During 1861 and 1862, the 18th Georgia Infantry was part of Hood's Texas Brigade. The Texas Brigade at that time consisted of the 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Regiments, and the 18th Ga. The Georgians became known affectionately as the "3rd. Texas". My Great grand father and two great uncles were in Company A of the 18th.

I would like to know how the nickname came about, and if any diaries of the Texans mentioned their comrades from Georgia. At Gaines Mill, Groveton, Second Manassas, and Sharpsburg, The 18th was usually in the center, with the 1st and 4th Texas to their left, with the 5th Texas and the recently added Hampton's Legion on the right.

Historians would later refer to these troops "as good soldiers as the Army of Northern Virginia had."

I have always been proud that my relatives fought in such good company. (Incidentally, and in the next century, my Uncle Robert McBrayer, of Mesquite, fought in Italy in the 36th Texas Division in WWII.