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Overview
The Fifth Texas Infantry—“The Bloody Fifth”—was one of only three Texas regiments to fight with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Much like the army in which it served, the Fifth Texas established a stellar combat record. The regiment took part in thirty-eight engagements, including nearly every significant battle in the Eastern Theater, as well as the Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Knoxville campaigns in the Western Theater. Based upon years of archival research—complete with photos and original maps—John F. Schmutz’s “The Bloody Fifth” is the first full-length study to document this fabled regimental command.
“The Bloody Fifth” presents the regiment’s rich history from the secession of the Lone Star State and the organization of ten independent east and central Texas companies, through four years of arduous marching and fighting. The Fifth Texas’s battlefield exploits are legendary, from its inaugural fighting on the Virginia peninsula in early 1862 through Appomattox. But it was at Second Manassas where the regiment earned its enduring nickname by attacking and crushing the Fifth New York Zouaves.
Schmutz’s book, which also details the personal lives of these Texas soldiers as they struggled to survive the war some 2,000 miles from home, is a significant contribution to the growing literature of the Civil War.
“The most comprehensive, thoroughly researched account of the [Fifth] Texas Infantry . . . belongs in the library of every serious student of the Civil War.” —John Michael Priest, author of “Stand to It and Give Them Hell”
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781611212051 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Savas Beatie |
| Publication date: | 02/20/2019 |
| Series: | The 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hood's Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia , #1 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 344 |
| File size: | 12 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Organization of the 5th Texas Regiment
The election of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1860 caused great excitement throughout the South. The fever over the secession of South Carolina the following month soon thereafter spread from state to state. Every citizen was forced to align himself with the secession movement or against it: there was no middle ground. On the eve of the Civil War, Texas remained unique and untouched. The hand of civilization had as yet scarcely stroked her fair face. Only 604,000 people resided within its borders, a quarter of them black slaves. The population was "a robust and vigorous race — an honest yeomanry, the sons of pioneers, the progeny of the early settlers of this vast domain." While new to the constellation of states of the Union, Texas resembled most Southern states economically, socially, and politically, and, consequently, stood largely ready to embrace the secession movement.
On December 3, 1860, a committee in Austin published an address to the citizens of the state calling for a convention of delegates on January 28, 1861, to determine finally the issue of secession. At the time, many Texans still preached moderation, and a fair number argued against secession. Newspapers such as the Leon Pioneer, established in 1851 by W. D. Wood in Leon County, were at the forefront of advocating moderation. Many Texans addressed their concerns in public petitions similar to one signed by 208 citizens of Milam County which provided that "our rights can be better secured and maintained in the Union than out of it, Pray Legislatures to take no steps tending to disunion." As talk of secession grew, Sam Houston — the Texas Republic's own George Washington — commenced campaigning bitterly against the idea and the individuals who had instigated the movement. Regardless, a sizable majority of voters appeared deaf to such cautionary counsel.
Neither side had really given much thought to what a full scale civil conflict might entail. Sadly, both sides viewed the prospect of war as an exciting game. The North did not believe the South would fight, due in part to the fear of a slave insurrection. Conversely, Southerners were assured by their politicians that the "[m]oney-loving North would never go to war with a source of their wealth — a 'race of shopkeepers' would never fight for a sentiment." If they ever did, the argument went, they would be crushed at the onset by a chivalrous, warlike South. "Thus the two sections were hurried, through ignorance and blind perception, toward all the untold horrors of civil war."
On February 1, 1861, the delegates to the secession convention of Texas met in the House of Representatives in Austin to vote whether the Lone Star State should permanently sever its ties with the Federal government in Washington. The convention president, Oran M. Roberts, had made a point of inviting Governor Sam Houston to the secession, seating him on his right in the place of honor, hoping that in witnessing the overwhelming vote for session, Houston would abandon his strong Unionist views and mount the Texas secessionist bandwagon. However, the old warrior sat through the proceedings with his arms across his chest, unmoved by the historic event unfolding before him. When James Webb Throckmorton, a close ally of Houston, rose and cast his "no" vote, pandemonium erupted in the halls of the Texas House. When order was finally restored, Throckmorton rose again and once more addressed the chair, proclaiming, "Mr. President, when the rabble hiss, well may patriots tremble." As the votes were taken, Thomas Jefferson Chambers, following his vote for secession, denounced Houston as a traitor and had to be forcibly restrained by another delegate.
