Co. H, 4^th Texas Infantry

in 1862

This page covers the history of Co. H, 4th Texas in 1862.

Bookmarks

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

January-February

At the start of 1862, the 4th Texas was camped near Dumfries, Virginia. Many of the men were no doubt looking back fondly on Christmas. It had been a snowy day, when, as Pvt. Polley said, ". . . Every mess had its egg-nog, or a first-class substitute for it, the first thing in the morning, and something better than common for dinner, while after supper . . . the whole company became 'tangle-footed.' . . ."

From a military standpoint, the 4th's activities were limited to picket duty in support of a Confederate battery at Cockpit Point that sought to block Union shipping on the Potomac River. Real or imagined Union sorties caused a few alarms, and the Texans were active in scouting the enemy positions, but all in all it was a relatively quiet period.

March

After a winter at Camp Hood near Dumfries, VA, on the Potomac, the Texans began the year's campaigns with a retreat. Their excess clothing and blankets were sent to the Texas Depot in Richmond, and on March 8, they left their camp and marched south and west. The Rappahannock was crossed on the 12th, and the brigade went into camp a short distance from Fredericksburg. On that same day, John B. Hood, newly promoted to Brigadier General, was assigned to command of the brigade. The Texans spent the rest of the month at this camp. Their time was devoted to constant drill, ending in a grand review.

April

As the month began, the Texans were still encamped near Fredericksburg. However, on April 4 they were called out for an all-night march to repel a Yankee brigade that had crossed the Potomac. To the embarassment of the Texans, the enemy was back north of the river before the Texans could catch up with them.

No sooner had Hood's Brigade returned to Fredericksburg than it was directed to move to Yorktown. The Texans left the Rappahannock on April 7. Marching first in a heavy snowstorm and then riding the steamcars, they arrived at the Confederate lines near Yorktown about April 15.

The rest of the month was spent harrassing the Union forces besieging Yorktown. The Texans were frequently called on to provide sharpshooters to man the Confederate breastworks, and their accurate fire took a heavy toll of Yankees.

May

As May 1862 began, the 4th Texas was at Yorktown, Va., opposing the advance of the Federal Army under McClellan. The Confederate high command decided to abandon Yorktown in early May, and the Texans began their retreat early on May 4, serving as the Confederate rearguard on the Williamsburg road. Once they reached the army's new position, they were directed to Eltham's Landing on the York River.

The Texans arrived near Eltham's on May 6, the same day that a Federal force landed there in a flanking move against the retreating Confederate wagon train. On May 7, the Texans attacked and in their first battle of the war drove the Yankees back to the river. That night, with the wagons safely out of the way, the Texans continued their retreat, once again serving as the army's rearguard. They were the last unit to cross the Chickahominy River, going into camp near Richmond on May 15.

Though many of the men were employed on scouting duties, the brigade as a whole saw no action for several weeks. Then on May 31, the Confederates under Joe Johnston attacked two isolated Federal corps in what became the Battle of Seven Pines. It was originally intended that the Texans would play a prominent part in the battle, but in the end they spent their time in reserve, taking only limited casualties from artillery and long-range musketry.

June

The Texans spent the next several days in occasional skirmishing near Richmond, while Stonewall Jackson's Valley campaign climaxed in the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic. To heighten the credibility of Jackson's diversionary threat to Washington, Hood's Brigade started for the Valley on June 11 to reinforce Stonewall. Care was taken to ensure that the movement promptly became known to the Federals. Taking the train via Lynchburg and Charlottesville, the Texans reached Staunton on June 19.

To their surprise, the Texans stayed in the Valley only one night. The next day they began a secret move east, first on foot and later by train, that landed them at Frederick's Hall on June 23. From there they marched to Ashland, arriving June 25th. The next morning they moved out as the advance guard of Jackson's entire Valley Army, secretly transferred to the Tidewater for an attack on McClellan's flank! Unfortunately for Jackson, the Texan's advance was delayed by Union cavalry, who destroyed bridges and felled trees in the roads. The Texans camped the night of the 26th at Hundley's Corner.

In the late afternoon of June 27, Jackson's troops finally made contact with the main body of the enemy at Gaines' Mill. Attacking about 6:30 p.m., the 4th Texas, with the help of the 18th Georgia, carried the strong Federal position and captured 14 pieces of artillery. It was this charge that first brought Hood's Brigade to public notice, and it was here that the 4th won its nickname, "the Hell-Roaring Fourth."

The cost to the Texans was heavy. Of 40 officers and 506 men who marched with the 4th into battle, 75 were killed or mortally wounded. Another 180 were wounded less severely. Losses among the officers were especially heavy. The colonel of the 4th was killed, the lieutenant colonel was mortally wounded, and the major suffered a serious wound. Half of the company officers were also casualties. As a Texan said after the war, it started the 4th on a reputation that ". . . nearly exhausted them to achieve and nearly finished them to maintain."

June 28 was spent tending to casualties. The Texans then moved to the front. Though exposed to enemy artillery fire at Savage Station and Frayser's Farm on 29th and 30th, they were not again actively engaged during the Seven Days' Battles.

July

August

After the war, corn figured in most Texan memories of the Rappahannock. Indeed, our brigade fought a brief skirmish on the 21st, referred to by veterans as the "Roasting Ear Fight", to secure possession of cornfields also coveted by Yankee foragers. The Texans then settled down to gorge themselves on green corn, a feast that made many of the men sick.

Hard marching from August 24 to 28 brought the Texans to Thoroughfare Gap in the Bull Run Mountains. There they rested for a time. Early on August 29, the march was resumed, and at midday they arrived on the old Manassas battlefield.

