- Joined
- Aug 9, 2011
- Location
- Lockhart, Texas
One of the issues with the Texas troops serving in Louisiana and Arkansas in 1864 was the possibility of being sent east across the Mississippi River, taking them further from Texas. Many of the Texans were fine with fighting in states adjacent to Texas to defend their homeland--Texas--from Yankee invaders, but were not so committed to serving the greater Confederacy. Not an uncommon issue with soldiers from all the southern states to a lesser or greater extent. In J. Blessington's wonderfully detailed and often blunt memoir written in 1875, most likely written from his personal diary while a member of Brigade General Scurry's staff, he includes this comment about what happened on October 16, 1864:
"On the evening of the 16th we witnessed the melancholy performance of shooting Captain John Guynes, Company F, 22nd Texas Infantry. He was accused of encouraging his men to desert, when we were expected to cross the Mississippi River. He was a man about fifty years old and very much admired by his men and well liked by the officers of the brigade. Every effort was made to have his reprieve, but all without avail."
Not the good captain deserted and went home to Texas himself, but he failed in his duty as a company commander by letting his men know going home was okay with him. And ironically, his company, regiment, brigade, and division never crossed the Mississippi River. They were ordered back to Texas.
I used Blessington's book extensively while researching the daily movements and activities of Walker's Division in Louisiana when writing "With Might & Main," my historical novel about the 17th Texas Volunteer Infantry in Scurry's Brigade.
"On the evening of the 16th we witnessed the melancholy performance of shooting Captain John Guynes, Company F, 22nd Texas Infantry. He was accused of encouraging his men to desert, when we were expected to cross the Mississippi River. He was a man about fifty years old and very much admired by his men and well liked by the officers of the brigade. Every effort was made to have his reprieve, but all without avail."
Not the good captain deserted and went home to Texas himself, but he failed in his duty as a company commander by letting his men know going home was okay with him. And ironically, his company, regiment, brigade, and division never crossed the Mississippi River. They were ordered back to Texas.
I used Blessington's book extensively while researching the daily movements and activities of Walker's Division in Louisiana when writing "With Might & Main," my historical novel about the 17th Texas Volunteer Infantry in Scurry's Brigade.