While Throckmorton's extraordinary challenge was probably the most noteworthy declaration of the convention, his was an overwhelmingly minority viewpoint; members voted 166-8 in favor of secession from the Union. The convention adjourned on February 4 to reassemble on March 2, the twenty-fifth anniversary of Texas's independence. On February 23, the electorate of Texas ratified the ordinance of secession by a more than three-to-one majority — 46,153 to 14,747. The popular vote was officially proclaimed on March 4 when the convention formally reconvened in Austin.
Immediately following word of the vote, "the old bell on the hill was violently rung, thus proclaiming the glad tidings to the world that Texas had left the Federal Union." Later that night, the streets were "thronged with people, men wearing red and white cockades on the lapels of their coats, and women wearing them on their bosoms. The town was full of song and laughter, for that was the beginning. The time for tears had not yet come." To symbolize this new independence of the state, a Lone Star flag, which had been presented to the convention by the women of Travis County, was unfurled on the dome of the capitol amid the loud booming of artillery.
The Lone Star State's separate independence was short lived, however. The following day, March 5, the convention approved an ordinance binding Texas to the newly formed Confederate States of America. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the Confederate Provisional Congress had already independently admitted the Lone Star State on March 1. Texas thus became the seventh star in the Confederate constellation, which ultimately totaled eleven.
Following its exodus from the Union, Texas faced a unique problem relative to its fellow Southern states. Currently garrisoned within its borders, and known as the Department of Texas, was a sizeable percentage of the United States Army — 2,445 officers and men, assigned to the 1st, 3rd, and 8th Infantry Regiments, the 1st and 2nd Artillery Regiments, and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. At that time, the regular Army of the United States in toto numbered approximately 16,400 men. Thus, upwards of 15 percent of the Union's entire military might was stationed in Texas, manning some 20 permanent and semi-permanent camps and forts, a majority located on the perimeter of the western frontier and along the Rio Grande.
The necessary removal of these Federal garrisons created yet another problem, however. The state of Texas would now be responsible for guarding a thousand mile frontier constantly menaced by Mexican renegades and hostile Indians. Even with federal troops along the Rio Grande, Juan Cortina, the "Robin Hood of Mexico," raided with impunity along that river. Apaches and Comanches posed a greater threat: terrorizing the western frontier as they moved through the line of forts "in search of beef, blood and booty."
While this frontier defense issue continued to perplex authorities, the state was fortunate in the bloodless manner in which the Federal military eased out of the state. The Department of Texas, with headquarters in San Antonio, was then commanded by Bvt. Maj. Gen. David Emanuel Twiggs, a veteran of both the Second Seminole and Mexican wars. Twiggs, a Georgian and a secessionist, held the key to Federal military resistance in Texas. In December 1860, he cut short an extended sick leave in Louisiana to resume control of the military department that, in his absence, had been under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee. Lee, considered a Unionist at the time, was soon thereafter dispatched to Fort Mason, some 150 miles northwest of San Antonio. With Lee gone, and Twiggs again in command, the Texas secessionists expected little resistance to their planned takeover of the Federal garrisons.
The act of secession placed even more pressure on the extant Texas militia. The committee on public safety, appointed during the first session of the Texas Secession Convention, was charged with overseeing the convention's interests during the period of adjournment. But it actually assumed control of the state between the two sessions of the Convention. The committee designated Ben McCulloch, Texas Ranger and Mexican war hero, as the interim commander of existing Texas troops with the rank of colonel. McCulloch was charged with seizing all Federal property at San Antonio. His force (which soon disbanded) included a volunteer battery from Gonzales, companies from Lockhart, Seguin, and San Antonio, as well as six companies or "castles" of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a southern rights society founded in 1854. On February 16, 1861, these armed "troops" appeared at strategic points in San Antonio to force the surrender of the federal Department of Texas headquarters near the city center. Surrounding the headquarters complex, they demanded that Twiggs relinquish the buildings and arsenal. After delaying briefly over terms, Twiggs surrendered not only the San Antonio post, but also all other Federal military establishments within the state.
