For the Texas folks

[Poor Sharecropper's Son]

Thought y'all might appreciate a little anecdote I read in the book The Bloody 7th by Glen Swain recounting the life & times of the unit my great grandfather served in. They were from South Carolina but shortly after they were organized they were sent to Virginia to become part of the ANV, and when they first arrived there were two other regiments from SC, two from Alabama, and one from Texas, who "impressed Private Williams as being 'a Rough Looking set of men.'"

But in a good way

 

[TinCan]

Why we aint rough....slightly ornery at times, but never rough.

 

[AUG]

Seeing that the 7th SC arrived in Virginia in summer of 1861, it was probably the 1st Texas Battalion (later Regiment), consisting of the first eight companies of Texans to arrive in Richmond. More companies arrived later and the battalion was organized into a regiment.

Truth is, they weren't all that rough. The three Texas regiments that comprised Hood's Texas Brigade mostly consisted of young men who had been born out of state (as most people living in Texas were at the time), coming from middle or upper class families. The 1st Texas was mainly recruited from East Texas, which is geographically similar to Northern Louisiana. Though some would fit the character, not all were your stereotypical western frontiersmen. They were, however, some of the youngest and most determined troops to come out of Texas - volunteering with the intention of fighting in the East, where they expected the decisive battles to be fought.

When these guys first arrived they were wearing all sorts of civilian clothes mixed with company uniforms, as was typically the case. Also many brandishing huge Bowie knives and wearing wide-brimmed hats pinned up with stars. So they probably put on quite a fearsome appearance.

New uniforms were soon issued in place of those, however. For example, here is a photo of men from the 1st Texas in winter quarters at Dumfries, Va., winter of 1861-62. They wear your standard frock coats and forage caps, but still with a bit of Texas mixed in - neckerchiefs and Texas stars in the caps.

 

[alexjack]

For me the words 'Texas' and 'Infantry' just don't seem to sit right with each other. I just can't visualise a Texan without a horse.

 

[Nathanb1]

For me the words 'Texas' and 'Infantry' just don't seem to sit right with each other. I just can't visualise a Texan without a horse.

Neither could most Texans.

 

[AndyHall]

Neither could most Texans.

Colonel Fremantle said something like, "it was very difficult to raise infantry in Texas, as no Texan walks a yard if he can help it."

 

[TinCan]

Colonel Fremantle said something like, "it was very difficult to raise infantry in Texas, as no Texan walks a yard if he can help it."

So true Colonel, so true.

 

[alexjack]

Well it's pretty obvious, 150 years ago if you were living in Houston and you wanted to pop across to El Paso for a few drinks with the boys and you didn't want to stay the night, you'd need a horse.

 

[Nathanb1]

Well it's pretty obvious, 150 years ago if you were living in Houston and you wanted to pop across to El Paso for a few drinks with the boys and you didn't want to stay the night, you'd need a horse.

You could take a stagecoach (but that does have horses) or an oxcart

 

[R. Alex Raines]

Colonel Fremantle said something like, "it was very difficult to raise infantry in Texas, as no Texan walks a yard if he can help it."

Speaking as a Texas native, I've ridden a horse one time in my life, but that's because a I had an automobile. Also, I don't think you could make it from Houston to El Paso in a single day on a horse.

 

[AndyHall]

Also, I don't think you could make it from Houston to El Paso in a single day on a horse.

It's pretty awful doing it on I-10 at 70 miles an hour.

More seriously, there was a stagecoach route established in 1854 from San Antonio, Texas to Santa Fe, New Mexico that went through El Paso. In the late 1850s a new line from San Antonio to San Diego, California, opened -- thirty days, one-way, with coaches departing twice each month. That route passed through Del Rio, El Paso, Las Cruces, Tucson and Yuma. The segment between San Antonio and El Paso looks to me to have been 600+ miles -- it's a lot more irregular than the highway today.

