Benjamin L. Bowen's :
The Exploits of Waul's Texas Legion Table of Contents.
[ Willis' Battalion Texas Cavalry main page
] [ Official CSA correspondence]
[ Roster for Company F ]
The dates and locations of the battles, actions, skimishes etc. are gleaned from various sources which include previously published printed materials, digitized sources, material such as confederate correspondence, written accounts, regimental histories, autobiographies, information from the National Parks Service and the National Archives, etc.
The task of determining the wherabouts of and therefore accounting the exploits of Waul's Texas Legion has led us on a crooked path that leads from Texas to Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi,Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. It also places us face to face with figures such as Colonel T.N. Waul, later promoted to Brigadier General as well as Generals Pemberton, Loring and Stevenson, Chalmers, S.D. Lee, Bowen and others, as they make a stand against an overwhelming army of the federal forces of Grant and Sherman at prior to and during the siege of Vicksburg.
The journey gives us a glimpse into the lives of Colonel Robert McCulloch of Mississipppi who's fate and fortune is intertwined with that of Lt. colonel Leonidas Willis' battalion of Texas cavalry. It will run us point blank into events such as the siege of Vicksburg, Jackson and the events at the infamous Fort Pillow with General Nathan B. Forrest and many others.Waul's Texas Legion never operated as a single command, but the components were in close proximity until the surrender of Pemberton at Vicksburg. In many of the correspondence and records Willis' batallion of Texas cavalry is referred to as Waul's cavalry, Willis' battalion, the Texas Brigade , Texas squadron and other designations.
A cavalry unit was much prized by the field commanders. These men seemed to be the "elite" forces that could hit and run at the enemy, could act quickly and were effective at delaying enemy advances, protecting the movements of infantry and generally wreaking havoc upon enemy forces. These cavalry units were then in high demand by field generals, and saw much action of various kinds, from battles and skirmishes to destroying or laying railroad lines, cutting telegraph lines and transporting supplies and materials.
During May-July 1863 Waul's Texas legion, commanded by Colonel Waul was in the Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana, of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton General Loring's command at fort Pemberton then with the exception of the companies of Captain J.W. Stell ( Cavalry Company "B" ), and Captain B.F. Weeks ( Cavalry Company "C") and Captain Robert Voigt ( Infantry Company "C") which were attached to Major H.W. Bridges Battalion moved on to defend Vicksburg.
Virginia S. DuBowy of The National Parks Service at Vicksburg has sent us the following information.
"Waul's Texas Legion 1862-1865," by Robert A. Hasskarl and Captain Leif R.Hasskarl (1985), states the following:
"On January 2, 1863, Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton issued orders placing Waul's Legion in the First Division of his army. The division, composed of Tilghman's brigade, Rust's brigade, and Waul's Legion, was to be commanded by Major General W.W. Loring.
"After the battle at Ft. Pemberton, Waul's Legion marched south and joined in the defense of Vicksburg. However, Major H.W. Bridges' Battalion of the Legion was detached and sent to defend Yazoo City on May 22, 1863.
The Battalion contained Captain B.F. Week's,( Cavalry Company "C") Captain J.W. Stell's ( Cavalry Company "B" )and Captain Robert Voigt's( Infantry Company "C") of the Legion, along with companies from the 2nd Missouri and 2nd Arkansas Regiments.
[ Bridges Arkansas Cavalry Battalion
This unit was attached to Brig. Gen. J. W. Whitfield's 2nd Brigade of Brig. Gen. William H. (Red) Jackson's Cavalry Division, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Relief, Department of the West and was commanded by Maj. Henry W. Bridges.
[Refer to Edwin Bearss' The Vicksburg Campaign, Volume III, page 1152.]
Gen. Jackson's division was ordered from the Department of Tennessee about 26 May 1863 and was headquartered near Canton, MS on 4 June 1863, at Vernon, MS on 13, 18, 21 & 23 June 1863.]NPS @ Vicksburg
On September 4, 1863
By command of Major General S. D. Lee The organization known as Bridge's cavalry battalion was disbanded, and the companies composing it reported to Brigadier-General Chalmers, commanding Chalmers' cavalry brigade, for assignment to duty with their respective commands Captain Stell's company & Captain Weeks' company returned to Willis' cavalry battalion. (Waul's Texas Legion).
"The portion of the Legion which entered Vicksburg on May 17 [1863], and was present during the battle, consisted of eleven companies of infantry, one company of artillery, a detachment of cavalry and a battalion of Zouaves, attached to the Legion.
The organization within the Legionwere:
1st Battalion (Infantry), Maj. Eugene S. Bolling;
2nd Battalion (Infantry), Lt. Col James Wrigley;
Note : Companies that made up the 1st & 2nd infantry battalions:The Legion ( Waul's Texas) was composed principally of men from the 9th Texas Infantry Regiment [ Nichols ]and the 3rd Texas infantry Battalion. Both units were originally 6-month Texas state units which were mustered out of the Confederate army early in 1862. The Legion was organized with 12 companies at Brenham, TX, in early 1862, and divided into two battalions later in 1862.
Cavalry, Lt. Thomas J. Clevelandand Artillery Company, Capt. J.Q. Wall.
"During the Vicksburg battle, the Legion lost 47 killed, 190 wounded and 8 missing. The Legion had 938 men on duty during the battle. Except for the detachment of mounted scouts, none of the Cavalry Battalion of Waul's Legion participated in the defense of Vicksburg."
From this information we can determine that the Cavalry detachment at Vicksburg were mounted scouts, we can not determine the number of scouts,who these scouts were or what company or companies they came from.
One clue is from the list of parolees from Vicksburg maintained by the National Parks Service.:
Note that of the total amount of parolees found on the official record ( approx 215 ) only two are from the cavalry, both from company E,
both were paroled to the hospital. They were:D.B. Sorley Private from " Wauls Texas Cavalry" Company E
and
T.C. Turner Private from " Wauls Texas Cavalry" Company EBetty Arnold has sent us the following information concerning Daniel Harrison Lagrone of Milam County, Texas.
Meanwhile, the official military record from the War Department reads:
"The records show that Daniel H. Lagrone, private, Company A, Willis' Cavalry Battalion, Waul's Texas Legion, Confederate States Army, enlisted June 20, 1862, and that he was captured July 4, 1863, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and paroled there July 9, 1863.
No later record of him has been found."It should be noted that Daniel H.( Harrison) Lagrone does not appear on the list of parolees of Vicksburg.
It is the very fluid fast moving nature and style of the cavalry, as well as the practice of identifying Willis' battalions texas cavalry companies as Waul's Cavalry etc. that can sometimes lead to confusion as to who was where at what time, as "wauls legion" components were indeed in action in many places simultaniously.
It is the intention of this project to define who was where and when, as we continue to gather information we hope to make clear what companies were where and participated in what battles etc.
Do you have information about Willis' Battalion Texas cavalry or Waul's Texas Legion that you would like to contribute to this project?
Contact Ben Bowen
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The Exploits of Waul's Texas Legion
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This page was added to the Bowen family web site on October 6, 2003 and was updated 04-03-04