Confederate Cavalrymen of the Trans-Mississippi

CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMEN OF THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI Stephen B. Oates Southern horsemen in the trans-Mississippi west never belonged to a high-style corps like Jeb Stuart's or Philip Sheridan's. They were not long on flashy parades and drills; they were mostly cowboys and farmers who could rope and fire a revolver at a gallop, and who knew very little about military tactics and cared less about military discipline. Organized in 115 regiments and 39 battalions, they were hard-boiled troops who had to do a great deal with very little.1 For supplies and equipment they relied heavily upon capture from the Yankees, or seizurefrom peaceful citizens. But they were a brave and patriotic body of men—a part of that great army which became a legend for sheer valor and incredible endurance. Trans-Mississippi horsemen could not brag much about their leaders, for there were no outstanding ones—at least none comparable to Nathan Bedford Forrest or Joseph Wheeler. In Joseph O. Shelby and John Sappington Marmaduke, they had intrepid and tireless leaders; but neither possessed the natural instinct for cavalry command which made Forrest something of a military genius.2 Others such as John A. Wharton, Tom Green, and William G. Vincent gained local fame, but never displayed any great ability or originality in the handling of large bodies of horsemen.3 Nevertheless, trans-Mississippi cavalrymen did A native of Pampa, Texas, Stephen Oates is at present a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Texas. This study is based in part on a forthcoming book on trans-Mississippi cavalry which the University of Texas Press will publish late this year. 1A list of cavalry units in the trans-Mississippi may be found in Stephen B. Oates, "Confederate Cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi" (Unpublished master's thesis, University of Texas, 1960). 2 For an account of Marmaduke's career, see Allen Johnson et al. (eds.), Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 1928-44), XXII, 290-91. Two biographies of Shelby exist. The better study is John N. Edwards, Shelby and His Men (Cincinnati, 1867); the other work is Daniel OTlaherty, General Jo Shelby: Undefeated Rebel (Chapel HiD, 1954). 3 See Bennett H. Young, Confederate Wizards of the Saddle (Boston, 1914), pp. 169-70; Francis R. Lubbock, Si* Decades in Texas (Austin, 1900), p. 536; Sidney S. Johnson, Texans Who Wore the Gray (Tyler, Tex., 1907), pp. 67-68. 13 14STEPHENB. OATES many noteworthy things during the war, and they did them out of courage and determination to save a cause which they considered just. Accustomed to a long and intimate companionship with the horse, the six-shooter, and the rifle or carbine, the men of the trans-Mississippi, especially the Texans, were excellent potential cavalrymen. "They had," General Richard Taylor recalled, "every quality but discipline."4 From the mustering-in ceremony to the end of the war, they disliked the strict enforcement of orders, the gap between officers and men, the spit andpolish that characterized professional cavalry in Europe. They were a rowdy and individualistic body of men who paid little attention to rank. In an attempt to discipline the men, officers and government officials early set up camps of instruction throughout the trans-Mississippi. But drill and parades never appealed much to the raw troops. At one camp, in Van Buren, Arkansas, Perkin's cavalry company, bored after a day of inspection, drank and celebrated well into the night. One citizen, watching the soldiers shout and fire their pistols in the air, wrote begrudgingly that "a more decided burlesque on military parade could not be had . . . and we trust it will be at least a year, before another occasion occurs for preparation 'to defend our rights and liberties against northern aggression.' "5 "Texians" naturally rivaled Arkansans in their rowdiness and "fun and frolic." While encamped at Houston, Terry's Texas Rangers "kept the town in a continued bustle with their daring feats of horsemanship." To "show what they could do," the men formed in squads and rode at a maddening gallop down the streets, jumping on and off their mounts and picking pieces of cloth and sticks off the ground. And as if this...