USA > Texas > A comprehensive history of Texas, 1685-1897 > Part 25
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the close of the war. The summer of 1864 it was on duty at Galveston, and suffered considerable loss from yellow fever, but it fought no more battles.
At the reorganization of the regiment the following promotions were made in the different companies : In Company B, Lieutenant A. J. Hurley was made captain, vice James D. MeCleary, resigned ; and Lieutenant Dan C. Smith having resigned, Second Lieutenant Sterling Fisher was made first lieutenant, and Samuel W. Allen and James T. Bell were made second lieutenants. In Company G, Second Lieu- tenant George W. Parker was made first lieutenant, vice Thomas N. Persons, who had died of wounds received at Corinth, and Henry Martin was promoted to second lieutenant. In Company H, Sergeant W. A. Knox was promoted to second lieu- tenant, vice J. I. McGinnis, resigned. In Company I, First Lieutenant Reuben de Borde was promoted to captain, vice James McFarland, resigned ; and Captain de Borde having died of yellow fever in 1864, Lieutenant L. J. Duren was made cap- tain, and John M. Bell, W. C. Billings, and J. D. Harper were made lieutenants, ranking in the order named. In Company K, Second Lieutenant H. McDonnell was promoted to first lieutenant, vice Kirk, killed at Vicksburg ; Junior Second Lieutenant F. A. Mathews was promoted to second lieutenant, and S. D. Robb was promoted to junior second lieutenant.
In May, 1865, at the close of the war, the Second Texas stacked arms for the last time, gazed with sad hearts upon the furling of the banner of the "Lost Cause," and returned to their homes to resume the peaceful pursuits of life.
The history of this gallant regiment would be incomplete without personal notices of its first two commanders, to whom it was so much indebted for its discipline and proficiency, who participated with it in the trying ordeals through which it passed, and who are entitled to share in the glory and renown which it has achieved. Brigadier-General John C. Moore, the first colonel of the Second Regiment of Texas Infantry, was born, in Hawkins County, East Tennessee, in 1824. He worked on his father's farm during the busy seasons and attended one of the neigh- boring schools during the winter months until he was sixteen years old. At that age he entered Emory and Henry College, Virginia, where he remained for four years. In the year 1845 he received an appointment as cadet at the West Point Military Academy, and graduated in 1849 seventeenth in a class of forty-three members. Upon his graduation he was assigned to duty in the artillery corps of the army, and resigned in 1855, holding the rank of first lieutenant in the Second Regiment of Artillery. In 1856 he entered upon the profession of civil engineering, and ran the locating line of the railroad from Morristown to Cumberland Gap, East Tennessee, on the road which at present crosses the road from Knoxville to Bristol at the former place.
After a year of service in this business, and only receiving about two months' salary, the company becoming bankrupt. he quit the profession in disgust and turned his attention to teaching, to which he has devoted twenty-eight years of his life.
In January, 1861, he resigned a professorship in Shelby College, Kentucky, ac- cepted a captaincy in the service of the State of Louisiana, and was assigned to duty in the artillery at Fort Jackson, below New Orleans. In April, 1861, he was notified of his appointment as a captain in the regular army of the Confederate
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States and ordered to proceed at once to Galveston, Texas, and to take such measures for the defence of that city as he might find necessary and as were possi- ble. Here he laid the foundation for those defensive works which were afterwards carried forward by others. While in command at Galveston he received authority from the War Department of the Confederate States to raise a regiment of infantry in Texas for the Confederate army, and the regiment was raised and organized as related in the foregoing history of the Second Texas.
The first engagement in which Colonel Moore participated was the battle of Shiloh, where his conduct was distinguished for coolness and courage. He com- manded the regiment during the first day of the battle and was assigned to the command of a temporary brigade the second. The soldierly qualities there dis- played by him so attracted the attention of General Jones M. Withers, command- ing the division, and of General Braxton Bragg, commanding the corps, that they immediately recommended him for promotion. His promotion to brigadier-general followed soon after the battle, and he commanded a brigade composed of his old regiment and four others, with a battery of light artillery, at the battles of Farm- ington and Corinth and the siege of Vicksburg. At all of these places he was ever found at the post of duty and of danger, and he handled his brigade with the skill of a thoroughly-trained soldier.
