third Arkansas. Isolated as these four organizations 
 were, it was but natural that they should be allowed, m a 
 manner, to " weed their own rows " and keep their own rec- 
 ords ; arduous as their service was, it was equally natural, 
 perhaps, that while " weeding their own rows " on the hring 
 Hne in a fashion that won them the respect of both friends and 
 foes, they should fail to keep the official records straight and 
 
 ^" That they did so fail, is evident from the statement of the 
 Librarian of Congress that "the known statistics of these 
 regiments are so remarkable, that if missing figures can be 
 obtained they will estabhsh a record equalled by few, if any, 
 organizations in the Civil War, or indeed, in modern warfare. 
 It is a rule to judge of the achievements of a military com- 
 mand by, its losses in action, as offilcially stated. Unfor- 
 tunately, Hood's Texas Brigade was too busy during the war 
 inflicting losses upon the enemy, burying its own dead and 
 caring for its own wounded, to have leisure for insisting that 
 official statements of its losses should not only be made, but 
 also carefully preserved. As a result, such reports of the 
 losses of the brigade as were made were either not forwarded 
 to the Confederate War Department, or, in the upheaval of 
 Confederate war records that followed the retreat of General 
 Lee from Petersburg, were lost, misplaced or destroyed. The 
 same is true with respect to a great many of the official re- 
 ports of the regimental commanders in the brigade. 
 
 General W. R. Hamby, the president of the Association of 
 the Survivors of Hood's Texas Brigade, has given the ques- 
 tion of the losses of that command a painstaking and careful 
 study ; and although unable to apportion it among the regi- 
 ments, estimates its total loss, up to and including the battle 
 of Chickamauga, as 598 killed and 3734 wounded, or in the 
 ago-regate, 4332. The muster rolls of the three Texas regi- 
 ments are not on file among the Records of the Rebelhon at 
 Washington, and as the number enlisted in each is not to be 
 obtained from official records, it is impossible to determine ac- 
 curately what proportion of the aggregate loss of a bri- 
 gade of which the Eighteenth Georgia, Hampton's Legion 
 
292 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 and the Third Arkansas were parts — the first, until after the 
 battle of Sharpsburg; the second, until January, 1864; the 
 third, from December, 1862, until Appomattox — should be 
 credited to them. 
 
 In a pamphlet published by General Jerome B. Robertson 
 shortly after the close of the war, appears a list of names of 
 killed and wounded of the First, Fourth and Fifth Texas at 
 different battles ; but, while this list is doubtless accurate as 
 far as it goes, it does not go far enough — no attempt being 
 made to give the losses in those regiments in 1864 and 1865, 
 and the losses of some of the regiments in battles of previous 
 years not being given at all; therefore, it is not published. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY 
 
 Captain Frank B. Chilton, President of Hood's Texas 
 Brigade Monument Committee, was born in Perry County, 
 Ala., in 1845, and at the age of five came with his parents to 
 Harris County, Texas. Among the first to enlist in Company 
 H, of the Fourth Texas infantry. Hood's Texas Brigade, he 
 participated in all the battles fought by his command until 
 September, 1862, when, on account of his youth, he was 
 peremptorily discharged by the Confederate Secretary of 
 War. Returning to Texas he immediately enlisted in Com- 
 pany B of Baylor's regiment. Majors' Brigade, Green's 
 Division of Cavalry. In 1864 he was elected to a lieutenantcy 
 in his company. After the Louisiana campaign of that year, 
 in which he was disabled from active service by wounds, he 
 was made Commandant of the Post and Provost Marshal of 
 Navasota, Texas. Later, his disability continuing, he was 
 promoted to a captaincy, and assigned to the Reserve Corps, 
 under command of General J. B. Robertson. 
 
 Since the restoration of peace between the States, Captain 
 Chilton has been prominent in both the business and politics 
 of the State, and has held several important positions of trust. 
 To him, more than to any other one man, should be accorded 
 credit for suggesting and making possible the erection of a 
 monument to the dead of Hood's Texas Brigade. His efforts 
 have been crowned with success, and the monument will be un- 
 
Captain Frank Bowden Chilton 
 Company H, Fourth Texas Regiment 
 
 FACING 292 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 293 
 
 veiled at Austin on May 7, 1910, the forty-eighth anniversary 
 of the battle of Eltham's Landing. 
 
 General William R. Hamby, President of " Hood's Texas 
 Brigade Association " and Treasurer of " Hood's Texas Bri- 
 gade Monument Committee," resides at Austin, Texas, and 
 holds a prominent place in the financial world. Bom in Ten- 
 nessee, he came to Texas with his widowed mother, in early 
 youth. Among the first to enlist in Company B of the Fourth 
 Texas Infantry, Hood's Texas Brigade, he participated in 
 every battle in which that regiment was engaged until No- 
 vember, 1862, when, on account of disabilities caused by 
 wounds received at Second Manassas and Sharpsburg, he was 
 discharged, being at that date only seventeen years old. 
 
 Having returned to Texas in March, 1863, " Bill Hamby," 
 as he was known to his comrades, under orders from General 
 Adam R. Johnson, commanding the Second Brigade of Mor- 
 gan's cavalry and then in Texas on recruiting service, set 
 out for Kentucky at the head of ten other young men, and 
 after frequent skirmishes with the enemy en route, arrived there 
 and was attached to Helm's Scouts, of the Tenth Kentucky 
 Cavalry, made a first lieutenant and assigned to scout duty 
 at brigade headquarters. In a subsequent reorganization, the 
 latter part of the war, his company became Company H of 
 the Thirteenth Kentucky Cavah'y. He was wounded and cap- 
 tured in July, 1863, and after being exchanged, returned to 
 active duty and was in command of his company — its cap- 
 tain, Neill Helm, having been killed — when paroled April 26, 
 1865. 
 
 After the war closed he was a student, during 1866 and 
 1867, at Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn. After 
 leaving the university he remained in Tennessee until 1882, 
 being, while there, lawyer, journalist, and somewhat in poli- 
 tics, and during the administration of Governor James D. Por- 
 ter, serving as Adjutant-General of the State, and while so 
 serving, originating and carrying to successful issue the first 
 competitive military drill held in the South after the close of 
 the war between the States. It was as Adjutant-General of 
 Tennessee that he captured the title of general. 
 
 Since his return to Texas in 1882, General Hamby has 
 
294 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 been a member of the Texas legislature and filled other offices 
 of honor and trust. As a legislator he was the author and 
 secured the passage of the first law of the State in aid of the 
 Confederate Home, established at Austin by the John B. Hood 
 Camp of United Confederate Veterans. To him is due a large 
 share of the credit for building the monument to the dead of 
 Hood's Texas Brigade, that is to be unveiled at Austin, in 
 the Capitol grounds, on May 7, 1910, the anniversary of the 
 battle of Eltham's Landing, the first battle of that brigade, 
 and which it fought unaided by any other command. 
 
 Captain W. T. Hill, one of the members of Hood's Texas 
 Brigade Monument Committee, residing near Maynard, Texas, 
 was bom near Selma, Ala., August 16, 1837, and in early 
 youth came with his parents to Walker County, Texas. He 
 graduated from Austin College, at Huntsville, Texas, in the 
 class of 1858, and entered service in the Confederate army as 
 first lieutenant of Company D in the Fifth Texas Regiment 
 of Hood's Texas Brigade, and when his captain, R. M. Powell, 
 became a field officer of the regiment, he. Hill, became the 
 captain of the company. 
 
 At the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox, and indeed, 
 for some time prior to that event. Captain Hill was, as senior 
 captain, present for duty, in command of the Fifth Texas. 
 He was seriously wounded both at Gettysburg and the Wil- 
 derness, and was recommended to the War Department at 
 Richmond for promotion to the rank and command of colonel. 
 
 Captain Hill was not a " headquarters " officer, but was 
 always at his post and with his company, whether at rest or 
 in action. He was one of those devoted leaders, the typical 
 soldiers of the South, who trod steadily the rough path of 
 duty, from the beginning to the end. Of him, a member of 
 the Fifth Texas once said : " When on duty, whether in 
 camp, on the march, or in battle. Captain Hill was a prett}' 
 strict disciplinarian ; when off duty, he held every one of his 
 men to be as good as himself, but not a bit better ; and none 
 of them was better or braver, for no matter what danger 
 threatened, Hill never flinched from it." 
 
 But Captain Hill was not simply physically brave — he was 
 morally brave enough to be an humble follower of the lowly 
 
GEORGK W. IvITTI.UFIELD 
 Kightli Texas Cavaln- or "Terry Rangers" 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 295 
 
 Nazarene, Jesus, and to exert his influence in every way pos- 
 sible to make the men of his company Christians. That his 
 religion was not a pretense is evident from the fact that he 
 has been ever since the war, and is now, active in church and 
 Sunday-school work. While as a soldier in the field of war 
 he struck hard for the Southland in which he was born, as a 
 soldier of the Cross he is faithful and untiring. 
 
 As a member of the Monument Committee, Captain Hill 
 has been a zealous worker, and has secured many subscrip- 
 tions. He has also taken great interest in the preparation of 
 the histor3^ of the Texas Brigade, and has made valuable 
 contributions to it. 
 
 Major George W. Littlepield, one of the members of 
 " Hood's Texas Brigade Monument Committee," was born in 
 Panola County, Miss., and came with his parents to Gonzales 
 County, Texas, in 1850. He received his education in the 
 country school, and in July, 1861, enlisted as a private in the 
 Eighth Texas Cavalry, better known as the " Terry Rangers." 
 He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in Jan- 
 uary, 186J^, and on May 1st following became a first lieutenant. 
 On May 19, 1862, he was elected captain of his company. 
 On the 26th of December, 1863, he received a wound from a 
 bursting shell and fell to the ground. While lying there un- 
 able to rise, and while the battle still raged. General Thomas 
 Harrison, commanding the brigade in which the Rangers 
 served, rode up and looking down at him, said : " Littlefield, 
 I promote you to the rank of major, for gallantry on the field." 
 
 But although Major Littlefield returned to his command 
 in the following July, he was too seriously disabled by his 
 wound to do service, and in November, 1864, he resigned his 
 commission and returned to his home in Gonzales County, 
 Texas. Here, although compelled to use crutches until 1867, 
 he engaged in farming. In 1871 he entered the cattle busi- 
 ness, and is, to-day, probably the owner of more cattle than 
 any man in the State of Texas. He resides at Austin, Texas, 
 and is prominent in financial circles. He has aided greatly in 
 securing funds for the building of the monument to the dead 
 of Hood's Texas Brigade, and is himself a generous con- 
 tributor to the undertaking. 
 
ROLL OF OFFICERS AND MEN BELONGING TO HOOD'S TEXAS 
 
 BRIGADE, WHO SURRENDERED AT APPOMATTOX 
 
 COURT HOUSE, APRIL 9, 1865. 
 
 FIBST TEXAS 
 
 F. S. Bass, Colonel commanding regiment; Jno. H. Leete, Adjutant; 
 G, A. Merritt, Assistant Surgeon; D. K. Rice, Captain Co. C; \Vm. A. 
 Bedell, Captain Co. L; Jno. N. Wilson, Captain Co. K; J. J. Quarles, 
 Captain Co. G; A. W. Buckner, First Lieutenant Co. C; A. A. Aldrich, 
 First Lieutenant Co. I; H. H. Robinson, First Lieutenant Co. A; T. A. 
 Ardrey, First Lieutenant Co. K; D. M. Miollynatt, First Lieutenant Co. 
 G; A. C. Oliver, First Lieutenant Co. D; M. C. Noble, Second Lieutenant 
 Co. F; Wm. M. Berrjman, Second Lieutenant Co. I; Sam P. Torbett, 
 Second Lieutenant Co. H; W. A. Forte, Hospital Steward. 
 
 Company A. 
 ii'd Sergt., A. Alford; Private, G. Mathews. • 
 
 Company C. 
 
 4th Sergt., J. N. Freeman; Privates, O. G. Armstrong, J. W. Armstrong, 
 H. F. M. Freeman, J. P. Neil. 
 
 Company D. 
 
 2d Sergt., D. F. Storey; 3d Sergt., E. C. Powell; 1st Corp., J. T. Dixon; 
 Privates, A. J. Adams, W. L. Durham, G. F. Moss, E. W. Oliver, J. W. 
 Smith, S. L. Davenport, P. H. Glaze, W. O. Moore, F. T. Oliver, J. L. 
 Allen. 
 
 Company E. 
 
 4th Sergt., W. H. Coleman; Privates, J. A. Clarke, S. F. Perry, G. t. 
 Heard, F. M. Mays, R. G. Sands, T. H. Langley, J. T. Longino, J. W. 
 Trowbridge, S. T. Watson. 
 
 Company F. 
 
 Privates, J. M. Snowden, A. S. Crarey. 
 
 Company O. 
 
 1st Sergt., G. W. Chambers; 2d Sergt., W. P. Bowen; 4th Sergt. J. 
 Parker; 1st Corp., J. R. Keeling; Privates, L. A. Adams, J. W. Davis, F. 
 
 296 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 297 
 
 M. Hopkins, T. F. Muin, E. M. Mathews, J. Lewellen, T. G. Seay, W. B. 
 Henry, J. A. Knox, Jas. Ward, S. F. Black, D. B. Chambers, H. Darnell, 
 G. W. Kennedy, J. W. Mathews, B. Y. Milan, J. M. Petty, W. J. Watts, 
 W. B. Kimbrough, M. A. Knox, R. F. Wren, A. F. Cooke. 
 
 Company H. 
 
 1st Sergt., H. G. Hickman; 4th Sergt., Geo. Hollinsworth ; 5th Sergt., 
 C. C. Baker; 1st Corp., J. E. Evans; 2d. Corp., W. H, Moore; Privates, P. 
 A. Blanton, T. R. Edwards, N. Hollinsworth, J. A. Knight, J. M. Her- 
 rington, J. Laflin, J. P. Surratt, Jas. Bolton, A. J. Fry, J. Honessburger, 
 Joe A. Knight, T. B. Davidson, L. G, McKinsie, A. N. Fennell. 
 
 Company I. 
 
 2d Sergt., R. F. Emmons; 5th Sergt., D. B. Bush; Commissary Sergt., 
 A. Aldrich; 1st Corp., J. M. Drawhorn; Privates, J. Harris, F. M. Morris, 
 T. W. H. McCaU, D. M. McLean, Chas. Scully. 
 
 Company K. 
 
 2d Sergt., O. T. Hanks; 3d Sergt., H. S. Bennett; 3d Corp., J. Brandon; 
 4th Corp., W. F. Brooks; Privates, O. T. Hail, A. J. Preselle, H. C. Powell, 
 A. J. Wilson, B. D. Dunham, W. H. Watson, Joe O. Brown, S. N. Peter- 
 son, J. O. Noble, Geo. W. Menefree. 
 
 Company L. 
 
 3d Sergt., J. C. Pratt; 4th Sergt., W. A. Shelton; Privates, Samuel 
 Clarke, J. Dillon, M. Garrity, John McCarty, R. R. Stoddard, W. B. Von 
 Hutton, M. L. Wagner, R. A. Curtis, L. F. Delardenier, T. L. McCarty, 
 G. A. Merke, H. Soultze, A. W. Wood, Wm. Hoskins, Jas Welch, 
 
 Company M. 
 
 1st Sergt., T. W. Peary; 2d Sergt, W. A. Roach, 3d Sergt., F. M. 
 Slater; 4th Sergt., G. B. Lundy; 5th Sergt., D. H. Hamilton; Drummer, 
 S. S. Watson; Privates, B. J. Caps, W. F, Eufinger, S. Stubblefleld, W. T. 
 White, S. Demirry, T. E. Hathorn, W. TuUous, J. A. Wliite, Jo Wilson. 
 
 FOURTH TEXAS 
 
 C. M. Winkler, Lieutenant-Colonel, conunanding regiment; W. H. Mar- 
 tin, Major; J. C. Jones, Surgeon; J. T. McLaurin, Captain Co. B; R. H. 
 Frank, Captain Co. D; J. T. Hunter, Captain Co. H; E, T. Kindred, Cap- 
 tain Co. F; Haywood Branan, First Lieutenant Co. F; N. J. Mills, First 
 Lieutenant Co. I; J. B. Boyd, First Lieutenant Co. C; J. S. Spivey, First 
 Lieutenant Co. H; J. J. Atkinson, First Lieutenant Co. G; Wm. F. Ford, 
 Second Lieutenant Co. B; G. E. Lynon, First Lieutenant Co. A; J. W. 
 
298 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Duran, Second Lieutenant Co. I; Robert H. Leonard, Hospital Steward; 
 J. R. P. Jett, T. D. Herst, J. H. Collins, D. H. Foster, D. J. Goode, Chas. 
 Warner, P. R. Stamps and Frank Veal, Musicians. 
 
 Company A. 
 
 2d Sergt., P. H. Walker; 3d Sergt, W. D. Mooney; 4th Sergt., P. J. 
 Deel; Privates, T. W. Fletcher, J. H. Gunn, J. S. Jones, W, H. Pittman, 
 P. Thompson, J. M. Fields, W. A. Hall, A. J. Martin, T. S. Simmons, W. 
 B. Walker. 
 
 Company B. 
 
 5th Sergt., W. J. Flanniken; 1st Corp., J. E. Jones; 2d Corp., W. J. 
 Tannehill; 4th Corp., A. R. Masterson; Privates, L, B. Cox, A. A. Durfee, 
 N. W. Mayfield, A. R. Rice, J. K. P. Dunson, J, B. Henderson, A. T. 
 Luckett, S.' P. Teague, D. A. Todd. 
 
 Com,pany C. 
 
 2d Sergt., J. M. Adams; Privates, W. Geary, B. F. Merriman, S. W. 
 Montgomery, W. Hearne. 
 
 Company D. 
 
 1st Sergt., Jas. Patterson; 2d Sergt., A. E. Wilson; 3d Sergt., R. A. 
 Burges; 4th Sergt., S. A. Jones; 5th Sergt., Z. J. Harmon; 1st Corp., J. 
 M. White; Privates, W. H. Burges, A. A. Dimmitt, J. B. Gregory, G. W. 
 Little, F. C. White, J. S. Daniel, W. Dunn, J. F, Holmes, John Rodgers, B. 
 Schmidt, G. A. Hodges. 
 
 Company E. 
 
 1st Sergt., P. M. Ripley; 2d Sergt., W. W. Dunklin; 1st Corp., E. C. 
 Sharp; Privates, S. J. Billingsley, W. E. Duncan, W. M. King, F. C. Mul- 
 lins, Jas. Robertson, H. B. Rogers, R. W. Umberson, G. N. Chenault, 
 Samuel Fossett, W. H. Burton, W. A. Pamplin, N. N. Ripley, G. M. 
 Taylor, P. D. Williams. 
 
 Company F. 
 
 1st Sergt., J. D. Murray; Privates, C. A. McAlister, H. G. Abbott, S. H. 
 Hardoin, Jas. Alford, W. H. Dunn, L. T. Pogue. 
 
 Company O. 
 
 1st Sergt., L. H. Barry; 2d Sergt., W. M. Baines; 3d Sergt., W. A. 
 Stacey; 5th Sergt., W. J. Grissett; 3d Corp., J. F. Martin; 4th Corp., B. 
 F. Kelley; Privates, Jas. Aiken, D. R. Blackshear, E. C. Davis, C. G. 
 Mooring, S. A. Midkiff, H. F. Plaster, G. S. Quails, H. E. Shafer, T. G. 
 Wallingford, J. J. Blackshear, J. J. Cooke, G. W. Jones, W. A. Martin, 
 J. T. Muse, J. M. Pinckney, J. S. Reynolds, A. J. Stewart, H. F. Williams. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 299 
 
 Company H. 
 
 4th Sergt., W. T. C. May; 1st Corp., R. H. Stewart; 4th Corp., J. H. 
 Hall; Privates, T. C. Dillard, R. M. May, Thos. A. Wynne, H. Keiser, A. 
 J. McCowan, W. A. Watson. 
 
 Company I. 
 
 4th Sergt., R. G. Halloway; Privates, W. B. Allen, J. W. Crabtree, H. L. 
 Harrison, J. W. Holderman, L. W. Rice, W. W. Templeton, M. Barry, 
 A. M. Crossland, J. J. Harrison, J. H. Orendorff, J. R. Shaw, J. H. 
 Treadwell, J. C. Welch. 
 
 Company K. 
 
 1st Sergt, J. H. Kimbrough; 3d Sergt., M. H. Hodge; 5th Sergt., T. C. 
 Banks; Privates, Jos. Baker, J. M. Campbell, M. Chapman, J. F. EUege, 
 L. J. Guthrie, J. J. Pickering, A. Boles, L. D. Champion, W. T. Brown, 
 J. F. Gibbons, H. A. Larroo, J. Rice. 
 
 FIFTH TEXAS. 
 
 Colonel, R. M. Powell; Surgeon, John J. Roberts; Adjutant, Wm. P. 
 McGowen; Ensign, Wm. H. Clark; Sergeant-Major, John M. Smither; 
 Ordnance Sergeant, A. T. Cross; Hospital Steward, W. H. Chadwick. 
 
 Company A. 
 
 2d Sergt., Chas. F. Settle ; 3d Sergt., Joseph H. Shepherd ; Privates, Lewis 
 Coleman, George W. Douglas, James Downey, Wm. A. George, John T. 
 Hurtt, James E. Landes, James Stanger. 
 
 Company B. 
 
 1st Lieut., Ben Baker; Musician, Albert H. Carter; Privates, Emmil 
 Besch, W. H. Carlton, David M. Curry, Wesley Cherry, Thos. T. DeGraf- 
 fenried, John W. Johnson, Joseph C. Kindred, J. S. Obenshain. 
 
 Company C. 
 
