Member Review Hood's Texas Brigade: The Soldiers and Families of the Confederacy's Most Celebrated Unit

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Susannah J. Ural (Author)
LSU Press (November 13, 2017)

One of the most effective units to fight on either side of the Civil War, the Texas Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia served under Robert E. Lee from the Seven Days Battles in 1862 to the surrender at Appomattox in 1865. In Hood’s Texas Brigade, Susannah J. Ural presents a nontraditional unit history that traces the experiences of these soldiers and their families to gauge the war’s effect on them and to understand their role in the white South’s struggle for independence.

According to Ural, several factors contributed to the Texas Brigade’s extraordinary success: the unit’s strong self-identity as Confederates; the mutual respect among the junior officers and their men; a constant desire to maintain their reputation not just as Texans but as the top soldiers in Robert E. Lee’s army; and the fact that their families matched the men’s determination to fight and win. Using the letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper accounts, official reports, and military records of nearly 600 brigade members, Ural argues that the average Texas Brigade volunteer possessed an unusually strong devotion to southern independence: whereas most Texans and Arkansans fought in the West or Trans- Mississippi West, members of the Texas Brigade volunteered for a unit that moved them over a thousand miles from home, believing that they would exert the greatest influence on the war’s outcome by fighting near the Confederate capital in Richmond. These volunteers also took pride in their place in, or connections to, the slave-holding class that they hoped would secure their financial futures. While Confederate ranks declined from desertion and fractured morale in the last years of the war, this belief in a better life―albeit one built through slave labor― kept the Texas Brigade more intact than other units.

Hood’s Texas Brigade challenges key historical arguments about soldier motivation, volunteerism and desertion, home-front morale, and veterans’ postwar adjustment. It provides an intimate picture of one of the war’s most effective brigades and sheds new light on the rationales that kept Confederate soldiers fighting throughout the most deadly conflict in U.S. history.

About the Author
Susannah J. Ural is professor of history and co-director of the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is the author of Don’t Hurry Me Down to Hades: The Civil War in the Words of Those Who Lived It and The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861–1865.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807167592/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

Disclaimer: This post is neither a recommendation nor solicitation by CivilWarTalk or Chellers. It is solely for informational purposes.
 
I'm really taken aback at what books cost these days. This is one I'd really like to read.

I've watched Dr. Ural's lectures on YouTube and really like her. I've got a dog in the Hood's Brigade Families angle and suppose I don't have much choice but to bite the bullet here. Thanks for posting.
 
I'm really taken aback at what books cost these days. This is one I'd really like to read.

I've watched Dr. Ural's lectures on YouTube and really like her. I've got a dog in the Hood's Brigade Families angle and suppose I don't have much choice but to bite the bullet here. Thanks for posting.
LSU press is a particular offender. They don't give much off for the Kindle either.
 
I've been looking forward to this one but I'll probably wait and see if it goes down in price. Should be well worth it, though. From what I've heard, Dr. Ural has put a lot of research into this book; it's been in the works for quite some time.

Edit: I eventually did get a copy and loved it! Posted this later in the thread: Dr. Ural mainly tells the brigade's history through its members, along with their motivations, why they fought, their personal experiences, backgrounds, families, etc. She ties that into the personality and character of the brigade itself. And, despite that, she does still cover the military history of the brigade in linear order - almost to the same degree as previous histories of the brigade, and sometimes with more detail because of the depth of her research. I was previously unaware of many of the sources she used. Very well researched and written. Definitely recommended.
 
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I've been looking forward to this one but I'll probably wait and see if it goes down in price. Should be well worth it though. From what I've heard Dr. Ural has put a lot of research into this book; its been in the works for quite some time.

I preordered over a year ago and publishing was delayed. I got notice it was shipped and supposed to arrive yesterday. It finally came today. It is expensive but I talked to Dr. Ural sometime ago about this and genuinely believe it will be worthwhile. It added to my Texas Brigade library and I'm thrilled it's finally out.
 
Susannah J. Ural is one of the speakers at the Hood's Texas Brigade Association Re-activated Symposium in Galveston on Dec. 1-2,2017. She was a speaker last year too. Bought her latest book then. Guess i better have an extra $36 this time. :D
 
Dr. Ural spoke at our round table meeting last night. She was terrific.

A few key points she made:

- The secret of the brigade's success was its officers and their relationship with the men.
- Their devotion to the confederacy was matched by their families' devotion to the confederacy.
- They were mostly transplants to Texas, not native-born Texans. Though they were proud of Texas, they were not more loyal to their state than anything else. Their loyalty was primarily to the South and to the confederacy.
- Two-thirds of the brigade came from the middle class. They were educated and many were professionals. 2/3 of the officers and 1/3 of the enlisted men were from slaveowning households.
- They left Texas for Virginia even before the confederate government had given them permission.
- Many did fight specifically for slavery. Others fought to retain their wealth, which was rooted in the institution of slavery. Others fought because they were fighting for local vs. federal power. Others fought for the life they wanted to leave to their children. Slavery cannot be taken out of their motivations.
- While in most units more men died from disease than in combat, in the Texas Brigade it was the opposite. More men of that brigade died in combat than from disease.
- While John Bell Hood only commanded them from the summer to the fall of 1862, when they formed their association after the war--after the loss of Atlanta, after Franklin and Nashville--they called themselves "Hood's Texas Brigade." None of Hood's problems changed their affection and admiration for him.
 
