A CHRONICLE OF THE THIRD TEXAS CAVALRY, ROSS’ BRIGADE BY S. B. BARRON OF THE THIRD TEXAS CAVALRY New York and Washington THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1908 To my comrades Survivors of Ross’ Brigade of Texas Cavalry and to our children and grandchildren I affectionately dedicate this Volume....

As my recollections of the war between the States, or the Confederate War, in which four of the best years of my life (May, 1861, to May, 1865) were given to the service of the Confederate States of America, are to be written at the earnest request of my children, and mainly for their gratification, it is, perhaps, proper to preface the recital by going back a few years in order to give a little family history. I was born in what is now the suburbs of the town of Gurley in Madison County, Alabam

We soon raised a company in Rusk for the purpose of drilling and placing ourselves in readiness for the first call for troops from Texas. We organized by electing General Joseph L. Hogg, father of Ex-Governor J. S. Hogg, as captain. The company was named “The Lone Star Defenders,” for every company must needs have a name in those days. Early in 1861, however, when it appeared necessary to prepare for actual service, the company was reorganized and the gallant Frank M. Taylor made captain, as Gen

OFF FOR THE FRONT Organization of Regiment—Officers—Accouterment—On the March—Taming a Trouble-maker—Crossing the Red River—In the Indian Territory—The Indian Maid—Fort Smith—The March to Missouri—McCulloch’s Headquarters—Under Orders—Preparation for First Battle. After the companies were mustered into the service the regiment was organized. Colonel Elkanah Greer was commissioned by the Confederate War Department. Walter P. Lane was elected lieutenant-colonel, and George W. Chilton, father of Un

OUR FIRST BATTLE On the March—Little York Raid—Under Fire—Our First Battle—Oak Hill (Wilson’s Creek)—Death of General Lyon—Our First Charge—Enemy Retires—Impressions of First Battle—Death of Young Willie—Horrors of a Battlefield—Troops Engaged—Casualties. Well , eleven o’clock came, we mounted our horses and rode out on the road to Dug Springs, under orders to move very quietly, and to observe the strictest silence—and, when necessary, we were not even to talk above a whisper. The night was dark

THE WAR IN MISSOURI Personal Characteristics—Two Braggarts—Joe Welch—William Hood—We Enter Springfield—Bitter Feeling in Missouri—Company Elections—Measles and Typhoid—Carthage, and My Illness There—We Leave Carthage—Death of Captain Taylor—Winter Quarters—Furloughed—Home Again. A battle —or danger—will often develop some characteristics that nothing else will bring out. One Gum was a shabby little man, mounted on a shabby little mustang pony; in fact his horse was so shabby that he would tie hi

THE WAR IN MISSOURI— Continued I Rejoin the Command—Sleeping in Snow—Ambushed—Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge)—Capturing a Battery—Deaths of Generals McCulloch and McIntosh—Battle Continued—Casualties—Keetsville—Official Reports—March Southward—Foraging—Lost Artillery—Illness Again. In the latter part of February, 1862, I left Rusk in company with Tom Hogg, John Germany, and perhaps one or two more of our furloughed men, for our winter quarters on the Arkansas River. We crossed Red River and

THE SIEGE OF CORINTH Leaving Winter Quarters—The Prairies—Duvall’s Bluff—Awaiting Transportation—White River—The Mississippi—Memphis—Am Detailed—En Route to Corinth—Corinth—Red Tape—Siege of Corinth—“A Soldier’s Grave”—Digging for Water—Suffering and Sickness—Regiment Reorganized—Evacuation of Corinth. Captain Frank M. Taylor having died, First Lieutenant J. J. A. Barker was promoted to captain and Private James E. Dillard was promoted to second lieutenant. After remaining at our winter quarters

BATTLE OF IUKA Camp at Tupelo, Miss.—Furloughed—Report for Duty—Camp Routine—“The Sick Call”—Saltillo—Personnel of the Brigade—Baldwin—“Contraband”—On to Iuka—Iuka—Battle of Iuka—Casualties—Retreat. In the early days of June our command halted and went into camp near Tupelo, Miss., where it remained for several weeks. Here, as I was physically unfit for service, I voluntarily abandoned my place at General Cabell’s headquarters and returned to my own regiment. Obtaining, without difficulty, a thi

BATTLE OF CORINTH Captain Dunn, the “Mormon”—Paroles—Baldwin—On to Corinth—Conscription—Looking for Breakfast—The Army Trapped—A Skirmish—Escape—Holly Springs—Battle of Corinth—Casualties—Cavalry Again. Captain Dunn , of Company F, was one of our badly wounded men, one of his legs having been broken by a grape shot. Captain Dunn was a unique character. He was a lawyer by profession, a very bright fellow, and lived at Athens, Tex. The first I ever knew of him he came to Rusk just before the war,

HOLLY SPRINGS RAID At Grenada—Scouting—Engagement at Oakland—Chaplain Thompson’s Adventure—Holly Springs Raid—Jake—The Bridge at Wolf River—I Am Wounded—Bolivar—Attack on Middleburg—Christmas. Winter weather came on us very early for the climate, snow having fallen to the depth of two or three inches before the middle of October, while the forests were still green, and the weather was intensely cold all during the fall months. While in this part of the field we had to be active and vigilant with

