I waqs writing about Joseph Tivy a lieutenant in Company A.31st Texas Cavalry Regiment. There is a lot of question concerning the 31st. See Jerry Coffee's post.
He joined the 31st Texas Cavalry Regiment which was organized in the Dallas Ft Worth area but which also pulled men from Karnes and Fannan Counties. In May, 1862, and led by Col. Trezevant C. Hawpe, a Dallas businessman, the 31st started moving north. It is at Ft. Washita in August 1862 that the 31st completed its organization. It’s first battles and training were in the Indian Territories. Joseph Tivy was elected 1st Lt of Company A because of his age and military experience. (Captain Hayes, San Antonio Rangers, ran a rough bunch of Rangers and not a lot of military training. Tivy would join them when they were west of SA. With the 31st organized it was added to the 22nd and 34th Texas Cavalry Regiments into a new Brigade which is where the name problems begin. There is some problem with the correct name and brigade, but the unit was the 31st Texas Cavalry Regiment, CSA (Hawpe’s Regiment).
All three regiments were in the area of northeastern Oklahoma (Ft. Gibson) on the eastern border with Arkansas (Ft. Smith) in July and August 1862. It seems the 31st was sick and going through that early adjustment period every new regiments went through while their immunities build up to the rigors of camp life. In early August, the 34th, on a reconnaissance mission out of Ft. Gibson, participated in a skirmish at Park Hill with Pin Indians who had sided with the Union. In late August, the brigade stopped at Camp Osage, while the measles epidemic raged through the troops and put 88 men in the hospital.
In early September, the 22nd and 34th Cavalries moved to Camp Caudle near Bentonville, Arkansas, five miles from the Missouri state line and joined Cooper’s Indian Brigade. There was a typhoid outbreak at this time at Camp Myrick near McDonald, Missouri. Part of the 34th and the 31st rode north to attack that camp of the 2nd Indian Home Guard (Union- composed of Osage warriors with a fierce reputation). The Confederates captured wagons and cattle and killed between 60 and 120 men, according to one report.
They continued to move toward Newtonia, Missouri, where the 22nd performed picket duty. On Sept. 27, Col. Cooper sent the 31st and an Indian battalion to Newtonia as an advanced post. The 22nd was ordered to Granby and the 34th marched for Granby to relieve the 22nd on the morning of Sept. 30, the day of the battle of Newtonia. The Union troops withdrew from Newtonia and the 31st was put in charge of securing Newtonia. All three regiments ended up fighting at Newtonia, mostly dismounted. Although the Confederates did well at Newtonia, on October 4th they were forced to withdraw when more Union troops arrived. This was the last of Confederate troops in Missouri for the war.
The three regiments and their conduct of the war in Louisiana, Arkansas and the Indian Territories is difficult to follow, it is enough to say they conducted themselves as did all of our Texas Cavalry. You can get bits & pieces on the 31st when it was a part of reserve units assigned to back up the battle of Yellow Bayou in Louisiana. Some of Anne Bailey's books about Parson's Brigade give little bits & pieces on the 31st."Between the Enemy and Texas: Pasrson's Texas Cavalry in the Civil War" & "In the Saddle With the Texans". The 31st was involved in several battles including Poison Springs, Massard’s Prairie, Sterling Plantation and Newtonia. Other possible battles include Mansfield, Ft DeRussy, Cabin Creek and Prairie Grove.
In February, 1865, Lt. Col. George W. Guess was placed in command of the 31st Texas Cavalry. The dismounted regiment was marched to Rusk, Texas and consolidated with Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee's brigade. In May 1865, Brig. Gen. Bee's Brigade including Lt. Col. George W. Guess' 31st Texas Cavalry Regiment were disbanded.
The listing of the Muster roster can be obtained from Hill Junior College and the National Park Service.