To assist McCulloch in taking control of the several Federal garrisons, the committee on public safety appointed Henry E. McCulloch, Ben's brother, and Texas Ranger John S. Ford as colonels in the Texas State Army. Henry McCulloch was responsible for neutralizing the forts in north Texas, and Ford those posts in south Texas and along the Rio Grande. By April 25, 1861, all the Federal garrisons in the state had either been abandoned or had otherwise fallen into Texas (Confederate) hands. Without a shot being fired, Texas had removed close to 2,500 Federal troops, acquired military stores and supplies worth some $1.5 to $3 million, and seized $23,472 in cash.
On February 15, Twiggs was relieved of command and replaced by Col. Charles A. Waite, commanding the 1st U.S. Infantry Regiment at Camp Verde. Twiggs was subsequently cashiered from the U.S. army for "treachery to the flag of his country," and almost immediately commissioned a major general by the Confederate government. Some have argued that had a more dedicated Federal officer been in command at the time, such as Robert E. Lee, matters might have progressed much differently and the war might as easily have started in Texas, rather than South Carolina.
The Federal government contemplated military intervention in Texas on several occasions in early 1861. President Lincoln twice proposed sending Federal troops to the state under the command of then-governor Sam Houston. Tempted to accept Lincoln's second offer made in mid-March, Houston, after consulting with Unionist leaders, decided against it. But he added, "that if he had been twenty years younger," he would have accepted the proposition.
Houston, following his ouster as governor, declined yet a third offer of Federal assistance from Gen. Winfield Scott, commanding general of the U.S. army. Scott had ordered Colonel Waite, then supervising the exit of Federal troops, to concentrate 2,000 men near Indianola and prepare a defensive perimeter there. But this intervention was contingent upon Houston's raising a substantial force of Texas unionists. On March 29, however, Houston declined Scott's proposal, suggesting that all Federal forces instead be removed as soon as possible to prevent open conflict within the state. Houston cherished the Union, but once Texas had cast its lot for secession, his loyalty remained with her. Nonetheless, the convention had stripped him of his office when he refused to take the Confederate oath on March 16, and Lieutenant Governor Edwin Clark took his place as governor. Texas thus prepared to enter its third war in less than three decades.
Once it was apparent the U.S. government would not allow its Southern states to leave the Union in peace, the Confederates began earnest preparations for war. Obviously raising an army became the first item on their agenda. An act of March 6, 1861, authorized Davis to seek and accept the service of up to 100,000 volunteers. On April 8, the Confederate government requested Governor Clark to provide 3,000 troops, and eight days later, an additional 5,000. Both of these levies were primarily for Texas coastal defenses, and it was Clark's responsibility to see that the volunteers were adequately equipped, drilled, and "held in instant readiness to meet any requisition" from the Confederate war department. On May 8, the provisional congress gave Davis further authority to raise troops without any limitation on their numbers as well as power to appoint the field and staff officers for the units so organized. Three days later Davis was further authorized to bypass state governments and "receive into service such companies, battalions or regiments, either mounted or on foot" that offered themselves directly to Confederate service.
Under these laws, Secretary of War Leroy P. Walker requested yet a third levy on Texas for 2,000 more infantrymen on June 30. These troops would serve as part of a "reserved army corps of 30,000 men," to be called upon when needed. Governor Clark, to give the more populous counties adequate representation, divided the state into districts and subdistricts. Each subdistrict, comprised of three counties, was to furnish 100 men and four officers each. The state militia would be divided into 16 divisions and 32 brigades, corresponding to the state's senatorial districts. Walker also suggested that Clark establish at least two "camps of instruction" at accessible points in the state where he could order companies to rendezvous for training and subsequent mustering into the Confederate service. Eventually, Texas had 11 such camps of instruction at various points within the state. Beginning July 2, each camp had to accommodate up to 1,000 recruits for as many as 40 days, with food to be supplied by voluntary subscription from the local citizenry.