 Captain, J. E. Anderson; 2d. Sergt., John A. Green; Privates, J. P. 
 Copeland, H. T. Driscoll, E. W. James, T. R. Pistole, J. E. Swindler, P. 
 H. West, H. P. Traweek. 
 
 Company D. 
 
 Captain, Wm. T, Hill; 1st Sergt., Jno. C. HUl; 2d Corp., Richard Hardy; 
 Privates, Thos. J. Birdwell, Bernard Carrington, Joel Minshew, Martin L. 
 Gilbert, Anthony F. Golding, Abner M. Hinson, Thos. J. Lewis, Robert 
 Staunton, Wm. A. Traj'lor, Alfred W. Underwood, Wm. P. Wilson, Wm. 
 P. Powell, M. D. 
 
300 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Company E. 
 
 2nd Lieut., Bowling Eldridge; 3rd Sergt., Wm. C. LeGrand; 4th Sergt., 
 Sidney V. Patrick; 5th Sergt., George B. Williams; Musician, James Har- 
 deman; Musician, John F. Fields; Privates, M. A. J. Evans, Rufus K. 
 Felder, W. H. Gray, Wm. H. Innes, Wm. R. Lott, Wm. H. McAlister, 
 David O. Patrick, Simon B. Smith, Frank M. Smith, Joseph W. Wallace. 
 
 Company F. 
 
 Captain, Watson S. Williams; 1st Sergt., Henry V. Angell; 2d Sergt., 
 Cadmus Wilborn; Privates, Basil C. Brashear, Julius Beckman, Saml. E. 
 Perley, Joseph C. Ross, John V. Sloan, Henry C. Shea, Ransom Swiney, 
 Thomas W. Taylor, Frank G. Whittington. 
 
 Company G. 
 
 1st Lieut., Edward Williams; 1st Sergt., Lucilius W. Caldwell; 3rd Sergt., 
 Wm. W. Smith; 4th Sergt., James Fool; 3d Corporal, James P. Smith; 
 Privates, Geo. A. Bernard, Wm. T. Dyer, Hugh C. Jackson, Ehas B. Mc- 
 Aninch, Danl. McDonald, David H. Mayes, Wm. A. Nabours, Constantine 
 P. Nance, John B. Small, Andrew J. Tomlinson. 
 
 Company H. 
 
 2nd Lieut., D. W. McDonell; 1st Sergt., Jacob Hemphill; 2nd Sergt., G. M. 
 Sims; 3d Sergt., Wm. Grayless; 4th Sergt., S. W. Small; Musician, Wm. 
 Cooper; Privates, A. D. Brinkley, A. H. Butler, James Curry, J. A. 
 Chesser, Willis B. Darby, Milton P. Foster, P. K. Goree, Thos. S. Haynie, 
 George H. Johnson, Thompson Kelly, Harvey Rose, J. Shields, J. A. Shaw, 
 James M. Small, S. E. Walters, Robt. T. Wilson, John Reader, Wm. Woods. 
 
 Company I. , 
 
 Captain, Ben L Franklin; 1st Lieut., Dimas R. Ponce; 1st Sergt., George 
 W. Clampitt; S'd Sergt, Wm. O. Morgan; 3d Sergt., Saml. D. Williams; 
 4th Sergt., John S. Hafner; Privates, Ben J. Baldwin, Fritz Bettis, Willis 
 G. Blue, James R. Clutt, D. H. Carter, J. W. Deane, James A. Eatman, 
 B. S. Fitzgerald, Robert Fleming, Curran Holmes, A. W, Holt, John D. 
 Howie, Jonathan A. Love, Wm. R. McRee. 
 
 Company K. 
 
 2d Lieut., J. M. Alexander; 1st Sergt., T. F. Meece; 4th Sergt., A. B. 
 Green; 4th Corp., J. F. Fordj Musician, J. W. Smith; Musician, W. S. 
 Sandall; Privates, R. A. Ashley, J. M. Bowen, J. D. Galvert, A. W. Dunn, 
 A. J. Fairchilds, W. G. Hendly, Henry C. Hirams, Mark A. Hubert, 
 E. Kirkland, W. M. McDonald, B. F. Meekins, D. A. Rowe, U. P. Steph- 
 enson, S. D. Waldrop, W. B, Young. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 301 
 
 Company D. 
 Privates, M. A. Lampkin, J. W. Ewing. 
 
 Company G. 
 Private, J. T. Allison. 
 
 THIRD ARKANSAS. 
 
 Robert S. Taylor, Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding regiment; J. R. 
 Brown, Surgeon; H. T. Kleinschmidt. Assistant Surgeon; G. E. Butler, 
 Chaplain; Josh. Hightower, Captain Co. C; A. C. Jones, Captain Co. G; 
 Frank Thach, Captain Co. H; J. W. Norris, Captain Co. K; Wm. H. Har- 
 rison, Captain Co. E ; T. A. Anderson. Captain Co. F ; J. D. Pickens, First 
 Lieutenant Co. E; R. M. Stribling, First Lieutenant Co. F; J. I. Miles, 
 Second Lieutenant Co. H; Thomas P. Brewen, Second Lieutenant Co. K; 
 J. L. Meel, Second Lieutenant Co. G. 
 
 Company A. 
 
 2d Sergt., H. A. Ralph; Privates, J. C. Bull, J. D. Geddie, W. C. Hannan, 
 Jas. Day, W. E. Gregory, H. N. Morris, W. A. Moore, J. S. Banks, S. S. 
 Johnson, J. A. Kelly, G. W. Smith, Wash Parks, C. A. Harrold, J. D. 
 Kelley, G. Y. Mock, S. F. Stevens, G. L. Wright. 
 
 Company B. 
 
 1st Sergt., R. E. McMurray; 5th Sergt, H. B. Lindsey; Privates, J. P. 
 Hughes, Jas. Reid, N. J. Fuller, J. F. Ketchins, S. D. Cobb, Dan'l. Senn. 
 
 Company C. 
 
 1st Sergt., W. E. Conley; 1st Corp., Chas. W. Jeter; Privates, Robert 
 S. Rust, B. F. Glossup, Jas. T. Burden, Jas. B. Robertson, Jno. A. Fer- 
 guson, W. L. Law, S. P. Otts, W. T. Tuggle, T. J. Wilson. 
 
 Company D. 
 
 1st Sergt., J. A. Harrell; Privates, W. T. Anderson, J. H. Tyner, T, T. 
 Crow, J. H. White, J. S. Bush. 
 
 Company E. 
 
 1st Sergt.. J. S. Grooms; 3d Sergt., Jesse W. Hill; 4th Sergt., J. V. 
 King; 3th Sergt., W. H. Dumas; 4th Corp., L. C. Duke; Privates, J. W. 
 Hill, W. V. Jester, H. F. King, Jno. N. Mcllvine, Jno. D. Staples, O. W. 
 Jester, J. R. Jester, Jones Amason, P. H. Reynolds, B. F. Stevens, K. 
 Smith. 
 
303 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Company F. 
 
 1st Sergt., W. S. Adair; 2d Sergt., Austin Phelps; Privates, C. R. Buster, 
 T. J. White, S. H. Emmerson, A. J. Grigsby, Wm. Stanley. 
 
 Company G. 
 
 4th Sergt., L. C. Warwick; 5th Sergt., H. A. Massey; Corp., J. B. Wilson; 
 Privates, W. J. Alderson, J. F. Brooks, M. L. Grumpier, H. J. P. Fergu- 
 son, Hill Jones, J. F. Lauderdale, J. A. Moore, E. M. Mitchell, P. A. 
 Beeman, Frank Courtney, A. P. Cummings, G. W. Fuller, W. J. Keeling^ 
 D. H. Lewis, R. M. McDowell, V. Q. Warwick. 
 
 Company H. 
 
 4th Sergt., T. W. Hagood; Privates, Joe. May, J. W, Cook, G. B. Mc- 
 Donald, Jeflf Thornsbury. 
 
 Company I. 
 
 1st Sergt., J. S. Williams; 3d Sergt., W. G. Lockhart; 3d/Corp., B. B. 
 Newbern; Privates, Moses Garner, W. H. G. Morgan, E. D. Goza, Robert 
 Ratteree, John C. Jones, J. W. Rhodes, J, M. Robertson, J. S. Shirley, 
 W. T, Brewer. 
 
 Company K. 
 
 1st Sergt., H. C. Denson; 2d Sergt., J. L. F. Hill; 3d Sergt., M. L. Mc- 
 Curdie; Privates, A. P. Bennett, W. D. Everett, Thomas Morris, D. T. 
 White, J. C. Gilliam, J. H. Fountain, J. C. Phillips, J. H. Campbell, J. H. 
 Goldsby, R. P. Noble, J. H. Albrecht, A. W. Holcomb, Geo. Jackson, R. 
 M. Roberts; Musicians, E. L. Bigham, R. J. Baily, R. J. Lowry, J. D. 
 Randle, G. A. Bailey, J. B. Jackson, G. F. Melton, F. M. Ward, B. F. 
 Ward; Hospital Steward, H. C. White. 
 
 MUSTER ROLLS OF FIRST TEXAS 
 COMPANY A 
 
 Harvey H. Black, captain; promoted Jas. Henderson, lieutenant and ad- 
 to lieutenant-colonel of the regi- jutant of the regiment 
 ment and killed at Eltham's Land- Dr. Ewing, surgeon of the regiment 
 ing Allen, " Bent " 
 
 Geo. T. Todd, elected captain on re- Allen, J. L. 
 organization. May, 1862, still living Alford, Julius C. 
 
 Wes. Laney, first lieutenant. Became Alford, Will; killed in battle 
 captain January, 1864 I Armstrong, George 
 
 Harry H. Robinson, second lieu- lAttee, John; killed at Eltham's 
 tenant |'t Landing 
 
 John H. Leete, V. S. >- Baker, Green 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 303 
 
 (Ball); killed at 
 
 Barron, Charles 
 
 Blalock, J. 
 
 Blackburn, Frank; killed in battle 
 
 Brookshire, Tom; killed in battle 
 
 Bird, John; killed in battle 
 i'Bebo, C. ; killed in battle 
 
 Brewer, T. E. (Dick) 
 
 Browning, Henry 
 
 Bronaugh, David 
 
 Chase, R. 
 
 Crawford, J. C. 
 Gaines' Farm 
 
 Carlton, Prof. 
 
 Campbell, " Gulie "; killed in battle 
 
 Derrick, E. P.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Derrick, John; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Daugherty, Hugh; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Dudgrove, H. 
 
 Durrum, Will 
 
 Epperson, H. J.; captured and died 
 in Virginia 
 
 Edison, John 
 
 Elliott, Bill; killed in battle 
 
 Edwards, James; killed in battle 
 
 Frazier, O. C. 
 
 Gaines, John 
 
 Gray, John 
 
 Goforth, John 
 
 Graham, Chas, J, 
 
 Hensey, Hugh 
 
 Heisinant, Henry; killed in battle 
 
 Heisinant, Boynton 
 
 Hawkins, J. Cal. 
 
 Higgins, Pat; killed 
 
 Hill, J. C. ; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Hudson, Geo. W. 
 
 Jacoby, M. ; lost leg at Gaines' Farm 
 
 Jones, C. D.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Jones, Tom; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Joiner, James; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Kinty, Joe; killed in battle 
 
 Kennedy, John H. 
 
 Lane, Ben 
 
 Lindsay, Joshua; jaw broken at 
 Chickamauga 
 
 McDougald, Will; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Malone, Jas. 
 
 McLendon, W. ; killed in battle 
 
 McMahon, Tom; killed in battle 
 
 Mathis, George 
 
 Murphy, P.; killed in battle 
 
 Fostlethwaite, Chas. 
 
 Rogers, George; killed in battle 
 
 Rogers, Walter 
 
 Sikes, B.; killed in battle 
 
 Sitzer, M.; killed in battle 
 
 Slaughter, H.; killed in battle 
 
 Slaughter, 
 
 Shropshire, 
 
 Story, Frank 
 
 Tawlock, F.; killed in battle 
 
 Thompson, G. ; killed in battle 
 
 Todd, Louis B. 
 
 Veal, John 
 
 Whitaker, Willis; lost arm 
 
 Wimberlj^, John; killed on Potomac 
 in 1861 
 
 Wimberly, W. L. ; discharged 
 
 Wright, S. 
 
 Wright, J. C. 
 
 Williams, Chas.; killed in battle 
 
 Walton, Doug. 
 
 COMPANY B 
 
 Anderson, M. B. ; wounded, dis- Burns, Larry; discharged 
 
 charged 
 Banfield, G. W.; wounded, 
 
 charged 
 Bass, Richard 
 Bass, Robert 
 
 Butler, John 
 dis- Butler, Chas. W.; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 Barter, Fred 
 Burke, Thos. 
 
 Balling, Booker; wounded, discharged Canterberry, Jordan; wounded and 
 Bradford, Champ.; lieutenant transferred 
 
 Bradford, James; discharged Carr, Frank 
 
304 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Choate, Rufus; killed at Chicka- McGee, S. H.; wounded at Sharps- 
 
 mauga burg, discharged 
 
 Cox, W. H.; discharged McNally, Jno.; killed at Malvern 
 
 Collins, Frank; wounded and dis- Hill 
 
 charged McNulty, Henry 
 De Walt, K. B. Lieut.; resigned Meece, Calvin; transferred to Corn- 
 Derrick, George; died at Manassas pany K, 5th Texas Regiment 
 Derrick, John Meekins, P. P. 
 Donnelly, Pat; killed at Chicka- Meekins, Roderick; killed at Gettys- 
 
 mauga burg 
 
 Dortch, Joseph; killed at Malvern Morris, Benjamin; transferred to ar- 
 
 Hill tillery 
 
 Dunnam, Sid; joined Trans-Missis- Moore, D. D., Capt.; resigned 
 
 sippi army and killed at Mans- Nettles, Thos.; wounded at York- 
 field town, discharged 
 Dunnam, C. R. ; paroled O'Gorman, John 
 Dunnam, M. A.; wounded at Ma- Probert, John; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 nassas Quigley, John 
 
 Ellis, Richard; killed at Chicka- Sandel, Wilborn 
 
 mauga Sanderson, Adolph; killed at Chicka- 
 
 Evans, James; transferred to Va. mauga 
 
 regiment, killed Scott, Thomas 
 
 Fontain, H. B.; joined the Trans- Scott, Wm. 
 
 Mississippi army and made captain Shotwell, John I., Lieut., Capt., killed 
 
 of artillery by bushwhackers, N. C, while a 
 
 Garner, James; killed at Gettys- prisoner 
 
 burg Shotwell, T. B. 
 
 Garner, Wm. ; wounded at Malvern Shotwell, Wm. 
 
 Hill, discharged Stevens, James P.; killed at Chicka- 
 
 Gibson, Wm. mauga 
 
 Ham, George; killed at Gettysburg Smith, U. P.; joined Trans-Missis- 
 Harding, R. J., Lieut., Capt, and sippi army 
 
 Lieut.-Col. ; wounded at Gettyburg Trinkman, A.; engineer corps 
 
 and Cold Harbor Victory, Jack; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Ike, Indian Walker, William, Lieut.; killed at 
 
 Johnson, George H. ; wounded at Cold Harbor 
 
 Sharpsburg and captured at Westbrook, Nathaniel; killed at Cold 
 
 Chickamauga , Harbor 
 
 Jones, Enoch Ward, Sam. V.; discharged 
 
 Kirksey, Newton; wounded William, Zack; killed at Gaines' 
 
 Kendrich, John Mill 
 
 Kennady, Jefferson Woodward, Sam J.; wounded at 
 
 Lewis, Green; wounded, discharged Wilderness, discharged. 
 
 Lowe, Henry B.; Lieut. Woodward, Mc. 
 
 Lowe, Daniel; wounded at Gettys- West, Dr. Jacob 
 
 burg, discharged ZeluflP, 
 
 McClannahan, James; killed at Mai- Carraway, L. W. 
 
 vern Hill Love, Robt.; wounded at Malvern 
 
 McDonald, Wm. Hill, discharged 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 305 
 
 Walker, George; killed near Rich- — '^B^^n; transferred to Engineers 
 
 mond, Va. j,°2y member of Company B be- 
 
 Tni StnSeTto Engineers lie.ed Lad except P. P. Me«.^a.a 
 
 ^y^^ g ' R. J. Harding, and probably M. B. 
 
 Anderson 
 
 COMPANY D 
 m^^foT, A a Cant Covey, Chas.; killed at West Point 
 
 S:S W: M:; IsT Ueut. («' Eltbam. Landing) 
 
 Henderson, W. W., 2d Lieut. Covey, Thos. 
 
 Curtright, C. R., 3d Lieut. Childs, H. G. 
 
 ShroDshire, W., Orderly Sergeant; Carlow, Jas. A. ^ ^ ^ ^^ , 
 ' Znded at Sharpsburg, dead. Dobbs, Wm.; killed at Ge ysburg 
 
 Morris, Simon, 2d Sergeant; killed at Droomgoole, Jack; captured 
 
 Gettysburg, Pa. Dudley, Jas. 
 
 Shaw Jno, 3d Sergt.; discharged for Davenport, b. l>. -, -, i. 
 
 dTsIbmt;, 1861. ^ Dennis, Pone; mortally wounded at 
 
 Thomas, Jack, 1st Corp.; mortally Gaines' Farm 
 
 wounded at Chicamauga Dennis, Tom, Gy,o.r.c 
 
 Mroowell; J. H., ^'d Corp.; wounded Dickson, T. J.; wounded at Sharps- 
 
 BllIrR^uS^d Corp.; died of Du^"u'm, Jake; killed at Shps 
 
 bayonet wound at Spottsylvania Durrum, Wm. L. ; J^^^^ a*^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Henderson, J. B., 4th Corp. amauga, received gold medal for 
 
 bravery 
 
 PEiVATES Dunklin, Jas.; wounded three times 
 
 Allen D Dean, Jas.; transferred 
 
 Alien, iJ. captured 
 
 Adams! I: J EaLy, Jas. s'; wounded at Chicka- 
 
 Bean Andy mauga 
 
 Blackwell, Jas.; one of Hood's Ellington, Wni. 
 
 B:;at1.r^ ?KK"tl.wo.aedatOet..s. 
 
 Bryan, Felix; retired for wound in burg 
 
 ,g3 Frazier, Ed. 
 
 Bartlett, Dan; lost arm at Sharps- Grogard, Thos. 
 
 hiiro- Griffin, Big. . 
 
 r. , T^ Glaze P. H.; wounded at Chicka- 
 
 Barker, Dug. uiaze, jr. a^., 
 
 Barnard, Joe; discharged mauga 
 
 Brown, Ed.; killed at Sharpsburg Glage, J. R. 
 
 Cook J P.; wounded at Chicka- Graham, Chas. ^ ^^ . 
 
 mauga Gibson, Robt.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Colly, Albert Hewitt, Joe. 
 
 Colly, Wm. Henderson B F. 
 
 Connally, Scott Houston, A. A. 
 
 Connally, Raddy; killed at Sharps- Hines, Ben. 
 
 burg Hartzo, Labe 
 
306 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Hopkins, Columbus; killed at The Powell, E, C; wounded several times. 
 
 Wilderness through the chest at Chickamauga 
 
 Hughes, Frank Porter, J. W. 
 
 Hass, Henry; mortally wounded at Perryman, Maje 
 
 Gettysburg Pickett, L. L. 
 
 Jackson, W. C; killed at Sharpsburg Petty, Thos. 
 
 Jackson, W. R.; killed at Sharpsburg Robinson, Wm. 
 
 Lockett, Wm. Robinson, Jno. C; wounded in the 
 
 Lindsey, Dave mouth at Chickamauga 
 
 McCoy, H. C; wounded at Sharps- Reynolds, S. F. 
 
 burg Richardson, A. 
 Moody, Sam. Snellgrove, J. P.; wounded at Chick- 
 Moss, W. O. ; mortally wounded at amauga 
 
 Chickamauga, was given a gold Simms, Dave; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 medal for bravery Farm 
 
 Moss, G. F. ; was transferred from Story, R., F. ; lost portion of his hand 
 
 8th Ga. Regt. to Company D, 1861 at The Wilderness 
 
 Moss, A. M. ; was transferred from Smith, Joe; wounded twice 
 
 8th Ga, Reg. to Company D, 1861 Snow, Geo. 
 
 Mathews, Sol. Snow, Wm.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Mixon, Chap.; killed near Richmond Snow, Robt. 
 
 Moore, Jno.; mortally wounded near Sasser, Wm. 
 
 Richmond Shaw, Jno. 
 
 Murray, W. W. Smith, J. W. 
 
 Milligan, Larkin Sartin, Wm.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 McAlpine, Thos. Slade, Thos. 
 
 McAlpine, Jas.; deserted Trice, Jas. ; transferred 
 
 Miles, J. Foster; killed at Gettysburg Therrell, Abe; killed near Gaines' 
 
 Miles, Aquilla; wounded at Chicka- Mill 
 
 mauga Thomas, Jack, Lieut.; when mortally 
 
 McClellan, Wm.; killed at Gettysburg wounded at Chickamauga 
 
 Mitchell, Frank Thomas, Lucian; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Noward, Jas.; transferred. Taylor, Bill 
 
 Oliver, W. S.; wounded at Gettys- Wear, Henry; transferred 
 
 burg. Williams, W. W. 
 
 Oliver, A. C; wounded at White Oak Wood, Jack; wounded at Sharpsburg 
 
 Swamp Wise, 
 
 Oliver, W. H.; mortally wounded at Wood, Bailey 
 
 Chickamauga White, Joe. 
 
 Oliver, F. F.; wounded near Rich- Watson, Jno. 
 
 mond Sledge, Nat. M. 
 
