Legions

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Confederates formed a number of Legions (mixed regiments consisting of cavalry companies, infantry companies, and an artillery battery). They were soon found to be unwieldy and broken up into their component parts.

But reading about engagements like Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove it seems in the Trans-Mississippi that mixed brigades (and small divisions that amounted to brigades) were common. Thus the mistake seems to have been trying to use the Legions in the major armies, like the ANV. They seem like they would have fit fine in a smaller theater, such as the Trans-Mississippi, East Tennessee, or the Shenandoah.

Not suggesting there should have been more of them, just that those that were formed could have been better utilized in the manner they were originally intended.

Thoughts?

P.S. how many true Legions of this nature were actually formed? I can recall Hampton, Cobb, Waul, and Thomas off the top of my head.

 

[Robin Lesjovitch]

Confederates formed a number of Legions (mixed regiments consisting of cavalry companies, infantry companies, and an artillery battery). They were soon found to be unwieldy and broken up into their component parts.

But reading about engagements like Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove it seems in the Trans-Mississippi that mixed brigades (and small divisions that amounted to brigades) were common. Thus the mistake seems to have been trying to use the Legions in the major armies, like the ANV. They seem like they would have fit fine in a smaller theater, such as the Trans-Mississippi, East Tennessee, or the Shenandoah.

Not suggesting there should have been more of them, just that those that were formed could have been better utilized in the manner they were originally intended.

Thoughts?

P.S. how many true Legions of this nature were actually formed? I can recall Hampton, Cobb, Waul, and Thomas off the top of my head.

A legion was intended to operate independently. Its usefulness on the flanks. front and rear of an army would seem obvious. What happened early in the war was that the soldiers were not battle ready, nor the officers experienced. I don't think senior commanders actually got the concept early on. But later, the idea caught on.Mixed arms formations were frequently created. They are common in the 20th Century.

 

[GELongstreet]

P.S. how many true Legions of this nature were actually formed? I can recall Hampton, Cobb, Waul, and Thomas off the top of my head.

Taking parts from the, despite mine and other's efforts probably still incomplete, list on wiki. Only actual mixed legions included here.

Confederate legions

• Cherokee Legion, a short-lived unit of the Georgia State Guard organized in 1863. It consisted of one battalion of infantry and one battalion of cavalry.
• Cobb's Legion or Georgia Legion, raised in the summer of 1861 by Colonel Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb
• Floyd Legion, a short-lived unit of the Georgia State Guard organized in 1863. It consisted of one battalion of infantry and one battalion of cavalry as well as an artillery battery.
• Hampton's Legion, raised in the summer of 1861 by Wade Hampton III
• Hilliard's Legion, organized in Montgomery, Alabama in June 1862, under the command of Colonel Henry Washington Hilliard. It was composed of five battalions: three infantry, one cavalry, and one artillery. It suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Chickamauga.
• Hindman's Legion, a unit raised and commanded by Thomas C. Hindman. Unapproved and quickly broken up; it consisted of the 2nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment, the 1st Arkansas Infantry Battalion, the 6th Arkansas Cavalry Battalion and Swett's Battery of Mississippi Light Artillery.
• Holcombe Legion, briefly known as Steven's Legion, a South Carolina unit raised in 1861 with an infantry battalion serving in the Army of Northern Virginia and a split cavalry battalion mostly serving at Richmond.
• Louisiana Legion. Established in 1821, it was "the oldest brigade in the city [New Orleans]. By the beginning of 1861 this consisted of the Orleans Battalion of Artillery, containing French and Spanish citizens; the Regiment of Light Infantry, composed of Germans; and the newly formed battalion of Chasseurs à Pied de la Louisiane."
• Miles' Legion, organized May 16 or 17, 1862 at Camp Moore, Louisiana, with an infantry and a cavalry battalion under the command of Colonel William R. Miles
• Phillips' Legion, organized circa June 1861 in Georgia, with one infantry and one cavalry battalion. The battalions were assigned to different units in 1862 and thereafter served apart.
• Smith's Legion, a Georgia unit existing in 1862 and 1863. The infantry battalion later joined the 65th Georgia Infantry and the cavalry battalion became part of the 6th Georgia Cavalry.
• Thomas' Legion, also known as Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders, and the 69th North Carolina. It was raised on September 27, 1862 by William Holland Thomas and incorporated a large number of Cherokee Indians. It fought in the last skirmish in North Carolina before surrendering on May 9, 1865.
• Waul's Legion, raised in spring 1862 by Brigadier General Thomas Neville Waul in Texas
• Wise Legion, a brigade-sized command organized by Brig. Gen. Henry A. Wise in 1861. Initially three regiments, later designated as 46th Virginia Infantry, 59th Virginia Infantry and 60th Virginia Infantry, formed the infantry component to which others were added. The cavalry regiment became the 10th Virginia Cavalry while the legion also had at least one battery (Hale's) of artillery.
• Wright's Legion, commanded by Col. Augustus R. Wright. Becoming the 38th Georgia Infantry; it consisted of eleven infantry companies, one of cavalry and one of artillery. Later the cavalry company was converted into infantry and the artillery battery was transferred.