The authorities in Richmond initially refused to accept Texas troops for the fighting in Virginia, deeming it probable they would be needed for home defense. Besides, as Robert Campbell of Company A reasoned much later, the South's victory at First Manassas had made "[t]he whole country proud and defiant." But it had also "delusively lulled [it] into the belief that a few weeks would see us free and independent with little actual war — fallacious reasoning."
Consequently, Texas politicians were dispatched to Richmond to lobby the congress to intercede with the war department's position. John Marshall, editor of the Texas State Gazette, a secessionist journal, helped convince his old friend, Jeff Davis, to institute the June 30 levy and the subsequent ordering of Texas companies into service in Virginia. Marshall wanted to ensure his state's presence in the East, where the action would seemingly be the heaviest.
Following this appeal by the Texas politicians, Richmond grudgingly allowed the state to send 20 companies to Virginia, enlisted for the duration of the war, under the condition that the Confederate government itself appoint the field grade officers. The 20 companies ultimately constituting the 4th and 5th Texas were raised under this June 30 levy. The decision was met with considerable enthusiasm throughout the Confederacy, since Texans had a reputation as fighters. The citizens of Richmond looked upon the "Texas Ranger" (as they referred to all Texans) as a "person who don't care for anything." Most Northerners, they thought, would "as soon fight devils ... as Texans."
Following Texas's secession, and particularly after the Confederacy's call for troops in April 1861, many populated counties formed local volunteer military companies. After Fort Sumter, war fever ran torrid, and Texas counties competed to support the men volunteering for service outside of the state. Many counties appropriated money for arms and ammunition, as well as military clothing. Often local citizens raised additional funds to help outfit the companies. While funds to acquire arms, ammunition, equipment and uniforms were there, procuring these items in sufficient quantity and quality proved more problematic. Often, local Texas artisans improvised from whatever materials and means were readily available to deliver the needed supplies. Many men left Texas with homemade equipment, while many others left without any equipment at all.
The various military companies which ultimately coalesced to form Hood's Texas Brigade were originally organized in towns and counties in east and central Texas. Those ultimately constituting the 5th Texas were largely mustered from the east-central part of the state. While formation of these local military drill teams and companies was hardly a new concept, Lincoln's election greatly accelerated it. Fervor for military preparedness grew rapidly with secessionist sentiment. The bulk of local military companies were organized during the winter of 1860-61 and the following spring. A few succeeded older established militia units, such as the Bayou City Guards (Company A, 5th Texas), an offshoot of the "Washington Light Guards," organized in Houston in the early 1850s as a "crack drill team."
These local military units — often young men from the finer families of the community drilling and strutting in their fancy uniforms "to catch the eye of the village belle and to satisfy the martial ego of the frontier swain" — were often organized or sponsored by local politicians or professional men with little or no military training. But they did serve a military purpose: protecting the state, along with the string of Federal forts in west Texas and along the Rio Grande, from Indian attacks and slave uprisings.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from ""The Bloody Fifth""
by .
Copyright © 2016 John F. Schmutz.
Excerpted by permission of Savas Beatie LLC.
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Table of Contents
Preface,
Chapter 1: Organization of the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment,
Chapter 2: Winter Quarters -1861-1862,
Chapter 3: The Peninsula Campaign,
Chapter 4: The Seven Days' Battles,
Chapter 5: The Second Manassas Campaign,
Chapter 6: The Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Sharpsburg,
Chapter 7: The Fredericksburg Campaign,
Chapter 8: Foraging and Fighting: The Suffolk Campaign,
Appendix A: Company Organization Profiles,
Appendix B: Dramatis Personae: The Fifth Texas Infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia,