Walker's Greyhounds
Walker's Greyhounds, also known as Walker's Texas Division, was a division of the Confederate States Army composed exclusively of units from Texas. It fought in the Western Theater and the Trans-Mississippi Department, gaining a reputation as a solid fighting force.
Organization
Organized at Camp Nelson, Arkansas, in July 1862, the Greyhounds were placed under the command of Maj. Gen. John George Walker in November 1862, and remained under his command until the end of the war. The division served exclusively in the Trans-Mississippi Department. When General Walker was given a district command in late 1864 the division was given to Maj. Gen. John H. Forney.
Composition
1st Brigade
Col. Overton C. Young
Brig. Gen. James M. Hawes
Brig. Gen. Thomas N. Waul
Brig. Gen. Wilburn H. King
Col. Richard B. Hubbard
- 12th (Young's 8th) Infantry
- 18th Infantry (transferred to the 4th Brigade)
- 22nd Infantry
- 13th (Dismounted) Cavalry
- 29th (Dismounted) Cavalry (joined in 1865)
- Haldeman's Battery
2nd Brigade
Brig. Gen. Horace Randal
Brig. Gen. Robert Plunket Maclay
- 11th Infantry
- 14th Infantry
- 28th (Dismounted) Cavalry (later transferred to the 4th Brigade)
- 6th (Gould's) (Dismounted) Cavalry Battalion
- Daniel's Battery
3rd Brigade
Col. George M. Flournoy
Brig. Gen. Henry E. McCulloch
Brig. Gen. William R. Scurry
Brig. Gen. Richard Waterhouse
- 16th Infantry (later transferred to the 4th Brigade)
- 17th Infantry
- 19th Infantry
- 16th (Dismounted) Cavalry
- 2nd Partisan Rangers (joined in 1865)
- 3rd Texas Infantry (only during the Red River Campaign)
- Edgar's Battery
Original 4th Brigade[1]
Brig. Gen. James Deshler
- 10th Infantry
- 15th (Dismounted) Cavalry
- 18th (Dismounted) Cavalry
- 25th (Dismounted) Cavalry
4th Brigade (1865)
Brig. Gen. Wilburn H. King
- 16th Infantry
- 18th Infantry
- 28th (Dismounted) Cavalry
- 34th (Dismounted) Cavalry
- Wells' Cavalry Battalion
Major engagements
Vicksburg Campaign
The Greyhounds fought at the Battle of Milliken's Bend and the Battle of Young's Point, incidental engagements of the Vicksburg Campaign, in June 1863. They remained in northern Louisiana for several months, and then returned to Arkansas in late 1863.
Red River Campaign
Sent from Arkansas to Louisiana again in April 1864, they served as part of Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor's Army at the significant Confederate victories at the Battle of Mansfield (April 8, 1864), and the Battle of Pleasant Hill (April 9, 1864), critical engagements in the Red River Campaign.
Camden Expedition
Rushed back to Arkansas by Tran-Mississippi Department Commander Edmund Kirby Smith, they fought at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry on April 30, 1864, the last engagement of the Camden Expedition.
Nickname
The division was well trained, and well respected as a fighting force. It earned its nickname because the men were able to move long distances rapidly on foot. The Greyhounds' ferocity at the Battle of Mansfield, particularly by its 12th Texas Infantry Regiment, is considered by many military historians[who?] to have turned the tide in that engagement.
Mustered out
In March 1865, the division was ordered to Hempstead, Texas. The division was awaiting the arrival of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in order to make the Last Stand of the Confederacy at Hempstead, Texas. Davis failed to arrive, and with the war over and the main Confederate armies having surrendered, approximately 8,000 CS Soldiers constituting the remnants of the much depleted division simply went home from Hempstead, Texas, in late May 1865.
See also
References
- ^ The 4th Brigade was detached and captured at the Battle of Arkansas Post 1863
- Lowe, Richard G., Walker's Texas Division, Louisiana State University Press, 2004.
- Blessington, Joseph P. (1875). The campaigns of Walker's Texas division. New York: Lange, Little & Co.