At the assault upon the enemy's inner works at Corinth, October 4, 1862, he was conspicuous for his gallantry. He led the left wing of his- brigade over the in- trenchments of the enemy and forced them back into the heart of the town, where a hand-to-hand conflict ensued, until compelled to retire before the overwhelming reserves of the enemy, which had been thrown into the town the previous night.
On the retreat of the Confederate army from Corinth, General Moore com- manded the advance-guard, and when intercepted and attacked at Hatchie Bridge by a heavy force of the enemy under Generals Ord and Hurlbut, consisting of twelve regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and four batteries of artillery, amount- ing to a force of six thousand, he made such a vigorous defence with his own brigade, which was not exceeding three hundred strong, and one battery of light artillery, as to induce those doughty warriors to believe that they had encountered the whole of Price's and Van Dorn's armies, estimated by them at twelve thousand men, as they say in their reports of the affair. After the fall of Vicksburg he was transferred to another field of service, and commanded a brigade with great skill and sagacity at the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.
After the Confederate army fell back to Dalton, Georgia, General Moore was transferred to the ordnance department, and was in charge of the Selma Arsenal when the Federal General Wilson on a cavalry raid captured that city and destroyed the works. Having received notice of the enemy's approach about twelve hours before they reached the city, General Moore loaded two steamboats with ordnance stores and the most valuable machinery from the arsenal and proceeded with them to Mobile. A few days after his arrival at Mobile that city was evacuated by the Confederates, and in attempting to reship and save all the property under his con- trol he tarried a little too long, and was captured before leaving the city.
After the close of the war he returned to Texas, and has since been engaged in teaching in that State.
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TEXAN TROOPS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.
Colonel William P. Rogers, the second colonel of the Second Texas Infantry, was born in the State of Georgia in the year 1818, the second of seven children. In early boyhood his father removed to North Mississippi and settled in Monroe County, where he was raised. He inherited the military talent from his father, who had served as captain with distinction in the Indian wars under General Andrew Jackson. He was given a good medical education, and before he was twenty-one his father set him up as a full-fledged M.D., with the then usual supply of drugs, books, etc., in Lowndes County. But his career as a doctor was short-lived, for as soon as he reached his majority he showed that he had inherited from his father at least one characteristic for which the latter was conspicuous. He broke loose from the paternal restraint, abandoned the profession which was so distasteful to him, and commenced the study of law. During his youthful struggles in acquiring a legal education he supported himself part of the time by editing a Whig newspaper at Aberdeen. He married in 1840, in his twenty-second year, and his newspaper venture not proving a success, his struggles with poverty for a time were very severe.
On the call for troops to take part in the war between the United States and Mexico, young Rogers enlisted at Columbus, Mississippi, and was elected first lieutenant of the company of which Colonel A. K. McClung, the noted duellist, was captain. On the organization of the regiment at Vicksburg, before departing for Mexico, Jefferson Davis was elected colonel, McClung lieutenant-colonel, and to fill the vacancy occasioned by McClung's promotion young Rogers became captain of Company K, First Regiment Mississippi Rifles.
During the war with Mexico he contributed as much as any other one man to the glory and renown which made this regiment so famous, and at the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista his courage and reckless daring were most conspicuous.
Under the Whig administration of President Taylor, after the close of the war with Mexico, Captain Rogers was appointed United States consul at Vera Cruz, Mexico, where he remained about four years in the discharge of his official duties. He removed to Texas in 1851, settling in Washington County, and made his second start in his chosen profession at the old town of Washington, on the Brazos. His success is well known to the older members of the bar, and is well attested by the number of important cases in the reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court in which his name appears as counsel. In 1859 he removed to Houston, Texas, and continued the practice of law at that place until the Civil War commenced.
