2nd Texas Infantry Regiment
| 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Private Charles H. Ruff, 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment | |
| Active | 1861 – 1865 |
| Country | .svg.png){kind=small} Confederate States of America |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America,  Texas |
| Branch | .svg.png){kind=small} Confederate States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Nickname | 2nd Texas Sharpshooters |
| Engagements | American Civil War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | John Creed Moore Noble L. McGinnis William P. Rogers Ashbel Smith |
| Texas Infantry Regiments (Confederate) | ||||
|
The 2nd Regiment, Texas Infantry was an infantry regiment from Texas that served with Confederate States Army in the American Civil War. The regiment was organized by the then Captain John Creed Moore, who would become the regiment's 1st Colonel. Many of the men were from Houston and Galveston.[1]
Formation
Following the ratification of Texas' Ordinance of Secession on February 20, 1861, militia companies from across the state started forming to protect the new Confederacy. Once these independent companies were formed, they were ordered to Galveston to defend the Texas coast. By September of 1861, the regiment was brought to full strength, and the Confederate government in Richmond was notified. The Confederate War Department accepted Moore's Regiment as the First Texas Infantry Regiment. However, due to the political influence of Texas Senator Louis T. Wigfall, his battalion of Texas companies, which independently moved to Richmond, received the honor of being named First Texas. Thus, Moore's regimental designation was changed to Second Texas.[2]
Once the regiment was formed, Moore started drilling his men on Galveston Island. One of its companies, Captain Ashbel Smith's Bayland Guards, Company C, had Sam Houston Jr. among its ranks. Ever so often, his father, Sam Houston, would come by and watch the drills. Though a fervent unionist, Houston supported the soldiers and raised their morale with his humor.
In December of 1861, the regiment was moved to Camp Bee in Houston. The regiment would continue drilling until Moore received orders in March of 1862 to join Major General Earl Van Dorn in Arkansas. Once in Helena, Moore received new orders to report to General Albert Sidney Johnston in Corinth. After nearly a month of traveling, the regiment joined the Army of Mississippi. Once they arrived, the men also received their uniforms. These were undyed white wool uniforms that Moore ordered while they traveled from Texas.
| Company | Nickname | Recruitment Area |
|---|---|---|
| A | San Jacinto Guards | Harris County |
| B | Confederate Guards | Harris County |
| C | Bayland Guards | Chambers County |
| D | Confederate Greys | Harris County |
| E | N/A | Robertson County |
| F | N/A | Galveston County |
| G | Burleson Guards | Burleson County |
| H | Lexington Greys | Lee County |
| I | Wilson Rifles | Gonzales County |
| K | Texana Guards | Jackson County |
Notable battles that the regiment has been involved in include the Battle of Shiloh, the Second Battle of Corinth, and the Siege of Vicksburg.[3]
Battle of Shiloh
Before Johnston launched his army at Pittsburg Landing. The Second Texas was assigned to Brigadier General John K. Jackson's Third Brigade of Brigadier General Jones M. Withers' Second Division in Major General Braxton Bragg's Third Corps. On April 6, once the Confederates began their attacks, the Second Texas was sent right to fill a gap in the Confederate line. Here, they attacked the camp of Colonel David Stuart's 2nd Brigade and drove the federal defenders off before looting the place. Once the Texans reformed their lines, they helped attack and break the hornet's nest. After taking the hornet's nest, Moore continued his drive north against Pittsburg's Landing but stopped short as the light began to fade. With no more light left, the Texans bivouacked in the abandoned federal camps near Grant's final line. During the night, Buell's arriving forces advanced past the camp where the Texans were sleeping. Unknowingly placing the regiment behind federal lines.[4]
Once light reappeared on April 7, Moore realized his predicament and ordered his men to march along the banks of the Tennessee River to rejoin the Confederate army. When the regiment returned to the army, Moore received a battlefield promotion to Brigadier General and handed command of the regiment to Rogers, who was also promoted. Hardee, who was given command of the army's right, ordered Moore to advance his brigade without any skirmishers. But before advancing, Moore was informed by Hardee that Breckinridge was in front, engaging the Federals. However, as the Texans advanced, they started getting shot at. The Texans wanted to return fire but were ordered not to. Unable to fire, tried to advance but were ambushed, causing a rout in the formation. During the incident, the regiment suffered heavy casualties, with Sam Jr being among the wounded. Hardee, watching the regiment flee the battlefield, ridiculed Moore and his men in his after-action report. When Moore gets word of this, a feud begins between the two generals which would endure long after the war ended. [5]
