Charge of the 5th Texas Lancers

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Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley and his brigade of over 2,500 men, consisting mostly of Texans, marched up the valley of the Rio Grande toward the territorial capital of Santa Fe and the Federal storehouses at Fort Union. Fort Craig sat in his path on the west side of the Rio Grande, garrisoned by 3,800 Federal troops under Col. Edward Canby. Not only did the garrison pose a threat to Sibley, but he also hoped to capture the supplies therein. Rather than attack the fort head-on, Sibley instead opted to draw the garrison out and fight a pitched battle outside.

The following day, February 21, 1862, Sibley sent an advanced party of four companies of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles under Maj. Charles Pyron and the 4th Texas Mounted Volunteers under Lt. Col. William Read Scurry to scout ahead and cross Valverde Ford, six miles ahead of Fort Craig. Canby anticipated their move and sent a force of infantry, cavalry and artillery under the command of Lt. Col. Benjamin S. Roberts, 5th New Mexico Infantry, to hold it.

By late morning both sides were engaged in desultory firing across the ford, and as reinforcements began to arrive the fight grew larger and the battle swayed back and forth. Many of the Texans were, however, not properly armed for long range combat, most with only shotguns and pistols. A few companies were armed with rifles, those men being deployed as skirmishers or sharpshooters.

Two companies of the 5th Texas Mounted Volunteers were armed with nine-foot-long wooden lances tipped with twelve-inch-long and three-inch-wide steel blades. One company was raised in Marlin, Texas, by Capt. Willis L. Lang, a former planter and Texas Ranger. It was mustered into service at Camp Sibley near San Antonio on September 2, 1861, as Company B of Col. Thomas Green's 5th Texas Mounted Volunteers. The other was raised and commanded by Capt. Jerome B. McCown in Hempstead, Texas, and became Company G of the regiment.

Canby moved most of his force to the eastern bank of the river. Sibley was sitting back with the wagons all day, thought to be either sick or drunk, so Col. Thomas Green assumed command. His 5th Texas was handed over to Maj. Samuel Lockridge.

At 2:00 p.m., Canby's right and center were stalling in their advance but his left was moving forward. In order to disrupt the Federal movement, Col. Green ordered the two lancer companies to charge the far Federal right flank. The attack may have been countermanded at the last moment by Green; however, only McCown's Company G heard the order and Lang's Company B did not. Whatever the case, only Company B charged.*

A bugle sounded and the company galloped out from behind a sand embankment and headed toward the Federal line, only 300 yards away. Those Federal troops to their front were 71 men in Co. B of the 2nd Colorado Infantry who, according to one participant, were ordered into a square formation to hold off the coming charge. Capt. Theodore H. Dodd, commanding the Colorado company, steadied his "mountaineers," pressuring them to hold their fire until the lancers were close.

At 40 yards, Capt. Dodd gave the command to fire, sending a devastating volley of buck and ball into the Texans and knocking the first rank to the ground. Some lancers may have turned back at that point, seeing their comrades fall and realizing their charge was unsupported; however, a number kept on charging. A second volley followed at almost point blank range, bringing down those who made it that far. The remnants went fleeing back and the charge was over only seconds after it began.

Alonzo F. Ickis, one of Dodd's Coloradans, says:

"three Cos. of Mounted Lancier Rangers made a charge on our Co. which was but 71 strong in the field - the boys waited until they got within 40 yds of us when they took deliberate aim and it was fun to see the texans fall - they wavered for a few moments and then they came and fierce looking fellows they were with their long lances raised but when they got to us we were loaded again and then we gave them the buck and ball - after the second volley there were but few of them left and but one of them got away - the others were shot one bayoneted - G Simpson ran his bayonet through one and then shot the top of his head off."

9 men in Lang's company were killed and 11 wounded - and many, if not most of their horses were killed. Anywhere from 40 to 70 Texans had made the charge.** Capt. Lang was riddled. Not only was he struck by six bullets, but a canister shot tore away his saddle horn and wounded him severely. Lt. Demetrius M. Bass, Lang's second in command, was also badly wounded, his arm shattered and later amputated.

Lang was in much pain the following week. Realizing that his wounds were untreatable, he sent his body servant to bring him his revolver, with which he committed suicide on March 2, 1862. Lt. Bass also later succumbed to his wounds. Lt. Benton Bell Seat of Co. F, 5th Texas, wrote that Lang "was a modest nice man, well educated, and it almost made me sick to hear the sad news. . . . I recalled the fact that only the week before he and I had ridden side by side for hours . . . and he was decidedly pessimistic as to the outcome of our expedition."

On the other side, Dodd's company of Coloradans had suffered no casualties repulsing the charge. After the battle, the Texans reportedly threw the lances in a pile and burned them, some men rearming themselves with firearms picked up off the field.

After 3:00 p.m., Col. Canby arrived on the battlefield and decided to advance his right and center while using his left as a pivot, thus forcing the Confederate left. Col. Green therefore decided to send in Maj. Henry R. Raguet's cavalry to attack and slow the Federal right. Raguet advanced to within 100 yards of the Union guns before being driven off. At the same time, Green ordered Lt. Col. William Read Scurry to advance his men on the Federal center.

Scurry's attack proved to be the decisive maneuver of the battle. Capt. Alexander McRae's Battery, located at Canby's left center, poured a hail of canister into the charging Texans; but by dropping to the ground at every discharge, then jumping up and running forward while shooting, they overran the guns and crew, fighting hand-to-hand. Within eight minutes the Texans had taken the Union battery; Capt. McRae and half of his men died defending their guns. With the center broken, the Union line collapsed and fled into the Rio Grande.

Before Green could pursue his forces any further, Canby requested a truce to gather the dead and wounded. Overall, Valverde was a tactical victory for Sibley's Brigade; they were left in possession of the field, although they had failed to take Fort Craig or destroy Canby's force. Sibley's Brigade suffered 183 casualties and Canby's force 432.


*One participant remembered things a bit differently. According to Lt. Phil Fulcrod, commanding a section of Teel's Battery, Capt. Lang twice rode up to Lt. Col. William R. Scurry of the 4th Texas Mounted Volunteers and requested permission to charge, Scurry initially refusing but consenting the second time. Lang then formed his lancers in front of Teel's Battery, made a short speech, brought them to attention, then gave the order to charge.

**The number of lancers in the company vary by source. As to the losses, the following letter was written by Capt. Lang to a friend shortly before his death:

Cecera, New Mexico, February 27, 1862

Z. Bartlett

Dear Sir:
We have met the enemy near Fort Craigg and gained a signal battle. Our victory was complete. The enemy were 3,000 strong with 7 pieces of Artillery. The loss on their side was very great, full (300) three hundred killed and sixteen wagon loads wounded. Our loss was 45 killed and about 60 wounded. We took all their Artillery. The charge upon the Artillery was terrible, and what is astonishing, but few fell—the greatest loss was on our little company9 were killed, to wit: Andrew Bell, Isaac Marlin, Henry Persons, Joseph Curry, F. Conty, Silas Ivins, J. Dougheity, Robert Mitchell, and J. Furgeson; 11 wounded, to-wit: Lieutenant Bass, Get Forbes, J. Sanders, Ed S. Shelton, Pen Parker, Jack Davis, Hillery Persons, J. A. Lea, Wade Coleman, George Bolster, and myself. None are severely wounded but Mr. Bass, whose left arm is so completely fractured and shot to pieces that he was obliged to have it amputated this morning. He received 7 shots in all, and Jack Davis was also severely wounded. My own wound is dangerous. Those who are called to shed a tear over the fate of their relative or friend may have the consolation that it was not over a coward. The conduct of the company will elicit applause from friend and foe. Please send copies of this letter throughout the county that the friends may know who have fallen and who have been injured.


Respectfully yours,
Willis L. Lang

(The Marlin Compound: Letters of a Singular Family by Frank Calvert Oltorf, pp. 110-11)

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I read that with the introduction of rifled weapons, the time that it took a Cavalryman to charge across 100 yards, it was possible for a well trained infantryman to be able to fire three shots. I guess at that point, the head on cavalry charge became nothing more than a suicide mission. There must have been a number of incidents where cavalry tactics had to change, the loss of the Texas Cavalry at Northeast Arkansas being such an incident.
 
I read that with the introduction of rifled weapons, the time that it took a Cavalryman to charge across 100 yards, it was possible for a well trained infantryman to be able to fire three shots. I guess at that point, the head on cavalry charge became nothing more than a suicide mission. There must have been a number of incidents where cavalry tactics had to change, the loss of the Texas Cavalry at Northeast Arkansas being such an incident.
Well, in this case the Coloradans were armed with smoothbore muskets firing buck & ball. They waited til the lancers were within 40 yards before letting loose a volley, and with a second there was almost nothing left.

Btw, a good account of the charge from one of "Pike's Peakers" was posted here: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/a-union-soldiers-account-of-the-lancer-charge-at-valverde.130820/

In the hands of well-trained troops, the rifle musket could be devastating to a cavalry charge; but most soldiers in the ACW had little if any proper marksmanship training with the rifle musket, and usually waited until the enemy was in close range til they opened fire anyway.

Early in the war, there were a few other head-on mounted charges against infantry that were totally decimated - the 5th US Cavalry at Gaines Mill and 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry at Cedar Mountain, for example. However, those were by a single regiment. Later in the war, larger, division-sized cavalry charges by more experienced Union cavalry and commanders saw major success at Third Winchester, Cedar Creek, and Sailor's Creek.

Of course there were also other variables in play that might determine whether a cavalry charge was successful or not, such as rough terrain, how sturdy the defending infantrymen were, etc.
 
Well, in this case the Coloradans were armed with smoothbore muskets firing buck & ball. They waited til the lancers were within 40 yards before letting loose a volley, and with a second there was almost nothing left.

Thanks..:thumbsup:
 
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