Texas Garrison 1861

[Whitfield's Legion]

Do we know what regiments were stationed in Texas in 1861? (San Antonio, Frontier Forts, Etc,) And what happened to the men who surrendered? I know of the 8th US Inf getting captured and Earl Van Dorn delivering a speech convincing a few of them to join the southern cause.

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

Do we know what regiments were stationed in Texas in 1861? (San Antonio, Frontier Forts, Etc,) And what happened to the men who surrendered? I know of the 8th US Inf getting captured and Earl Van Dorn delivering a speech convincing a few of them to join the southern cause.

Yes we do know what regiments were stationed in Texas in 1861. Check out the link for the station list for details. As to what became of the men ((2,600 or so) afterwards, many were permitted to leave immediately, some were held captive for a time before being paroled and the remaining few were finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1863. Relatively few of the enlisted personnel deserted. The commanding general David Twiggs was the most senior of the officers to defect to the South. His dismissal from the US Army for treacherously surrendering his command was richly deserved.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433008010542&seq=57&q1=Texas&start=1

 

[Don Dixon]

An indication of the political drift going on in the Buchanan administration between Lincoln's election as president in November 1860 and his inauguration in March 1861 may be seen in an exchange of correspondence between Major General David E. Twiggs [1790-1862], a Georgian and the U.S. Army commander in Texas, and the office of Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, Commander of the U.S. Army. In a 13 December 1860 letter Twiggs observed that many of the southern states, including Texas, would secede from the Union prior to Lincoln's inauguration and asked Scott what he should do with the supplies held at the national arsenal at San Antonio. With no guidance from Buchanan, Scott declined to provide direction and Ex officio Lieutenant Colonel George W. Lay, Scott's aide de camp, responded to Twiggs with no useful advice:

"In cases of political disturbances, involving local conflict with the authority of the General Government, the General-in-Chief considers that the military questions, such as you suggest, contain a political element, with due regard to which, and in due deference to the chief executive authority, no extraordinary instructions concerning them must be issued without the consent of such authority…
The General does not see at this moment that he can tender you any special advice, but leaves the administration of your command to your own hands…" (Thomas, Confederate Arsenals, III, 998-9)

On 1 February 1861, the Texas Secession Convention passed the state's Ordinance of Secession which was submitted to the people of Texas for their approval on 23 February, with the referendum passing 46,153 to 14,747.

Although Texas had not yet formally seceded, Major General Twiggs surrendered his forces and facilities, including the San Antonio Arsenal, at the demand of Texas authorities on 16 February. Under the terms of the surrender cartel his officers and enlisted personnel were to be permitted to depart the state with their small arms and the two artillery batteries under his command with four guns each. In the absence of railroads, it took time to evacuate the troops from the far-flung military posts of Twiggs' former command, and by the time Fort Sumter was fired upon only about half of the troops had been evacuated. In an utterly dishonorable betrayal of Twiggs' surrender cartel with Texas authorities, President Davis directed that those who remained be taken prisoner. Most of the soldiers were not paroled and released until 1863. This was merely the first in a continuing series of violations of surrender cartels by the Confederate government. Twiggs was dismissed from the U.S. Army by Secretary Cameron for "treachery to the flag of his country" for having surrendered. He subsequently accepted a commission as a major general from the Confederacy but was too old to take to the field and resigned.

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

Good post. I would quibble with your last paragraph over a bit of detail. General Orders No. 5, issued by the War Department on March 1, 1861, dismissed Twiggs by direction of the President (James Buchanan). Joseph Holt was still Secretary of War when this order was issued. Cameron did not assume office until March 5th.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015035909376&seq=17&q1=Twiggs&start=1

 

[Stryker65]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bnGkZ1fwoaHLttc0VPWN9-N7wiYMHxe-Tjk7hcTdUdM/edit?tab=t.0

Check out my document here, which gives the complete organization of the US Army in 1861, including the Department of Texas, which begins on page 14.