Two questions--I assume that the Army of Northern Virginia lost the Texas Brigade when (if) it went to Georgia with Longstreet? Right?
Second, considering the casualties both from illness and conflict, was this brigade reinforced with actual Texans and, if so, how did they manage to join their comrades in the East. Guess I'm asking if the author addresses these two matters.
 
Two questions--I assume that the Army of Northern Virginia lost the Texas Brigade when (if) it went to Georgia with Longstreet? Right?

Yes


Second, considering the casualties both from illness and conflict, was this brigade reinforced with actual Texans and, if so, how did they manage to join their comrades in the East. Guess I'm asking if the author addresses these two matters.

My namesake and several others were detailed back to Texas for recruiting during the winter when the armies were in camp.
 
Two questions--I assume that the Army of Northern Virginia lost the Texas Brigade when (if) it went to Georgia with Longstreet? Right?
Second, considering the casualties both from illness and conflict, was this brigade reinforced with actual Texans and, if so, how did they manage to join their comrades in the East. Guess I'm asking if the author addresses these two matters.

The ANV lost Longstreet's Corps to Georgia, including the Texans, yes. But that was temporary. They hiked back over the Blue Ridge Mountains just in time for the Battle of the Wilderness - this was the site of the famous Texas Brigade "General Lee to the rear!" scene and the place where General Longstreet was badly wounded repelling Union forces.

Your second question is a good one - let's see what the author has to say about it.
 
View attachment 163754

Susannah J. Ural (Author)
LSU Press (November 13, 2017)

One of the most effective units to fight on either side of the Civil War, the Texas Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia served under Robert E. Lee from the Seven Days Battles in 1862 to the surrender at Appomattox in 1865. In Hood’s Texas Brigade, Susannah J. Ural presents a nontraditional unit history that traces the experiences of these soldiers and their families to gauge the war’s effect on them and to understand their role in the white South’s struggle for independence.

According to Ural, several factors contributed to the Texas Brigade’s extraordinary success: the unit’s strong self-identity as Confederates; the mutual respect among the junior officers and their men; a constant desire to maintain their reputation not just as Texans but as the top soldiers in Robert E. Lee’s army; and the fact that their families matched the men’s determination to fight and win. Using the letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper accounts, official reports, and military records of nearly 600 brigade members, Ural argues that the average Texas Brigade volunteer possessed an unusually strong devotion to southern independence: whereas most Texans and Arkansans fought in the West or Trans- Mississippi West, members of the Texas Brigade volunteered for a unit that moved them over a thousand miles from home, believing that they would exert the greatest influence on the war’s outcome by fighting near the Confederate capital in Richmond. These volunteers also took pride in their place in, or connections to, the slave-holding class that they hoped would secure their financial futures. While Confederate ranks declined from desertion and fractured morale in the last years of the war, this belief in a better life―albeit one built through slave labor― kept the Texas Brigade more intact than other units.

Hood’s Texas Brigade challenges key historical arguments about soldier motivation, volunteerism and desertion, home-front morale, and veterans’ postwar adjustment. It provides an intimate picture of one of the war’s most effective brigades and sheds new light on the rationales that kept Confederate soldiers fighting throughout the most deadly conflict in U.S. history.

About the Author
Susannah J. Ural is professor of history and co-director of the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is the author of Don’t Hurry Me Down to Hades: The Civil War in the Words of Those Who Lived It and The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861–1865.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807167592/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

Disclaimer: This post is neither a recommendation nor solicitation by CivilWarTalk or Chellers. It is solely for informational purposes.
Did this brigade fight just with Hood during the war ? What part did he have in recruitment of these men and did the remain loyal to him though the losses ?
 
Second, considering the casualties both from illness and conflict, was this brigade reinforced with actual Texans and, if so, how did they manage to join their comrades in the East. Guess I'm asking if the author addresses these two matters.
As mentioned by @CMWinkler recruiting officers were sent back to Texas, however they could only gather so many men to refill the ranks and that wasn't possible after the fall of Vicksburg. In late 1863 and again in late 1864 the officers of the brigade requested to have it sent back across the Mississippi to refill its ranks, although that was turned down. At the Wilderness the brigade had only about 800 effectives and at Appomattox only 617 officers and men surrendered.

Did this brigade fight just with Hood during the war ? What part did he have in recruitment of these men and did the remain loyal to him though the losses ?
The brigade served in the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the war, with the exception of Longstreet's Corps' deployment to the Western Theater in 1863.

