John F. Schmutz - The Bloody Fifth : the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hoods Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia - v. 1. Secession to the Suffolk Campaign

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2016 by John F. Schmutz

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Schmutz, John F., 1947- author.
Title: The Bloody Fifth: The 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hoods Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia, vol. 1: Secession to the Suffolk Campaign / John F. Schmutz.
Description: First edition. | El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie LLC, 2016. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015028122| ISBN 9781611212044 (alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781611212051 (ebk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Confederate States of America. Army. Texas Infantry Regiment, 5th. | TexasHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Regimental histories. | United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Regimental histories. | United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Campaigns.
Classification: LCC E580.5 5th .S36 2016 | DDC 973.7/464dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015028122

First Edition, First Printing

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Savas Beatie LLC
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El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

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Savas Beatie titles are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more details, please contact Savas Beatie, P.O. Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762, or you may e-mail us at for additional information.

Proudly published, printed, and warehoused in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated to the officers and men of the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment who fought above and beyond the call of duty for nearly four years, enduring untold hardships, all in furtherance of a cause that was sacred to them.

Table of Contents

Preface

This

book is the story of the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment of Gen. John Bell Hoods Texas Brigade in the Civil War. Its members came from the ranches, farms, hamlets, and cities of East Texas. A number were sons of men who fought for the former republics independence from Mexico, while others came from families who arrived thereafter seeking a fresh start in the land of the freedom and promise purchased by that fight. Its members were farmers, lawyers, physicians, legislators, educators, businessmen, newspapermen, blacksmiths, laborers, and students. Some owned slaves; the majority did not. Many advocated secession, while others preached moderation. All shared a deep love of the Lone Star State and a belief in its paramount rights as a state over the demands of the Federal government. All took up arms once Texas voted to disengage from the Union and it became apparent such a course would not prove a peaceful one. None of these men were conscripts; all willingly volunteered to serve the Southern cause and endure the hardships it entailed.

The 5th Texas assembled at Richmond, Virginia, in September 1861. It consisted of 10 companies recruited from the counties of Harris, Colorado, Leon, Walker, Montgomery, Washington, Jefferson, Liberty, Milam, Polk, and Trinity. It was one of only three infantry units from the Lone Star State to fight in the East in what would eventually become the Army of Northern Virginia, more than 1,000 miles from loved ones and home. A significant number of them would never saw home again.

Until now, no detailed account of the 5th Texasoften referred to as The Bloody Fifth, a sobriquet earned at Second Manassashas been written. Harold B. Simpson produced his seminal work on Hoods Texas Brigade in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and his books remain the guiding light for general information on that outstanding unit. While several personal accounts by members of the 5th Texas exist, all are abbreviated personal memoirs or short histories of individual companies.

Many have long considered the Texas Brigade as the shock troops of General Lees Army of Northern Virginia, its fighting qualities second to none. Lee recognized the courage and grit of the Texans and thought highly of them. The Texans are always ready, he noted. On another occasion the general (speaking of all of Hoods troops) asserted that [t]here never were such men in any army before. They will go anywhere and do anything if properly led. At the Wilderness in May 1864, when he was told that the troops arriving to turn the tide of his overwhelmed front were the Texans, a relieved Lee exclaimed, The Texans always move them! And so they did, but at a horrific cost. The Texas Brigade, arguably the most celebrated infantry brigade in the Confederate Army, was to Lee what the Old Guard was to Napoleon and the Imperial Army of France. First in the advance, the Texans were routinely used in the most difficult of circumstances and in retreat, they were always a reliable rear guard. I have never seen the backs of my Texans, Lee once said, except at the charge.

This book is the first serious attempt to thoroughly detail the history of the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, one of the three Texas regiments of Hoods Texas Brigade (the others being the 1st and 4th). During the four years of war, almost 20 percent of the regiment fell victim to the ubiquitous Civil War killers of diseases and their accompanying medical shortcomings. Measles, typhoid fever, pneumonia, rheumatism, tuberculosis, chronic diarrhea, and dysentery winnowed the ranks relentlessly, especially early in the conflict. Disease carried off 137 men in the first winter in Virginia alone, and another 124 were so disabled they were permanently discharged. This rate of loss slowed somewhat as the war progressed, but only because the battlefield was extracting a higher price. Lead and iron also thinned the ranks. The 5th Texas fought in 38 engagements including the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, and the bloody landmark battles from the Wilderness through the Petersburg campaign. Its official combat casualty rate exceeded 62 percent for the four years of fighting. At Appomattox, the 5th Texas surrendered just 12 officers and 149 men. At least 1,440 men had enlisted in the regiment during the war. For a variety of reasons, close to 81 percent fell away.

Parallels with Simpsons earlier work are unavoidable in many cases, but the focus of this two-volume study is on the 5th Texas as opposed to the entire brigade. To the extent possible, the activities and battle experiences of the 5th Texas are related through the letters and diaries of its common soldiers. My hope is that the anecdotal tenor of this method enhances the readers interest and engagement with these soldiers, and assists in their understanding of the larger aspects and themes of our countrys most devastating war.

I must offer my sincere apologies to South Carolinas Hampton Legion, the 18th Georgia and 3rd Arkansas infantry regiments. Each of these exceptional commands was at some point or another attached to the Texas Brigade, and each contributed mightily to the brigades story. The Georgians of the 18th, during their brief time with the Texans, had so endeared itself to the men of the Lone Star State that they often referred to their regiment as the 3rd Texas. This was even more so for the 3rd Arkansas, which fought with the Texans from November 1862, until the end of the war, rendering noble and invaluable service each step of the way. However, since my objective was not to provide a detailed history of Hoods Brigade, but of the 5th Texas, I simply use the term Texans to describe the actions of the entire brigade (which always included at least one unit from another state).

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