Texas Brigade
The Texas Brigade (also known as Hood's Brigade) was an
Eastern Theater except Chancellorsville
.
Organization
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The Texas Brigade was organized on October 22, 1861, primarily through the efforts of
1st Texas Infantry
, which had mostly smoothbore muskets and appear to have still been using them well into 1864.
The brigade was originally assigned as part of Maj. Gen.
3d Arkansas
was added because it was the only other trans-Mississippi regiment serving with Lee's army.
Battle actions
The brigade's first general engagement was at Eltham's Landing on May 7, 1862, where it lost 36 men killed and wounded. During the Battle of Seven Pines, it was directed to support Longstreet's command. Although the rest of Whiting's division was heavily engaged with considerable casualties, the Texas Brigade sat mostly idle during the battle and lost just 10 men killed and wounded.
The brigade distinguished itself during the
Northern Virginia Campaign
.
Its reputation increased when it spearheaded Longstreet's assault on Pope's left at the battle of
Battle of Sharpsburg
, when it closed a gap in the Confederate line and drove back the two Union Corps that were attacking. Out of 854 that went into battle at Sharpsburg, 550 of the Texas Brigade were killed or wounded.
The brigade's most famous action took place on the second day of the
1st Texas, 4th Texas, 5th Texas, and 3d Arkansas distinguished themselves in taking Devil's Den despite being greatly outnumbered and suffering heavy casualties, to include General Robertson being wounded. The brigade's failure to take Little Round Top marked the failure of that day's fighting.[1]
By the war's end, the Texas Brigade had fought in all the battles engaged in by the Army of Northern Virginia except
Knoxville Campaign, as well as with Longstreet at Suffolk.[2] Of the estimated 5,353 men who enlisted in the three Texas and one Arkansas regiments, only 617 remained to surrender on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.[2] The Texas Brigade, along with the Stonewall Brigade from Virginia, were considered to be the Army of Northern Virginia's shock troops.[3]
Orders of battle
- Battle of Eltham's Landing (May 7, 1862); assigned to Whiting's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 18th Georgia Infantry Regiment
- Battle of Seven Pines (May 31 – June 1, 1862); assigned to Whiting's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 18th Georgia Infantry Regiment
- Seven Days Battle); assigned to Whiting's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 18th Georgia Infantry Regiment
- Hampton (South Carolina) Legion
- Second Manassas (August 28–30, 1862); assigned to Hood's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 18th Georgia Infantry Regiment
- Hampton (South Carolina) Legion
- Antietam (September 17, 1862); assigned to Hood's Division; Brigade commanded by Col. William T. Wofford
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 18th Georgia Infantry Regiment
- Hampton (South Carolina) Legion
- Fredericksburg (December 11–15, 1862); assigned to Hood's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Jerome B. Robertson
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 3d Arkansas Infantry Regiment
- Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863); assigned to Hood's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Jerome B. Robertson
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 3d Arkansas Infantry Regiment
- Chickamauga (September 18–20, 1863); assigned to Hood's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Jerome B. Robertson
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 3d Arkansas Infantry Regiment
- John Gregg
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 3d Arkansas Infantry Regiment
- Cold Harbor (May 21 – June 3, 1864); assigned to Field's Division; Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. John Gregg
- 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Infantry regiments
- 3d Arkansas Infantry Regiment
See also
- Texas Civil War Confederate Units
- 141st Infantry Regiment (United States)
References
- ^ "Hood's Texas Brigade joins battle at Gettysburg". tshaonline.org. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ a b Frameset Hq
- ^ Greene, A. Wilson. "Granbury's Texas Brigade: Diehard Western Confederates". cwbr.com. Civil War Book Review. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
Further reading
- Polley, J. B., Hood's Texas Brigade: Its Marches, Its Battles, Its Achievements, Morningside Bookshop, 1988, ISBN 0-89029-037-7.
- Simpson, Harold B., Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guard, Texas Press, 1970, ISBN 1-56013-009-1.
- Fletcher, William A, Rebel Private: Front and Rear, Meridian Book, The Penguin Group, 1997, ISBN 978-0-452-01157-1
- Schmutz, John F., The Bloody Fifth, The 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hood's Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia Vol. 1 Secession to the Suffolk Campaign & Vol. 2 Gettysburg to Appomattox
- Ural, Susannah. 2017. Hood's Texas Brigade: The Soldiers and Families of the Confederacy's Most Celebrated Unit. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Texas Brigade.
- Regimental flag of Fifth Texas Infantry, Hood's Texas Brigade
- Re-union of Hood's Brigade at Shady View Park, Dallas, Texas, June 27th and 28th 1884, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- "For Ninety Nine Years or the War" The Story of the 3rd Arkansas at Gettysburg
- Brig. Gen. J. B. Robertson, after action report, Devil's Den
