6th Texas Cavalry Regiment
6th Texas Cavalry Regiment | |
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![]() L. Sullivan "Sul" Ross was a popular colonel. | |
Active | 6 September 1861 – 4 May 1865 |
Country | ![]() |
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Cavalry and Infantry |
Size | Regiment |
Engagements |
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Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Col. Lawrence Sullivan Ross |
Texas Cavalry Regiments (Confederate) | ||||
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The 6th Texas Cavalry Regiment was a unit of mounted volunteers that fought in the
Formation
The 6th Texas Cavalry mustered into the Confederate Army at Camp Bartow near
Company | Captain | Recruitment Area |
---|---|---|
A | A. J. Hardin | Kaufman County |
B | John Summerfield Griffith | Kaufman County |
C | Fayette Smith | Dallas County |
D | Thomas H. Bowen | Collin County |
E | Jack Wharton | Van Zandt County |
F | Robert S. Guy | Dallas County |
G | Peter F. Ross | McLennan County |
H | Robert M. White | Bell County |
I | Henry W. Bridges | Henderson County |
K | James W. Throckmorton | Collin County |
History
Chustenahlah and Pea Ridge
![Black and white photo shows a bearded man in a plain gray uniform.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/James_McIntosh.jpg/150px-James_McIntosh.jpg)
The 6th Texas Cavalry received orders to march to
The 6th Texas Cavalry joined a Confederate force under Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch, who ordered Ross to take his cavalrymen on a raid behind the Union forces occupying the extreme northwest corner of Arkansas. Ross led his horsemen well to the west of Samuel Ryan Curtis's Federal army and struck the Union supply line at Keetsville, Missouri. On 25 February 1862, the Texans overpowered the Federal outpost, killing two and capturing one while losing two men wounded and one or two missing. Ross's men burned five sutlers' wagons and captured 60 horses and mules. The raiders' return route went east of Curtis's army and south across the Boston Mountains; they arrived in camp on 1 March.[5]
At the
McCulloch deployed his division with infantry in the first line and the cavalry in a second line. The 6th Texas Cavalry formed up near Good's Battery. McCulloch then rode into the woods and was killed by a Union skirmisher. Foolishly, McCulloch's staff officers kept the general's death a secret.
Corinth and Holly Springs
![Black and white photo of a man with dark hair and a graying beard. He wears a double-breasted gray uniform with three general's stars on the collar.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Dabney_Herndon_Maury_2.jpg/150px-Dabney_Herndon_Maury_2.jpg)
After Pea Ridge, the 6th Texas Cavalry numbered 935 officers and men. On 15 April 1862, the regiment was dismounted to fight as infantry and its horses were sent back to Texas. The unit was sent east to join General P. G. T. Beauregard's army. The 6th Texas suffered heavy losses from disease, with 41 men dying in Arkansas and 62 men dying in Mississippi.[1] Corinth, Mississippi proved to be an unhealthy campsite because of its bad water supply and 18,000 of the 80,000 Confederate soldiers there were ill.[13] After arriving at Corinth, the regiment numbered 803 effectives and was led by Stone.[14] Ross wrote that Corinth was a "sickly, malarial spot fit only for alligators and snakes."[15] On 14 May 1862, the regiment chose new officers and "Sul" Ross was elected as the new colonel. Stone went back to Texas to recruit a new regiment.[16] At the end of May, Beauregard's army ended the Siege of Corinth by evacuating the place.[17]
During the
As the Confederate army retreated west from Corinth, its route led across the Hatchie River at Davis Bridge. This brought on the Battle of Hatchie's Bridge on 5 October 1862. Maury led John Creed Moore's brigade across the river in the early morning. A numerically superior Union division led by Edward Ord suddenly attacked at 9:00 am and overwhelmed Moore's troops, capturing a few hundred men. While Moore was being overrun, General Price foolishly waved the 6th and 9th Texas across the bridge. The Texans were soon caught up in the rout of Moore's hapless soldiers and lost 100 men as prisoners before they could retreat across the bridge.[25] Now it was the Confederates' turn to punish their foes. Phifer's brigade, temporarily led by Ross, took up positions on a bluff overlooking the east bank of the Hatchie River. Stupidly, Ord commanded the Federals to cross to the east side of the bridge. Moore's and Ross's men were soon joined by William Lewis Cabell's brigade and they easily repulsed the Federal attack, inflicting more than 500 casualties.[26] At Hatchie's Bridge, the 6th Texas lost 5 enlisted men killed, 4 wounded, and 7 missing, for a total of no officers and 16 enlisted men casualties.[24]
Even before the October fighting at Corinth and Hatchie's Bridge, details were sent to Texas to bring the regiment's horses. The 6th Texas Cavalry was remounted and joined a cavalry brigade that included the 3rd Texas, 9th Texas, and 27th Texas Cavalry Regiments.[1] John Wilkins Whitfield assumed command of the brigade on 23 October 1862. Lieutenant Colonel Griffith of the 6th Texas Cavalry first proposed a raid on Ulysses S. Grant's supply base at Holly Springs, Mississippi.[27] General Van Dorn led 3,500 cavalrymen on the successful Holly Springs Raid on 20 December 1862. Surprising the defenders, Van Dorn's horsemen captured 1,500 Union soldiers and destroyed US$1,500,000 of supplies. This action forced Grant's army to withdraw to Grand Junction, Tennessee.[28]
