The Daniel Kinsey Story

The Daniel Kinsey Story

Compiled by Dennis R. Kinsey
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Daniel Kinsey , whom I found some evidence was the son of one Henry Kinsey, served in Company C (Robertson 5 Shooters), 4th Texas Infantry (Hood's Brigade). He enlisted March 3, 1861 at the town of Oenaville, Bell County (just a few miles from Belton). The new private was sent home for the next few months, waiting until orders came for his newly formed unit.

Sometime around July 22, 1861, he and his fellow comrades started the trip to Harrisburg, then a small town 6 miles southeast of Houston. Harrisburg was were they were to be trained and prepared for the trip to Virginia. Most likely, they followed a main road of the day that roughly paralleled present-day Texas Highway 6, down to the town of Millican, the northern terminus of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad.

Traveling on the railroads was to become a routine part of the new soldier's live. Whenever possible, units traveled by train as near as possible to the site of battles, then disembarked and marched in to the actual battlefield.

At Harrisburg, company C became one of 20 newly formed Confederate companies bound for Virginia. The campsite was named Camp Earl Von Dorn. For those of you that have been to Houston, you can likely understand the description of the Rebels' campsite as being in a low pine valley, a generally unhealthy region." The new soldiers did a great deal of close order drill and learning the army way. On the night of August 9, 1861, they had a fiddle and banjo "party."

Finally word came that on August 16 the brigade would start the trip to Virginia. The first leg of the trip was to New Orleans, approximately 400 miles. In the afternoon of August 16, the troops climbed aboard the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad cars, then switched to the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, and by the night of August 17 they were in Beaumont. They boarded the steamer "Florilda" which carried them down the Sabine River to a spot near the present day town of Orange, Texas. The soldiers and their equipment were left on the shore, to make their way across southern Louisiana with 8 mule teams and wagons. Given no choice, they started the march across more than 200 miles of swamps. It took them 11 days of extreme ordeal to make it to the down of Brashear City. From there, they were able to board railroad cars to take them the last 90 miles into New Orleans. The train carrying Daniel Kinsey and his fellow soldiers arrived in New Orleans the night of August 31, 1861. The troops were quartered in an old cotton warehouse. The trip across the swamp had destroyed their clothing and equipment, so they were issued new uniforms and other personal equipment. Then they started the final 1,200 mile leg of the trip to Richmond, Virginia. Again they relied upon the railroad. Every type of car imaginable was pressed into service. Boxcars, flatcars, cattle cars, passenger cars, and cabooses, anything with wheels and a platform was hooked up and loaded up. The Texans' route took them north from New Orleans to Jackson, Miss. and then on to Grand Junction, Tenn. From there they turned east to Chattanooga and then northeastward via Knoxville and Bristol to Lynchburg, Va. and then finally to Richmond. On the final train trip to Richmond they had traveled on 8 different railroads, and rode over one-seventh of the total railroad mileage in the Confederacy.

Daniel Kinsey arrived at Richmond on September 12, 1861. The newly arrived Texans marched along the north bank of the James River to Rocketts, and area on the southeastern outskirts of the city. A few days later they moved to a more permanent camp area about 5 miles east of town. Formally named "Camp Bragg," it was quickly renamed "Camp Texas." Jefferson Davis visited the Texans and addressed them, making reference to the Alamo. Shortly afterward, John Bell Hood was assigned as Colonel of the newly formed 4th Texas Regiment. He as a Kentuckian by birth but a Texan by choice. He and his new troops seemed to be a good fit for each other.

Daniel Kinsey and his regiment stayed in Camp Texas through October of 1861, preparing for their eventual assignment to a position in the Confederate defense line. They did a great deal of drilling, as well as the daily chores of cooking, washing, and policing the camp area. John Hood's brand of firm but pragmatic discipline quickly took hold on the Texas 4th Infantry.

During this time, the new Texans were exposed to another unavoidable aspect of their new soldiering life: body lice. That is when the learned that the "graybacks" did not show up on grey uniforms, which was good because given the situation, they were impossible to get rid of entirely. A poem that they often quoted was:

"Now I lay me down to sleep,
The Gray-backs o'er my body creep;
If they should bite before I wake,
I pray the Lord their jaws to break."