 Oliver, Jno. A. Chesser, 
 
 Oliver, H. P. July, 1861, Capt. Clopton was pro- 
 Oliver, W. A. T. ; wounded at iiioted to Major. The company was 
 
 Sharpsburg commanded by Lieut. Hewitt until 
 
 O'Rear, J. P.; lost leg neaf- Rich- the reorganization, 1862. Lieut. C. R. 
 
 mond, '64 Curtright drilled the company. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 S07 
 
 COMPANY E 
 
 The foUowing members of the "Marshall Guards" were mustered 
 into the Confederate service on June 6th, 1861— the company afterwards 
 becoming Company E, of the First Texas: 
 
 F. S. Bass, Captain 
 
 E. H. Baxter, 1st Lieut. 
 
 A. D. Burns, 2d Lieut. 
 J. K. Taylor, 3d Lieut. 
 Adam Hope 
 
 J. R. Pogue 
 J. M. Pears 
 W. E. Turner 
 T. P. Ochiltree 
 J. R. Bullock 
 C. H. Fields 
 S. H. Burnham 
 W. Finney 
 
 B. R. Brasil 
 W. L. Langley 
 A. B. Peal 
 
 J. A. Lindsey 
 
 W. H. Coleman 
 
 J. H. Coleman /' 
 
 C. H. Morrison 
 W. T. Clark 
 W. D. Prescott 
 J. R. Boone 
 Henry Stone 
 M. A. Chivers 
 J. W. Smith 
 James W. Pope 
 Thomas Steele 
 
 G. \V. Willingham 
 R. Lloyd 
 E. A. Earnest 
 R. S. I. Burns 
 J. H. Hendrick 
 \V. B. Preston 
 R. Stephens 
 J. F. Rudd 
 S. T. Watson 
 M. McKinney 
 T. M. Sloan 
 W. Campbell 
 Chas. Woodson 
 L. N. Levy 
 R. S. Clark 
 
 E. M. Ewing 
 D. L. Wilson 
 John Smith 
 S. A. King 
 T. H. Langley 
 R. Childers 
 Geo, McQueen 
 G. W. Stauts 
 W. C. Scott 
 A. F. Wiggs 
 Joe Marks 
 W. P. Rawls 
 J. M. Taylor 
 Thomas McKay 
 Ben. S. Pope 
 William Boodworth 
 S. W. Webb 
 Pratt Hughes 
 G. A. Peete 
 J. O. Bradfield 
 Marcus Gillett 
 J. A. Clark 
 J. W. Gillian 
 James Norwood 
 G. F. Heard 
 Howell Austin ; 
 
 John Burke 
 
 B. W. Webb 
 J. W. Webb 
 R. F. Joyce 
 S. F. Perry 
 Clinton Perry 
 E. O. Perry 
 H. E. Perry 
 
 J. D. Campbell 
 J. W. Trowbridge 
 James Spradling 
 
 C. H. Ward 
 T. J. Longino 
 Riley G. Sands 
 M. B. Turrentine 
 W. F. Woodward 
 James Hayes 
 
308 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Robert Marshall 
 Lee Trimble 
 J. C. K. MuUay 
 J. A. Lawson 
 David Dunn 
 Rev'd Collins 
 Jos. Robertson 
 
 R. V. Phillips 
 W. J. Purnell 
 J. S. Vandergraff 
 W. D. Haynes 
 A. A. AUen 
 Franklin Mayes 
 D. M. Walker 
 
 COMPANY F 
 
 Work, P. A., Capt. and later Lieut- 
 Col. 
 
 Willson, S. A., 1st Lieut, and later 
 Capt. 
 
 Landers, Robt., 2d Lieut. 
 
 Rock, I. D., 3d Lieut. 
 
 Bullock, James 
 
 Benedict, 
 
 Brady, 
 
 Buvley, 
 
 Bradshaw, Ben 
 
 Barclay, Thomas 
 
 Bush, ; was killed in battle 
 
 Bush, Dr. 
 
 Blacksher, William 
 
 Bostic, 
 
 Crier, Manuel; killed in battle 
 
 Crier, Morris 
 
 Crier, William; killed in battle 
 
 Chance, Dock 
 
 Chance, Zeke 
 
 Chance, Dan 
 
 Cravey, Jack 
 
 Durham, Thomas 
 
 Durham, Richard 
 
 Dean, 
 
 Eskridge, Thomas; killed in battle 
 
 Evans, James 
 
 Engleking, ; killed in battle 
 
 Gilder, U. M. 
 
 Goodman, William 
 
 Graham, Jack; killed in battle 
 
 Grimes, William 
 
 Hooker, Robt. 
 
 Hooks, Gill 
 
 Holloman, Burrell; killed in battle 
 
 Harvill, Henry; wounded 
 
 Hinds, James; died of wounds 
 
 Hinds, James, Jr. 
 
 Hamilton, Tillman; killed in battle 
 
 Hamilton, Ed. 
 
 Holmes, William 
 
 Hanks, Amos; wounded in battle 
 
 Jones, Henry C; died of wounds re- 
 ceived in battle 
 
 Jones, Samuel; wounded in battle 
 
 Kindrell, James 
 
 Long, Green 
 
 Minter, John 
 
 May, Dr. 
 
 McMellon, Dunkin; killed in battle 
 
 McDurmot, Hugh 
 
 Moore, Henry 
 
 Nicks, W. P. 
 
 Noble, Milton, and later Lieut. 
 
 Poole, William; wounded in battle 
 
 Poole, Josh; vrounded in battle 
 
 Phillipps, James 
 
 Phillips, John 
 
 Prewitt, Argalus 
 
 Perryman, James 
 
 Pate, 
 
 Rigsby, A. J.; late Captain of Com- 
 pany 
 
 Rountree, Andrew 
 
 Runnels, Perry; killed in battle 
 
 Smith, Milton 
 
 Shide, ; killed in battle 
 
 Snowden, Jasper 
 
 Smith, Sergt. ; killed in battle 
 
 Steadman, Bug. 
 
 Steadman, Eli; died in army of 
 wound received in battle 
 
 Steadman, John 
 
 Scott, William; killed in battle 
 
 Smith, Zack 
 
 Sims, Cubb 
 
 Smith, Abe 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 309 
 
 Snow, Dr.; killed 
 Sharp, Charley 
 Tompkins, D. C. 
 Tompkins, Jasper 
 Tolbert, Dr. 
 Travis, John 
 
 Van Vleck, Julius; was killed in bat- 
 tle 
 Welch, Thomas ; killed in battle 
 
 West, ; died in army from a 
 
 wound received in battle 
 Wiggins, WiUiam 
 Ward, Joseph 
 Wackter, J. J. 
 Wammack, Green 
 West, Isaac 
 Wooton, Albert; died in army 
 
 wound received by accident 
 
 of 
 
 COMPANY G 
 
 Copied from original muster roll at 
 surrender at Appomattox, by Willis J. 
 Watts of Company G, 1st Texas, 
 April 10, 1865, day after surrender. 
 Woodward, J. R., Capt.; promoted to 
 
 Major, died of wound 
 Jemmison, E. S., 1st Lieut.; promoted 
 
 to Captain, wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 Dale, Matt, 2d Lieut.; elected Major, 
 
 killed at Sharpsburg 
 Campbell, Ben. A., 3d Lieut.; killed 
 
 at Gettysburg 
 Rose, T. J., O. Sergt.; promoted to 
 
 Lieut., wounded at Sharpsburg 
 Harris, Matt, 2d Sergt. 
 Kimbrough, Wm., 3d Sergt. 
 Holley, J., 4th Sergt. 
 Box, Lina, 5th Sergt. 
 Wright, C. F., 1st Corp.; lost arm at 
 
 Wilderness 
 Hopper, Wm, 2d Corp. 
 Montgomery, Mat., 3d Corp. 
 Cantley, Zeb., 4th Corp.; killed at 
 
 Sharpsburg 
 
 PRIVATES 
 
 Aspley, M. J.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Allen,' Phil T. 
 
 Admas, Levi 
 
 Barnes, N. R. 
 
 Bradley, Hy.; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Brighman, Wm.; killed at Ft. Har- 
 rison 
 
 Bowen, Estes 
 
 Bowen, Pat., Sergt. 
 
 Burgess, J. 
 
 Bottoms, Smith; killed at Sharpsburg 
 Black, Sim; disabled at 2d Manassas 
 Blackshear, Seb.; disabled at Sharps- 
 burg 
 Buttler, Richard; killed at Sharps- 
 burg 
 Butts, Jas.; disabled at Wilderness 
 Burrough, S. R. 
 
 Copeland, J. C; killed at Wilderness 
 Cone, Jack; killed at Sharpsburg 
 Cone, Hy.; disabled at Wilderness 
 Cook, A. P. 
 
 Crombie, Dr. A. C, Assist. Surg. 
 Croghan, Pat.; deserted 
 Chambers, D. C. 
 
 Chambers, A. J. 
 
 Chambers, W. D., O. Sergt. 
 
 Colvin, Jim; deserted 
 
 Corder, Jim; killed at Wilderness 
 
 Downs, G. B.; kiUed in battle, 1864 
 
 Duval, J. D. 
 
 Debard, 
 
 Duval, W. A.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Darnell H. 
 
 Duval, Richard 
 
 Derdan, Jim; disabled at Sharpsburg 
 
 Davis, J. W. 
 
 Dagg, Ed.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Feles, M. M.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Gibson, L. H. 
 
 Fondren, Bud.; transferred 
 
 Goad, J. O.; lost leg at Farmville, 
 Va., 1865, last fight 
 
 Garner, W. 
 
 Groomes, Lewis; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
310 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Goodwin, Chas. 
 
 Hickey, T. C. 
 
 Heperley, J. C. 
 
 Hoffman, Hy. ; deserted 
 
 Hoover, W. P.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Hopkins, Frank 
 
 Hallum, B. A.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Hazellwood, W. T.; killed at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Hambey, Marsh 
 
 Henry, W. B. 
 
 Holloway, Jim; disabled at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Hicky, W. 
 
 Hill, R. C. 
 
 Honeycutt, Hy.; disabled at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Jordan, Bruce 
 
 Johnson, Jas. 
 
 Johnson, John 
 
 Knox, M. A.; disabled at Sharpsburg 
 
 Knox, Joe 
 
 Kenneday, Geo. 
 
 Kenneday, Jos. 
 
 Keeling, Jno. 
 
 Kyle, Geo.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Lindsy, Jno. 
 
 Lewellyn, J. E. 
 
 Lewellyn, Alf. 
 
 Lottie, N. S. 
 
 Lynch, H.; deserted 
 
 Leath, Dan. 
 
 Mynatte, Park; died of wound at 
 Chickamauga, Ga., was 2d Lieut, 
 of Company 
 
 Mynatte, D. M. ; elected Lieut. 
 
 Mathews, A. M.; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Mathews, J. W. 
 
 Mathews, F. M. 
 
 McKnight, Robt.; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Mahle, Henry 
 
 Main, T. C; wounded 
 
 McKinzie, Robt.; deserted 
 
 McKinzie, Tom. 
 
 Morris, Chas. 
 
 McFarland, C. R.; killed at Sharps- 
 burg 
 
 Milan, John; lost leg at Gettysburg 
 
 Milan, B. Y. 
 
 Morgan, J. 
 
 McCannahan, Rube; absent without 
 leave 
 
 Morite, J. 
 
 Mallard, Mark; deserted 
 
 Newson, Elias; disabled at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Newson, John 
 
 O'Brien, Martin; killed at Eltham's 
 Landing j 
 
 Owens, H.; deserted 
 
 Parker, John 
 
 Parker, Ira; died from wound at 
 Chickamauga 
 
 Parkes, B. F. 
 
 Parkes, Joe 
 
 Posey, Ed.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Posey, Jack; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Petty, Robt. 
 
 Petty, Jno. N. 
 
 Pitts, Jesse 
 
 Pugh, J. j 
 
 Quarles, J. J.; elected captain 
 
 Rudd, J. S. 
 
 Rockwall, ; deserted 
 
 Reaves, Chas. 
 
 Ratcliff, A. T.; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Read, Jeff.; now dead 
 
 Read, N. D, 
 
 Rountree, Sam.; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Stinson, J. C; was killed at Gaines 
 Mill 
 
 Stinson, Cal. 
 
 Spurrier, Nathan 
 
 Seay, Tom; living 
 
 Sorrell, J. C. ; absent without leave 
 
 Spring, L. 
 
 Scott, J. G. 
 
 Stephens, J. 
 
 Shamburger, Tom 
 
 Stalcup, Jasper; disabled at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Scarbrough, Geo. 
 
 Scarbrough, M. 
 
 Sawyer, B.; deserted 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 311 
 
 Thompson, A.; disabled at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Ward, R. K. Woodhouse, W. D. 
 
 Ward, Jim; disabled at Second Ma- Woodhouse, J. T. 
 
 nassas Woodhouse, Chas. 
 
 Watts, F. J.; lost arm at Sharpsburg Gaines' Mill 
 
 Watts, B. F. Wren, W. C, 
 
 Watts, W. J. N.; was wounded five Wren, Dick 
 
 times Wren, Richard 
 
 Watts, A. J.; wounded three places Williamson, Jos. 
 
 at Chickamauga, disabled at Wil- 
 derness 
 
 W.; killed at 
 
 Captain, A. T. Rainey 
 
 Captain, W. H. Gaston 
 
 Lieut., Bedford Parks 
 
 Lieut., W. R. Miller 
 
 Lieut., Jno. Stevenson 
 
 Lieut., R. H. Gaston 
 
 Lieut., J. L. Spencer 
 
 Lieut, R. J. Rhome 
 
 Lieut., S. P. Torbett 
 
 Lieut., J. T. Smith 
 
 A. M. Finnell 
 
 J. R. Jones 
 
 J. E. Hickman 
 
 O. Q. A. Capps 
 
 H. G. Hickman 
 
 E. G. EeU 
 
 W. A. Ford 
 
 W. Arnwine 
 
 A. A. Anderson 
 
 A. A. Adkinson 
 
 J. B. Bussey 
 
 P. A. Blanton 
 
 J. Baldwin 
 
 Tom Butler 
 
 M. A. Berry 
 
 J. Briggs 
 
 Jno. Baker 
 
 \Vm. Barton 
 
 A. C. Baxley 
 
 C. S. Bolton 
 
 W. S. Beard 
 
 R. R. Birdwell 
 
 Geo. Beauchamp 
 
 Tom Brilley 
 
 J. R. Beers 
 
 C. C. Baker 
 
 COMPANY H 
 
 J. A. Bolton 
 C. Cecil 
 J. J. Clarke 
 J. A. Counts 
 Geo. Colton 
 G. W. Culpepper 
 A. F. Cox 
 J. R. Crutchfield 
 L Cotney 
 Dock Cantrell 
 Wm. Derrough 
 J. M. Doherty 
 L. L. Evans 
 J. Evans 
 Felix Embry 
 A. F. Erwin 
 G. R. Edwards 
 W. Foster 
 Jno. J. Foster 
 
 A. J. Fry 
 
 N. H. Freeman 
 H. B. Fontaine 
 M. V. Fry 
 W. H. Gray 
 
 B. Goble 
 
 G. W. Grisham 
 
 J. A. Graham 
 
 J. A. Griffis 
 
 J. F. Gibson 
 
 S. Garrett 
 
 J. J. Herrington 
 
 J, M. Herrington 
 
 J. B. Hanks 
 
 J. C. Hollingsworth 
 
 G. Hollingsworth 
 
 N. Hollingsworth 
 
 W. Hollingsworth 
 J. H. Howell 
 Alf. Horton 
 I. Honingsburger 
 W. N. Haynes 
 Fred Horton 
 Jno. Henry 
 W. Hammer 
 D. M. Horton 
 S. S. Hones 
 D. L. HiU 
 M. Jacobs 
 Lee King 
 Jno. Jones 
 J. Loftin 
 G. W. Lumpkin 
 L. G. McKenzie 
 James Marshall 
 W. J. ManseU 
 W. G. Middleton 
 J. V. Moon 
 Fajctte Martin 
 N. A. Mendedhall 
 Caleb McBryde 
 J H. Moore 
 J. P. MuUinax 
 J. A. Norris 
 J. B. Nichols 
 F. R. Oldham 
 A. C. Perry 
 
 Patrick 
 
 J. Reid 
 J. E. Rudd 
 M. Reynolds 
 Geo. Small 
 D. C. Stewart 
 
312 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 F. Smith 
 
 J. P. Surratt 
 
 R. Simpson 
 
 S. L. Scott 
 
 J. M. Steincipher 
 
 Joe. Smith 
 
 J. E. Sides 
 
 C. Strotherl 
 
 W. M. Simpson 
 Jim Tubbs 
 J. G. Titten 
 M. Taylor 
 A. F. Taylor 
 J. M. Tillman 
 Morgan Tillman 
 
 W. Williams 
 J. T. Woodall 
 W. M. Woodford 
 A. J. Knight 
 W. H. Knight 
 J, A. Knight 
 Jno. A. Knight 
 
 COMPANY K 
 
 Benton, B, F., Capt.; 
 
 killed at Gaines' Mill 
 Price, F. B., 1st Lieut. 
 Massey, J. C, 2d Lfieut. 
 Bates, B., 3d Lieut. 
 Ardrey, T. A. 
 Benton, Jesse 
 Brown, J. O. 
 Brandon, John 
 Bennett, H. C. 
 Brooks, Wm. 
 Bryant, Wm.; deserted 
 Bryant, Sebe 
 Bullock, Thad W. 
 Burneman, Sam.; killed 
 
 at Chattanooga 
 Brandon, Joe 
 Buckley, J. M. 
 Coleman, Mason 
 Cureton, Wm. ; killed 
 Crownsen, Jesse 
 Connor, R. T. 
 
 Cooper, 
 
 Chambers, Wm. ; killed 
 
 at Gaines' Mill 
 Coe, Wm.; killed 
 Cureton, John 
 Davis, G. W.; killed at 
 
 Wilderness 
 Dunham, B. B. 
 Davidson, W. R. 
 Davidson, Tom B. 
 Day, Steve 
 Evans, Jim 
 
 Evans, ■ 
 
 Elison, A. 
 Drawhon, Monroe 
 
 1st TEXAS 
 
 Finley, Wm.; killed 
 
 Fall, J. C. 
 
 Fall, H. V. 
 
 Forsythe, Lafayette 
 
 Ford, H. H. 
 
 Ford, John D. 
 
 Gray, Wm. 
 
 Gray, 
 
 Houston, Mai. 
 
 Housman, Jim. 
 
 Hail, Jesse; killed at 
 Sharpsburg 
 
 Hail, Joe J. 
 
 Hail, Oscar 
 
 Hooper, Sam. 
 
 Howard, Wash. ; de- 
 serted 
 
 Haughton, John 
 
 Hunt, T. C. 
 
 Hanks, O. T. 
 
 Harris, Tom. 
 
 Haughton, P. 
 
 Irvine, Tom. 
 
 Jacobs, Matt. 
 
 Lanier, Tom. 
 
 Lain, Joe; killed at Mal- 
 vern Hill. 
 
 Lanier, Clem. 
 
 Miller, Ned; killed 
 
 McNally, Pat. ; deserted 
 
 McLendon, Alf. 
 
 Menefee, Geo. W. 
 
 Menefee, Tatum 
 
 Mason, Lafayette; killed 
 
 Massey, J. V.; shot at 
 Suffolk 
 
 Murphey, Tom. 
 
 Moseley, Henry E. 
 
 Mattox, Cicero 
 
 Mayo, Lewis; killed at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 McAlister, 
 
 Matthews, Sim. 
 
 McMahan, Charlie 
 
 Norfolk, Jim. 
 
 Noble, Ike 
 
 Noble, R. T. 
 
 Norvell, Tom. 
 
 Patton, Henry 
 
 Patton, Sam.; killed 
 
 Patton, James 
 
 Pool, Amos 
 
 Peterson, S. M. 
 
 Peterson, John 
 
 Proceller, A. J. 
 
 Price, Elijah 
 
 Powell, Henry A. 
 
 Pierce, Joe. 
 
 Parker, Joe. 
 
 Parker, John 
 
 Quinn, Wm.; killed 
 
 Ridley, Jim. 
 
 Ronbro, David 
 
 Ruddell, Ike 
 
 Sowell, J. J. 
 
 Sanders, John 
 
 Strother, W. F. ; deserted 
 
 Stallings, Jas. A. 
 
 Sharp, Anderson ; de- 
 serted 
 
 Sharp, Marion; killed at 
 Gettysburg 
 
 Sherrod, R. 
 
 Thomas, Oscar 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 313 
 
 Tucker, F. H. Wilson, W. J. White, Wm. 
 
 Tucker, R. Waterhouse, Jim. ; killed Walker, 
 
 Wilson, J. N. Watson, Wm. H. Warford, Sam. 
 
 Wilson, A. J. White, Wm. T. Wade, 
 
 COMPANY L 
 
 coMMissioKED OFFICERS Barber, W. J.; killed at Dundridge, 
 
 Capt, A. C. McKeen; wounded El- „ '^^""f ^. 
 A. i r A- Barnett, Thos. 
 
 tham s Landme _, , t-» • i 
 
 1st Lieut., W. A. BedeU; wounded ^"^'^^^^^"^^^ 
 
 Sharpsburg and Wilderness Colf'Fred- killed at Wilderness 
 
 2nd Lieut., J. C. Thompson; killed ^^Xlt^tolLTZa^^^ 
 at Sharpsburg 
 
 3rd Lieut., J. M. Baldwin; wounded ^ "^^^ ^ ^ r^ 
 c, J ,/f Crawford, E. C. 
 
 Second Manassas ^ ^ _ , j j i. xiiii.i- »^ 
 
 Coffee, John; wounded at Eltham's 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS Laudmg , ^ . 
 