For a more general breakdown, the summary of troops was as follows:
- Brig. Gen./Bvt. Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs
- A, G, H, I, K, and HQ, 1st US Infantry: Col. Carlos Waite and Lt. Col. Gouverneur Morris
- 3rd US Infantry: Col. Benjamin L. E. Bonneville, Lt. Col. Electus Backus, and Maj. Caleb C. Sibley
- 8th US Infantry: Lt. Col. William Hoffman
- 2nd US Cavalry: Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee
- F, K, L, and M, 1st US Artillery
- M, 2nd US Artillery

Other notables (or soon-to-be notables) present in the department included E. Kirby Smith, George Stoneman, William H. French, Richard W. Johnson, Earl Van Dorn, Joseph A. Mower, and Henry M. Lazelle.

 

[Stryker65]

Do we know what regiments were stationed in Texas in 1861? (San Antonio, Frontier Forts, Etc,) And what happened to the men who surrendered? I know of the 8th US Inf getting captured and Earl Van Dorn delivering a speech convincing a few of them to join the southern cause.

Richard P. Weinert does a very good study of desertions from the Texas prisoners in this article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1984058?seq=4. In it, he finds that a whopping 319 men deserted from the 1st and 3rd Infantries, 2nd Cavalry, and 1st and 2nd Artilleries in Texas. Considering that only five companies of those units were captured, AND considering that there aren't any records for desertions in the 8th Infantry, which was ENTIRELY captured, I'd hazard the guess that quite a few more men deserted than the Union wanted to admit.

The prisoners were captured in two groups. Seven companies were captured off Saluria on April 24, where they were paroled two days later and allowed to travel to NYC. Six more companies were captured at San Lucas Springs on May 9 -- however, these men were held as POWs for almost a year, which is presumably how desertions happened.

The POWs that enlisted became the nucleus of the short-lived CS Regular Army, which is the point of Weinert's article. However, their numbers never surpassed a couple hundred, and the idea was abandoned. The one complete infantry company was broken up, many members going to William Edgar's First Texas Battery; the one complete cavalry company became Van Dorn's personal escort, and after his death became the escort to Brig. Gen. Frank C. Armstrong -- one of the only officers to fight on both sides during the war -- and ended the war as part of the 2nd Mississippi Cavalry.

 

[RedRover]

Do we know what regiments were stationed in Texas in 1861? (San Antonio, Frontier Forts, Etc,) And what happened to the men who surrendered? I know of the 8th US Inf getting captured and Earl Van Dorn delivering a speech convincing a few of them to join the southern cause.

Some of the Regulars in Texas were subsequently carried by Government chartered transports to secure Forts Jefferson and Taylor about the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas...

I recall at least one of the companies also ended up at Fort Pickens near Pensacola.

Several companies of cavalry and artillery that got out of Texas were present at the Battle of Manassas in July, 1861.

Richard P. Weinert does a very good study of desertions from the Texas prisoners in this article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1984058?seq=4. In it, he finds that a whopping 319 men deserted from the 1st and 3rd Infantries, 2nd Cavalry, and 1st and 2nd Artilleries in Texas. Considering that only five companies of those units were captured, AND considering that there aren't any records for desertions in the 8th Infantry, which was ENTIRELY captured, I'd hazard the guess that quite a few more men deserted than the Union wanted to admit.

The prisoners were captured in two groups. Seven companies were captured off Saluria on April 24, where they were paroled two days later and allowed to travel to NYC. Six more companies were captured at San Lucas Springs on May 9 -- however, these men were held as POWs for almost a year, which is presumably how desertions happened.

There were 43 deserters among the regulars in Texas in January, 1861. Then 319 deserters from the regular units in Texas occurred from January to April, 1861 during the secession crisis according to Mr. Weinert's history of the Confederate Regular Army, (the book) p. 26. These desertions were principally prior to the commencement of the war in mid-April apparently.
For example, of about 100 privates who deserted the 2nd US Cavalry (later 5th Cavalry) in Texas in the spring of 1861, they deserted before the regiment marched out of Texas in February-March, 1861:

And before the commencement of the war...