November 4, 1861, Daniel and the 4th Texas Infantry marched north and took up positions on the right flank of the Potomoc line. From a military standpoint, it was a relatively inactive fall and winter. But during that first fall and winter for the Texans in Northern Virginia, they experienced a widespread epidemics of disease and sickness, along with snow, sleet, and biting cold of a sever winter. Mumps, measles, typhoid fever, typhus, pneumonia, jaundice, hepatitis, diarrhea, and dysentery all ran rampant through the camps. For their winter quarters, the troops constructed substantial huts, with log walls and clapboard roofs. They also built a theater to house the newly-formed "Hood's Minstrels", a troupe that included an acting company, a brass band and a choir. During the winter, the theater became so popular that it even featured performances by legendary banjoist JoelSweeney and also Harry McCarty, author of "The Bonnie Blue Flag.

On March 2, 1862, they were ordered to abandon the Potomoc line and moved to a camp 2 miles west of Fredericksburg, Virginia. About that time, March 8 to be precise, Colonel Hood was promoted to Brigadier General. Though he had been their regimental commander for less than a year, General John Bell Hood was close to his fellow Texans at least partly because of his "open tent" policy and his custom of visiting with the men around the camp fires almost every night.

April 18, 1862 they moved to the area around Yorktown, Va and 2 days latter had their first, but somewhat limited action with the Yankees. Armed with the accurate Enfield rifles, the marksmanship of the Texans allowed them to pick off a few of the more brazen and careless Federals that were sniping at the Rebels from trees and behind bushes. Being a Yankees sniper was a very short lived experience around the Texans.

On May 6, 1862, Daniel and his comrades had their first real battle with Union soldiers, north of Barhamsville, in the vicinity of Eltham's Landing. Here they prevailed, withstanding brisk fire, advancing against an experienced enemy, driving the union troops of Gen. William B. Franklin back to their gunboats anchored in the Pamunkey River. These troops were known as some of the best and most experienced Union soldiers. The battle had started around 7am and lasted until almost 3 PM.

One of the somewhat humorous stories of this relatively minor battle that became known as the Battle of Eltham's Landing: It seems that there was a full-blooded Indian of few words in one of the Texas companies who fought like a tiger during the early skirmishing phase of the battle. He had even captured a Yank, gun and all, whom he turned over to a nearby Confederate Major with the remark, "Yank yours, gun mine." The Indian then hustled back to the fight. As the Texans advance close to the river where the Union gunboats were anchored, they came under Union artillery and gunboat fire. When the first shell came sailing through the trees, the Indian was rattled. He listened intently as he crouched behind a tree with head cocked to one side and eyes protruding from their sockets until the deadly missile landed a little ways beyond him. In another instant, a second screaming, whistling shell came over an burst over the heads of the Rebels, showering the Indian with leaves and branches. At this point the Indian sprang to his feet exclaiming "No good for Indian" and "made for the rear with the agility of an antelope" never to be seen again.

Daniel Kinsey and Company C of the Texas 4th Infantry participated in their first major battle on June 27, 1862, at Gaines' Mill, part of the Seven Days Battle.

