A comprehensive history of Texas, 1685-1897, Part 28

Author: Wooten, Dudley G., ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Dallas, W. G. Scarff
Number of Pages: 884


USA > Texas > A comprehensive history of Texas, 1685-1897 > Part 28


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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TEXAN TROOPS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.


were Hammond's brigade of cavalry. After this the enemy did not again show themselves on this retreat, and without further interruption the brigade recrossed the Tennessee River at Bainbridge on the evening of December 27, 1864, and went into camp at Corinth, Mississippi.


The losses in the brigade during this campaign into Tennessee, lasting thirty- nine days of almost constant fighting, were as follows : Third Texas, two men killed, three officers and twenty-two men wounded, one officer and two men cap- tured, total thirty ; Sixth Texas, six men killed, three officers and nineteen men wounded, one man captured, total twenty-nine ; Ninth Texas, four men killed, seventeen men wounded, one man captured, total twenty-two; Twenty-seventh Texas, six men wounded ; making an aggregate loss of eight-seven. They cap- tured in the campaign and brought off five hundred and fifty prisoners, nine stands of colors, several hundred horses with equipments, and overcoats and blankets sufficient to supply the whole brigade. Besides these, they destroyed two trains of loaded cars, one with ordnance and the other with commissary stores, and much other valuable property belonging to the Federal government.


In his report of this campaign, General Ross, the brigade commander, says : "Before closing my report I desire to record an acknowledgment of grateful obligations to the gallant officers and brave men whom I have the honor to com- mand. Entering upon the campaign poorly clad and ill prepared for undergoing its hardships, these worthy votaries of freedom, nevertheless, bore themselves bravely ; and I did not hear a murmur nor witness the least reluctance in the dis- charge of duty, however unpleasant. All did well, and to this I attribute, in a great measure, the unparalleled success which attended all our efforts during the campaign." He also particularly mentioned, as having acquitted themselves with zeal and efficient co-operation on trying occasions, Colonel D. W. Jones, Colonel E. R. Hawkins, Colonel Jack Wharton, and Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. Boggess, who commanded their respective regiments, as well as Lieutenant-Colonel P. F. Ross and Major S. B. Wilson, of the Sixth Texas ; Lieutenant-Colonel J. T. Whitfield and Major B. H. Norsworthy, of the Twenty-seventh ; Major A. B. Stone, of the Third ; Major H. C. Dial, of the Ninth, and the members of his staff.


From Corinth the brigade moved down to Central Mississippi the latter part of January, 1865, and there engaged in picket duty in front of Vicksburg, covering a front of about one hundred miles. Small skirmishes with foraging parties of the enemy were of almost daily occurrence, but they had no severe fighting.


After the fall of the Confederacy the brigade surrendered at Jackson, Missis- sippi, Colonel D. W. Jones commanding.


Fourth Cavalry Regiment, Arizona Brigade .- Colonel, Spruce M. Baird ; lieutenant-colonel, Daniel Showalter ; major, Edward Riordan.


Was in the Arizona campaign, and after the evacuation of that Territory by the Confederates this regiment served the balance of the war in Texas, on the lower Rio Grande, and was at Brownsville when the war closed.


Fourth Infantry Battalion. (German Battalion, six months' organization. )- Major, Theodore Oswald.


Fifth Regiment Partisan Rangers .- Colonel, Leonidas M. Martin ; lieutenant- colonel, William N. Weaver ; major, William N. Mayrant.


628


A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF TEXAS.


Served in Arkansas and the Indian Territory.


Fifth ( Hubbard's) Infantry Battalion. (Merged into Twenty-second Regi- ment. )-Lieutenant-Colonel, Richard Bennett Hubbard ; major, Elias Everett Lott. Sixth Cavalry Battalion .- Major ; lieutenant-colonel, Robert S. Gould ; major, William W. Veser.


Served in Texas and Louisiana.


Sixth Infantry Regiment .- Colonel, Robert R. Garland ; lieutenant-colonel, Thomas Scott Anderson ; major, Rhoads Fisher ; major, Alexander M. Haskell ; major, Alexander H. Phillips, Jr.