 Cummings, James; wounded at Oet- 
 1st Sergt., A. W. Smith tysburg 
 
 2d Sergt., Robt. R. Armstrong; ^.^jjj^^^^ ^ ^ 
 wounded at Chickamauga, killed at (-.^jjjjjg james 
 
 Wilderness Games' Wm. E.; wounded at Chaf- 
 
 3d Sergt., W. F. Richardson ^^,^ p^^.^ 
 
 4th Sergt., W. B. Robinson; wounded c^^^penter, S.; was killed at Sharps- 
 at Chickamauga burg 
 
 1st Corp., A. P. Forsythe Curtis, R. A.; wounded at Knoxville 
 
 Qd Corp., W. P. Randall; killed at ^^^ Petersburg 
 Second Manassas j^iH^^, John 
 
 3d Corp., R. S. Robinson; wounded j^eiesdernier, F. L. 
 
 at Malvern Hill ElmendorflF, 'd.; wounded at Chicka- 
 
 4th Corp., Geo. A. Branard ; wounded uj^uga 
 
 at Knoxville Farquar, A. M.; wounded at Gettys- 
 
 burg 
 PRIVATES Fralich, John; wounded at Chicka- 
 
 Alsbrook, Joseph; wounded at mauga and Spottsylvania 
 
 Sharpsburg, killed at Chaffin's Farm Frank, Jacob; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Bowman, Joel; killed at Sharpsburg Garity, M. 
 
 Buckley, E. C. Gearing, F, A. G.; wounded at Wil- 
 
 Bolling, C. L. derness 
 
 Blessing, S. T.; wounded at Sharps- Gillis, J. P.; wounded at New Mar- 
 burg and Darbytown ket Heights 
 
 Brandt, A.; wounded at Chicka- Hawkins, G. B.; wounded at Gaines' 
 mauga Mill 
 
 Baker, G. B. Hoskins, Wm.; wounded at Sharps- 
 
 Brown, W. J.; wounded at Seven burg 
 
 Points, killed at Gettysburg Hagan, Charles 
 
 Brown, Joseph; killed at Eltham's Hanson, John; wounded at Sharps- 
 Landing burg 
 
314 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Jones, A. W. ; wounded at Sharpsburg Schadt, Wm. ; wounded at Chica- 
 
 Jackson, W. F. mauga and Wilderness 
 
 Jackoliflf, Robert; killed at Sharps- Schadt, Chas.; killed at Eltham's 
 
 burg Landing 
 
 Kelso, Aaron; killed at Darbytown Scott, A. J. 
 
 Kingsley, Chas. H.; wounded at Scott, G. W. 
 
 Sharpsburg and Chickamauga Stoddard, B. R. 
 
 Lake, T. W. C. Smith, S. B.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Leach, Wm. ; wounded at Chicka- Mill 
 
 mauga Sable, Jack 
 
 Lazarus, S. S. ; wounded at Chicka- Stansberry, N. 
 
 mauga Sims, S. D. ; wounded at Eltham's 
 
 Lewis, Jack; killed at Chickamauga Landing 
 
 Merke, G. A. Shelton, W. A.; wounded at Seven 
 
 Melhausen, T. A.; killed at Gettys- Pines 
 
 burg Smith, J. M.; wounded at Sharpsburg 
 
 Murphy, J. W.; wounded at Chicka- Southwick, J. W.; killed at Gettys- 
 
 mauga burg 
 
 McCarty, T. L. Schultz, Henry; wounded at Wilder- 
 
 McCarty, John; wounded at Wilder- ness 
 
 ness Schmidt, Frank; wounded at Wilder- 
 
 Mahoney, J. P. ness 
 
 McCorqudale, E. A.; wounded at Starke, James 
 
 Gettysburg Taylor, W.; wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 Nagle, James; wounded at Chicka- Thompson, L. A.; wounded at New 
 
 mauga Market Heights 
 
 Nagle, Joseph; wounded at Gaines' Townsend, L. 
 
 Mill Von Hutton, W. B. 
 
 Nicholson, John. Vidor, Chas. 
 
 Nelson, John. Vandegraff, S. 
 
 Poupot, John; killed at Gaines' Mill Worsham, Saml. 
 
 Prater, Virgil Worsham, James. 
 
 Pickett, John Waters, John; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Porter, W. H.; killed at Gettysburg Wakelee, A.; wounded at Darbytown 
 
 Pratt, J. C. ; wounded at Chicka- Welsh, James; wounded at Sharps- 
 
 mauga burg and Wilderness 
 
 Rourcke, Jas. O. ; wounded at Sharps- Wood, A. W. ; wounded at Chicka- 
 
 burg mauga and Knoxville 
 
 Rourcke, Noah Williams, Chas. 
 
 Robinson, W. M. Wagner, M. L. 
 
 Rogers, Geo. Young, Wm. 
 
 Shepherd, W. G. ; wounded at Chicka- Zimmerman, Wm. ; killed at Sharps- 
 
 mauga burg 
 
 COMPANY M 
 
 xow riviNO y Sebastian Domino 
 
 Captain, W. J. Towns i George Lock 
 
 D. H. Hamilton James Jones 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 315 
 
 Wm. Blackshear 
 Sam Stuberfield 
 Wm. Roach 
 Jas. White 
 George Lundy 
 
 DIED SINCE THE WAB 
 
 Sam Watson 
 Dick Bennett 
 Cecil Wagner 
 M. A. Dunham 
 John Wilson 
 Jos. McMinn 
 Robert Capps 
 Wm. Forsythe 
 Elijah Ivery 
 J. Watter 
 Marion Burke 
 George Bowers 
 Wm. Goodson 
 Crockett Dunlap 
 Reason Hutto 
 John Steward 
 Ephraira Dial 
 John Ballamy 
 John Polk 
 I. D. Lovett 
 Willis B. Tullos 
 Harvey Pinson 
 Wm. Sylvester 
 Wm. Moore 
 John Blacksnear 
 Captain Ballinger 
 J. H. Hawthorne 
 
 Jas. Hawthorne 
 Isaac Wright 
 Richard Strawther 
 Buck Strawther 
 Zeb McClain 
 Thos. Peavy 
 
 DIED DURING WAR OF SICKNESS OR 
 WOUNDS 
 
 Harvey Newman, Presley Brownlee, 
 John Harrell, John Hutto, John 
 Hood, Arch Davis, Joseph Barley, 
 Jas. Hughes, Warner Jones, Sam 
 Chamberger, John Henderson, Thos. 
 Henderson, Henry Sweat, Robert 
 Mclntyre, Robt. Ferry, George Wag- 
 ner, Wm. Rogers, Newton Lundy, 
 Dr. Wallace, Wm. Vick, Jas. Hines, 
 E. McMinn, J. Lancaster, Wm. Mar- 
 tin, Jas. Stanler, Wm. Johnson, Jas. 
 Skinner. 
 
 KILLED IN BATTLE 
 
 At Second Manassas, Willis Read- 
 ing; at Sharpsburg, Lieut. Sanford, 
 Shade Boach, Jeff Bowman, Jas. 
 Story, Chas. Stewart and Joshua 
 Boon; at Wilderness, James Martin, 
 Green Morgan, Wade Turner and 
 Oliver McBryde; at Chickamauga, 
 Lieut. Sissell, Jack Adams, George 
 Oglesby, John Stephens, Joseph Rat- 
 cliffe; at Siege of Petersburg, W. C. 
 Evans, J. M. Motes and J. B. Eaves. 
 
 MUSTER ROLLS OF FOURTH TEXAS 
 COMPANY A 
 
 Dr. J. C. Jones, Surgeon 
 
 J. C. G. Key, Capt. of Co. A.; 
 wounded 
 
 S. H. Darden, 1st Lieut. 
 
 J. H. McCain, 2d Lieut. 
 
 Bomer, R., 3d Lieut.; killed at Wil- 
 derness 
 
 H. Merchant, 1st Sergt. 
 
 G. E. Lynch, 2d Sergt.; wounded 
 
 L. John Adam; wounded at Seven 
 Days' Battle 
 
 M. H. Alice; wounded 
 W. W. Brown; killed June 17, 1864 
 A. P. Brown; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 R. G. Barton; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 S. Baker 
 R. Bostic 
 
 W. Cavett; lost a leg at Gettysburg 
 J. Cox 
 J. Clark 
 C. Kerthadly 
 
316 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 C. McCathern 
 
 P. McCalister 
 
 J. Colwell 
 
 J. W. Deel; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 
 P. Deel 
 
 S. A. Drenan; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 J. Bering 
 
 M. C. Dagle; deserted 
 
 W. Dwight 
 
 J. Dickerson; killed at Wilderness 
 
 J. Drenan 
 
 W. Eldridge; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 J. Futch 
 A. Futch 
 Ed. M. Francis, Color Sergt.; killed 
 
 at Chickamauga 
 W. Francis 
 F. Fletcher 
 J. Fields 
 F. Finley 
 J. Grose 
 J. Grundy 
 
 Goldsticker; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 H. Gunn 
 J. Haggerty, Jr. 
 
 John Hopkins; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Hite 
 
 A. Hilard; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 
 W. Harrison 
 
 W. Hall 
 
 R. Hammon; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 V. Garth; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 A. Jones 
 
 R. Jones 
 
 W. Johnson 
 
 J. Jones 
 
 L. Dement 
 
 H. Kerr 
 
 J. H. Key; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 
 H. Key 
 
 R. Lockridge; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 T. Lyle; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 C. Lankster; killed at Petersburg 
 W. D. Mooney; wounded 
 T. H. Munford; wounded 
 
 S. Mooney 
 
 C. H. Munce; wounded 
 A. Martin 
 
 J. Melhorn 
 
 A. R. Melhorn; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 D. McDaniel; killed at Chickamauga 
 J. Murphy; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 Chas. Moned; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 J. McCarty; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 Sergt. Geo. E. Lynch; wounded at 
 
 Second Manassas 
 D. Martindale; killed at Sharpsburg 
 F. Natians; killed at Gettysburg 
 R. Natians; deserted 
 H. Owens 
 W. Pitman 
 H. Pangle 
 R. Stamps 
 J. Stringfield; wounded 
 
 D. Strong; wounded 
 
 Scanlon; killed at Wilderness 
 
 J. Simson 
 
 P. Chadoin 
 
 L. Chadoin 
 
 H. Stegall 
 
 J. A. Surrett; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 W. H. Stanfield; wounded at Gaines' 
 MiU 
 
 T. Simons 
 
 R. W. Thomas, Sergt.; wounded at 
 Second Manassas 
 
 T. J, Thomas, Sergt.; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 P. Thomson 
 
 T. Vann; wounded at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 Q. Van; wounded at Second Manassas 
 
 W. Walker 
 
 E. R. Walker; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Wallace 
 
 J. A. Woods; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Watkins 
 
 B. Terrell 
 
 T. B. Stanfield; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 317 
 
 COMPANY B 
 
 " TOM GREEN RIFLES " Burdctt, Mike 
 
 , , Burdett, Wm. E. 
 
 B. F. Carter, Captain; promoted to Uurnham, Frank 
 
 Lieut.-Colonel July 10, 1863, mor- ^^^^^ j . permanently disabled at 
 
 tally wounded at Gettysburg July ^j^^ Wilderness 
 
 2' 1863 Buchner, C. A. 
 
 Wm. C. Walsh, First Lieutenant; pro- Callaehan, John; killed at Sharps- 
 
 moted to Captain July 10, 1862, was ^^ * 
 
 permanently disabled at Gaines' Calhoun, Wm. C; wounded at Seven 
 
 Mill and since the war has served pjnes 
 
 eight years as Commissioner of c^j^pbgii, A. C. 
 
 General Land Office Carpenter, W. G.; wounded in 1864 
 
 James T. McLaurin, Second Lieuten- q^^^j. xhos, E. 
 
 ant; promoted to Captain ^.^^^^^'^ ^ ^ , disabled by wounds in 
 Robert J. Lambert, Third Lieuten- jgg^ 
 
 ant; mortally wounded at Gaines' ci^andler, W. M. 
 
 ^'^' Colvin, Garland; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Frank L. Price, First Sergeant; pro- ^.^^ ^^^ Gettysburg 
 
 moted to Adjutancy of regiment ^^^^^^^ S^^ . ^^unded in 1863 
 Oliver Flusser, Second Sergeant ; ^^^^ .. p^^ „ ^^^^^^j ^^^^^^^ ^^ 
 
 killed at Sharpsburg Sept. 17, 1863 Gettysburg 
 M. C. McAnelly, Third Sergeant; ^^^^ ^ouis B.; wounded in 1864 
 
 killed at Second Manassas Crozier, Granville H.; wounded at 
 
 T. W. Masterson, Fourth Sergeant; ^^.^^^, ^jjj ^^^ ^^^^^^ Manassas 
 
 promoted to Lieutenant Donahue, John 
 
 John T. Price, Fifth Sergeant; pro- j^^^.^^^ ^^^^^^ ^ 
 
 moted to Lieutenant Bearing, Jas. H.; one of Longstreet's 
 
 Niles Fawcett, First Corporal; killed sharpshooters, killed in 1864 
 
 at Second Manassas Dohme C A 
 
 M. T. Norris, Second Corporal; kiUed p^j^^in, G. 'w.; died in 1862 of 
 
 at Gettysburg _, . , ^ wounds received at Second Ma- 
 
 Stephen H. Burnham, Third Cor- ^assas 
 
 poral; killed at Second Manassas p^j^gon, J. K. P.; wounded in 1862 
 Robt. H. Clements; wounded 1862, j^^^f^^^ a. A.; wounded in 1864 
 
 Fourth Corporal, died at Confed- ^^^j^^ j . j^.^^^ .^^ Virginia in 1862 
 
 erate Home in 1899 Flanikin, Wm. J.; wounded in 1864 
 
 Ford, Wm. F.; promoted Lieutenant, 
 
 PRIVATES J , . laci 
 
 wounded in 1863 
 
 Adams, A. M. Foster, Wm. K. 
 
 Adams, Lee Freeman, Pony 
 
 Black, Lem; killed in Virginia, 1863 Freeman, C. L.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Blakey, Hart G.; killed at Sharps- Mill 
 
 burg Fawcett, B. K.; disabled at Sharps- 
 
 Bonner, Bud. burg 
 
 Bonner, Cal. Giles, Val C; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Bonner, Wash. Mill 
 
 Burdett, Thomas P. Gregg, Alex, 
 
318 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Girand, F. W. 
 
 Glasscock, Thos. A. 
 
 Gould, Uriah 
 
 George, M. A.; lost an arm at the 
 
 Wilderness 
 Grumbles, Perry; promoted Sergeant, 
 
 killed at Gettysburg 
 Griffith, John 
 Hamilton, H. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 Hamby, Wm. R.; wounded at Second 
 
 Manassas, disabled at Sharpsburg 
 Hamilton, S. W. 
 Haralson, Chas. L. 
 Hawthorne, A. J. 
 Horton, W. H. 
 Haynes, J. J. 
 Henderson, J. B.; wounded once in 
 
 1863 
 Hill, L. D. 
 
 Hoffler, G. W.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 Holden, D. W. 
 Hopson, Briggs W. ; wounded at 
 
 Gaines' Mill 
 Howard, Ball; killed at Sharpsburg 
 Howard, Jeff. 
 Hughes, J. J. 
 Horn, P. 
 
 Herbert, Wm. ; wounded in 1863 
 Jones, A. C. 
 
 Jones, Etanial; killed in 1863 
 Jones, Joe E.; wounded in 1863 
 Jones, J. K. P. ; killed at Chickamauga 
 Keller, Wm. A.; lost an arm at 
 
 Gaines' Mill 
 Keller, J. H. 
 
 Lessing, Wm. H.; permanently dis- 
 abled at Sharpsburg 
 Lightfoot, W. H. 
 Luckett, Alfred T. ; wounded at 
 
 Sharpsburg 
 Maier, H.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 Marcham, R. 
 Mayfield, Newton W. ; wounded in 
 
 1864 
 Mayfield, Eph. 
 Minor, Arthur 
 McGee, Jno. F. ; wounded at Second 
 
 Manassas and Sharpsburg 
 
 McMath, M. W. 
 
 McMullin, Barney 
 
 McPhaul, C. M. 
 
 Masterson, A. B.; wounded at Get- 
 tysburg 
 
 Millican, Ed. H. 
 
 Mosely, Sidney E. ; lost right leg in 
 battle in 1864 
 
 Moss, Wm. V. 
 
 Morris, Charles L. ; killed at Knox- 
 ville 
 
 Neuendorff, Max; wounded and dis- 
 charged in 1862 
 
 Nichols, A. W.; wounded at Seven 
 Pines 
 
 Nichols, Geo. W. ; wounded at Second 
 Manassas, killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Piper, Wm. L. ; wounded at Second 
 Manassas and Sharpsburg, dis- 
 charged 
 
 Plagge, C. 
 
 Puckett, Lim. 
 
 Railey, J. D. ; wounded in 1862 
 
 Rice, A. R. 
 
 Roberts, A. S.; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Robertson, Geo. L. ; wounded at 
 Gaines' Mill, disabled at Sharps- 
 burg 
 
 Robertson, Robert R.; wounded in 
 1863 
 
 Rose, Geo. W. 
 
 Rushton, Chas. H.; wounded at 
 Gaines' Mill and Second Manassas 
 
 Rust, Robt. S. ; seriously wounded 
 and disabled at Sharpsburg 
 
 Ripetoe, James 
 
 Stone, S. T. ; disabled at Chicamauga 
 
 Strohmer, Frank; wounded once 
 
 Summers, Jno. S. ; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Schuler, John; seriously wounded at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 Stein, Isaac; lost an arm at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Sheppard, J. L. 
 
 Tannehill, Wm. J.; wounded at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 Teague, S. P.; wounded in 1862 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 319 
 
 Tatum, J. M.; killed in Virginia in Wright, Jas. A.; wounded in 1862 
 
 1863 Woodward, Logan 
 
 Thomas, Jas. H.; killed at Second Whitesides, H. A.; disabled at the 
 
 Manassas Wilderness 
 
 Thomas, Mark; wounded at Gaines' Wright, Peyton A. 
 
 Mill and Second Manassas Price, John; a negro who follo\yed 
 
 Todd, D. A.; wounded in 1862 his master, Lieut. John T. Price, 
 
 Wheeler, Jno, G.; lost arm at Dar- into the service. He was faithful 
 
 bytown to the end, and after the war voted 
 
 White, J. A.; wounded and died always with the Democrats of the 
 
 Wilson, Sam. C. ; wounded at Gaines' State. He is now dead 
 
 Mill 
 
 COMPANY C 
 
 Townsend, W. P., Captain; promoted "^Barziza, P. J.; wounded at Sharps- 
 
 to Major, lost foot at Manassas burg 
 
 Barziza,'D. U., 1st Lieut.; wounded Brown, P. A.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 at Gettysburg Barton, Lem; lost right arm at 
 Turner, B. F., 2d Lieut. Sharpsburg 
 
 Wood, P. S., 3d Lieut.; mortally Barton, John; lost right arm at 
 
 wounded at Gaines' Mill Sharpsburg 
 
 Grizzle, J. P., 1st Sergt.; elected Barton, Frank; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Lieut., killed at Darbytown Mill and Chickamauga 
 
 Davis, H. W., 2d Sergt.; wounded at Bailey, W. L.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Gettysburg Mill 
 
 Roberts, J. C, 3d Sergt.; lost arm at Burns, Joe 
 
 Gaines' Mill Butler, 
 
 Galloway, J. I., 4th Sergt.; lost leg Beavers, T. B.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 at Second Manassas Mill and killed at Wilderness 
 
 Simmons, J. H., 5th Sergt.; killed at Beavers, M.; wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 Chickamauga Blackburn, Green; killed at Wil- 
 Streetman, A. P., 1st Corp.; killed at derness 
 
 Gaines' Mill Boyd, J. B.; elected Lieut., wounded 
 Livingston, M. L., 2d Corp., Lieut., at Wilderness and before Rich- 
 
 and Captain; wounded at Chicka- mond 
 
 mauga and Gettysburg Cosgrove, J. H.; wounded at Wilder- 
 Hill, J. W. M. P., 3d Corp.; lost arm ness 
 
 at Gaines' Mill Corley, Wilks; killed at Petersburg 
 
 Adams, J. O., 4th Corp.; killed at Chambers, G. J.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Malvern Hill Coe, E. N. 
 
 Drennan, J. H. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 PRIVATES ;Mill and Cold Harbor 
 
 Adams, J. M. ; wounded at Wilderness Drake, J. H. 
 
 Acruse, P.; disabled at Wilderness Davis, Louis 
 
 Alexander, W. J. ; wounded at Sharps- Davidson, Riley, killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 burg Easter, M. L.; killed at the Wilder- 
 Alexander, ; killed at Sharps- ness 
 
 burg Eddington, H. F.; killed at Darby- 
 AUday, Peter town 
 
320 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Elder, Geo. 
 
 Field, F. L.; kiUed at Gettysburg 
 
 Foster,. H.; lost right arm at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Foster, R.; wounded at Malvern Hill 
 
 Frost, H.; mortally wounded at the 
 Wilderness 
 
 Griffin, J. H.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Garrett, J. M. 
 
 Goodman, J.; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill and Wilderness 
 
 Gillmore, Harry 
 
 Gear, W. E. 
 
 Gary, W. 
 
 Hearne, William 
 
 Herndon, Jacob; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 S. J. Mitchell; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Herndon, Ed. 
 
 Herndon, A.; killed at Petersburg 
 
 Hunter, W. R. ; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Henderson, J. S.; killed in battle 
 
 Hamman, W. H. 
 
 Hixson, G. M.; killed at Darby town 
 
 Hyson, ; killed at Petersburg 
 
 Haynes, Richard 
 
 Harris, Bazley 
 
 Jones, D. C. 
 
 Jones, W. A. 
 
 Jones, J. J.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 January, Jno. 
 