In politics he had always been an ardent Whig, and adhered to the fortunes of that party until it went down in defeat, and then he supported the American or " Know-Nothing" party during its short but stormy life. During his residence in Texas he was a zealous supporter and warm personal friend of General Sam Houston, and stumped the State in advocacy of his election in the memorable campaign for governor in 1859.
At the beginning of the agitation he was opposed to secession, principally upon the grounds of policy, but when he saw that the Southern people were determined upon that course, he cast his fortunes with them, and was elected a delegate to the secession convention which assembled in January, 1861. In that body he voted in favor of the secession ordinance and signed it. When it became evident that war
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would be the result of the secession of the Southern States, he tendered his services to the Confederate War Department, which were accepted, and he was first assigned to duty in the training and drilling of a battalion of troops near Houston. Upon the organization of the Second Texas Infantry Regiment he was appointed its first lieutenant-colonel, and during much of the time that it was stationed at Gal- veston and Houston he commanded the regiment, Colonel Moore being on post duty. When the regiment was ordered to the scene of hostilities he was on a sick-bed, but followed soon after its departure, and arrived in time to participate with it in the battle of Shiloh. In this engagement he acquitted himself with credit on the first day as second officer of the regiment, and on the second day, during the temporary absence of Colonel Moore, who had been assigned to the command of a brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Rogers commanded the regiment, and led it in two of the most desperate charges upon the lines of General Nelson's fresh troops that were made upon that sanguinary field. Soon after the battle of Shiloh he was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, vice Colonel John C. Moore, promoted to brigadier-general, and he continued to command it in all its arduous services until his heroic death.
During the whole of this period of six months the life of Colonel Rogers is so intimately interwoven with the life and services of the Second Texas Regiment that the history of one is necessarily the history of the other, and much that has been written in detailing the services of the latter need not be repeated here.
During the first day's fighting at the battle of Corinth he handled the regiment with the most consummate skill, and was with it in every position of danger. In the several assaults upon the enemy that day he was in the midst of the foremost, and among the first to enter their intrenched camps. All that day, from about ten o'clock in the morning until near sunset, he was almost constantly under fire, directing the movements of the skirmishers, driving the enemy back as they resisted stubbornly, and assaulting and capturing two intrenched camps. His figure on horseback was so conspicuous that his men constantly expected to see him fall, but he seemed to bear a charmed life ; and his noble bearing, encouraging words, and conspicuous gallantry seemed to inspire his men to deeds of the most reckless daring.
Next day, October 4, 1862, was made the ever-memorable assault upon the enemy's inner and strongest fortifications. In that lie led his regiment directly to the attack on Battery Robinett, and twice did the heroic band stagger and recoil before the deadly fire of the enemy's siege-guns, light artillery, and infantry, but as often was it rallied by its noble commander and again led to the assault, and at last made a lodgement in the ditch around Battery Robinett. This time Colonel Rogers rode into the ditch with his men following him, and with own hand planted the battle-flag of the Second Texas upon the parapet of the fort. When he saw the overwhelming forces of the enemy approaching, after the repulse of the Confederates in the centre of the town, his first thought was to save the lives of as many of his men as possible, and, with this object in view, he waved his handkerchief from the top of the parapet in token of surrender, but the enemy continued to fire upon him. Then, ordering his men to retire to the ditch outside the fort, he prepared to retreat. With the colors in one hand and his revolver in the other, firing at the
٢٠ عودة البيع عبر دائ د .
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TEXAN TROOPS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.
advancing enemy as he slowly retired with the remnant of his regiment around him, he began the retreat. Here he fell, about twenty paces from the fort, pierced by eleven wounds, surrounded by scores of heroic dead. The generous commander of the Union army ordered his body interred with military honors upon the field where he fell, and caused the grave to be enclosed with wooden pickets, and to this day a few of these decaying palings are all there is to mark the sacred spot where Rogers and his Texans put on immortality. His fame is national ; his heroic death one of the most brilliant illustrations of American chivalry.
In closing his report of this battle, General Van Dorn says : " I cannot refrain, however, from mentioning here the conspicuous gallantry of a noble Texan, whose deeds at Corinth are the constant theme of both friends and foes. As long as courage, manliness, fortitude, patriotism, and honor exists the name of Rogers will be revered and honored among men. He fell in the front of battle, and died beneath the colors of his regiment in the very centre of the enemy's stronghold. He sleeps, and glory is his sentinel."
