Several good books, see biblography at end.
9th Texas Cavalry Regiment
Col. W. B. Sims, mustered the Ninth Texas Cavalry Regiment into Confederate service at Camp Reeves, Grayson County,
Texas on October 14, 1861. The original unit consisted of about 1000 officers and men recruited principally from eight counties
of North Texas: Cass, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Lamar, Red River, Tarrant, and Titus. With William Quayle as Lt. Col., N. W.
Townes as Major and J. H. Bell as Adjutant, Sims quickly organized the men and led them North into the Indian Territories to
assist Col. Cooper. Adjutant Bell having given dissatisfaction, was accused of Abolitionism and of Bigamy, was found guilty
and the boys en masse took him out and hung him.
By November 12, 1861 a detachment under the command of Lt. Col. Quayle
went forward to Col. Cooper's camp to assist in fighting Indians. On November 19, 1861 they fought at Round Mountain and on
December 9, 1861 they fought at Chusto-Talash, AKA Bird Creek, Indian Territories. They then moved on to Ft. Gibson and
joined other detachments and fought at Chustenahlah, Indian Territories on December 26, 1861. After this they rejoined their
wagon train and resumed journey to Arkansas to join Gen. McCulloch's command in winter camp.
On March 6-7, 1862, the Ninth were at Elkhorn Tavern, also called Pea Ridge by Union Historians. The 9th moved to the attack
at 11 A.M. Quickly they captured an artillery battery that had fired on them and captured 6 enemy while killing 50 to 75, but Col.
Sims was severely wounded when his arm was shattered by a cannon ball. He was later dropped from the rolls in May 1862.
The next day started with the deaths of Gen. McCulloch and McIntosh and the capture of Col. Hebert, which caused a lack of
communication and leadership in these units, and Gen. Van Dorn's subsequent decision to retreat from the battle field.
In May all the units reorganized and were dismounted as Infantry. N. W. Townes was elected Colonel and Dudley W. Jones was
elected Lt. Col. Soon after this Company H of the 9th was designated a sharpshooter and skirmisher company and on August
1, 1862 was attached along with Company I of the 6th to Col. Ras Stirman's Arkansas Sharpshooter Regiment. These
regiments all part of Colonel Phiffer's Brigade began to march toward Corinth, to fight the General Rosecran's Army. On October
the 3-4, 1862, the 9th fighting alongside the 6th attacked an Ohio Brigade and received heavy casualties from cannon and rifle
fire. Many of the wounded were left to be captured. This was true for the 9th and 6th. In the late afternoon of October 4th, These
two units had had some success, but were running low on ammunition and men. Without reinforcement they were forced to
retreat. Gen Van Dorn realized he was fighting a much larger force and decided to retreat his whole Corps.
On the next day, at Hatchie Bridge (Davis Farm) Tennessee, the 9th marched in column behind the 6th, and were able to stop and
assume shooting positions before they were shot down. Colonel Ross the acting brigade commander had a hundred men captured
and many more dead and wounded. But soon the 6th, Ras Stirman's Sharpshooters, the 9th and artillery battery commanded the
bluff on the south side of the river and proceeded to blast away at the Union forces, thus allowing Gen. Van Dorn's Army to retreat
past the Union blocking force.
Col. Townes resigned due to an eye injured at Corinth and Dudley W. Jones was elected Colonel, a position he would keep till the end of the war.
In November the 9th was remounted and prepared for a raid to Holly Springs, Mississippi Union Supply Depot. This time they
operated in a brigade that they would remain with throughout the war. The brigade's initial commander was Col. John Wilkins
Whitfield who had commanded the 1st Texas Legion. Gen. Van Dorn led the raid, but Lt. Col. Griffith of the 6th who designed
the raid was its honorary commander. This was the first time the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 27th Texas Cavalry Regiments worked
together. They were called Whitfield's Brigade but in less than a year they would be Ross' Texas Cavalry Brigade.
The 9th was a great part of the success of this raid and the subsequent disruption of rail roads in western Tennessee.