You'd have to take another coach from Houston to San Antonio. In the spring of 1863, Fremantle secured a place on the stagecoach from San Anronio to Houston for $40, noting that before the war it had cost $13.

I left San Antonio by stage for Alleyton at 9 P. M. [on April 27]. The stage was an old coach, into the interior of which nine persons were crammed on three transverse seats, besides many others on the roof. I was placed on the centre seat, which was extremely narrow, and I had nothing but a strap to support my back. An enormously fat German was my vis-a-vis, and a long-legged Confederate officer was in my rear. Our first team consisted of four mules; we afterwards got horses.

My fellow-travelers were all either military men, or connected with the government.

Only five out of nine chewed tobacco during the night; but they aimed at the windows with great accuracy, and didn't splash me. The amount of sleep I got, however, was naturally very trifling.

28th April (Tuesday.)--We crossed the river Guadalupe at 5 A. M., and got a change of horses.

We got a very fair breakfast at Seguin, at 7 A. M., which was beginning to be a well-to-do little place when the war dried it up. It commenced to rain at Seguin, which made the road very woolly, and annoyed the outsiders a good deal.

The conversation turned a good deal upon military subjects, and all agreed that the system of election of officers had proved to be a great mistake. According to their own accounts, discipline must have been extremely lax at first, but was now improving. They were most anxious to hear what was thought of their cause in Europe; and none of them seemed aware of the great sympathy which their gallantry and determination had gained for them in England in spite of slavery. We dined at a little wooden hamlet called Belmont, and changed horses again there.

The country through which we had been traveling was a good deal cultivated, and there were numerous farms. I saw cotton fields for the first time.

We amused ourselves by taking shots with our revolvers at the enormous jack rabbits which came to stare at the coach.

In the afternoon tobacco chewing became universal, and the spitting was some times a little wild.


It was the custom for the outsiders to sit round the top of the carriage, with their legs dangling over, (like mutes on a hearse returning from a funeral.) This practice rendered it dangerous to put one's head out of the window, for fear of a back kick from the heels, or of a shower of tobacco juice from the mouths of the Southern chivalry on the roof. In spite of their peculiar habits of hanging, shooting, &c., which seemed to be natural to people living in a wild and thinly populated country, there was much to like in my fellow travelers. They all had a sort of bonhommie honesty and straightforwardness, a natural courtesy and extreme good nature, which was very agreeable. Although they were all very anxious to talk to a European--who, in these blockade times, is a rara avis--yet their inquisitiveness was never offensive or disagreeable.

We also passed through some very pretty country, full of fine post oak and cotton trees, and we met many Mexican cotton teams --some of the wagons with fourteen oxen or twelve mules, which were being cruelly ill-treated by their drivers.

Any doubts as to my personal safety, which may have been roused by my early insight into lynch law, were soon completely set at rest; for I soon perceived that if any one were to annoy me the remainder would stand by me as a point of honor.

We supped at a little town called Gonzales at 6.30.

We left it at 8 P.M. in another coach with six horses--big, strong animals.

The roads being all natural ones, were much injured by the rains.

We were all rather disgusted by the bad news we heard at Gonzales of the continued advance of Banks, and of the probable fall of Alexandria.

The squeezing was really quite awful, but I did not suffer so much as the fat or long-legged ones. They all bore their trials in the most jovial, good-humored manner.

My fat vis-a-vis (in despair) changed places with me, my two bench-fellows being rather thinner than his, and I benefited much by the change into a back seat.

29th April, Wednesday.--Exhausted as I was, I managed to sleep wonderfully well last night. We breakfasted at a place called Hallettsville at 7 A. M., and changed carriages again.

Here we took in four more confederate soldiers as outsiders, and we were now eighteen in all. No where but in this country would such a thing be permitted.

Owing to the great top-weight, the coach swayed about like a ship in a heavy sea, and the escapes of a capsize were almost miraculous. It is said that at the end of a Texan journey the question asked is not, "Have you been upset?" but, "How many times have you been upset?"