 Kirk, W. S.; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Kensey, D.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Keith, L. D. ; wounded at Richmond 
 
 Livingston, Jesse; wounded at Second 
 Manassas and Gettysburg 
 
 Lofton, Silas 
 
 Love, Ogle 
 
 Montgomery, Whit.; wounded at 
 Spottsylvania Court House 
 
 Marshall, W. W. ; lost arm at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Marshall, Ben 
 
 Marshall, W, H. 
 
 Merriman, B. F.; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill and Wilderness 
 
 McClinton, Jas.; killed in battle 
 
 Moore, R. E.; wounded at Peters- 
 burg 
 
 Moore, M. C; killed at Petersburg 
 
 Marsh, Joe. 
 
 Norwood, Alexander; killed at the 
 Wilderness 
 
 Noble, Jas. 
 
 Norton, W.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Olive, J.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Rutherford, Robt. 
 
 Reese, W.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Robertson, J, R.; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Robertson, Frank 
 
 Robertson, B. 
 
 Rymes, B. W. 
 
 Reed, Ashley 
 
 Ray, y. B. 
 
 Smith, J. A.; mortally wounded at 
 Chickamauga 
 
 Smiley, W. J.; killed at Gaines, Mill 
 
 Smiley, J. R. ; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Smiley, J.; wounded at Wilderness 
 
 Sneed, J. W. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Steele, W. C. 
 
 Tindall, O. H.; lost foot at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Talbot, Y. O. 
 
 Tolbot, Augustus 
 
 Vaughn, P. H. 
 
 Vandusen, H.; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Wood, Bennett, wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill, Second Manassas and Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Wood, E. O.; wounded at Second Ma- 
 nassas, killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Wood, J. 
 
 Webster, E,; wounded before Rich- 
 mond in 1864 
 
 Wilson, J. M.; killed Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 Wilkins, E. 
 
 Whiddon, W. G.; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Wells, Lou 
 
 Roberts, J. C. / 
 
 McVoiman, B. F. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 321 
 
 COMPANY D 
 
 Bane, Jno. P.; Capt., promoted to 
 Col.; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Martin, Chas.; 1st Lieut. 
 
 Holloman, T. H.; 2nd Lieut.; killed at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 Duggan, Ed.; 3rd Lieut. 
 
 Davis, Robt. ; 1st Sergt. 
 
 Jeffries, Dudley; 2nd Sergt.; and 1st 
 Lieut., wounded at Second Manas- 
 sas 
 
 Jefferson, John R.; 3rd Sergt.; 
 wounded at Manassas 
 
 Patterson, Jas.; 4th Sergt. 
 
 Wipprecht, Chas.; 5th Sergt. 
 
 Dibrell, Jno.; 1st Corp. 
 
 Wilson, Alex. A.; 2nd Corp.; pro- 
 moted to Adjt. ; wounded twice 
 
 Hudgins, Meek; 3rd Corp. 
 
 Smith, W. Pitt; 4th Corp. 
 
 Armstrong, D. H. 
 
 Allen, Adolphus 
 
 Aikin, Wm. ; killed in battle, think 
 Gettysburg 
 
 Anderson, Chas. 
 
 Baker, Jno. W.; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Baker, Joseph 
 
 Butler, Geo.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Butler, Jas.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Burges, W. H.; wounded at Sharps- 
 burg 
 
 Burges, R. J. (Dick) ; wounded at 
 Manassas 
 
 Burges, Robt. A.; wounded at Wil- 
 derness 
 
 Burges, Gid. 
 
 Calvert, Lott; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Cabiness, Thos. 
 
 Cody, E. J.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Cox, Thos.; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Campbell, Jas. ; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Courtney, Seymour ; deserted 
 
 Davis, Wm. ; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Davis, Robt. 
 
 Davidson, — ; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Daniel, Jack 
 
 Duare, Alex.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Dimmitt, Jas. ; wounded at Sharps- 
 burg 
 
 Dimmitt, Nap.; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Dimmitt, Alamo 
 
 Dunn, M. S. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Dibrell, Chas, 
 
 Ewing, Thos.; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Ewing, Finis 
 
 Erskine, A. N. ; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Erskine, A. M. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill and Sharpsburg 
 
 Ehringhans, W. F. H. 
 
 Franks, R. H. (Hat); promoted to 
 Lieut, and Captain, wounded at 
 Sharpsburg 
 
 Fennell, Isham; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill and died 
 •^Flores, Manuel ^- 
 
 George Moses 
 
 Gregory, Jno. 
 
 Green, W. S.; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill, killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Gordon, Alonzo; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill and died 
 
 Glazier, Fritz; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Glazier, Julius; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Harmon, Wm. 
 
 Harmon, Zack 
 
 Herron, Andrew; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Herron, Jas. 
 
 Harris, Wm.; wounded at Cold Har- 
 bor and Spottsylvania Court House 
 
 Hudgins, Geo. 
 
 Hadges, Geo. A.; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg and Wilderness 
 
 Holmes, J. F. N. 
 
 Henry, Arch.; deserted 
 
 Jordan, P. E. 
 
 Jefferson, Thos. 
 
322 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Jefferson, Rutledge, Osborne; deserted 
 
 Johnson, Ig.; promoted to Lieut.; Russell, Wm. 
 
 killed at Manassas Rhodes, R. A.; wounded at Ma- 
 Jones, S. A.; wounded at Gaines' nassas 
 
 Mill and Chickamauga Reich, Cornelius; promoted to 1st 
 
 Jones, R. H.; wounded at Ma- Lieut.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 nassas Redus, Wm. 
 
 Knight, Geo.; promoted to Captain, Rogers, Jno. 
 
 dead Rogers, Mike 
 
 Le Gette, Jesse; served to Second Reeves, J. R. (Rankin) 
 
 Manassas, discharged Shuniate, Wm.; killed at the AVilder- 
 
 Longstreet, Geo.; wounded at Gettys- ness 
 
 burg Smith, Jno. 
 
 Lackey, R. J.; wounded at Gaines' Smith, Jack, D. 
 
 Mill and died Smith, Paris, wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Lewis, Chas. Mill and Wilderness 
 
 Leonard, Asa; wonded in battle Smith, M, V. (Pony); wounded at 
 
 Lynch, Thos.; (Laplander) Sharpsburg, Chickamauga and 
 
 Little, G. W. (Ben) ; wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 Gaines' Mill Smith, Thos. 
 
 McClaugherty, W. H.; promoted to Smith, Ezekiel 
 
 Captain, wounded at Wilderness Saunders, Frank; wounded at Gettys- 
 
 McNeely, Jul. burg 
 
 Means, Reub. Smith, Wm. 
 
 Merriwether, Thos.; wounded at Sanders, Geo. 
 
 Fort Gilmore Sanders, Stewart 
 
 Maddox, Levi Singleterry, Jno. U. 
 
 Millet, Leonidas; killed at Gaines' Wilson, Wm.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill Mill 
 
 Mitchell, . Watson, Thos. 
 
 Manning, Merret; killed at Wilder- Schmidt, Baltzer 
 
 ness Woods, A. H. ; promoted to Lieut.; 
 
 Mays, Nelson; killed at Gettysburg killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Morison, Robt. Whitehead, Jas. ; killed at Manassas 
 
 Miller, M. E.; wounded at Gaines' White, Jas. M. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Mill Mill and in some other fight 
 
 Park, Dr. Robt. WTiite, J. M.; No 2 
 
 Park, Thos.; wounded at Gaines' White, Fred 
 
 Mill and died Young, Jno.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Parent, E. J. Mill 
 
 Fierce, Aaron; killed at Gaines' Mill Yeaker, ; deserted 
 
 COMPANY E 
 
 Ryan, E. D.; Captain Billingsley, J. C; 3d Smith, J. C; 2d Sergt. 
 Brandon, J. M.; 1st Lieut. Ripley, P. M.; 3d Sergt.; 
 
 Lieut. Killingsworth, A.; 1st now living 
 
 Sublett, D. L.; 2d Lieut. Sergt. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 323 
 
 Dunklin, W. W.; 4th 
 
 Sergt. 
 Dean, R. S.; 5th Sergt. 
 Majors, J. B. ; 1st Corp. 
 Young, B.; 2d Corp. 
 Walters, A, J.; 3d Corp. 
 Long, J. H. ; 4th Corp. 
 
 Ashmead, G. L. 
 Aycock, B. L. ; now 
 
 living 
 Blocker, J. C. 
 Billingsley, S. J. 
 Bible, Noah 
 Bible, Phil. C. 
 Burton, W, H. P.; now 
 
 living 
 Clark, J. E. 
 Clark, J. B. 
 Cowden, W. B. 
 Chenault, G. N. 
 Chambers, S. H. 
 Chapman, J. B. 
 Dunklin, T. L. 
 Duncan, W. E. 
 Donally, H. M. 
 Decherd, A. P. 
 Decherd, D. M. 
 Delk, W. G. 
 Edwards, B. G. 
 Fitzhugh, D. C. 
 Freeman, R. L. 
 Fossett, Sam 
 Green, Geo. 
 
 Good, D. J. 
 Hunt, J. F. 
 Holloway, L. D. 
 Hirst, T. D. 
 Hughes, Josiah 
 Harrington, J. A. 
 Harrison, J. H. 
 Hicks, W. M. 
 Hicks, H. K. 
 Holden, J. W. 
 Hannah, W. 
 Hill, Eldon 
 Irven, W. H. 
 Johnson, J. W. 
 Johnson, John 
 Jones, R. M. 
 Lehman, Joe 
 Loyd, W. J. 
 Leonard, R. H. 
 Manahan, J. H. 
 Makeig, T. M. 
 Miller, T. D. 
 Mullens, C, 
 Mullens, T. M. 
 
 living 
 Mullens, W. T. 
 Morgan, A. B. 
 Madden, C. P. 
 Moor, N. P. 
 McGee, Green 
 Norwood, T. L. 
 Famplin, W. A. 
 Peters, L. C. 
 Ross, W. M. 
 Robinson, J. A. 
 
 Robinson, S. A. 
 Robinson, James 
 Robinson, W. S. 
 Reed, J. C. 
 Rogers, W. D. 
 Rogers, H. B. 
 Rogers, J. L. 
 Roberts, Abner 
 Ragsdale, J. B. 
 Rotan, W. T. 
 Ramsey, (perhaps F.) 
 Ripley, N. N. 
 Selman, T. J. 
 Sandefur, L. G. 
 Smith, J. S, 
 Smith, Joe. S. 
 Sharp, E. C. 
 Taylor, G. M. 
 Terry, J. C. 
 Tilley, Ed. 
 Umberson, R. W. 
 West, John C. 
 Wideman, C. A. 
 now Williams, T. D. 
 Willis, J. B. 
 Wollard, Andy; now liv- 
 ing 
 Worsham, E. L. 
 Worsham, J. N. 
 Worsham C. G. 
 Wilson, G. H. 
 Way, C. B.; now living 
 Whitehead, C. M. 
 Young, T. H. 
 
 COMPANY F 
 
 Ed. H. Cunningham, Captain — After 
 
 Sharpsburg, went on Hood's staff 
 John F. Brooks; First Lieutenant — 
 
 Disabled at Gaines' Mill 
 L. P. Hughes; Second Lieutenant — 
 
 Lost arm at Sharpsburg 
 L. P. Lyons; Third Lieutenant — 
 
 Killed at Gaines' Mill 
 Haywood Brahan; Orderly Sergeant 
 
 — later Lieutenant — wounded at 
 
 Appomattox 
 
 Chas. S. Brown; Second Sergeant— 
 Sergeant-Major. Killed at Wil- 
 derness 
 
 John D. Murray; Third Sergeant — 
 Often wounded, but stuck 
 
 Eli Park; Fourth Sergeant — Lieu- 
 tenant. Killed at New Market 
 Heights 
 
 W. A. Bennett; Fifth Sergeant 
 
 R. H. Skinner; First Corporal — Dis- 
 abled at Sharpsburg 
 
S24 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Daniel M. McAlister; Second Cor- 
 poral — Mortally wounde'd at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 E. T. Kindred; Third Corporal— Lieu- 
 tanant and Captain 
 
 Charles A. McAlister; Fourth Cor- 
 poral — wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Adams, J. T. 
 
 Abbott, H. G. 
 
 Alford, James 
 
 Allen, George; lost arm at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Aylmer, G. G. ; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Brown, Ossawatomie 
 
 Bedell, A. M. 
 
 Brantley, J. E. 
 
 Breckenridge, 
 
 Brieger, J. G. 
 
 Buchanan, L. 
 
 Brooks, Cincinnatus 
 
 Camp, T. P. 
 
 Cohea, A. T. ; wounded and died at 
 the Wilderness 
 
 Cook, John 
 
 Cunningham, Thos. ; died of wounds 
 received at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Copeland, Sol.; killed at the Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Crigler, R. T. ; later Lieutenant. Dis- 
 abled at Wilderness 
 
 Campbell, John 
 
 Clark, Joseph 
 
 Currie, J. B. ; lost a leg at Chick- 
 amauga 
 
 Crockett, E. R. 
 
 Dansby, Harrison 
 
 Dial, Augustus A.; disabled at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 Downing, Ed.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Dreyer, H. 
 
 Dunn, W. H. 
 
 Fishburn, J. A. 
 
 Elliot, John 
 
 Floyd, William F.; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Gabbert, H. H. 
 
 Givens, Wm.; disabled at Chick- 
 amauga 
 
 Goodloe, Calvin 
 
 Goodloe, Wm. P. 
 
 Goodwin, Benj. 
 
 Graham, J. C. ; wounded early in war 
 
 Green, W. A.; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Hahn, Ferdinand; wounded, dis- 
 abled 
 
 Harbour, C. 
 
 Hardoin, A.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Hardoin, S. 
 
 King, W. R. 
 
 Harwell, J, H. ; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Henderson, C. F.; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Henderson, B. G.; killed at Sharps- 
 burg 
 
 Hollander, W. M. ; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Houston, Russell 
 
 Howard, Russell 
 
 Johnson, J. N. 
 
 Johnson, W. C. ; disabled at Chick- 
 amauga 
 
 Jones, A. R. 
 
 Jones, Wm. 
 
 Kahr, N.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Kindred, J. B. 
 
 Kindred, John; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Kindred, Clay; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Kindred, J. P. 
 
 Koolbeck, G.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Love, J. P.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Meisner, Ed 
 
 Maus, Peter; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 McCann, T. J.; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Mayfield, Jas.; killed at Knoxville, 
 Tenn. 
 
 Menifee, Q. M.; lost leg at Sharps- 
 burg and discharged, 
 
 Menger, Oscar; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Morris, Wm. 
 
 Murray, J. C. ; killed at Gettysburg 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 325 
 
 Murray, R. W.; lost leg at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Pengra, M. M.; disabled at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Penn, Pat.; killed in picket skirmish 
 Sept. 29, 1864 
 
 Penn, Abe; disabled at Chickamauga 
 
 Pickett, M.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Pogue, L. S. 
 
 Policy, J. B.; lost a foot at Darby- 
 town 
 
 Quick, Jacob; wounded somewhere 
 
 Riggs, John; killed at the Wilderness 
 
 Roberts, John 
 
 Rumley, J. J.; wounded and retired 
 
 Sampson, Ed. J.; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Schweitzer, Geo. ; wounded and retired 
 
 Selp, M. M. 
 
 Sargeant, A. H.; wounded, retired 
 
 Smith, Henry; wounded at Sharps- 
 burg and retired 
 
 Smith, Albert 
 
 Sneed, Albert; disabled at Second 
 
 Manassas 
 Sullivan, R. A.; killed at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 Summerville, Jas.; lost arm at the 
 
 Wilderness 
 Sutherland, Jack; later Adjutant, 
 
 disabled at Darbytown 
 Thornton, H. G. 
 
 Webber, S.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 Wallace, E. F. 
 Weir, Henry 
 Wiseman, Jas. O. 
 
 Wolff, S.; killed at Second Manassas 
 Wood, G. W.; wounded in 1863 
 Maddox, John 
 Crenshaw, M. 
 Naurath, Wm. 
 Dockstadder, Oscar 
 Veal, Frank 
 Warner, Chas. 
 
 COMPANY G 
 
 Adkinson, John J., Lieut.; wounded 
 Adams, Sara H. 
 Aikens, James O.; wounded 
 Allen, W. J. 
 Arnett, David 
 
 Bassett, Robert H.; Lieut, and Adjt. 
 of the regiment; disabled at Chick- 
 amauga 
 Bessett, Noah H.; wounded, died in 
 
 Texas 
 Barry, Wm. E., Lieut.; disabled at 
 
 the Wilderness 
 Barry, L. Howard, O. Sergt.; was 
 
 wounded several times 
 Barry, John D.; killed at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 Barry, Thos. W. 
 Baines, Thos. W., Sergt. 
 Baines, Wm. M. 
 Barnes, John T. 
 Baker, Jesse W., Lieut. 
 Barker, James, Scout 
 Beecher, R. A., O. Sergt.; killed at 
 Gettysburg 
 
 Blackshear, Robt. D.; wounded at 
 
 Sharpsburg and Spottsylvania 
 
 Court House 
 
 Blackshear, Jas. J., Sergt; wounded 
 
 Blackshear, Duncan R.; wounded 
 
 twice 
 Blackshear, E. T. 
 Boozer, H. D. 
 Bookman, J. M. (Bob), Lieut.; 
 
 killed at Chickamauga 
 Butts, Lewis D., Lieut.; killed at 
 
 Gaines' Mill 
 Buffington, Tom C, Lieut, and Cap- 
 tain 
 Brietz, A. C, Ordnance Sergt.; 
 
 wounded at Wilderness 
 Bowen, Allen 
 
 Chambers, G. C; killed at Sharpsburg 
 Churchwell, Thomas; killed at Chick- 
 amauga 
 Carley, Martin F. 
 Closs, T. O.; killed at Gettysburg 
 Chatham, Wm. B.; wounded at Wil- 
 derness 
 
326 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Cruse, A. J.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Cotton, H. T. 
 
 Collins, Daniel; Chief Bugler from 
 commencement to Appomattox, dead 
 
 Cook, J. J. 
 
 Dance, John T. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Dawkins, F. A. 
 
 Damm, Frank; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Davis, Ed. C. 
 
 Daffan, Lawrence A. 
 
 Davis, John A. 
 
 Dunham, Jas. H., Lieut. 
 
 Duke, Joseph G. ; mortally wounded 
 at Chickamauga 
 
 Eckolls, AVm. R. A.; lost an arm at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 Ferrell, Davis S. ; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Finley, J, R. 
 
 Fields, Drury H. 
 
 Floyd, Chas.'E, 
 
 Floyd, Wm. 
 
 Flournoy, Jas. J.; wounded at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 Gay, G. A.; disabled at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Gould, Jas. L., Sergt. ; mortally 
 wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 Green, John E.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Griffin, David C. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Grissett, Wm. J., Com. Sergt. 
 
 Giles, Jas. J. 
 
 Giles, E. D. 
 
 Giles, F. L. 
 
 Giles, Dan 
 
 Haddon, Mack E.; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Harrison, M. M. (Smoky) 
 
 Hasson, Robert; lost leg at Darby- 
 town 
 
 Helmer, Edward 
 
 Hadon, Jas. J. 
 
 Hiett, J. W. 
 
 Heyman, George 
 
 Hubbell, N. L. 
 
 Hughes, W. T, 
 
 Hutcheson, J. W., first Captain of 
 Company G; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Jackson, Isaac 
 
 Jackson, Job; lost leg at Sharpsburg 
 
 Jones, AV. S.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Jones, N. B. 
 
 Jones, Geo. W. 
 
 Jones, I. Newton 
 
 Kay, Eli 
 
 Kennard, A. Drew 
 
 Kendall, J. L. 
 
 King, Jno. H. 
 
 Lawrence, Groce; killed at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Livingston, A. 
 
 Loggins, Dr. Jas. C. ; lives at Ennes, 
 Texas 
 
 Loper, Wm.; deserted 
 
 Martin, Wm. A. 
 
 Martin, Jno. F., Sergt. 
 
 May, J. W. T., Color Guard ; wounded 
 at Second Manassas 
 
 McCowen, John; killed at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 McDaniel, Ben H. 
 
 McClenny, Wm.; killed at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 IMcGregor, Wm. B. 
 
 Midkiff, E. P.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Midkiff, J. A.; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness i 
 
 Montgomery, Joseph 
 
 Moss, George R. 
 
 Mooring, Chas. G. ; wounded several 
 times 
 
 Mooring, J. S. (Bob) ; wounded at 
 AVilderness, disabled 
 
 Muldrew, Jno. T. 
 
 Muse, Jas. T. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Nix, John L.; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Nelms, Everard P.; wounded at 
 Gaines' Mill 
 
 Nettles, Joseph H. 
 
 Neal, French 
 
 Pearce, Ben. W.; wounded at Sharps- 
 burg 
 
 Pearce, Ed. W. ; lost hand at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Parnell, Jas. C. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 327 
 
 Patterson, Wm. R. Stacej', Willis A.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Peteet, W. B. Mi!l and Wilderness 
 
 Peteet, J. Monroe; wounded at Terrell, E. Tom., Asst. Surgeon 
 
 Gaines' Mill Terrell, Wm. H. 
 
 Pinckney, Jno. M.; wounded several Tidwell, Wm. C. 
 
 times Thomas, J. W. (Gotch) 
 
 Pinckney, Richard H.; youngest sol- Trant, John; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 dier in regiment Mill and killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Plaster, Joseph H.; wounded at Turner, Jasper 
 
 Gaines' Mill and Wilderness Tierner, Wesley 
 
 Plaster, Frank Wilson, Walter S.; wounded at Sec- 
 Quails, George S. ; Color Corporal ond Manassas 
 
 Reynolds, J. S. Watson, A. E. 
 
 Rogerson, John; killed at Gaines' Webb, Frank X. 
 