Later operations
![Black and white photo shows a dark-haired man with a large moustache. He wears a double-breasted gray uniform with general's stars on the collar.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/William_Hicks_Jackson.jpg/150px-William_Hicks_Jackson.jpg)
Whitfield's Texas cavalry brigade fought at the Battle of Thompson's Station on 5 March 1863.[29] The day before, a Union infantry brigade under the command of John Coburn advanced south from Franklin, Tennessee on a reconnaissance. The Federals brushed aside elements of William Hicks Jackson's Confederate cavalry division, but continued to march forward even though Coburn feared a trap. The next morning Coburn's brigade approached Thompson's Station and drove the Confederates from two hills just to the north. At this time, the Union artillery and cavalry units left the field without warning.[30] Van Dorn ordered Jackson's troopers to dismount and attack Coburn's troops from the south, while Nathan Bedford Forrest's division circled around and hit them from the north. Forrest's men seized Coburn's wagon train and blocked the Union escape route. Coburn finally surrendered when his soldiers ran out of ammunition. Confederate casualties numbered 357 while the Union troops lost 1,600, mostly captured.[31] The fighting lasted for five hours.[30]
The brigade transferred to Mississippi where it engaged in operations marginal to the Vicksburg campaign.[27] W. H. Jackson's report of 4 June 1863 stated that Whitfield's cavalry brigade numbered 123 officers and 1,354 men present for duty in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 27th Texas. The 6th Texas was commanded by Colonel Ross.[32] When Whitfield resigned on 29 October 1863 because of bad health, Ross was appointed the brigade commander. Since Ross and the 6th Texas Cavalry were on detached duty, Colonel Hinche P. Mabry of the 3rd Texas Cavalry took temporary command of the brigade. Ross assumed command of the brigade in mid-December 1863 and was soon promoted brigadier general. For the next several months, the brigade engaged in operations along the Yazoo River before being transferred to Georgia.[27]
During the
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bridges 2011.
- ^ Oates 1994, p. 57.
- ^ Monaghan 1955, pp. 217–224.
- ^ Monaghan 1955, pp. 225–227.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, p. 54.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, pp. 334–335.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, pp. 96–100.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, p. 102.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, pp. 110–112.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, p. 115.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, pp. 116–118.
- ^ Shea & Hess 1992, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, p. 22.
- ^ Oates 1994, p. 37.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, p. 19.
- ^ Perez 2011.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, p. 23.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, p. 328.
- ^ Battles & Leaders 1956, p. 760.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, p. 178.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, p. 209.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, pp. 258–260.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, pp. 266–267.
- ^ a b Official Records 1886, p. 383.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, pp. 282–286.
- ^ Cozzens 1997, pp. 286–290.
- ^ a b c d e Benner 2017.
- ^ Boatner 1959, p. 405.
- ^ Battlefield Trust 2017a.
- ^ a b Battlefield Trust 2017b.
- ^ National Park Service 2017.
- ^ Official Records 1889, p. 947.
- ^ Battles & Leaders 1987, p. 292.
- ^ Battles & Leaders 1987, p. 474.
References
- "The Battle of Thompson's Station map". American Battlefield Trust. 2017a.
- "The Battle of Thompson's Station". American Battlefield Trust. 2017b.
- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Vol. 2. New York, N.Y.: Castle. 1956 [1883].
- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Vol. 4. Secaucus, N.J.: Castle. 1987 [1883]. ISBN 0-89009-572-8.
- Benner, Judith Ann: ROSS'S BRIGADE, C.S.A. from the Handbook of Texas Online (June 22, 2017). Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ISBN 0-679-50013-8.
- Bridges, Jennifer: SIXTH TEXAS CAVALRY from the Handbook of Texas Online (April 8, 2011). Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ISBN 0-8078-2320-1.
- Monaghan, Jay (1955). Civil War on the Western Border 1854–1865. New York, N.Y.: Bonanza Books. ISBN 0-8032-3091-5.
- ISBN 0-292-71152-2.
- Perez, Joan Jenkins: STONE, BARTON WARREN, JR. from the Handbook of Texas Online (November 2, 2011). Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- Shea, William L.; Hess, Earl J. (1992). Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West. Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4669-4.
- "Thompson's Station". National Park Service. 2017.
- War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Volume XVII Part I. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1886. p. 383. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- "War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Chapter XXIV Part III". Washington, D.C.: United States War Dept. 1889. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
External links
- 6th Texas Cavalry Regiment, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center