The Ninth fought in Tennessee until it was then brought back with its brigade to help break the siege of Vicksburg. They
skirmished outside the siege, but Vicksburg surrendered before they could help. For the next 10 months they fought Union
forces trying to sieze all of Mississippi. In February and April of 1864 they chased deserters and symphathisers in Alabama.
Then began the most heroic part of the Ninth and Ross's Brigade histories, for over one hundred days, they fought Gen. Sherman's Army,
delaying its march toward Atlanta. The battles of Rome, New Hope Church, Lovejoy's Station and Jonesborough were names
in this campaign. They stopped two of Sherman's raids, even though the union had superior forces, but with great loss of men
and horses.
When Atlanta fell and Gen. Hood took Ross' Brigade back to Tennessee, the 9th had only 140 men and most of the companies
ceased to exist. The regiment operated as one large compamy. About 900 were dead, wounded, sick or left behind in various duties.
Serving as part of Gen. Nathan B. Forest rear guard of Hoods Army of Tennessee, they helped prevent the loss of that force.
Starting out the Brigade had only a strength of 686 men. Following these battles Ross' Brigade was no longer a viable force.
The units bivouacked in Mississippi during the remaining few months of the war. Many of the men were furloughed and many just
went home. The Brigade was officially captured and paroled at Citronelle, Alabama in May 1865. Of the Ninth, under Col. Dudley W.
Jones' command only 100 remained to surrender.
Battles and Engagements
November 19, 1861 Round Mountain [detachment], Indian Territory
December 9, 1861 Chusto-Talash, AKA Bird Creek or High Shoal, I. T.
March 7-8, 1862 Pea Ridge, AR
April-June 1862 Corinth Campaign, MS
May 9, 1862 Farmington, MS
September 19, 1862 Iuka, MS
October 3-4, 1862 Corinth, MS
October 5, 1862 Hatchie Bridge, MS
December 20, 1862 Holly Springs, MS
December 21, 1862 Davis' Mills, MS
December 24, 1862 Middleburg, TN
March 5, 1863 Thompson's Station, TN
July 1863 Vicksburg Campaign, MS
June 4, 1863 Mechanicsburg, MS
July 1863 Jackson Siege, MS
February-March 1864 Meridian Campaign, MS
March 30, 1864 Snyder's Bluff, MS
March 31, 1864 Roach Plantation, MS?
April 19, 1864 Marion County, GA
May-September 1864 Atlanta Campaign, GA
May 25 -27, 1864 New Hope Church, GA
June 27-July 26, 1864 Marietta, GA
July 28, 1864 Flat Shoals, GA
July 29, 1864 Lovejoy's Station, GA
July 30,1864 Newnan, GA
July-September 1864 Atlanta Siege, GA
August 16, 1864 Fairburn, GA
August 31-September 1, 1864 Jonesboro, GA
October 1864-January 1865 Franklin-Nashville Campaign, TN
November 24, 1864 Campbellsville, TN
November 30,1864 Franklin, TN
December 15, 1864 Murfreesboro, TN
December 15-16, 1864 Nashville, TN
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bates, James C., and Richard G. Lowe. A Texas Cavalry Officer's Civil War : The Diary and Letters of James C. Bates. (Baton
Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 1999)
Griscom, George L. Fighting with Ross' Texas Cavalry Brigade, C.S.A. : the diary of George L. Griscom, adjutant, 9th Texas
Cavalry Regiment, ed. by Homer L. Kerr. (Hillsboro, TX : Hill Jr. College Press, 1976)
Hodgson, Matthew.Bampson of Bampson's Legion : an informal study of Confederate command, Civil War History, I (1960),
157-169.
(h) Crabb, Martha L. All Afire to Fight: The Untold Tale of the Civil War's Ninth Texas Cavalry. (Avon Books, 2000)
Sparks, A. W. The War between the states as I saw it : reminiscent, historical and personal. (Tyler, TX : Lee Burnett, 1901