 Mill Whitehurst, J. K. 
 
 Roach, John, Lieut.; killed White Mathew D. 
 
 Roco, A. C. White, Caleb; was killed at Gaines' 
 Rowe, H. T. Mill 
 
 Robinson, John Whitesides, A. Hoxcey; captured at 
 Stacey, John J., Color Corporal; Gettysburg and drowned in effort 
 
 wounded at Gettysburg to escape 
 
 Scott, J. B.; killed at Gaines' Mill Whitlock, A. T. 
 
 Scott, Garrett; killed at Sharpsburg Williams, Henry F. 
 
 Schultz, W. A. Williams, Jas. J.; wounded at Gaines' 
 Shaffer, Henry E. Mill 
 
 Smith, W. H. Wood, Dan A.; wounded several 
 Silverbaugh, A.; killed at Chicka- times 
 
 mauga Ward, Chas. H. 
 
 Spencer, Chas. W. ; mortally wounded Womack, M. S. ; captured at Gettys- 
 
 at Eltham's Landing burg 
 
 Stewart, A. Jackson; wounded at Wood, Rufus H., Sergt. 
 
 Gettysburg Wallingford, T. G.; litter bearer 
 
 COMPANY H 
 
 Captain, P. P. Porter; killed at 5th Sergt., J. W. Lawrence 
 
 Gaines' Mill 1st Corp., H. T. Sapp; wounded at 
 1st. Lieut., James T. Hunter; was Eltham's Landing, 1862 
 
 wounded often 2d Corp., Z. Landrum; disabled at 
 2d Lieut., Tom M. Owens; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Gaines' Mill 3d Corp., G. L. P. Reed; Hospital 
 3d Lieut., Benton Randolph; dis- Steward 
 
 abled at Gaines' Mill 4th Corp., A. C. Morris 
 
 1st Sergt., C. E. Jones; killed at Musician, J. R. P. Jett 
 
 Second Manassas 
 2d Sergt., S. Y. Smith privates 
 
 3d Sergt., J. S. Rudd Allen, Ben H.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 4th Sergt., Nelse A. Myer; killed at Bullock, B. F. 
 
 Gaines' Mill Bell, O. W. 
 
S28 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Barzo, Henry; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Bascom, G. F. 
 
 Brent, Thos. A.; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Beck, Jacob 
 
 Cartwright, E. W. 
 
 Cartwright, Jas. ; killed at the Wil- 
 derness 
 
 Chilton, F. B. 
 
 Connelly, Jas.; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Copeland, W. E.; disabled at Gaines' 
 Mill, lost a foot 
 
 Conroe, C. M. ; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Dawson, R. C. ; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Damm, Adam 
 
 Edmison, J. S. 
 
 Fisher, W. S. ; lost a foot at Gaines' 
 MiU 
 
 Faulkner, A. 
 
 Finley, Howard 
 
 Farrow, D. D. 
 
 Griggs, Green; disabled in 1864 in 
 Virginia 
 
 Gilliham, J. H.; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Hall, J. H. ; died of wound in 
 1864 
 
 Hatch, L. B. 
 
 Howard, C. S. 
 
 Howard, N. F. 
 
 Holt, A. C. 
 
 Hahn, A. 
 
 Hopkins, J. C. 
 
 Harrison, D. ; deserted 
 
 Holmes, M. C. ; lost a leg at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Keyser, G. W. 
 
 Kipps, G. W.; killed at the Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Kerr, W. C. 
 
 King, S. P.; killed at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 King, F. G. 
 
 Long, John 
 
 Lemon, J. W. 
 
 Landrum, Z. ; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Landrum, W. J. 
 
 Lewis, Jas. L.; killed at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 Lewis, Clint; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Loper, Wm. 
 
 Lackland, J. M. 
 
 Martin, W. L.; killed at Gaines' Mill 
 
 Mathews, L. A. 
 
 McCowan, A. J.; disabled in Tennes- 
 see in 1863, wound in knee 
 
 McDaniels, Y. L.; disabled in 1864, 
 wDund in leg 
 
 Meyers, M. F. 
 
 May, Thomas 
 
 May, D. G.; disabled at Gaines' Mill 
 
 May, W. C. 
 
 May, R. M. 
 
 Milliken, Wm. 
 
 McGraw, Wm. 
 
 NeviU, D. E. 
 
 McGraw, Wm. 
 
 Petty, T. T. M. 
 
 Peacock, Wm. ; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Parker, Wm. A.; color bearer, was 
 wounded at Sharpsburg and died 
 
 Peasley, G. A. 
 
 Rogers, J. P. 
 
 Reynolds, Ben.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Randolph, D. J. 
 
 Ransom, R. W. ; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Steward, J. R. 
 
 Sanderlin, J. M. 
 
 Savage, Ed. 
 
 Stewart, J. E. ; lost leg in battle, 1862 
 
 Stewart, R. H. 
 
 Sharp, J. H.; killed at Petersburg 
 
 Seay, A. B. ; disabled by wound in 
 in 1863 
 
 Seargeant, Thos. 
 
 Spivey, J. S. 
 
 Stratton, Robert 
 
 Travis, Henry; killed at the Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Tucker, D. J. 
 
 Tedford, R. J.; disabled by wound in 
 leg at Chickamauga 
 
 Thigpen, E. C. 
 
 Thigpen, G. C. 
 
 Taylor, Alex. 
 
A Genuine Soldier Boy of 1861 
 
 16 Year Old 
 
 (Taken in Richmond, Va., 1861) 
 
 Frank Bowden Chilton 
 
 Company H, Fourth Texas Regiment, Hood's Texas Brigade, 
 Ar'mv of Northern Virginia; later Captain C. S. A. 
 
 FACING 528 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 3^9 
 
 Thomas, J. Keeble, Ed. 
 
 'Taliafero, J.; disabled by wound in Smith, John; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 arm at Gettysburg Stanfield, John; killed at Chicka- 
 
 Tyler, R. L.; killed at Gaines' Mill mauga 
 
 Waltrip, C. M. Jeffers, M. S. 
 
 Wallace, J. M. Wilkes, B. B. 
 
 Watson, Wm. A. Kirby, J. A.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Wilcox,' T. W. Keyser, Henry 
 
 Wynne, G. A.; killed at Sharpsburg Lewis, Wm. 
 
 Wynne, J. A. Le Venture, Louis 
 
 Wilkes,' T. O.; killed at Gaines' Mill Town, Jacob L.; was killed at Knox- 
 
 Wade, F. H. ville 
 
 Anders, R. Leach, M. 
 
 Bryant, W. L. B.; killed at Gaines' Meyers, T. J. 
 
 Mill Mitchell, T. R.; deserted 
 
 Cartwright, L. C; lost arm in battle Steussey, J.; lost an arm at Gaines' 
 
 in 1865 Mill 
 
 Cathey, B. H. Steussey, M.; lost a leg at Gaines' 
 
 Cude, Wm. Mill 
 
 Clepper, L. C. Smith, John L.; disabled in Virginia 
 
 Dillard, T. C. in 1864 
 
 Dowdey, B. C; disabled by wound Sergeant, Jas. B.; disabled at Gaines' 
 
 in leg, 1864 Mill 
 
 Dale, G. W. Sanders, C. B. 
 
 Collier, A. H. Rankin, Robt. 
 
 Ellis, Jack; killed at Gettysburg Talley, J. C. 
 
 Farrow, Sam W. Talley,! Reuben 
 
 Faulkner, A.; killed at Gettysburg Taylor, C. T.; disabled in battle in 
 
 Gaflford, R. D. 1863 
 
 Watson, H. C; killed at Second Wynne, T. A. 
 
 Manassas Wynne, S. W.; killed at Second Ma- 
 
 Quigley, R.; killed at Gaines' Mill nassas 
 
 Conklin, Jas.; killed at Wilderness Fox, Richard; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 COMPANY I 
 
 C. M. Winkler, Captain W. G. Jackson, Fourth Sergeant; 
 
 J. R. Loughridge, First Lieutenant; wounded and disabled Oct., 1864 
 
 disabled 
 
 J. R. Oglebia, Second Lieutenant; re- privates 
 
 signed and returned Astin, J. H.; disabled and discharged 
 
 B. J. C. Hill, Third Lieutenant; re- Allen, W. B. 
 
 signed Armstrong, R. C. 
 
 Mat. Beasley, First Sergeant Barry, A. 
 
 S. M. Riggs, Second Sergeant; killed Barry, M. 
 
 at battle of Chickamauga Beasley, J. R. 
 
 J. D. Caddell, Third Sergeant; killed Beasley, Jesse; killed at Second bat- 
 
 at Petersburg, 1865 tie of Manassas 
 
330 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Barnet, J. R. 
 
 Brewster, A. J. 
 
 Bales, W. H.; disabled at Gettysburg 
 
 Boynton, G. S. 
 
 Black, James R. 
 
 Bias, A. J. 
 
 Bishop, John 
 
 Crab, E. S. ; disabled in Second bat- 
 tle of Manassas 
 
 Crabtree, J. W. 
 
 Crawford, R. W. 
 
 Carroll, W. E.; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Childress, B. F.; killed at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Crossland, A. M.; wounded and dis- 
 abled at Ft. Harrison 
 
 Casady, J. M. 
 
 Duran, J. W. 
 
 Duncan, Ira P. 
 
 Dillard, E. P. 
 
 Dozier, ; killed in battle 
 
 Fondran, W. A.; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Franklin, B. F. 
 
 Fagan, Jas. G. 
 
 Fuller, W. W. 
 
 Fuller, Jas. L. ; killed at Wilderness 
 
 Foster, J. A.; disabled in 1864 
 
 Foster, G. W.; disabled Oct. 7, 1864 
 
 Foster, M. L, 
 
 Garner, E. M.; killed at battle of 
 Antietam or Sharpsburg 
 
 Green, J, T. 
 
 Green, John 
 
 Gregory, R. 
 
 Gregory, John; wounded, disabled 
 
 Herbert, J. H. ; wounded at Second 
 Manassas, disabled 
 
 HoUoway, R. G. 
 
 Harrison, J. J. 
 
 Harrison, H. H. 
 
 Hill, Jack; killed in September, 1864 
 
 Hill, J. H.; wounded at Sharpsburg 
 
 Haldeman, J. W. 
 
 Hagle, Joe. 
 
 Henderson, G. W. 
 
 Harris, J. O. ; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Hamilton, J. D. 
 
 Hamilton, J. L. 
 
 Harper, Frank 
 
 Jefferson, W. R. 
 
 Jordan, I. C. 
 
 Killian, H. L. W.; wounded at 
 Sharpsburg 
 
 Kennedy, Thomas; wounded and dis- 
 charged, 1864 
 
 Knight, Tom 
 
 Lemons, A. M.; wounded and dis- 
 abled September, 1864 
 
 Lumas, J. M. 
 
 Lanham, J. B.; wounded at Sharps- 
 burg and discharged 
 
 Lea, 
 
 Miller, R. S. 
 
 Mills, N. J.; elected lieutenant of Co. 
 
 Massey, J. H.; wounded and disabled 
 at Chickamauga 
 
 Morris, T. R.; killed at Second battle 
 of Manassas 
 
 Mitchell, W. H. 
 
 McMorris, J. M. 
 
 Melton, I. E. 
 
 Meador, A. L. 
 
 Neal, J. H. 
 
 Neal, JeflF. 
 
 Piatt, W. G. 
 
 Pickett, John; wounded at Second 
 Manassas and discharged 
 
 Polk, J. M. 
 
 Osborn, Paddy 
 
 Osborn, Sandy 
 
 Orendorff, J. H. 
 
 Pursly, Lewis 
 
 Pennington, C. 
 
 Rice, L. W. 
 
 Rice, R. N. 
 
 Rushing, M. D. L. 
 
 Sessions, J. T. 
 
 Sessions, E. G. 
 
 Smith, Pulasky 
 
 Smith, W. T.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Smith, W. G. 
 
 Simmons, J. W. 
 
 Stokes, Cornelius; killed June &', 1864 
 
 Steward, J. D. ; wounded and disabled 
 at Gaines' Mill 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 331 
 
 Spence, W. T.; killed at Second Ma- Wade, R. H.; disabled at Gaines' 
 
 nassas Mill 
 
 Shaw, J. R. Waters, Ezekial 
 
 Terrell, S. B.; killed at Suffolk, Feb- Warren, B. 
 
 ruary, 1863 Weil, Sol. 
 
 Templeton, Wm. W. Welch, Mike 
 
 Templeton, N. B. Welch, John 
 
 Treadwell, J. H. Westbrook, J. H. 
 
 Utzman, J. L. Westbrooks, W. H. 
 
 Walker, J. C; killed at Chickamauga Westbrooks, George 
 
 Walker, H. E.; killed at Wilderness Fortson, J, R, 
 
 Captain, Wm. H. Mar- 
 tin 
 
 1st Lieut.; M. O. Clana- 
 han 
 
 3d I>ieut., W. D. Rounsa- 
 vall 
 
 Anding, John 
 Allen, J. M. 
 Allen, J. W. 
 Antle, Milton 
 Ball, B. L. 
 Barham, C. J. 
 Bowles, Axom 
 Bradley, J. F. T. 
 Baker, Joseph 
 Boyd, James 
 Banks, T. C. 
 Brown, W. B. 
 Carguilo, W. A. 
 Cox, B. M. 
 Champion, L. D. 
 Campbell, A. 
 Campbell, J. E. 
 Campbell, J. M. 
 Clanahan, W. R. 
 Chapman, M. 
 Chapman, J. 
 
 COMPANY K 
 
 Carter, Hugh 
 Derden, W. L. 
 EUedge, H. D. 
 Elledge, J. F. 
 Edwards, W. L. 
 Forrester, Thomas 
 Forester, Joel 
 Green, J. J. 
 Green, D. N. 
 Guthrie, L. J. 
 Gibbon, J. F. 
 Guiger, John D. 
 Godwin, Wesley 
 Hodge, M. H. 
 Hobgood, T. J. 
 Hight, F. M. 
 Heard, J. D. 
 Hamby, John 
 Hilliard, E. C. 
 Holland, F. M. 
 Isaacs, William 
 Kimbrough, J. H. 
 Loop, G. R. 
 Larue, A. J. 
 Lemox, A. C. 
 McCall, J. C. 
 McNealy, T. G. 
 Martin,' R. B. 
 Martin, Alfred 
 
 Martin, Henry 
 Norvell, Robert 
 Owen, S. T. 
 Owen, J. D. 
 Owen, S. Trice 
 Paul, R. B. 
 Pattillo, B. A. 
 Pickering, James 
 Price, Russell 
 Price, W. B. 
 Phillips, H. 
 Fairr, W. R. 
 Richardson, W. E. 
 Rice, John 
 Rounsavall, James A. 
 Rounsavall I. M. 
 Rogers, J. H. 
 Rogers, S. S. 
 Roushing, G. H. 
 Ross, C. C. 
 Redmon, R. 
 Swindle, J. M. 
 Smith, F. J. 
 Tubbs, Robert 
 Wilton, W. T. 
 Weisensee, C. P. 
 Whittaker, W. F. 
 Williams, E. J. 
 Wigginton, William 
 
 MUSTER ROLLS OF FIFTH TEXAS 
 
 " BAYOtr CITY GUARDS " 
 
 COMPANY A 
 
 W. B. Botts; was Captain, promoted W. H. Sellers, 1st Lieut.; went with 
 
 to Lieut. Col., and resigned Gen. Hood West. Died in Texas 
 
333 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 J. R. Hale, 2d Lieut. 
 
 D. C. Farmer, 3d Lieut.; Captain 
 
 J. E. Clute, Orderly Sergt.; killed 
 
 at Gaines' Mill 
 W. D. Cleveland, 3d Sergt. 
 
 E. A. Noble, 4th Sergt.; wounded at 
 Second Manassas 
 
 E. R. Moore, Corporal 
 
 John Leverton, 2d Corp.; wounded 
 
 at Gettysburg, Pa. 
 Justus Davidson, 3d Corp. 
 J. A. McMurty, 4th Corp.; wounded 
 
 at Manassas 
 J. Aurbach; discharged 
 John B. Bell; wounded at Manassas 
 C. M. Botts 
 Jasper Barron 
 William Barron 
 
 A. J. Burke, Jr. 
 
 Sam Bailey; wounded at Manassas 
 and Gettysburg, killed at Spott- 
 sylvania Court House 
 
 M. F. Berry 
 
 Geo. W. Bottler 
 
 T. E. Bigbee; missing at Boones- 
 boro, Md. 
 
 Robert Burns; Regimental Commis- 
 sary 
 
 George Butler 
 
 H. C. Bell 
 
 W. H. A. Cyrus 
 
 R. Capps; deserted 
 
 B. R. Currin 
 W. H. Chadwick 
 W. F. Clark 
 
 W. A. Clark 
 
 S. Cohn; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 J. A. Cameron 
 
 M. J. McCullock 
 
 T. H. Clark 
 
 C. W. Doggs; killed at Gettysburg 
 G. H. DeLesdernier ; killed at Gaines' 
 
 Mill 
 Jas. Downey 
 
 B. S. Dyer; wounded at Sharpsburg 
 Geo. M. Douglass 
 J. W. DeLesdernier; wounded at 
 
 Manassas 
 Isaac Elsasser 
 
 A. H. Edey 
 
 B. Pugh Fuller; 3d Lieut. 
 W. F. Farrell 
 
 D. N. Fleming 
 
 C. B. Gardner; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 J. H. Garrison; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 W. A. George 
 
 C. P. Horn; deserted 
 
 S. D. Hughs 
 
 R. G. Hollard 
 
 G. C. Holbrook; deserted 
 
 J. T. Hurtt 
 
 T. Kesse 
 
 J. A. Kennard; deserted 
 
 William Keily; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 J. M. Lee 
 
 T. W. Lubbock 
 
 J. W. Landigsen 
 
 J. E. Landes; wounded at the Wil- 
 derness 
 
 Horace Livingston 
 
 W. McDowell; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 F. Loberque 
 
 J. V. May 
 
 C. H. Merriman 
 
 J. S. Norton 
 
 O. O. Malley; wounded at Second 
 Manassas and Chickamauga 
 
 Thos. O. Donnell 
 
 F. M. Poland 
 R. AV. Phelps 
 
 Nicholas Pomeroy; wounded at Sec- 
 ond Manassas and Gettysburg 
 John Reily 
 
 T. H. Rievly; wounded at Gettysburg 
 H. R. Rogers 
 
 G. H. Robins; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 J. J. Sweeney 
 
 Jas. Stanger 
 
 B. C. Simpson; wounded at Manassas 
 and Gettysburg 
 
 J. H. Shepherds; ^vounded at Wil- 
 derness 
 
 Wm. Sims 
 
 H. G. Settle; wounded at Petersburg 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 333 
 
 Chas. Settle D. W. Walker; killed at Manassas 
 
 Chas. Seldon; deserted D. Wilderson 
 
 W. A. Tryon C. Whitaker 
 
 H. P. Tools W. A. Cook 
 
 I. Tressam The following named parties, wounded 
 
 A. C. M. Taylor at Manassa, Va., died at Warren- 
 
 V. Vandergen ton, Va.: J. A. McMurty, John 
 
 A. Wolff; killed at Sharpsburg Massenburg, John DeLesdernier 
 S. B. Webber; deserted S. O. Young; enlisted Jan. 1, 1865 
 
 COMPANY B 
 
 John C. Upton, Captain; became Baker, J. D. 
 
 Lieut.-Col., killed at Second Ma- Baker, A. H. ; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 nassas Bostick, S. R. 
 
 J. D. Roberdeau, 1st Lieut.; became Burford, Phil. 
 
 Captain, wounded at Second Ma- Bridge, A. 
 
 nassas, Sharpsburg and Gettysburg Behue, G. 
 
 J. H. Bullington, ^'d Lieut. Carter, J. T.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Ed. Collier, 3d Lieut.; disabled per- Carter, A. H.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 manently at Petersburg, Va. Mill 
 
 W. D. Denny, 1st Sergt. ; killed at Carter, A. V. L.; killed at Second 
 
 Eltham's Landing Manassas 
 
 B. M. Baker, 2d Sergt. and Lieut.; Coffee, C. 
 wounded at Second Manassas and Cabanis, Max 
 
 Gettysburg Carroll, Jim.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 J. C. kindred, 3d Sergt. Mill 
 
 D. H. Henderson, 4th Sergt. and 1st Cherry, W. S.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Lieut.; killed at Gettysburg Mill and Gettysburg 
 
 Ellis Putney, 5th Sergt. Carleton, W. H. 
 
 John Buchanan, 1st Corp. Currie, D. M.; wounded 
 
 John C. Miller, 2d Corp.; killed at Collins, Pat.; wounded at Second 
 
 Gettysburg Manassas 
 
 Wra. Pinchback, 3d Corp.; killed at Cooper, Jasper 
 
 Second Manassas Cooper, Newton 
 
 J. H. Whitehead, 4th Corp.; wounded Darden, W. J.; wounded at Sharps- 
 
 at Gettysburg burg and disabled 
 
 John B. Wall, 5th Corp. .Dickinson, J. C. 
 
 PRIVATES DeGraffenreid, T. T. ; wounded at 
 
 Auerbach, E.; killed at the Wilder- Boonesboro 
 
 ness Dolan, John; deserted 
 Burton, W. H.; killed at Bermuda Daggett, M. ; killed at Second Ma- 
 Hundred Front nassas 
 Besch, E. ; wounded three different Dickey, G. W. 
 
 battles Edgar, John 
 
 Byers, W. F. Enke, August; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Bently, W. L. Mill and disabled 
 
 Bruce, J. S.; wounded at Second Flanagan, M.; deserted 
 
 Manassas Graf, John; wounded at Wilderness 
 
334 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Gaines, John R. ; killed at Gaines' McCormick, John 
 
 Mill McCormick, S. L. 
 
 Gegenrarth, Geo.; wounded at Chick- McNeilus, D.; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 amauga and disabled McLeod, M. W. 
 
 Grace, A. J. Nelms, W. F.; wounded at Second 
 Harris, Dr. T. W. Manassas, killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Harris, F. R. Obenschain, J. S.; wounded at Chick- 
 Harbert, W. J. amauga 
 
 Humphrey, R. I.; wounded at Second O'Neill, John; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Manassas, killed at Petersburg Perkins, J. R. 
 
 Howard, I. A.; killed at Gettysburg, Pratt, Henry; wounded at Second 
 
 with colors Manassas 
 
 Harvey, John B.; wounded at Get- Penelton, Henry 
 
 tysburg, disabled Priest, John 
 
 Hurley, D.; wounded at Freeman's Ray, J. R. 
 
 Ford Reynolds, Jas. 
 
 Hurley, M.; killed at Gettysburg Ratican, John; wounded at Gaines' 
 Haynes, Blythe Mill, disabled 
 
 Haynes, Henry; killed at Gettysburg Roberts, T. J.; wounded at Free- 
 Hendrick, Hiram man's Ford 
 
 Hart, W. S.; killed at Chickamauga Rhodes, Wm. ; wounded at Second 
 Higgs, J. F. Manassas 
 
 Hoffman, Wm.; killed at Sharpsburg Sheppard, Webb; wounded at Second 
 Hahn, Jacob; wounded at Gaines' Manassas, with colors 
 
 Mill Sloan, A. G.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Hare, W. S. Stroud, B. F. 
 
 Hanks, John Scherer, Riley; killed at Eltham's 
 Johnson, J. W.; wounded at Second Landing 
 
 Manassas and Gettysburg Senne, Henry; wounded at Eltham's 
 Johnson, Wm. Landing, disabled 
 
 Jenkins, John M. Snell, W. T. ; wounded at Second 
 Kolbow, John; killed at Sharpsburg Manassas 
 
 Kaepke, F.; killed at Malvern Hill Smith, John C. ; wounded at Second 
 Lahey, John; wounded at the Wilder- Manassas 
 
 ness Stephenson, William 
 
 Lynch, C; wounded at Gaines' Mill, Shields, Chas. 
 
 disabled Sanders, W. L. 
 
 Lundy, P.; wounded at Second Stafford, R. E. 
 
 Manassas Stoneker, W. J. 
 
 Legg, Andrew Slayton, Wm. 
 
 Manhart, F. Tanner, C. B. 
 
 Murphy, F. M. Tatum, C. S. 
 
 Morrissey, John; wounded at Sharps- Terrell, Hunt; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg burg 
 
 Monroe, George; killed at Sharps- Terrell, C. M. 
 
 burg Trainor, John; wounded at Second 
 Mathee, Fritz; killed at Freeman's Manassas and Gettysburg 
 
 Ford Taylor, T. O. 
 
 McMillan, A. P. M.; deserted Taylor, F. M.; deserted 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 335 
 
 Umbarger, John; killed at Second Wilson, J. C; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Manassas Woodhouse, P.; wounded at Second 
 
 Welck, T.; deserted Manassas and Gettysburg 
 
 Weston, C; deserted Carrigan, J.; killed at Second 
 
 Wallace, J. W.; deserted Manassas 
 
 COMMISSIONED OFFICERS 
 
 D. M. Whaley, Captain 
 J. J. McBride, 1st Lieut. 
 W. G. WaUace, 2d Lieut. 
 J. E. Anderson, 2d Lieut. 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED 
 OFFICERS 
 
 Lee Tubb, 1st Sergt. 
 Z. L. Logan, 2d Sergt. 
 T. J. Pridgen, 3d Sergt. 
 J. C. Cox, 4th Sergt. 
 
 E. W. Black, 5th Sergt. 
 G. A. Pruitt, 1st Corp. 
 J. T. Adkinson, 2d Corp. 
 P. B. Perry, 3d Corp. 
 G. F. Border, 4th Corp. 
 P. K. McKenzie, Musician 
 H. L. Olrick, Musician 
 
 Jesse Anderson 
 J. T, Allison 
 
 A. B. Allison 
 Robert Allen 
 Z. P. Bell 
 Edward Bell 
 T. J. Boykin 
 
 B. W. Bristow 
 
 E. H. Bristow 
 G. G. Barbee 
 J. H. Brewer 
 
 F. M. Braden 
 William Boykin 
 Wm. Brashear 
 A. Brashear 
 H. W. Boyd 
 
 J. F. Coston 
 D. O. H. Coston 
 J. M. Copeland 
 J. P. Copeland 
 
 COMPANY C 
 
 J. S. Crosby 
 James Deatley 
 
 A. J. Dunlap 
 H. B. Dunn 
 Z. Y. Dezell 
 E. M. Dezell 
 J. M. Driscol 
 H. T. Driscol 
 
 W. V. B. Duncan 
 J. C. Dickson 
 J. B. Durgan 
 J. E. Ellis 
 C. A. Ellis 
 
 B. D. Elkins 
 J. B. Farris 
 
 J. A. J. Fryer 
 Thomas Foley 
 J. A. Green 
 J. C. Green 
 J. W. M. Green 
 John Garrison 
 Wiley Graham 
 J. B. Graham 
 Strickland Graham 
 J. G. Gouch 
 Marion Garey 
 Benjamin Henry 
 W. H. Gough 
 Berry Hicks 
 R. H. Hays 
 J. H. Hailey 
 S. W. Erwin 
 E. W. James 
 John Caloway 
 A. A. Jones 
 Asbury Lawson 
 Thomas R. Lee 
 J. E. Lacey 
 W. L. Long 
 Lacey Lusk 
 Emmitt Mulholland 
 
 D. W. Moore 
 Sterling Moody 
 G. W. Mills 
 Ransom McKenzie 
 James Merideth 
 
 A. P. Moss 
 William Murchinson 
 James W. Neighbors 
 John Neighbors 
 
 B. D. Nunnery 
 Joe S. New 
 Benjamin Perry 
 B. D. Page 
 Thomas R. Pistole 
 David Price 
 
 J. H. Fool 
 
 E. P. Parker 
 P. G. Phillips 
 J. J. Pridgen 
 B. R. Perry 
 
 T. M. Robinson 
 Joe. L. Ross 
 Joseph Rose 
 
 E. H. Sawyers 
 
 B. S. Stewart 
 W. B. Simmons 
 G. A. Shillings 
 James E. Swindler 
 J. D. Stephens 
 
 J. S. Skinner 
 J. M. Scott 
 H. P. Traweek 
 
 C. C. Traweek 
 Richard Turner 
 Sam. Thomas 
 James Underwood 
 Henry C. Wynch 
 P. W. West 
 James M. Wallace 
 R. F. Webb 
 
 F. M. Wilhams 
 
836 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 James Williams 
 W. K. Williams 
 M. T. Welsh 
 
 Jefferson Walker 
 William Watson 
 C. M. C. Whaley 
 
 Ell Yow 
 
 J. K. Yeldell 
 
 COMPANY D 
 
 R. M. Powell, Captain; promoted to 
 Colonel, wounded and captured at 
 Gettysburg, commanding brigade 
 at surrender of Appomattox Court 
 House 
 
 W. T. Hill, 1st Lieut.; promoted to 
 Captain, wounded at Gettysburg 
 and Wilderness, commanding regi- 
 ment at surrender 
 
 A. C. Woodall, 2d Lieut.; promoted 
 to 1st Lieut., wounded at battles of 
 Knoxville and Darbytown 
 
 Campbell Wood, 3d Lieut.; promoted 
 to 2d Lieut., wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND 
 PRIVATES 
 
 Abercrombie, Milo B. 
 
 Abernathy, Henry; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Adickes, E. J. 
 
 Allen, William H. 
 
 Alston, Angus, D.; killed at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Alston, Robert 
 
 Alston, Willis W.; wounded at Get- 
 tysburg and Wilderness 
 
 Alverson, Jno. T. ; killed at Spott- 
 sylvania Court House 
 
 Bass, J. M. 
 
 Birdwell, T. J. 
 
 Bowden, J. G. 
 
 Brantley, R, A.; promoted to Sergt., 
 wounded at Second Manassas 
 
 Brown, M. C. ; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Brown, R. C. ; wounded at Malvern 
 Hill 
 
 Burden, Jack 
 
 Burden, Joseph C. ; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Burke, Eph. 
 
 Burton, I.; wounded at Wilderness 
 
 Caldwell, O. H. P.; wounded at Sec- 
 ond Manassas, deserted 
 
 Campbell, John 
 
 Campbell, D. M. 
 
 Campbell, W. B. 
 
 Carrington, Bernard; wounded at the 
 Wilderness 
 
 Coleman, W. G. ; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg, lost his foot 
 
 Cotton, Robert 
 
 Cotton, John A. 
 
 Cotton, John W.; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Cox, L. A. 
 
 Cunningham, Nat, 
 
 Cunningham, Frank 
 
 DeCapree, A. 
 
 Dickie, J. A.; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Dikeman, Wm. 
 
 Douglass, N.; wounded at Second 
 Manassas, killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Edwards, T. J. 
 
 Elmore, Joseph 
 
 Eskridge, George; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Estill, Ben. D.; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Estill, Black; killed at Second Ma- 
 nassas I 
 
 Ewing, J. W. 
 
 Eutzler, C. C. 
 
 Farthing, W. G. W. ; promoted Sergt., 
 lost leg at Gettysburg 
 
 Franklin, S. J. 
 
 Gilbert, Jas. E.; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg, Chickamauga and the Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Gilbert, Martin L. ; wounded and 
 permanently disabled at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Golding, Anthony; wounded at 
 Gaines' Mill and Fort Harrison 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 337 
 
 Grant Geo. A.; wounded at Gaines' Morris, Robert 
 
 Mill and Fort Harrison Mitchell, Charles rnrr.nr.\ 
 
 Griffin, Robert H.; killed at the Wil- Mitchell, Leroy; promoted Corporal, 
 
 derness wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 Gwynn, William A. Murphy, M.; deserted 
 
 Hardy, Richard; wounded at Gettys- Murray, J. A.; promoted Sergeant 
 
 , Murray, J. H., Jr. 
 
 Harris J K. P.; mortally wounded Myers, William, H.; wounded at the 
 
 at Second Manassas Wilderness 
 
 Harrison, J. S. ; wounded at Seven Neatherly, J. 
 
 Pines Nelms, Jesse C. 
 
 Henry, Z. P.; killed at Williamsport, Nelms, W. M.; killed at Second 
 
 y,^ Manassas 
 
 Harp;r, William Page, K. J.; wounded at Seven Pines, 
 
 Hightower, J. A. Pa^ke^L"'; wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 Xllll, A. i. ^. _ ^ 
 
 Hill, C. T. Pearce, W. J. C. 
 
 Hill. J. C: promoted to Sergeant, Perkms, , , ^ o a 
 
 wounded kt'^ettysburg Powell, W. P.; wounded at Second 
 
 ■Hineon A M Manassas 
 
 H tf' Pnht Pirtle, Samuel; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Sanlfs,'— R^^dlll, I. B.; wounded at Gettys- 
 
 Hume,' F. Charles; wounded at Sec- burg 
 
 ond Manassas Reynolds, Dr. 
 
 Irving, Henry Ridgeway, F. M.; killed at Sharps- 
 
 Kearse, Calhoun burg 
 
 "Keeble Edwin A.; wounded at the Robertson, J. K. 
 
 WiWcrness Robinson, J. M.; promoted Sergeant 
 
 Keenan, Walter; wounded at Darby- wounded at Second Manassas, lost 
 
 town ^eg at Chickamauga 
 
 Latchman, Ernest; wounded at Sec- Rome, W B.; --'"^^.^ .^^J^^'^^^- 
 
 ond Manassas, killed at Gettysburg mauga, lost leg at Wilderness 
 Lamkin, M. A.; wounded at Second Ross, S. P.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Manassas Rose, Joseph 
 
 Lewis, William H. ; killed at the Wil- Sanders, Alonzo 
 
 derners Saunders, William; killed at Knox- 
 
 Lewis. W. E.; killed at Wilderness ville, Tenn. 
 
 iZi, T.J.; wounded at Chickamauga Scott, Thomas B.; lost leg at Malvern 
 
 Lucas Hill 
 
 Maas,' Louis; killed at Second Ma- Scott, Jno. A. 
 
 See A 
 nassas ' • wounded at Second 
 
 Malone, Thomas oeaie, j. xi , 
 
 Marshall, James Manassas 
 
 McDade, Jas. A.; killed at Gettys- S^ac^k^or^^,^ Ed.^ ^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^_ 
 
 Sl:, S wounded at Gettys- Sh^T.; killed at Spottsyl^^^^^^ 
 ^^^ Spivey, W. F.; killed at becona 
 
 McGilvary, William Manassas 
 
338 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Smith, W. O. ; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Smith, R. 
 
 Smither, J. M.; promoted to Corp., 
 Sergt.-Major, wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga, Bermuda Hundreds 
 
 Stanton, Robert; wounded at Second 
 Manassas, missing at the Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Strayhorn, 
 
 Traylor, A. H.; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Traylor, J. H. 
 
 Traylor, W. A. 
 
 Tomlinson, John; killed at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Tomlinson, James 
 
 Turner, William; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Underwood, A. 
 
 Walke, W. C. ; promoted to Corporal, 
 wounded at the Wilderness 
 
 Warren, Walter 
 
 Watson, Thos. L.; promoted to Cor- 
 poral, killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Williamson, Peter J. Gray; killed at 
 Gettysburg 
 
 Williamson, Jack 
 
 Wilson, Luts; deserted 
 
 Wilson, W. P. 
 
 Wood, Robert 
 
 Woodson, Philip; discharged 
 
 Woodson, C. T. 
 
 Wynne, William D.; killed at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Yoakum, George 
 
 John D. Rogers, Capt. ; 
 resigned 
 
 Thomas A. Baber, 1st 
 Lieut. ; disabled 
 
 R. T. Harper, 2d Lieut.; 
 disabled 
 
 Thomas Nash, 3d Lieut.; 
 killed 
 
 James H. Littlefield ; 
 promoted 
 
 A. J. Stevens 
 
 Walter S. Norwood; pro- 
 moted 
 
 A. J. Hall 
 
 W. B. W. George 
 
 M. M. Felder 
 
 Milam Gay 
 
 John T. Sedgely 
 
 Hardy Allen; killed 
 
 Richard Allen 
 
 Thos. J. Armitage 
 
 D. F. Adair 
 
 Chas. C. Allen 
 
 Chas. Brown 
 
 John Booth; killed 
 
 W. G. Bunger 
 
 James C. Buster; killed 
 
 James A. Cartwell 
 
 COMPANY E 
 
 John W. Cousins 
 
 George Cooper 
 
 Moses Cooper; killed 
 
 Atrus M. Clay 
 
 Sam. T. Cofield 
 
 Sam H. Dean; killed 
 
 F. A. Eldridge 
 
 B. Eldridge 
 
 M. A. J. Evans 
 
 Geo. Ewing 
 
 John T. Fields 
 
 Rufus K. Felder 
 
 Cornelius E. Farquhar; 
 killed 
 
 Felix Farquhar 
 
 James T. Farmer 
 
 W. H. H. Gray 
 
 J. R. Goodwin 
 
 James B. Gee 
 
 Leonard Gee 
 
 John Gee; he was trans- 
 ferred 
 
 John L. Garrett 
 
 James S. Hutchinson ; 
 killed 
 
 Julian H. Hutchinson; 
 killed 
 
 Leonidas HoUiday 
 
 John N. Henderson ; 
 
 disabled 
 Francis M. Hendly 
 Ruf. G. Harper 
 James H. Hardiman 
 Joseph E. Henery; killed 
 James T. Hurt; killed 
 Robert W. Hargrove 
 Andrew Hill 
 Bernard Kavanaugh 
 W. C. Legrand 
 John Lott 
 J. B. Lott 
 
 Lamb S. Lockett; killed 
 E. E. Maxey 
 Thomas McCoy 
 Thomas H, MuUins 
 Newton N. Mullins ; 
 
 killed 
 Wm. A. Muir 
 Wm. T. Muse 
 John Mayfleld; killed 
 Charles E. Moncrief; 
 
 killed 
 Fatin Meadows 
 Duncan W. McPherson 
 John May 
 W. H. McCalister 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 339 
 
 Frank M. Nash 
 
 R. S. Niblett 
 
 David O. Patrick 
 
 S. M. Patrick 
 
 N. E. Petty; killed 
 
 Robert W. Pearson; 
 
 killed 
 J. J. Roberts; promoted 
 John S. Roberts 
 John H. Roberts 
 Patrick H. Rogers 
 Richard Ringgold; killed 
 Chas. J. Rice 
 Jule A. Ranald 
 Wm. Sensebaugh; killed 
 Simon B. Smith 
 
 F. J. Whittington 
 Wm. Mclvey 
 Wm. Fletcher 
 
 D. A. Tilton 
 Henry Griffith 
 Wm. Bryant 
 Andrew Bryant 
 Beasley Dugat 
 Henry Whitlock 
 John Church 
 Jim Johnson 
 Blair Johnson 
 Albert Dugat 
 Edmun Hart 
 Neal Dorain 
 Pink Buckston 
 D. Toups 
 " Sargent " Evans 
 Tom Coogan 
 Mike Whalin 
 Dallis Bryan 
 
 G. W. Starnes 
 Earnest Branch 
 Isaac Linscott 
 
 B. J. F. Smith 
 Joseph Sherman; killed 
 James W. Spann; killed 
 Frank M. Smith 
 A. J. Trainer; killed 
 James F. Toland 
 Robert S. Toland; killed 
 Sam H. Watson; killed 
 Robert D. Wilkinson 
 George B. Williams 
 John L. Wilcox 
 Jefferson Wright; killed 
 Joseph W. Wallace 
 F. M. Williamson 
 L. E. Mattox; killed 
 Jesse B. Lott 
 
 COMPANY F 
 
 Isaac Oxford 
 Sam Godwin 
 John Tutt 
 
 Truax 
 
 Tom Smith 
 Cadmus Wilborn 
 Davis Rashall 
 M. Fitzgerald 
 Jeff. Chaison 
 Wm. Pemburton 
 Jno. Spencer 
 
 Fortescue 
 
 John Smith 
 Jack Wilson 
 Ed. McCarty 
 Jim Karlow 
 Peter Mallery 
 Pryer Choat 
 Tom Leonard 
 Jack Little 
 Bill Taylor 
 Dick Berry 
 Mc Stricklin 
 Jim Booth 
 
 COMPANY G 
 
 W. H. Innis 
 J. F. Wray 
 George Counts; killed 
 C. S. Goodwin; killed 
 Ira Hill; killed 
 Thomas Weathersby; 
 
 killed 
 Henry Pollock; killed 
 Dan Batts; killed 
 Wm. R. Lott 
 Leonard Moore 
 Joe George 
 
 William Stevens; killed 
 John Walthall 
 John L. Dulany 
 J. H. Smith; killed 
 
 Sivan Giroux 
 Dr. Cook 
 
 Mobra 
 
 Chas. Brashear 
 Moody 
 
 Dormick 
 
 Arthur H. Edy 
 J. C. Ross 
 
 Kauffman 
 
 Myers 
 
 King Bryant 
 Sol. Curbillo 
 Julius Schultz 
 Ed. Pruett 
 Pryor Bryant 
 L. V. Cobb 
 Dr. Noah 
 Jem Howell 
 R. N. Keith 
 John White 
 
 S. Stephenson 
 
 Starks 
 
 Nobles 
 
 J. C. Rogers, Capt.; Sam Streetman, 2d promoted to 3d Lieut., 
 wounded, promoted to Lieut.; killed killed 
 
 Major Lu. Battle, 3d Lieut.; W. A. Nabors, 2d Sergt. 
 
 John Smith, 1st Lieut.; discharged Ben. Green, 3d Sergt.; 
 
 promoted to Captain W. J. Terry, 1st Sergt.; wounded and died 
 
340 HOOD^S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Ike Jackson, 4th Sergt. ; Hardcastle, James Turnham, R. C. 
 
 wounded Harmon, John Tuttle, W. P. 
 
 B. F. Nabours, 1st Corp. Jones, G. A.; killed Tarver, W. H. ; wounded 
 
 J. L. Stewart, 2d Corp. Jones, Wash.; wounded Tomlinson, J. B.; killed 
 J. P. Smith, 3d Corp. Jones, A. E. ; wounded Thompson, J. E. 
 A. H. Brown, 4th Corp.; Jackson, H. C. Valient, W. A. 
 
 wounded Jolly, John; killed Walker, S. H.; killed 
 
 Jackson, C. J.; wounded Webb, J. W. 
 PRIVATES Jones, Dick; wounded Walker, Tandy; killed 
 
 Allison, S. P.; wounded and died Watson, R. E. 
 
 Bigbee, T. M.; promoted King, Ben Youngs, W.; killed 
 
 to Sergt., wounded Lawrence, J. L. ; killed Tomlinson, A. J. 
 
 Bellah, S. H.; wounded Lewis, John Austin, J. T. ; wounded 
 
 Bounds, J. H. Mayes, D. H.; wounded Anderson, Bunk; killed 
 
 Bean, E. M.; promoted McAlister, J. H. Adams, Carey; killed 
 
 to Lieut., wounded McKinney, J. M. Allen, John; wounded 
 
 Beal, D. R.; wounded McDonnald, E., Jr.; Bryant, J. W.; deserted 
 Blackman, W. J. killed Barnard, Geo.; wounded 
 
 Blackman, M. W. McDonnald, David ; killed Benge, J. J. 
 