The Second Texas Cavalry Regiment .-- The convention which passed the ordinance of secession, seeing the great importance of raising troops for the protec- tion of the Texas frontiers against Indian depredations and Mexican banditti, authorized the enlistment of two mounted regiments in the State service to take the places on the frontiers of the United States troops, some of whom had already surrendered and all of whom were expected to soon leave the posts. The first regiment was supplied by authority of the Confederate States War Department, as has already been described in the history of the First Regiment Mounted Riflemen under Colonel Ilenry E. McCulloch, and the second regiment was authorized by the State government to be raised by Colonel John S. Ford. As soon as it was raised it was mustered into the State service, May 17, 1861, as the Second Regiment Mounted Rifles, for one year. The State government being badly prepared for the equipment and maintenance of troops in the field, and it being the general opinion that the Confederate States ought to protect the Texas frontiers the same as the United States had done prior to the secession of the State, strong influences were brought to bear upon the former to accept this second regiment, as it had authorized the raising of the first ; and, finally through the influence of General Ben McCul- loch and his brother, Colonel Henry E. McCulloch, the War Department of the Confederate States was induced to do so, and on the 23d of May, 1861, this second regiment was mustered into the Confederate army for one year as the Second Texas Mounted Rifles. Its officers at the organization and at the date of its muster into the Confederate army were as follows : colonel, John S. Ford ; lieutenant-colonel, John R. Baylor ; major, Edwin Waller. The commanding officers of the com- panies were as follows : Company A, captain. Peter Hardeman ; Company B, cap- tain, Charles L. Pyron ; Company C, captain, William Adams ; Company D, captain, James Walker : Company E, captain, Isaac C. Stafford ; Company F, captain, D. F. Richardson ; Company G, captain, John Donaldson ; Company H, captain, H. A. Hamner ; Company I, captain, John Middleton ; Company K, captain, Mat Nolan.
About the ist of June, 1861, Companies A, B, C, D, E, and H, under com- mand of Major Edwin Waller, left Camp Leon, near San Antonio, en route to New Vol. II .- 39
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Mexico and Arizona, for the purpose of opening up the route to Southern Cali- fornia, and to watch the movements of Union troops in that country and guard against an invasion from the west. Company C was left at Fort Davis and Com- pany Hat Fort Clark ; Company F was stationed farther north, on the waters of the Llano River, to protect the frontier settlers against Indian depredations. The other companies of the regiment were held by Colonel John S. Ford on the lower Rio Grande to protect that section against Mexican marauders and to keep open communication between San Antonio and Matamoras.
Upon the arrival of the battalion under Major Waller near the head of Devil's River, he received intelligence that the government military stores which had been abandoned by the Federal troops at Fort Bliss were in danger of being retaken by the Federals stationed at Fort Fillmore, some fifty miles above there ; and to prevent such recapture Major Waller sent a special detail of one hundred men from his command to proceed by forced marches to Fort Bliss. After an arduous march of nearly five hundred miles this detail arrived at Fort Bliss, July 4, 1861, and to their inexpressible delight saw the Confederate flag flying from the flag-staff. It seems that Major MeGoffin, a citizen of El Paso and an ardent sympathizer with the Confederate cause, was, single-handed, holding the fort against all-comers.
In a short time the remainder of the battalion arrived, and with it came Lieutenant-Colonel John R. Baylor, who at once took charge of all the abandoned government property in that section. IIe also strengthened his forces by organiz- ing one or two volunteer companies, and conceived the idea of capturing Fort Fillmore, then garrisoned by about seven hundred regulars under Major Isaac Lynde, of the Seventh Infantry. Accordingly, on the 25th of July, Lieutenant- Colonel Baylor with about two hundred men, after a forced march, arrived near Fort Fillmore just before daylight, with the intention of surprising the sleeping garrison. But a deserter from his command gave information of his presence, and the beating of the long roll announced the readiness of the Union troops to receive the Texans upon hostile terms. For this reason Lieutenant-Colonel Baylor did not deem it prudent to make an attack at that time, and he passed around the post, through the village of San Tomas, and went into camp just above the town of Mesilla. He captured seven of the Union soldiers in San Tomas, and after extract- ing all the information he could respecting the location and movement of the Federal troops in New Mexico, released them, and permitted them to return to Fort Fillmore. At the same place the Texans also captured a quantity of clothing. shoes, blankets, arms, and ammunition.