Was organized in 1861, went to Arkansas in 1862, and was surrendered at Arkansas Post in January, 1863. After its exchange it was consolidated with the Tenth Texas Infantry, and served east of the Mississippi River, in Ector's brigade.


Seventh Infantry Regiment .- Officers : Colonel, John Gregg ; licutenant- colonel, Jeremiah M. Clough ; major ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, Hiram Brinson Granbury ; major ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, William Lewis Moody ; major, Kleber Miller Van Zandt.


This regiment was enlisted early in 1861 and repaired immediately to Ken- tucky, where it took an active part in those stirring scenes which resulted in the withdrawal of the Confederate army under General Albert Sidney Johnston from that State. It was at Fort Doncison and conducted itself with distinguished bravery, and its lieutenant-colonel, J. M. Clough, with twenty others, was killed in a gallant charge upon the enemy. Upon the surrender of that place the regiment was confined as prisoners of war at Camp Douglas for nine months, during which time the suffering of the men was almost incredible. After their exchange the regiment immediately took the field again, and was with the Confederate army which General Grant drove before him with such brute force of superior numbers from Grand Gulf to Jack- son, Mississippi, in his victorious march to the in- vestment of Vicksburg. It participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, and Baker's Creek, during which its losses were heavy. It was afterwards engaged in the Tennessee campaigns as a part of Gregg's brigade, and kept up its well-earned GENERAL JOHN GREGG. reputation as a fighting regiment. It gave two gen- eral officers to the Confederate army, in the persons of Brigadier-Generals John Gregg and HI. B. Granbury, both of whom Texas feels proud to claim as her sons. Seventh Infantry Battalion .- Major, Samuel Boyer Davis.


Eighth Infantry Battalion. (Merged into Eighth Regiment. )-Major, Alfred M. Hobby.


Eighth ( Hobby's) Infantry Regiment. (Formed from Eighth Battalion. )- Colonel, A. M. Hobby ; lieutenant-colonel, Daniel D. Shea ; major ; lieutenant- colonel, John Ireland ; major, John A. Vernon.


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629


TEXAN TROOPS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.


This regiment served in Texas during the whole time of the war, until General Banks's Red River campaign, when it went to Louisiana and took part in the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.


Ninth Battalion Partisan Rangers .- Major, John L. Randolph.


Ninth ( Nichols's) Infantry Regiment. (Also called Fifth, six months' or- ganization) .- This regiment was raised in the summer of the year 1862, chiefly for the purposes of guard duty in the city of Galveston. Its field officers were : colonel, E. B. Nichols ; lieutenant- colonel, Josiah C. Massie ; major, Fred Tate.


It was enlisted for only six months, and during that period its service was confined to patrol and guard duty at Galveston and contigu- ous points. It is not known to have ever met the enemy, but at the expiration of its term of enlist- ment many of its members enlisted in other com- mands, and rendered cfficient service to the Southern cause. Nearly all of the companies re- enlisted en masse in Waul's Legion, and formed the basis of that celebrated command.


Ninth ( Maxey's) Infantry Regiment. ( Also called Eighth. )-Colonel, Samuel B. Maxey ; colonel, William H. Young ; lieutenant-colonel, COLONEL A. M. HOBBY. William E. Bceson ; lieutenant-colonel, Miles A. Dillard ; major; colonel, Wright A. Stanley ; major, James Burnet ; major, William M. Harrison ; major, James M1. McReynolds.


This regiment was one of the earliest to enlist, and immediately went to Ten- nessee to report to General Albert Sidney Johnston. It was at the battle of Shiloh, and distinguished for its bravery. It also went through the Tennessee and Ken- tucky campaigns under General Bragg, and was with the ill-fated expedition of General Hood into Tennessee in 1864. It gave one major-general, S. B. Maxey, and one brigadier-general, William H. Young, to the Confederate army. It was one of the regiments in Ector's brigade.


Tenth Cavalry Battalion. (Merged into Fifth Partisan Rangers. )-Major. Leonidas M. Martin.


Tenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, Matt F. Locke ; lieutenant-colonel ; col- onel, C. R. Earp ; lieutenant-colonel, James M. Barton ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, Washington de Lafayette Craig ; major, Wiley B. Ector ; major, Hulum D. E. Redwine.