 Bracken, McDonnald, E., Sr. Caldwell, L. W.; pro- 
 
 Bracken, Thos.; lost Ills McDonnald, Daniel; moted to Orderly Ser- 
 
 arm wounded geant, wounded 
 
 Blackburn, W. P. McKnight, Ed. Chance, David; deserted 
 
 Bollinger, F. M.; killed Mayes, R. B.; wounded Cook, James 
 Cross, Antonio Morey, Harvy; wounded Dyer, W. T. 
 
 Cooper, W. V. L.; Middleton, N. D. Duke, Thomas 
 
 wounded Nance, C. P.; wounded Evans, Dan 
 
 Cunningham, A. P.; Ogdon; Milton Edwards, Jas.; wounded 
 
 wounded Pemberton, W, J. Frazier, James 
 
 Carson, D. H.; killed Peaks, W. W.; killed Garrett, Mike; wounded 
 
 Clarke, J. C. ; killed Pool, James; wounded Henderson, Robt. 
 
 Cooley, Benj.; killed Pool, L M. Hill, W. W.; wounded 
 
 Converse, George Pendarvis, Wm. Jones, Joseph; killed 
 
 Ditto, Alex. Richie, R. W.; wounded Jackson, Andrew; killed 
 
 Evans, James; wounded Rowe, H. H.; killed Lankford, Thos. 
 
 Ford, G. M.; killed Small, J. B.; wounded Lankford, Daniel; de- 
 
 Fleming, H. P. Stedham, Lewis serted 
 
 Ford, J. L. Sharp, S. W.; killed Long, Thomas; wounded 
 
 Gafford, J. C. ' Sharp, Antony Locklin, Jesse; killed 
 
 Griffin, Robt.; killed Smith, W. W.; wounded Miller, L. W.; wounded 
 
 Garrett, W. Sherrell, J. G.; wounded McPrewett, Wilson 
 
 Hawkins, J. H.; wounded Sherrell, James McAninch, E. B.; 
 
 Holt, H. P. Sherrell, David; killed wounded 
 
 Hairstone, A. B. Sherrell, Al. J.; wounded Moore, John; wounded 
 
 Huifman, J. A.; wounded Stedham, Al. J.; wounded Moore, Wash.; killed 
 Hill, W. V. Stedham, James; killed Monroe, John; killed 
 
 Hale, Charles Sharp, Robt.; wounded Pool, E. W.; wounded 
 
 Hobbs, M.; deserted Shelton, J. D.; wounded Price, Fred 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 341 
 
 Koss, C™n; wounded K^ -; MUed WjUia^ S.^^p;^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Ray, ; killed stiles, John Ward, Chas.; killed 
 
 COMPANY H 
 
 John S. Cleveland, Captain; wounded Coleman, 
 
 at Manassas and Gettysburg Cunnunghani, Pete 
 
 W. S. Maxey, 1st Lieut. Carter, George 
 
 Wm. Robinson, 2d Lieut.; promoted Carr, James 
 to 1st Lieut., wounded at Second Davis, Bill 
 Manassas, killed at Wilderness Darby, W. B , 3d Lieut. 
 
 Burney Byrd, 3d Lieut. Dansby, Uriah 
 
 S S. Stanley, 1st Sergt., 3d Sergt., Dowdy, Jim I 
 
 and 2d Lieut.; wounded at Ma- Dooley, Tom 
 nassas Dowden Charlie 
 
 L. H. Woodall, 2'd Sergt., 1st Sergt.; Foster, Milton O. 
 
 wounded at Manassfs, kiUed near Fitzgerald T.,- wounded at Gaines 
 Tj. 1 „j Mill and died 
 
 G. M Sims, 3d Sergt., 2d Sergt. Fitzgerald, F. M.; killed at Gettys- 
 
 E. M. Osborne, 4th Sergt.; wounded burg . -, . G«^«n^ 
 
 at Second Manassas Freeman, Ben; wounded at Second 
 
 T c; citone 1st Corn.; wounded at Manassas 
 
 sLnd ManaLs ^ Fridge, J. E.; wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 D. W. McDonald, 2d Corp., 3d Lieut., Ferrell, Bill ^ , ^ eu i .n- 
 
 ami ^d Lieut Foster, Bud; wounded at Sharpsburg 
 
 Wm. Wood, 3d Corp.; wounded at Floyd, William 
 
 Sharpsburg and Gettysburg Grayless, WiUiam, 3d Sergt. 
 
 L J? Goreef 4th Corp.; wounded at Goree, E. K.; wounded at the Wilder- 
 Second Manassas ^ne^^s ^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ 
 
 PRIVATES Grace, M. B.; wounded at Second 
 
 ■Q • i,io,r A R Manassas 
 
 ?""t ?v' rhrfs' Grace, John W.; wounded at Second 
 
 ^"tw Arnos Manassas and Chickamauga 
 
 Butt AH wounded at Chicka- Bains, R.; killed at Second Manassas 
 
 £>utier, , James; wounded at Chicka- 
 
 mauga ' 
 
 Bell, R. R.; wounded at Second Ma- mauga 
 
 Carter, George 
 
 BaTber Jonathan; wounded at Sec- Graves, J. C; wounded at Gettysburg 
 ond Manassas Gibson, Ben 
 
 Ball Bill; killed at Darbytown Gainor, Wm. 
 
 r,„^„, Tnmps Gillam, M. 
 
 Cuney J C; wounded at Second Hemphill, Jacob; wounded at Second 
 Manassas Manassas, Sharpsburg, Wilderness 
 
 Chesher J A.; wounded at Second and before Richmond 
 
 Co^r SfuTMirr >-Tc: LTunW a. Seco^a Manassas 
 
342 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 House, W. ; wounded at Second Ma- 
 nassas, killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 Hampton, T. L. ; wounded at Second 
 Manassas and Wilderness 
 
 Harris, Coon 
 
 Huffman, Ned 
 
 Hogue, Bill 
 
 Hubert, Mile 
 
 Hough, Trav 
 
 Johnson, George H. 
 
 Jones, W. G.; killed at Spottsylvania 
 
 Jennings, J. A.; killed at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Jennings, Ben 
 
 Jett, Levi 
 
 Jett, Vol! 
 
 Kirby, Josiah 
 
 Kirgin, E. M. 
 
 Keyes, Jim; deserted 
 
 Keyes, Jno. H. 
 
 Kelley, Thompson 
 
 Lee, R. E.; wounded at Manassas and 
 Chickamauga 
 
 Lewis, George 
 
 Lewis, Jim 
 
 Maxey, Finney 
 
 Martin, Dan 
 
 Martin, Bud 
 
 Martin, Charles 
 
 McGee, Bill 
 
 McGee, Jesse 
 
 McDonald, C. F.; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 McCormick, Maxey; wounded at Win- 
 chester 
 
 McCracken, Dave; wounded at Wil- 
 derness 
 
 McLean, 
 
 McCann, Wash. 
 
 McNulty, Frank 
 
 McNeeley, Dr. H. 
 
 New, John; wounded at Manassas 
 
 Obar, George 
 
 Pannell, D. ; killed at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 Pinson, J. C. ; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Pinson, West 
 
 Pinson, Newt.; killed at Darbytown 
 
 Reeder, John 
 
 Rose, Harvey; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill and Chickamauga 
 
 Robinson, James 
 
 Robinet, James; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg and Wilderness 
 
 Ross, Mat. 
 
 Raines, E. 
 
 Ross, J. B. 
 
 Small, S. W., 4th Sergt. 
 
 Small, J. M. 
 
 Shields, Isaiah; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Shaw, J. A. 
 
 Shaw, E. ; wounded at the Wilderness 
 
 Simpson, Hiram 
 
 Sprott, T. B.; wounded at Second 
 Manassas and Chickamauga 
 
 Stephenson, S. V.; killed at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Stephenson, John; wounded 
 
 Stevenson, Jarrett 
 
 Simmons, T. J.; killed at Chicka- 
 mauga 
 
 Simmons, Wiley 
 
 Spires, Steve 
 
 Steele, George 
 
 Steele, Andrew 
 
 Tarkington, Jno. L. ; wounded at 
 Gettysburg 
 
 Templeton, W. M.; wounded at Fred- 
 erickburg, killed at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 Wilson, Robert T. ; wounded at 
 Chickamauga 
 
 Walters, S. E.; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Vincent, La. 
 
 Weathers, J. R.; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Whitmier, Jesse W. 
 
 Wicks, William; killed at Kelly's 
 Ford 
 
 Wicks, L. B.; wounded at Freeman's 
 Ford 
 
 Underwood, W. A. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 343 
 
 COMPANY I 
 
 Captain, Jerome B. Robertson; be- 
 came Brigadier-General, command- 
 ing brigade 
 
 1st Lieut., Tacitus T. Clay; became 
 Captain, lost leg at Darbytown 
 
 2d Lieut., John W. Kerr; became 
 Adjutant-General of the brigade 
 
 3d Lieut., Ben J. Franklin; wounded 
 at Second Manassas 
 
 3d Lieut.; Chas. A. Graham; killed 
 at Gettysburg 
 
 Ord. Sergt., Jas. P. Drake; killed at 
 Sharpsburg 
 
 2d Sergt., H. S. Tarver; wounded at 
 Gettysburg 
 
 3d Sergt., J. T. Hairston 
 
 4th Sergt., H. O. Robertson; wounded 
 Gettysburg 
 
 5th Sergt., Robt. A. Park; wounded 
 at Sharpsburg 
 
 1st Corp., Wm. O. Morgan; wounded 
 at Second Manassas and Gettysburg 
 
 2d Corp., John W. Flanagan; pro- 
 moted to lieutenantcy 
 
 3d Corp., Geo. W. Clamptt; wounded 
 at Gettysburg and Wilderness 
 
 4th Corp., Wm. H. Holmes 
 
 D. B. Allen; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 John Andrews 
 
 Joe Atkinson 
 
 Geo. W. Baldwin; wounded at Second 
 Manassas, killed at Wilderness 
 
 Ben. J. Baldwin; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg, Chickamauga and Wilderness 
 
 Thos. Banner 
 
 Martin Banner 
 
 Bat. Baker; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 W. R. Barlow; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Oliver P. Barton ; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Thos. Bates; wounded at Second Ma- 
 nassas and killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Wm. T, Blackburn; wounded at Chaf- 
 
 fin's Farm 
 J. H. Blue; wounded at Gettysburg 
 Jerome Blue 
 
 C. D. Blue 
 
 W. G. Blue; wounded at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 Jas. Brady 
 Fritz W. Bettis 
 Alex. G. Beaumont 
 
 D. H. Carter 
 Oscar Chase 
 
 Jas. R. Cliett; wounded at Seven 
 Pines 
 
 Timothy Conway 
 
 John Connor; wounded at Wilderness 
 
 Wm. Crabtree; wounded at Second 
 Manassas, killed at Chickamauga 
 
 J. T. Cross; wounded at Gaines' Mill 
 
 J. W. Dallas; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 John Davis; wounded at Chicka- 
 mauga, killed at Wilderness 
 
 John Dean; wounded at Gettysburg, 
 killed at Wilderness 
 
 J. Watt Dean; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 James Diggs 
 
 John Dick; vrounded at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 S. S. Driscol; wounded at Second 
 Manassas, killed at Chickamauga 
 
 Ed. Dunn; killed at Sharpsburg 
 
 T. P. Dudley; wounded at Knoxville, 
 killed at Darbytown 
 
 F. C. Edney; wounded at Seven Pines 
 
 Jas. A. Eaton 
 
 D. E. Flannegan; wounded at Sec- 
 ond Manassas 
 
 Robert Fleming; wounded at Wil- 
 derness 
 
 Robert E. Fitzgerald 
 
 Ben S. Fitzgerald 
 
 Pat Goodlett 
 
 Josh. S. Grant; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
344 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 Chas. H. Graves Whit. S. Montgomery 
 
 June W. Graves; killed at Chicka- Robert Mitchell 
 
 mauga Drew F. Morgan; wounded at 
 
 Jas. N. Guess Sharpsburg, killed at Chaffin's 
 
 Joe Hallum; wounded at Gaines' Farm 
 
 Mill S. A. Morris 
 
 Wm. Haley; wounded at Second Ma- Parrott W. McNeese 
 
 nassas, killed at Gettysburg Ed. H. McKnight; wounded at Sec- 
 John H. Hardy ond Manassas 
 
 Hammett Hardy W. B. McRae; wounded at Freeman's 
 
 Richard J. Haynes; killed at Gaines' Ford 
 
 Mill Thos. J. Newman; wounded at 
 
 W. T. Harris; wounded at Gaines' Sharpsburg 
 
 Mill and Second Manassas G. Ober 
 
 John S. HefFner; wounded at Gettys- Hugh Parker 
 
 burg Dell Perkins 
 
 R. A. Higgason Dimas R. Ponce 
 
 Green Hill J. W. Powell; wounded at Wilder- 
 John C. Hill ness 
 Wm. B. Hill Ben Quails 
 Jas. D. Holmes; wounded at Chicka- Dr. D. H. Robertson; wounded at 
 
 mauga Second Manassas 
 
 Wm. A. Holmes; wounded at Wil- Frank Robertson 
 
 derness W. B. Roysten; killed at Second Ma- 
 
 Curran Holmes nassas 
 
 Jas. L. Holmes; killed at Gettysburg C. D. Seward; killed at Cold Harbor 
 
 A. W, Holt; WTOunded at Chicka- Wm. Short; wounded at Gettysburg 
 
 mauga John Short; wounded at Second Ma- 
 John D. Howell; wounded at Sharps- nassas; killed at Chickamauga 
 
 burg R. H. Spence; wounded at Second 
 
 Robert Howell; wounded at Sharps- Manassas, killed at Knoxville 
 
 burg J. H. Stephens 
 
 John Hoval; wounded at Wilderness Will S. Stephens 
 
 A. 15. Hood; wounded at Wilderness Thos. Sutherland 
 
 Robert W. Hudson W. F. Thomas; wounded at Second 
 
 E. C. Hughes; wounded at Wilder- Manassas 
 
 ness Jas. R. Thomas 
 
 Hugh Jackson J. W. Tooley; wounded at Chicka- 
 
 Walker Kerr mauga 
 
 J. W. Kilby; killed at Chickamauga H. W. Waters; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Abram Lee Mill 
 
 M. O. Lipscomb Loot Ward 
 
 Jonathan Love; surrendered at Ap- Lewis Wells; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 pomattox Mill 
 
 J. A. Mack; deserted W. S. Weatherby 
 
 Harmon C. Martin Clem Wiebusch 
 
 Jeff. Montgomery Sam'l M. Williams 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 345 
 
 COMPANY K 
 
 Turner, I. N. M., Captain; wounded Butler, John T,; wounded at Gaines' 
 at Seven Pines and Manassas, Farm 
 killed at Suffolk Butler, Aaron 
 
 Hubert, R. W., 1st Lieut.; promoted Butler, James 
 to Captain, wounded at Manassas Butler, Fred.; wounded at Manassas 
 and Gettysburg and Chickamauga 
 
 Thornton, S. B., 2d Lieut. Calvert, Tom 
 
 Jones, J. F., 3d Lieut. * Calvert, J. D.; wounded at Gettys- 
 
 Henry B. W., 1st Sergt., 2d Lieut.; burg 
 
 killed at Manassas Cannon, J. J. 
 
 McKinnon, N. B., 4th Sergt.; Carr, A. B. 
 wounded at Manassas Clark, B. C. 
 
 Turner, Joe, 2d Sergt., 2d Lieut.; Collins, R. B.; wounded at Gaines' 
 wounded at Manassas and Chicka- Mill 
 mauga Crouch, Julius 
 
 Beard, J. F., 3d Sergt, 1st Sergt.; Crouch, Henry 
 wounded at Freeman's Ford, killed Davis, A. C. 
 at Chickamauga Davis, Frank 
 
 *Meece, T. F., 5th Sergt., 1st Sergt.; Davis, B. F. 
 wounded at Manassas, Gettysburg, DeWalt, N. B. 
 and White Oak Bottom DeWalt, Waters 
 
 Tracey, Blount, 1st Corp. Dorsej% C. C. 
 
 Craig, Z. Q., ^Jd Corp. Dortch, L. B.; wounded at Second 
 
 Cochran, J. W., 3d Corp. Manassas, both eyes shot out at 
 
 Oats, Nathan, 4th Corp.; wounded Chickamauga 
 
 at Manassas, killed at Chickamauga Dunn, J. W. 
 Allbritton, Lafayette Dunn, Simeon; killed at Gettysburg 
 
 Adams, J. J. * Dunn, Alfred; wounded at Second 
 
 Alexander, J. M., 2d Lieut.; wounded Manassas and Wilderness 
 
 at Second Manassas and Darby- Easterling, Henry A.; wounded at 
 town road Second Manassas 
 
 * Armour, J. H. C. Fairchilds, A. J.; wounded at Chick- 
 
 * Ashley, R. A. ; wounded at Sharps- amauga 
 burg, Gettysburg and White Oak Fields, V. B. 
 Bottom Fields, R. R. 
 
 Bayless, W. U. ; killed in 1864 Fields, W. H. H. ; wounded at Gettys- 
 
 Best, M. W. ■ burg 
 
 * Bowen, J. M.; wounded at Second Fraser, W. 
 
 Manassas * Ford, J. F.; wounded at Gettys- 
 
 Braswell, W. N.; wounded at Ma- burg ^ 
 
 nassas Geiger, John 
 
 Burch, Joe Green, H. R. 
 
 Burroughs, T. J. * Green, A. B., Corporal, 5th Sergt. ; 
 
 * Note.— Those marked with a * were at the surrender of the army at Ap- 
 pomattox, Va., April 9, 1865. 
 
346 
 
 HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 wounded at Manassas, Wilderness, Matthews, J. W.; ^vounded at Ma- 
 
 Darbytown road nassas 
 
 Hamm, Geo. W.; transferred to Co. McClenny, 
 
 B, 1st Texas, killed at Gettysburg McCoy, J. W.; wounded at Manassas 
 
 * Hendiy, W. D. C. ; wounded at McCoy, W. J. 
 
 Sharpsburg and Gettysburg McCormick, John 
 
 Hendley, J. A. McCrorey, T. W.; wounded at Chick- 
 Henry, T. W.; killed at the Wilder- amauga, killed at the Wilderness 
 
 * McDonald, W. M. ; wounded at 
 Chickamauga 
 
 McKee, J. F.; wounded at Manassas, 
 killed in the Wilderness 
 
 Meece, C. W. ; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Meece, J. P.; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 * Meekins,! B. F.; wounded at Second 
 Manassas 
 
 Myers, G. B. 
 
 Naulty, T. D. 
 
 Nettles, W. D. S.; wounded at Chick- 
 amauga 
 
 Nettles, J. H. 
 
 Gates, Isaiah 
 
 Oliver, Joseph 
 
 Peebles, J. W. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 Mill 
 
 Pierrot, Gus; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg, killed at Cold Harbor 
 wounded at Second Ritchie, Austin 
 
 Ritter, Louis 
 
 Rone, Jerry; wounded at Second Ma- 
 nassas 
 
 * Rowe, D. A.; wounded at Hay 
 Market, also Suffolk campaign. 
 Wilderness, Darbytown 
 
 Reese, J. F. 
 Salles, B. A. 
 
 * Sandall, W. S.; wounded at Sharps- 
 burg and Gettysburg 
 
 Sawyer, J. H. 
 Schooler, Sam 
 
 ness 
 Hervey, V. T, 
 Hester, J. N. 
 
 * Hirams, H. C; wounded at the 
 Wilderness 
 
 Hirams, Sam 
 Hobbs, J. 
 Holton, David 
 
 * Hubert, M. A.; wounded at Gettys- 
 burg 
 
 Hubbard, B. C. ; wounded at Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 Hudson, Ed, 
 
 Hurt, B. H. N., 1st Lieut.; wounded 
 at Second Manassas 
 
 Hutton, G. A. 
 
 Jewel, W. E. 
 
 Johnson, J. H. 
 
 Jones, J. M. 
 
 Julian, E. H. 
 
 Julian, John 
 
 Kale, John P.; 
 Manassas 
 
 Keith, J. C. 
 
 Killingsworth, J. M. 
 
 * Kirkland, Elzy ; wounded at Chick 
 amauga 
 
 Knox, Z. 
 Lewis, G. W. 
 Lewis, Joe 
 Lockhart, Wesley 
 
 Lockhart, 
 
 Lockhart, C. H. 
 
 wounded at Second 
 
 Lott, J. T. 
 
 Matthews, T. C; wounded at Ma- Simpson, L. 
 
 nassas Slatter, L. J. 
 
 Matthews, W. H. ; wounded at Gettys- Smith, J. W 
 
 burg Manassas 
 
 Note — Those marked with a * were at the surrender of the army at 
 Appomattox, Va., April 9, 1865. 
 
HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE 
 
 347 
 
 Smith, J. P.; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Farm 
 South, N. J. 
 Speights, C. A. 
 * Stevenson, U. P. 
 Sterling, M. 
 Sterling, John 
 Stevens, Ike 
 Stevens, John W. 
 Stewart, Wiley; wounded at Second 
 
 Manassas 
 Suttles, Ike 
 Towns, J. R. 
 Treadway, Dick 
 Turner, W. H. 
 
 Turner, C. H. 
 
 * Waldrep, S. D. ; wounded at Gaines' 
 
 Farm and Wilderness 
 
 Walker, J. A. 
 
 Walker, W. A.; killed at Sharps- 
 burg 
 
 Ward, W. J.; died from wounds 
 received at Second Manassas 
 
 Wiley, Nelse; killed at Wilderness 
 
 Wilson, H. W. 
 
 Wilson, J. B. ; died from wounds 
 received at Freeman's Ford 
 
 * Young, W. B.; wounded at the 
 Wilderness and Fort Harrison 
 
 * Note — Those marked with a 
 Appomattox, Va., April 9, 1865. 
 
 were at the surrender of the army at 
 

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