Posted near the middle of the Confederate line, the Texans attacked at 7 p.m. on the 29th and drove back the Yankees near Groveton. Stiffening Northern resistance and nighttime command problems soon put an end to the fighting with only light Texan casualties.

The next morning the Texans moved against Chinn Ridge, one of the key positions of the battlefield. Routing a line of New York Zouaves, the brigade moved on to capture a Union battery, and then cleared the Yankees from the woods at the foot of the ridge. By now the Texans were badly disorganized, but some, especially the men of the 5th, advanced up the ridge and aided Kemper's Virginia division in the final successful assault.

Once again, the Texan's gallantry had played a key part in the Southern victory, but at a great cost. 627 men of the brigade were killed or wounded, including at least 225 in the 5th Texas.

September

On the 14th, the Texans were ordered to march for Turner's Gap in South Mountain, where a small contingent under D. H. Hill needed help in holding off the Yankee advance, a strong force that included the Iron Brigade. A bayonet charge by the Texans helped hold the field until nightfall, when the Confederates withdrew to begin a concentration around the village of Sharpsburg.

By this time the Texans were becoming quite ragged. One veteran recalled, "No clothing or shoes had been furnished since it left Richmond, and in a month and a half of hard marching and harder fighting hundreds of the men had become ragged and barefooted, while lack of provisions forced them to subsist on green corn and green apples." But they went into battle in high spirits.

On the evening of the 16th, the Division took position in an open field in front of the Dunker Church, north of Sharpsburg. About an hour before sunset, they met a probe by Hooker's Corps, and fought a brief battle that caused the Yankees to retire.

The Texans now spent the night cooking the first rations that they had seen in several days, but at 6 a.m. they were ordered to prepare to advance to the support of Lawton's division in a cornfield north of the church. Raising the rebel yell, they advanced through heavy musket and artillery fire, driving the Yankees out of the corn. Soon the 4th was locked in a firefight with the Iron Brigade.

By 7:30 a.m., Hood's men had reduced Hooker's Corps to a shambles, but at terrible cost. Of the 854 men of the Texas Brigade who went into the battle, 519 were casualties. The 1st Texas had set a particularly gruesome record: 82% of its men were killed or wounded, the highest percentage of loss for any Confederate regiment in any battle throughout the war. About 9 a.m., Hood's men were withdrawn to the Dunker Church, where they spent the rest of the day in reserve.

On September 18, Lee's army retreated to Virginia, with the Texans in his rear guard. There they went into camp north of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley.

Shortly after the Battle of Sharpsburg, General Lee wrote to Louis Wigfall, the Brigade's first commander and now a Senator,

I have not heard from you in regard to the new Texas regiments which you promised to raise for the army. I need them very much. I rely upon those we have in all our tight places, and fear that I have to call upon them too often. They have fought grandly, and nobly, and we must have more of them.

October

As October began, the Texans were resting near a large spring about three miles north of Winchester in the Valley of Virginia. They had little to do. The men's memoirs report occasional short drills. Food was ample, and large quantities of clothing and shoes were issued. Some men remembered changing their clothes for the first time since leaving Richmond in early August! Also at Winchester, the men of the 4th received the first mail distributed since leaving Richmond. One break in camp routine came on October 8, when the brigade was reviewed by Generals Longstreet and Hood.

While camped at Winchester, the 4th was notified on October 10th that their former colonel, John B. Hood, had been promoted to Major General. Henceforth, they would serve in a new formation that was officially styled "Hood's Division."

Finally on October 26th, the Texans broke camp. Shadowing the movement of the Federal Army, they crossed the Blue Ridge in perfect autumn weather and turned their steps toward Culpepper Court House.

November-December

As November dawned, the Texans were on the move, headed southeast from their camp near Winchester towards Culpepper Court House. The weather was fine for marching, and the troops were allowed almost two weeks to make the march, arriving in Culpepper on the 5th of November. They remained there until the 19th, when the brigade began to move north, arriving at Fredericksburg on November 22.

Although the brigade had received some clothing while camped at Winchester, they were still very short of foot-gear. Chaplain Davis of the 4th Texas wrote a letter to the Richmond Whig describing the destitution of the Texans, "...too far from home to look to our friends there for help...." Various civilian groups answered by collecting hundreds of pairs of shoes, socks and gloves, as well as other wearing apparel.

While enroute to Culpepper on November 1, Col. Jerome Robertson of the 5th Texas was promoted to Brigadier and assigned to command the brigade. On November 26, the 18th Georgia and the infantry companies of the Hampton Legion were transferred out of the brigade, and replaced by the 3rd Arkansas. The reorganization was celebrated by four or five hours of drill each day up until the battle of Fredericksburg.

The weather turned very cold about the 6th of December, with a heavy snow. The troops built small two- and three-man huts they called dog houses, floored with dry leaves. By pooling blankets, the inhabitants were able to keep comfortable.

At Fredericksburg, the position assigned to Hood's Division was the right of Longstreet's Corps, with the Texas Brigade in the center of the division. The Texans dug entrenchments on the floor of the valley, behind Deep Run, but their role in the battle was primarily as spectators, as the fighting all occurred well to their left and right. The Texans lost only one man killed and four wounded.

After the battle, the Texans had an excellent opportunity to gather abandoned Yankee gear. Blankets were especially sought after, as several inches of snow fell shortly after the battle. Real coffee and desiccated vegetables also were found in abundance, and the latter were turned into soup that helped ward off the cold.

Nor did they forget the kindness of the citizens of Virginia who had provided winter clothing. To repay the favor, the soldiers of the Texas brigade contributed a large fund from their pay to provide for the refugees whose homes had been destroyed by the Yankee occupation of Fredericksburg.

For Further Reading