This regiment served in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas the earlier part of the war, but was ordered east of the Mississippi River, where it was consolidated with the Fourteenth Texas Cavalry, and dismounted. It was in Ector's brigade in the Tennessee campaigns.


Tenth Infantry Regiment .- Colonel, Allison Nelson ; lieutenant-colonel : col- onel ; Roger Q. Mills ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, Robert B. Young ; major, John R. Kennard ; major, Seymour C. Brasher.


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630


A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF TEXAS.


This regiment served in Texas and Arkansas until January 1863, when it was captured at Arkansas Post. After its exchange it was consolidated with the Sixth and Fifteenth Texas Infantry, and became a part of Deshler's brigade in Cleburne's division in the Tennessee campaigns.


Eleventh Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, John C. Burks ; colonel, George R. Reeves ; colonel, William C. Young ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, Joseph Murphy Bounds ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, James J. Diamond ; lieutenant-colonel, Robert W. Hooks ; lieutenant-colonel, Andrew J. Nicholson ; major ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, Otis M. Messick ; major, Henry F. Bone ; major, John W. Mayrant ; major, John B. Puryear.


This regiment served in Arkansas for a time in the early part of the war, but in 1863 was sent cast of the Mississippi River, where, with the Eighth Texas Cavalry, it formed a part of General Joseph Wheeler's celebrated cavalry corps.


Eleventh (Spaight's) Cavalry and Infantry Battalion. (Formerly Sixth (Liken's) Battalion. )-Lieutenant-colonel, Ashley W. Spaight ; major, J. S. Irvine.


Eleventh Infantry Regiment .- Colonel, Oran M. Roberts ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, James H. Jones ; lieutenant-colonel, A. J. Coupland ; major, Nathaniel Jackson Caraway ; major, Thomas H. Rountree.


This regiment saw much active service in Louisiana, and gained distinction as a part of Walker's division during General Banks's Red River campaign.


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COLONEL REUBEN R. BLOWN.


Twelfth Cavalry Battalion. (Merged into Brown's Thirty-fifth Cavalry. )-Lieutenant-colonel, Reuben R. Brown ; major, Samuel William Perkins. Served on the coast in the State altogether.


Twelfth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, William H. Parsons ; lieutenant-colonel, Andrew Bell Burle- son ; lieutenant-colonel, John W. Mullen ; major, Locklin Johnson Farrar ; major, E. W. Rogers.


This regiment served in Louisiana and Arkansas. Twelfth Infantry Regiment. (Also called Eighth. )-Colonel, Overton Young ; lieutenant-colo- nel. Benjamin A. Philpott ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, William Clark ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, James W. Raine : major ; lieutenant-colonel, Erastus Smith.


This regiment served in Louisiana and Arkansas. Thirteenth Infantry Regiment .- This regiment was organized in the fall of 1861, with Joseph Bates as colonel, and he continued to hold that position until the close of the war. Reuben R. Brown and Henry P. Cayce were lieutenant- colonels at different times, and Robert L. Foard, Stephen S. Perry, and Lee C. Rountree were majors. Its services were exclusively confined to guard duty along the coast between Galveston and Matagorda ; and while the regiment participated in no general engagements, detachments from it frequently met marauding parties from the Union troops on Matagorda Island and from the blockading vessels, and invariably drove them from the mainland.


631


TEXAN TROOPS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.


This regiment was ordered to Louisiana in May, 1863, and arrived at Brashear City the day after its capture by the Confederates, where it remained about seven weeks, and then returned to Texas and resumed its former service on the coast. Here it re- mained until disbanded at the close of hos- tilities.


Thirteenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, John H. Burnett; lieutenant-colonel; colonel, An- derson S. Crawford ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, Charles Roambrose Beaty ; major, Elias T. Seale.


Fourteenth Cavalry Battalion. (Merged into Thirty-third Cavalry Regiment. )-Major ; lieu- tenant-colonel, James Duff ; major, James R. Sweet.


Fourteenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, John L. Camp ; colonel, Matthew Duncan Ec- tor ; colonel, Middleton Tait Johnson ; lieu- tenant-colonel, Abram Harris ; lieutenant-colo- nel, Samuel F. Mains ; major, Thompson Camp ; major, Fleming H. Garrison ; major, Lem Purdy.


COLONEL OVERTON YOUNG.


This regiment saw some service in Louisiana and Arkansas, but its principal service was in Tennessee, where, consolidated with the Tenth Texas Cavalry, and dismounted, it formed a part of Ector's brigade.


Fourteenth Infantry Regiment .- Colonel, Edward Clark ; lieutenant-colonel, William Byrd ; major, Augustus H. Rogers.


The principal service of this regiment was with Walker's division in Louisiana.


Fifteenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, George H. Sweet ; lieutenant-colonel, William K. Masten ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, George B. Pickett ; major, William H. Cathey ; major, Va- lerius B. Sanders.


This regiment, consolidated with the Thirty- second Texas Cavalry, and dismounted, formed a part of Ector's brigade in the Tennessee cam- paigns.


Fifteenth Infantry Regiment. (Formed from First (Speight's) Infantry Battalion. )-Colonel, J. W. Speight ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, James E. Harrison ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, John W. Daniel.


This regiment saw some service in Louisiana COLONEL J. L. CAMP. and Arkansas, but its chief service was in the Tennessee campaigns, where it was consolidated with the Sixth and Tenth Texas Infantry, and formed a part of Deshler's brigade in Cleburne's division.


632


A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF TEXAS.


Sixteenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, William Fitzhugh ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, Edward Pearsall Gregg ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, William W. Diamond.


The principal service of this regiment was as a part of Walker's division in resisting General Banks's Red River campaign in Louisiana.


Sixteenth Infantry Regiment. (Also called Seventh. )-Colonel, George Flournoy ; lieutenant-colonel, James E. Shepard ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, William H. Redwood ; major, Xenophon B. Saunders.


This regiment was a part of Walker's division in Louisiana, and participated in all the engagements during Banks's Red River campaign.


Seventeenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, George F. Moore ; colonel, James R. Taylor ; lieutenant-colonel, Sterling B. Hendricks ; major ; colonel, Thomas F. Tucker ; major, lieutenant-colonel, John McClarty ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, Sebron M. Noble.


In Cleburne's division, Deshler's brigade, in the Tennessee campaigns, where it was consolidated with the Eighteenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-fifth Texas Cavalry, and all dismounted.


Seventeenth Infantry Regiment .- Colonel, Robert Thomas Pritchard Allen ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, George W. Jones ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, Joseph Zachariah Miller ; major, Robert Dickinson Allen ; major, John W. Tabor.


In Walker's division in Louisiana.


Eighteenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, Nicholas H. Darnell ; lieutenant-colonel, Jolin T. Coit ; major, Chas. C. Morgan ; major, William A. Ryan.


This regiment saw some service in Louisiana and Arkansas, but is chiefly distinguished as a part of Deshler's brigade, Cleburne's division, in the Tennessee campaigns, where it was consoli- dated with the Seventeenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-fifth Texas Cavalry, and all were dis- mounted.


Eighteenth Infantry Regiment .- Colonel, COLONEL NATHANIEL M. BURFORD. William B. Ochiltree ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, David B. Culbertson ; major ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, Thomas Reuben Bonner ; major ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, Wilburn Henry King ; major ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, John R. Watson ; major ; lieu- tenant-colonel ; colonel, Joseph G. W. Wood ; major, Matthew A. Gaston.


Was in Walker's division in the Louisiana campaigns of 1863 and 1864.


Nineteenth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, Nathaniel M. Burford ; lieutenant- colonel, Benj. W. Watson ; major, Joel T. Davis.


Was in the Louisiana campaigns of 1863 and 1864.


Nineteenth Infantry Regiment .-. Colonel, Richard Waterhouse, Jr .; lientenant- colonel, Robert H. Graham ; major ; lieutenant-colonel ; colonel, Ennis Ward Tay- lor ; major ; lieutenant-colonel, William L. Crawford ; major, Augustus C. Allen.


Was in Walker's division in the Louisiana campaigns.


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TEXAN TROOPS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.


Twentieth Infantry Regiment .- This regiment was organized in the spring of 1862, with the following field officers, who continued to fill the same throughout the war, viz. : colonel, Henry M. Elmore ; lieutenant-colonel, Leonard A. Aber- crombie ; major, Robert E. Bell.


The rank and file were, for the most part, composed of middle-aged men ; heads of families and many prominent citizens were among them. It never saw any service outside the State, but was mostly engaged in guard duty at Galveston, Sabine Pass, Beaumont, and Niblett's Bluff, on the Sabine River. It was stationed at Virginia Point in December, 1862, and was honored by being selected by General Magruder as one of the regi- ments to participate in the recapture of the city of Galveston on the morning of January 1, 1863. During the previous night the entire regiment crossed over to Galveston Island, hauling several large siege-guns by hand, which they carried by a circuitous route and planted in advantageous positions before the attack was made. Two com- panies of the regiment, being better armed than COLONEL HENRY M. ELMORE. the others, were among the attacking party, which captured several companies of a Massachusetts regiment on Kuhn's wharf, and lost several men from severe wounds. The regiment remained in or near Galveston until the close of the war.


Twentieth Cavalry Regiment .- Colonel, Thomas Coke Bass ; lieutenant-col- onel, Andrew J. Fowler ; lieutenant-colonel, T. D. Taliaferro ; major, Dempsey W. Broughton ; major, John R. Johnson.


Served in Texas, Indian Territory, and Arkansas.


Twenty-first Cavalry Regiment. (First Lancers. )-Colonel, George Wash- ington Carter ; lieutenant-colonel, De Witt Clinton Giddings ; lieutenant-colonel, Robert Neyland ; major, Benjamin D. Chenoweth.


Served in the Louisiana campaigns.


Twenty-first Texas Infantry. (A. W. Spaight's regiment. )-Spaight's regi- ment, Texas Volunteer Infantry, was organized November 20, 1864, by the con- solidation of six companies of Spaight's battalion with four companies of Griffin's battalion. The two battalions thus merged were organized in May and June, 1862, respectively, and the service rendered by them becomes a necessary part of the history of the regiment.


Field and staff officers of the regiment : A. W. Spaight, who entered the service as a private, rose to captain and afterwards to lieutenant-colonel, was pro- moted to colonel ; W. H. Griffin, major and afterwards lieutenant-colonel of Grif- fin's battalion, was retained as lieutenant-colonel ; F. C. McReynolds, who had served as captain and been promoted to major of Griffin's battalion, was made the major ; John T. Johnson, adjutant of Spaight's battalion, was retained as adjutant ; and A. B. Trovel was promoted from the ranks in Waul's Legion to ensign.


Officers retired and assigned to other commands : J. S. Irvine, who had been private, captain, and was major of Spaight's battalion, resigned on surgeon's cer-


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A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF TEXAS.


tificate of disability ; Captain B. W. Brown, assistant quartermaster, was retired on the same grounds, the effects of a severe wound ; and Assistant Surgeon J. A. Blanchard, of Spaight's battalion, was assigned to duty in the Twentieth Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry.


Companies : Captain O. N. Marsh's Company A, Captain George W. O'Bry- an's Company B, Captain Samuel Evans's Company C, Captain J. H. Deegan's Company D, Captain W. C. Gibbs's Company E, Captain W. B. Duncan's Com- pany F, Captain I. M. Givens's Company G, Captain B. E. Gentry's Company H, Captain W. J. Carson's Company I, and Captain Thomas Leonard's Company K.


The three companies, K. D. Keith's, of Spaight's battalion, and Cook's and Bickley's, of Griffin's, were attached to Bates's regiment, Texas Volunteer In- fantry.


At the battle of Galveston, on the Ist of January, 1863, four companies of the regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Griffin were engaged,-namely, Evans's, Dee- gan's, Givens's, and Carson's, and formed a part of the attacking forces in the assault on the Federal troops barricaded on Kuhn's wharf.