Hood was commissioned colonel of the 4th Texas Infantry in late 1861 and he assumed command of the Texas Brigade in early 1862. After he rose to division command the brigade remained in his division but they parted ways when he stayed with the Army of Tennessee. As with many other Confederate brigades they retained the name of their most well known brigade commander despite serving under several other brigadier generals.

I have a couple threads on the Texas Brigade:
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hoods-texas-brigade.130089/
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/men-of-hoods-texas-brigade.92547/
 
Did this brigade fight just with Hood during the war ? What part did he have in recruitment of these men and did the remain loyal to him though the losses ?

The original brigade commander was Louis Wigfall, a fire eating secessionist with no military experience. Wigfall became famous demanding the surrender of the garrison at Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor. He's the one who raised the Brigade, particularly the 1st Texas Infantry.

Hood was a West Pointer who took command of the Texans in early 1862. He was aggressive and very effective. His men loved him and remained loyal to him as he was promoted through the ranks. They kept his name and did yeoman's work without him for the remainder of the war.
 
Dr. Ural spoke at our round table meeting last night. She was terrific.

A few key points she made:

- The secret of the brigade's success was its officers and their relationship with the men.
- Their devotion to the confederacy was matched by their families' devotion to the confederacy.
- They were mostly transplants to Texas, not native-born Texans. Though they were proud of Texas, they were not more loyal to their state than anything else. Their loyalty was primarily to the South and to the confederacy.
- Two-thirds of the brigade came from the middle class. They were educated and many were professionals. 2/3 of the officers and 1/3 of the enlisted men were from slaveowning households.
- They left Texas for Virginia even before the confederate government had given them permission.
- Many did fight specifically for slavery. Others fought to retain their wealth, which was rooted in the institution of slavery. Others fought because they were fighting for local vs. federal power. Others fought for the life they wanted to leave to their children. Slavery cannot be taken out of their motivations.
- While in most units more men died from disease than in combat, in the Texas Brigade it was the opposite. More men of that brigade died in combat than from disease.
- While John Bell Hood only commanded them from the summer to the fall of 1862, when they formed their association after the war--after the loss of Atlanta, after Franklin and Nashville--they called themselves "Hood's Texas Brigade." None of Hood's problems changed their affection and admiration for him.

Based upon the Introduction and the first couple chapters, this is a good overview. JB Hood was commander of the 4th Texas, then the Brigade and finally the division until servely wounded, a second time, at Gettysburg. The Brigade never lost their respect for him nor did he lose their affection.
 
Two questions--I assume that the Army of Northern Virginia lost the Texas Brigade when (if) it went to Georgia with Longstreet? Right?
Second, considering the casualties both from illness and conflict, was this brigade reinforced with actual Texans and, if so, how did they manage to join their comrades in the East. Guess I'm asking if the author addresses these two matters.


yes and no. The Texas Brigade went with Longstreet in the fall 1863 and fought at Chickamauga. It was part of the 2 divisions that Longstreet came back to VA with and served in the Overland.
 
I will pick a few nits based upon my reading so far and they are nits which probably wouldn't be noticed by anyone else, but I have.

1. The font size is too small for old men.
2. People from Indiana are not Indianians, they are Hoosiers.
3. Howdy Martin, a great officer, was not the regimental commander of the 4th Texas at the end of the war, my namesake was. Howdy was the Major in the regiment.

I'll finish the book over the Thanksgiving holiday and try to give a more thoughtful and nuanced review.
 
The original brigade commander was Louis Wigfall, a fire eating secessionist with no military experience. Wigfall became famous demanding the surrender of the garrison at Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor. He's the one who raised the Brigade, particularly the 1st Texas Infantry.

Hood was a West Pointer who took command of the Texans in early 1862. He was aggressive and very effective. His men loved him and remained loyal to him as he was promoted through the ranks. They kept his name and did yeoman's work without him for the remainder of the war.
Even as he led them into the Shadows of Death? What was this divisions rate of death ? Who had the most respect from his men Hood or Johnson at the end of the war? The worse thing to happen in his life or career was to be given the command of the army at Atlanta and then at Bentonville. He was an accomplished general in command of a corp or division but lackede the character to be in command of an entire army.
 
Even as he led them into the Shadows of Death? What was this divisions rate of death ? Who had the most respect from his men Hood or Johnson at the end of the war? The worse thing to happen in his life or career was to be given the command of the army at Atlanta and then at Bentonville. He was an accomplished general in command of a corp or division but lackede the character to be in command of an entire army.
The Texas Brigade wasn't under Hood in the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns. Of course they heard of what happened but the veterans of the brigade still admired and respected him just the same after the war. They knew Hood as their brigade and division commander who led them to success in earlier battles. Other Texans who served in the Army of Tennessee, however, had varying opinions about him; some in Granbury's Texas Brigade were pretty bitter over what happened at Franklin.

Hood's Texas Brigade and Hood's division suffered heavy losses in most of the major battles they were in, but mainly for reasons outside of Hood's control and not much more so than other brigades and divisions in the army. And they often had good results to show for those losses.
 
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