THE ENGAGEMENT AT THOMPSON’S STATION January, 1863—Jake Arrested—Detailed—My Brother Visits Me—Elected Second Lieutenant—Battle of Thompson’s Station—Duck River—Capture of the Legion—The “Sick Camp”—Murder of General Van Dorn. “ The Holly Springs raid,” never to be forgotten by the participants therein, having now become a matter of history, we rested for a time. January, 1863, came, and with it a great deal of rain, making mud very abundant and the roads very bad. During one of these cold rainy

THE SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG Moving Southward—I Lose My Horse—Meet Old Huntsville Friends—A New Horse—In Mississippi—“Sneeze Weed”—Messenger’s Ferry—Surrender of Vicksburg—Army Retires—Fighting at Jackson—After Sherman’s Men—A Sick Horse—Black Prince—“Tax in Kind”—Ross’ Brigade—Two Desertions. I now disbanded my important command on Rutherford Creek, and telling my men that every fellow must take care of himself, I joined the movement towards Mississippi. Leaving in the afternoon, we camped on the

BATTLE AT YAZOO CITY Midwinter—Through the Swamps—Gunboat Patrols—Crossing the Mississippi—Through the Ice—Ferrying Guns—Hardships—Engagement at Yazoo City—Harrying Sherman—Under Suspicion—A Practical Joke—Battle at Yazoo City—Casualties—A Social Call—Eastwood—Drowning Accident—A Military Survey. The early days of January, 1864, found us floundering through the swamps in an effort to deliver to the trans-Mississippi department a lot of small arms, rifles, and bayonets. General Stephen D. Lee, co

UNDER FIRE FOR ONE HUNDRED DAYS Corduroy Breeches—Desolate Country—Conscript Headquarters—An “Arrest”—Rome, Ga.—Under Fire for One Hundred Days—Big and Little Kenesaw—Lost Mountain—Rain, Rain, Rain—Hazardous Scouting—Green Troops—Shelled—Truce—Atlanta—Death of General MacPherson—Ezra Church—McCook’s Retreat—Battle Near Newnan—Results. We reached General Roddy’s headquarters near Decatur, on Saturday, and rested until Monday noon. Starting back we passed through Moulton, were caught in a cold rai

KILPATRICK’S RAID Kilpatrick’s Raid—Attack on Kilpatrick—Lee’s Mill—Lovejoy’s Station—The Brigade Demoralized—I Surrender—Playing ’Possum—I Escape—The Brigade Reassembles—Casualties. On the night of August 18 Ross’ brigade was bivouacked a short distance east of the road leading from Sand Town, on the Chattahoochee River, to Fairburn, on the West Point Railroad, eighteen miles west of Atlanta, thence to Jonesboro, on the Macon Railroad, some twenty miles south of Atlanta. This latter was the onl

UNION SOLDIER’S ACCOUNT OF KILPATRICK’S RAID Kilpatrick’s Raid—Ordered to the Front—Enemy’s Artillery Silenced—We Destroy the Railroad—Hot Work at the Railroad—Plan of Our Formation—Stampeding the Horses—The Enemy Charges—Sleeping on Horseback—Swimming the River—Camped at Last. After the war ended I made a friend of Robert M. Wilson of Illinois, who served in the Fourth United States Cavalry, and he kindly wrote out and sent me his account of this raid, and by way of parenthesis I here insert it

CLOSE OF THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN Sherman Changes His Tactics—Hood Deceived—Heavy Fighting—Atlanta Surrenders—End of the Campaign—Losses—Scouting—An Invader’s Devastation—Raiding the Raiders—Hood Crosses the Coosa—A Reconnoissance—Negro Spies—Raiding the Blacks—Crossing Indian Creek—A Conversion. General Sherman had been impatient and dissatisfied that his cavalry was unable to destroy the Macon or Brunswick Railroad, and now changed his tactics. He had been in front of Atlanta, since General Hood h

MY LAST BATTLE Tories and Deserters—A Tragic Story—A Brutal Murder—The Son’s Vow—Vengeance—A Southern Heroine—Seeking Our Command—Huntsville—A Strange Meeting—We Find the Division—The Battle in the Fog—My Last Battle. Haden Pryor , who lived eight miles west on the same road, was a whole-souled, big-hearted old gentleman, who also had a large place and plenty of everything to live on, and whose hospitality towards a Confederate soldier was unbounded. His boys were in the army in Virginia, and he

ROSS’ REPORT OF BRIGADE’S LAST CAMPAIGN Ross’ Report—Repulse a Reconnoitering Party—Effective Fighting Strength—Advance Guard—The Battle at Campbellsville—Results—Thompson’s Station—Harpeth River—Murfreesboro—Lynville—Pulaski—Sugar Creek—Losses During Campaign—Captures—Acknowledgments. Headquarters Ross’ Brigade, J. C. D. Corinth, Miss. , Jan. 12, 1865. Captain : I have the honor to submit the following report of the part performed by my brigade in the late campaign into Middle Tennessee. First,

THE END OF THE WAR Christmas—I Lose All My Belongings—The “Owl Train”—A Wedding—Furloughed—Start for Texas—Hospitality—A Night in the Swamp—The Flooded Country—Swimming the Rivers—In Texas—Home Again—Surrender of Lee, Johnston, and Kirby Smith—Copy of Leave of Absence—Recapitulation—Valuation of Horses in 1864—Finis. Although we moved in a very leisurely manner in order to give General Hood a chance to put a pontoon bridge across Tennessee River and cross his infantry, artillery, and wagon train