Union legions

• 10th Legion, or 56th New York Infantry. Organized in October 1861 with eleven infantry companies, it acquired two light artillery batteries and two troops of cavalry.
• Purnell Legion. Organized October to December 1861 from Baltimore and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Consisting originally of nine infantry companies, two cavalry companies, and two light artillery batteries. It was broken up in early 1862, and elements served independently though the remainder of the war.

 

[DixieRifles]

Waul's Legion, raised in spring 1862 by Brigadier General Thomas Neville Waul in Texas

I'm trying to understand how this was organized and the when/where it was split up.
The cavalry was separated in April 1863 and placed under the command of Lt-Col. Leonidas Willis. The infantry and, I assume, their artillery were sent to defend Vicksburg but one battalion, or partial, remained at Fort Pemberton. So Waul's infantry was captured at Vicksburg and the other portion suffered heavy casualties at a meaningless fight at Yazoo City, Miss.

Tablet at Vicksburg NMP.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I'm trying to understand how this was organized and the when/where it was split up.

I think a new book on Waul's Legion came out recently.

 

[DixieRifles]

I think a new book on Waul's Legion came out recently.

I checked into the 3 books that have been published. I ordered one through inter-library loan and copied several pages. It sounds like none of these books are a good, complete history of the unit. Rather they are more of a roster of names or a collection of articles and quotes.

 

[Pollaco]

Wasn't there a Whitfield's Texas Legion?

 

[GELongstreet]

That was purely cavalry (later renamed 27th Texas Cav).

 

[speedylee]

Confederates formed a number of Legions (mixed regiments consisting of cavalry companies, infantry companies, and an artillery battery). They were soon found to be unwieldy and broken up into their component parts.

But reading about engagements like Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove it seems in the Trans-Mississippi that mixed brigades (and small divisions that amounted to brigades) were common. Thus the mistake seems to have been trying to use the Legions in the major armies, like the ANV. They seem like they would have fit fine in a smaller theater, such as the Trans-Mississippi, East Tennessee, or the Shenandoah.

Not suggesting there should have been more of them, just that those that were formed could have been better utilized in the manner they were originally intended.

Thoughts?

P.S. how many true Legions of this nature were actually formed? I can recall Hampton, Cobb, Waul, and Thomas off the top of my head.

I'd hasten to add Hilliard's Legion, best known for its fighting at Chickamauga.

 

[Willoughby Run]

Here's another one: Purnell Legion from Maryland. They were a Federal legion of nine companies of infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two batteries of light artillery from October 31, 1861 until February, 1862, when the legion was broken up into individual infantry, cavalry, and artillery units.

 

[TnFed]

Thomas Legion was used in East TN. I don't know about Smiths Legion, if it operated there or not.