The commencement of the war was on April 12, according to the USA, the President noting:

President Lincoln noted in July, 1861 that since that commencement of the "hour of trial" (particularly April 12) to that time there were no "known" desertions to the enemy by Regular Army enlisted men.

But there were some.

A soldier recording their capture and imprisonment in Texas as Prisoners of War from the commencement of the war noted later that a few of the 8th's men deserted specifically to join the Confederates during July-August, 1861...

From April 1861 to March 1865, the Government recorded 5 officers and 1,274 enlisted men deserted from the Regular Army nation wide. How many from among the POWs in Texas is apparently not been exactly calculated.

Martin Hardwick's "Confederate Army in New Mexico" (1978) has some Confederate rosters with notices of some of the men who had deserted from the US service among them; deserted either before or after the commencement of the war.

Someone would have to go through the Regular Army enlistment register, which gives the final disposition of each man to get the whole number, and compare notices of desertions in Texas in 1861 with the surviving Confederate records.

The POWs that enlisted became the nucleus of the short-lived CS Regular Army, which is the point of Weinert's article. However, their numbers never surpassed a couple hundred, and the idea was abandoned. The one complete infantry company was broken up, many members going to William Edgar's First Texas Battery; the one complete cavalry company became Van Dorn's personal escort, and after his death became the escort to Brig. Gen. Frank C. Armstrong -- one of the only officers to fight on both sides during the war -- and ended the war as part of the 2nd Mississippi Cavalry.

The troops surrendered by General Twiggs in March, 1861 were not POW prisoners of war. The deserters were just classed as deserters. Only those in Texas from the commencement of the war in April were held as POWs, and Van Dorn was ordered to attempt to recruit them to desert the US Army and join the Confederate Army:

The number who did so was reported to be small.


Where General Van Dorn subsequently reported from San Antonio in June, 1861 that he had mustered into service the company of "old soldiers" under Captain Edgar, which is that which served with McCulloch's command... and sent a similar company of "old soldiers" to Fort Bliss, it might not regard specifically deserters. The report quoted by Weinert read:

Mr. Wienert (p. 26 of his book) presumes this is a reference to US Army deserters, and that these units might have been part of the Confederate Regular Army. But these were not Confederate Regular Army units. The C.S. Regular Army enlisted men in the Confederate service (the few there were of them during the war), as in the USA, individually and not mustered in as volunteers.
Captain Edgar's Artillery Company was originally the "Alamo City Guards" of San Antonio, which entered Texas State service before the war. And after being mustered into Confederate Army service, was in the "Provisional" CS Army:

And while it is possible some US Army Deserters of '61 were among them, many of the "Old soldiers" mentioned were likely men recruited from among the population of US Army veterans resident in Texas. As of 1860 this class comprised a large number.

So numbers of the citizens in Texas, including San Antonio, many of whom abided the secession/Confederate authorities were discharged "old soldiers"...

Regarding the US Army Deserters of '61, the Confederates found them to be just such hard bargains for the most part apparently, as the 8th Infantry chap previously quoted presumed. They were not in the regular CSA service, but the Provisional Army with the 3rd Texas Volunteers with Captain Buquor's and Captain Marmion's companies...

Captain Buquor's company was mustered into Confederate Army service on May 25, 1861, and served as Company A, 3rd Texas Volunteer Infantry, CSA.
Captain Marmion's company of artillery from Bexar County was mustered into Confederate Army service September 18, 1861, and was in 1862 reorganized as Company G, 3rd Texas Volunteer Infantry, CSA.

 

[Stryker65]

Some of the Regulars in Texas were subsequently carried by Government chartered transports to secure Forts Jefferson and Taylor about the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas...

View attachment 578943

I recall at least one of the companies also ended up at Fort Pickens near Pensacola.

Several companies of cavalry and artillery that got out of Texas were present at the Battle of Manassas in July, 1861.