In August, 1862, yellow fever breaking out at Sabine Pass, Spaight's battalion was withdrawn to Beaumont, and the post and fort abandoned by orders from the commanding general ; thereupon the harbor was en- tered and occupied by two armed vessels, Morning Light and Velocity. In the expedition, composed of about three hundred artillery, infantry, and cavalry, volunteers from Pyron's and Cook's regiments and Spaight's battalion, fitted out to capture or drive out these vessels, one hundred and eighty men and twelve officers of Spaight's battalion were engaged in the sea fight on the 24th of January, 1863. When it is con- sidered that the attack and capture of these vessels, carrying thirteen heavy guns, was made twenty-seven miles off-shore by two light-draught river craft, the Josiah Bell and Uncle Ben, with an armament of one heavy rifled gun and one twelve-pounder and about COLONEL A. W. SPAIGHT. three hundred Enfield rifles, the annals of war may be searched in vain for a more hazardous undertaking so successfully accomplished. To Captain Charles Fowler the honor is justly awarded of fitting out and conduct- ing this perilous expedition to its fortunate issue.


In the night attack and capture of the garrison at Brashear City, Louisiana, now Morgan's City, in 1863, Spaight's battalion participated, and after the battle was assigned to the duty of rear-guard on the retreat made necessary by the arrival of a largely superior force from New Orleans. Here it was supplied for the first time with a full complement of Enfield rifles and fixed ammunition and much-needed clothing as a part of the spoils of victory.


On the 7th of September, 1863, Captain K. D. Keith's company of Spaight's battalion, with Captain Odum's company of Cook's regiment, composed the gar- rison at Sabine Pass, and participated in the memorable defence of that post, in which two Federal gunboats Sachen and Clifton were disabled and captured and a


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635


TEXAN TROOPS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.


force of six thousand troops was driven off, and the initial movement for the invasion of Texas defeated.


In the battle of Fordoche, Louisiana, September 28, 1863, Spaight's battalion formed a part of the Texas brigade which bore the brunt of the fight against the Federal infantry force protected by a high levee surrounding the Sterling planta- tion. Its loss in killed and wounded was one in seven of the men it brought into the engagement. General Tom Green, in a letter to his wife, written the day after the battle, says : " It was one of the most desperate fights on record, and one in which there was more dauntless courage displayed than any other, perhaps, in the war. Nothing can be imagined more terrible on the same scale." And in his official report, after bestowing warm praise on the Texas troops "for their per- sistent courage and valor," thus refers to the field and company officers : "To Lieutenant-Colonel Harrison, commanding Spaight's brigade, and Lieutenant-Col- onels A. W. Spaight and Clack and Major Daniels, who led their commands to the attack, all honor is due, and also to the officers of their several commands, who displayed great coolness in the action. The heavy loss of Spaight's brigade shows the desperate nature of the conflict." He concludes with a high tribute to the gallantry of Lieutenant John B. Jones, acting assistant adjutant-general of the brigadc.


On the 8th of May, 1864, Marsh's, O'Bryan's, Gibbs's, and Gentry's com- panies of Spaight's battalion, and Evans's, Deegan's, and Givens's, of Griffin's, with Hughes's light battery and Howard's company of Daly's battalion, in com- mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Griffin, attacked and captured two Federal vessels, Granite City and Wl'ave, at Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana. These vessels, feeling secure from attack by reason of their heavy armament, ventured inside the harbor, and were moored within rifle range of the shore. Although surprised by the boldness and vigor of the attack delivered at sunrise, they made a stubborn and persistent defence, the W'are keeping up the fight and pouring a broadside into the ranks of the Confederates after the Granite City had displayed the white flag. Two hundred prisoners, a large quantity of arms and ammunition and ship-stores were the fruits of the capture. Coincident in time and in co-operation with this movement, Colonel Spaight, with the remainder of his command, made a forced march on Lake Charles, Louisiana, from his post at Beaumont, Texas, in order to head off and defeat a detachment of three hundred troops reported by scouts to be on their way from the vessels below to Lake Charles for the purpose of seizing and bringing out or destroying several boats laden with Confederate cotton and lying at that point. Balked in their purpose by the opportune occupation of Lake Charles by the small Confederate force, and apprised of the attack on the vessels at Calcasicu Pass by the heavy firing, which could be distinctly heard at Lake Charles, the detachment of raiders, it is thought, retreated by way of the river, and, finding their vessels captured, made their way overland to Brashear City, the nearest Federal post. In the absence of cavalry, it was not practicable to ascertain their movements, much less to make successful pursuit.




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