Second Battle of Corinth
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The regiment assaulted Battery Robinett, a redan protected by a five-foot ditch, sporting three 20-pounder Parrott rifles commanded by Lt. Henry Robinett. Colonel William P. Rogers, a Mexican–American War comrade of President Jefferson Davis, was among those killed in the charge.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Rogers seized his colors to keep them from falling again and jumped a five-foot ditch, leaving his dying horse and assaulted the ramparts of the battery. When the canister shot killed him, he was the fifth bearer of his colors to fall that day.[13][a]
Siege of Vicksburg
The regiment was distinguished for its defense of a crescent-shaped fortification, which came to be known as the Second Texas Lunette. The fortification was located in the center of the Vicksburg line of defense constructed to guard the Baldwin Ferry Road. The lunette was the subject of tremendous artillery bombardment and repeated Union assaults directed against the lunette on May 22, 1863.[15]
After Vicksburg
Following the surrender of the Vicksburg garrison on July 4, 1863, the regiment was furloughed to Texas as paroled prisoners of war. Though they were sent back to Texas, they would not be officially exchanged till November. Once their parole ended, the regiment was reassembled at Camp Bee and placed in Major General John B. Magruder's District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. However, due to the beating the regiment took during its time in Mississippi, it was unable to muster more than a battalion of effective troops. Without the manpower to see frontline combat again, the regiment was sent back to Galveston to guard the port. During their time in Galveston, the regiment would see one more fight during a skirmish at the mouth of Caney Creek in February of 1864. In May of 1865, when they received news of the surrenders of the other Confederate forces east of the Mississippi, the men decided to mutiny rather than surrender. The mutineers ransacked the government warehouses, took what they could get their hands on, and returned to their homes.[16]
Notes
- ↑ Eicher states that is one of only a very few Civil War photographs that show an important officer deceased on the field. It is sometimes erroneously reported that Rogers's second-in-command, Colonel Lawrence Sullivan Ross, lies beside him. In fact, Ross went on to become a general and later the governor of Texas. He died in 1898.[14]
Footnotes
- ↑ "2nd Regiment, Texas Infantry". National Park Service. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ Chance 1984, p. 13.
- ↑ "2nd Texas Infantry Regiment". Civil War Reference. Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ↑ Chance 1984, p. 24-33.
- ↑ Chance 1984, p. 34-37.
- ↑ Welcher 1993, pp. 556–557.
- ↑ Cozzens 1997, pp. 253–263, 267.
- ↑ Woodworth 2005, p. 233.
- ↑ Reaves 1998, p. 131.
- ↑ Korn 1985, p. 41.
- ↑ Eicher 2001, pp. 377–378.
- ↑ Lamers 1999, pp. 151–54.
- ↑ Cozzens 1997, p. 255.
- ↑ Eicher 2001, p. 278.
- ↑ "2nd Texas Lunette". National Park Service. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ Chance 1984.
References
- Chance, Joseph E. (1984). The Second Texas Infantry: From Shiloh to Vicksburg. Austin, Texas: Eakin Press. ISBN 978-0-89015-435-9.
- Cozzens, Peter (1997). The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-2320-0.
- Eicher, David J. (2001). The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-84944-7.
- Korn, Jerry (1985). War on the Mississippi: Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. The Civil War. Vol. 12. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books. ISBN 978-0-8094-4744-2.
- Lamers, William M. (1999) [1961]. The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans, U.S.A. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-2396-6.
- Reaves, George A. III (1998). "Corinth, Mississippi (MS002), Alcorn County and Corinth, October 3–4, 1862". In Kennedy, Frances H. (ed.). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- Welcher, Frank J. (1993). The Union Army, 1861–1865: Organization and Operations. Vol. 2, The Western Theater. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-36454-8.
- Woodworth, Steven E. (2005). Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861–1865. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-41218-9.