I cover the Manassas Regulars in my thread from the FBR forum: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/from-whence-came-those-regulars.216463/

There were 43 deserters among the regulars in Texas in January, 1861. Then 319 deserters from the regular units in Texas occurred from January to April, 1861 during the secession crisis according to Mr. Weinert's history of the Confederate Regular Army, (the book) p. 26. These desertions were principally prior to the commencement of the war in mid-April apparently.
For example, of about 100 privates who deserted the 2nd US Cavalry (later 5th Cavalry) in Texas in the spring of 1861, they deserted before the regiment marched out of Texas in February-March, 1861:

View attachment 579002

And before the commencement of the war...

View attachment 579005
View attachment 579003
View attachment 579004


The commencement of the war was on April 12, according to the USA, the President noting:

View attachment 579016

President Lincoln noted in July, 1861 that since that commencement of the "hour of trial" (particularly April 12) to that time there were no "known" desertions to the enemy by Regular Army enlisted men.

View attachment 578942

But there were some.

A soldier recording their capture and imprisonment in Texas as Prisoners of War from the commencement of the war noted later that a few of the 8th's men deserted specifically to join the Confederates during July-August, 1861...

View attachment 579001

From April 1861 to March 1865, the Government recorded 5 officers and 1,274 enlisted men deserted from the Regular Army nation wide. How many from among the POWs in Texas is apparently not been exactly calculated.

Martin Hardwick's "Confederate Army in New Mexico" (1978) has some Confederate rosters with notices of some of the men who had deserted from the US service among them; deserted either before or after the commencement of the war.

Someone would have to go through the Regular Army enlistment register, which gives the final disposition of each man to get the whole number, and compare notices of desertions in Texas in 1861 with the surviving Confederate records.



The troops surrendered by General Twiggs in March, 1861 were not POW prisoners of war. The deserters were just classed as deserters. Only those in Texas from the commencement of the war in April were held as POWs, and Van Dorn was ordered to attempt to recruit them to desert the US Army and join the Confederate Army:

View attachment 579006

The number who did so was reported to be small.


Where General Van Dorn subsequently reported from San Antonio in June, 1861 that he had mustered into service the company of "old soldiers" under Captain Edgar, which is that which served with McCulloch's command... and sent a similar company of "old soldiers" to Fort Bliss, it might not regard specifically deserters. The report quoted by Weinert read:

View attachment 579010

Mr. Wienert (p. 26 of his book) presumes this is a reference to US Army deserters, and that these units might have been part of the Confederate Regular Army. But these were not Confederate Regular Army units. The C.S. Regular Army enlisted men in the Confederate service (the few there were of them during the war), as in the USA, individually and not mustered in as volunteers.
Captain Edgar's Artillery Company was originally the "Alamo City Guards" of San Antonio, which entered Texas State service before the war. And after being mustered into Confederate Army service, was in the "Provisional" CS Army:

View attachment 579011

And while it is possible some US Army Deserters of '61 were among them, many of the "Old soldiers" mentioned were likely men recruited from among the population of US Army veterans resident in Texas. As of 1860 this class comprised a large number.

View attachment 579012

View attachment 579014

So numbers of the citizens in Texas, including San Antonio, many of whom abided the secession/Confederate authorities were discharged "old soldiers"...

View attachment 579013



Regarding the US Army Deserters of '61, the Confederates found them to be just such hard bargains for the most part apparently, as the 8th Infantry chap previously quoted presumed. They were not in the regular CSA service, but the Provisional Army with the 3rd Texas Volunteers with Captain Buquor's and Captain Marmion's companies...

View attachment 579008
View attachment 579009

Captain Buquor's company was mustered into Confederate Army service on May 25, 1861, and served as Company A, 3rd Texas Volunteer Infantry, CSA.
Captain Marmion's company of artillery from Bexar County was mustered into Confederate Army service September 18, 1861, and was in 1862 reorganized as Company G, 3rd Texas Volunteer Infantry, CSA.

Ah, you're right! I always wondered why the histories of Edgar's battery being a state unit never aligned with what Weinert said.