The value of the negroes working in the fields was constantly appraised by my fellow-travelers; and it appeared that, in Texas, an able-bodied male fetched $2500, whilst a well-skilled semstress was worth $3500.

Two of my companions served through the late severe campaign in New Mexico, but they considered forty-eight hours in a closely packed stage a greater hardship than any of their military experiences.

We passed many cotton fields and beautiful Indian corn, but much of the latter had been damaged by the hail.

I was told that one-third of the land formerly devoted to cotton is still sown with that article, the remainder being corn, &c.*

We crossed several rivers with steep and difficult banks, and dined at a farm house at 2.30 P.M.

I have already discovered that, directly the bell rings, it is necessary to rush at one's food and bolt it as quickly as possible, without any ceremony or delay, otherwise it all disappears, so rapacious and so voracious are the natives at their meals whilst traveling. Dinner, on such occasions, in no case lasts more than seven minutes.

We reached Columbus at 6 P. M., and got rid of half our passengers there. These Texan towns generally consist of one large plaza, with a well built court-house on one side and an hotel opposite, the other two sides being filled up with wooden stores. All their budding prosperity has been completely checked by the war; but every one anticipates a great immigration into Texas after the peace.

We crossed the Colorado river, and reached Alleyton, our destination, at 7 P. M.

This little wooden village has sprung into existence during the last three years, owing to its being the present terminus to the railroad. It was crammed full of travelers and cotton speculators; but, as an especial favor, the fat German and I were given a bed between us. I threw myself on the bed with my clothes on (bien entendu,) and was fast asleep in five minutes. In the same room there were three other beds, each with two occupants.

The distance from San Antonio to Alleyton is 140 miles--time, forty-six hours.
​

Alleyton is where Fremantle boarded a train to continue his journey. It's about two-thirds of the distance from San Antonio to Houston.

 

[alexjack]

Speaking as a Texas native, I've ridden a horse one time in my life, but that's because a I had an automobile. Also, I don't think you could make it from Houston to El Paso in a single day on a horse.

C'mon Texas isn't that big.

 

[Drew]

I was told that one-third of the land formerly devoted to cotton is still sown with that article, the remainder being corn, &c.*

Yet, we are told in these Forums that "they," Southern Planters, would not grow food for the Army. Seems like nonsense to me.

Great post, BTW. Freemantle's book is a really fun read.

 

[KansasFreestater]

View attachment 74792

Leave it to the Texas gals to put up a beefcake Civil War statue!

 

[Xonk]

C'mon Texas isn't that big.

Yes it is! I am driving south to north across east Texas today, from Orange (Sabine Pass) to Texarkana. The distance is 204 mies or 328 km. Orange to El Paso is 834 mi, or 1342 kilometers.

 

[Xonk]

29th April, Wednesday.--Exhausted as I was, I managed to sleep wonderfully well last night. We breakfasted at a place called Hallettsville at 7 A. M., and changed carriages again.​

Thank you for this excellent post. I spent several days at Hallettsville this spring researching my 8 great great great grandparents buried there.

 

[DixieRifles]

We passed many cotton fields and beautiful Indian corn, but much of the latter had been damaged by the hail.

I was told that one-third of the land formerly devoted to cotton is still sown with that article, the remainder being corn, &c.*

In modern times, Texas was a producer of cotton. If they pumped in irrigation water, then they could get some good crops. I've always wondered how much cotton they produced before the war?

 

[DixieRifles]

C'mon Texas isn't that big.

The last mile marker on Interstate I-20 that traverses Texas from near El Paso, where it branches off of I-10, to Louisiana is something like 647.
If you drive like normal folks, you cannot make it in 1 day. If you drive like Texans, then you probably can.

Quote from Wikipedia:
The original distance of Interstate 20 was 647 miles (1,041 km) from I-10 to the Louisiana border.
(wikipedia article "Interstate 20 in Texas")