On the evening of July 25 the Union troops marched out towards Mesilla for the purpose of attacking the Confederates ; and Lieutenant-Colonel Baylor posted his men in positions behind the adobe houses and corrals, and awaited the attack. About five o'clock their cavalry was discovered approaching the town by the main road, and soon afterwards the infantry came in sight, bringing with them three howitzers. They formed within about three hundred yards, and a flag was sent in to demand the " unconditional and immediate surrender of the Texas forces." To this demand Lieutenant-Colonel Baylor returned answer that "we will fight first, and surrender afterwards ;" and as soon as it was received the enemy opened on the Texans with the howitzers. After four or five rounds of shell, grape, and canister,
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the cavalry formed and advanced up within two hundred and fifty yards, preparatory to making a charge. A few well-directed shots from the Texans, killing four and wounding seven of the enemy, threw them into confusion, and they retreated hastily, running over the infantry. In a few minutes the enemy retreated towards the fort, and Lieutenant-Colonel Baylor, fearing it was a feint to draw him into a trap, did not pursue. All the next day the enemy seemed to be intrenching and preparing for a vigorous defence ; and Lieutenant-Colonel Baylor sent a courier to Fort Bliss for reinforcements with artillery.
However, it seems that Major Lynde did not intend to attempt to hold the fort, for early on the morning of the 27th the columns of dust seen rising on the Fort Stanton Road, in the direction of the Organ Mountains, some fifteen miles distant, told of his retreat. The fort had been fired, but this the Texans soon extinguished, and started in pursuit, with the intention of intercepting the enemy at San Augus- tine Pass. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, the rear of the retreating column, composed chiefly of famished stragglers endeavoring to reach water, was overtaken. These were disarmed, given water, and carried on to the spring. Upon arrival there, twenty-four soldiers were found fast asleep upon the ground around a spring, so great was their exhaustion. As soon as the men and horses were refreshed, the pursuit was resumed, and in a short time the enemy's cavalry were found drawn up to cover the retreat of the infantry through the pass. These were charged by Captain Peter Hardeman with his company, and the enemy retreated in haste, leaving all their wagons, artillery, and supplies in the hands of the Texans. Upon gaining the summit of the pass, a plain view of the road leading to the San Augustine springs was presented, showing the fainting, famished soldiers straggling along. These threw down their arms as the Texans passed and begged for water. At the main springs the enemy were drawn up in line, but did not further resist, and surrendered unconditionally, after having burned the regimental colors.
The Union forces consisted of eight companies of infantry, four of cavalry, and four pieces of artillery, the whole numbering about seven hundred men. The Texans at the surrender were less than two hundred men.
The prisoners were marched to Las Cruces in a few days and all paroled. The news of the fall of Fort Fillmore and the capture of Major Lynde's command created consternation among the Union troops at Fort Stanton, and that post was abandoned after the destruction of a considerable portion of the supplies and government property ; and all would have been destroyed but for a rain-storm, which extinguished the fires.
On receipt of the news of the evacuation of Fort Stanton, Lieutenant-Colonel Baylor sent Company D, under Captain James Walker, to that post for the purpose of taking possession of and preserving the government property. Lieutenant- Colonel Baylor then took a strong position near the village of Picacho, to intercept Captain 1. N. Moore, of the Second United States Dragoons, who, it was learned, was en route to reinforce Fort Fillmore with two hundred and fifty men ; but before reaching that point Captain Moore received intelligence of the fall of the fort and capture of its garrison, and immediately burned up his transportation and supplies and made his escape to Fort Craig.
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