After a long day of forced march, the Texans arrived at the battlefield about 4:30 in the afternoon. As they were forming into a battle line, General Robert E. Lee approached General John Bell Hood and asked him if his troops could break the strong Federal lines. Hood's response was " I shall try, sir." In the fighting that followed, Hood assumed personal command of his old unit, the Texas 4th, and was at the lead as they moved toward the Union entrenchments. At 800 yards the Union artillery opened on them. As they advanced, they were able to view the panorama of the terrible battle taking place all around them. Dead and wounded littered the field to their front, broken and splintered equipment was all around, and the bodies of horses dotted the landscape. Ignoring all this, General Hood gave 2 orders: The men were not to fire until he gave the command, and regardless of what happened the regiment was to keep together and in line. In the light breeze, John Bell Hood led his men with a clear, ringing " Forward, quick march!" As the 500 men of the 4th Texas advanced, the artillery fire increased in intensity, and combined with volleys from the Federals' muskets, "showers of grape, canister, and shell ploughed through their ranks, tearing gaping holes in the battle line. As the Texans advanced over a final rise in front of the Yankees, all hell broke loose; sheets of fire leaped from the Union trenches cutting down the oncoming Texans "like wheat in a harvest." Although the casualties were great, Hood still did not give the order to fire. With the federal lines less than 100 yards away, the General gave the order to fix bayonets while on the move and then to charge at the double-quick. All along the line sounded the high-pitched Rebel Yell; It could be heard above the noise of the battle as the remnants of the regiment, with bayonets fixed, charged through the low swamp grass determined to drive through the opposing lines. With ranks still fairly well aligned, the Texans leaped across the narrow Boatswain's Creek, scrambled up the bank, and in a few heartbeats were on top of the troops of Martindale's and Griffin's Union Brigades. The sight of pointed steel and the scream of the Rebel Yell was too much for the yankees that had beaten back 3 previous Rebel assaults that afternoon. They deserted their breastworks and fled panic stricken to the rear. Hood's men finally opened fire on the fleeing Federals, and inflicted great slaughter. The Texans cleared out the few remaining Yanks, and then charged nearby Union artillery guns that were hitting them with deadly canister fire. They quickly captured 14 of the 18 pieces of artillery. About that time, Union General Phillip St. George Cooke' cavalry reserve came charging at the 4th Texas's flank. At 40 yards range, the Texans met the galloping cavalry charge with a volley from their leveled Enfields. Of the 250 union cavalrymen in the charge, barely 100 survived. The Federals were defeated for the day, and fled the battlefield to the south. Of the 40 officers and 506 mend of the 4th Texas that were in that day's battle, 75 were killed outright or mortally wounded, and 180 were wounded for a total casualty rate of almost 50%. The colonel of the 4th was killed, the lieutenant colonel was mortally wounded, and the major suffered a serious wound. Half of the company officers were also casualties. That day they had earned the name the "Hell Roaring Fourth." Although the Texans in Lee's Army would know many glorious days during the war, the breakthrough at Gaines' Mill was their greatest day of glory. It was one of the few bayonet charges made during the Civil War and certainly one of the most successful ones. The reputation gained by the 4th Texas that day "nearly exhausted them to achieve and nearly finished them to maintain." The Texans sat out the remaining days of the Seven Days Battle.

On their way into Maryland, Daniel Kinsey very likely participated in an unusual action that took place near the Rapidan River.

The Confederates came into contact with Pope's Union Army for the first time on August 22, 1862, when they struck Gen. Franz Sigel's Division as it crossed the Rappahannock. After a preliminary skirmish, Sigel was driven back across the river and Hood's troops forded the stream to keep contact with the Federals. That night the brigade camped on the edge of a large, ripening cornfield. The scouts of Sigel's division had set up camp on the opposite side of the same field. On the following day, August 23, 1862, a number of Texans, unable to resist the opportunity to forage for fresh corn, invaded the adjacent patch of roasting ears. The yanks on the other side of the field had the same idea and it was inevitable that sooner or later the hungry foragers would bump into each other among the cornstalks. Upon meeting at mid-field, and either unencumbered by firearms or not wishing to use them, the foragers engaged in tossing roasting ears at each other, fist fighting and wrestling for possession of the corn. Cries, shouts, groans, and grunts emitting from the fracas along with the violent swaying of the corn tassels soon brought comrades from both sides into the now tangles field. Lugging their rifles into the arena, the new arrivals soon threatened to turn what had been a gentleman's battle royal into a deadly affair. Not wishing to bring on a general engagement, both sides with heads bloody by unbowed, moved back to their respective campsites on the edges of the field. This riotous and boisterous incident, which understandably is NOT listed among the official engagements in the War Between the States was referred to by the veterans of Hood's Brigade as the "Roasting Ears Fight."

Battle of Second Manassas

Early on August 29 of 1862, the march was resumed, and at midday they arrived on the old Manassas battlefield. Posted near the middle of the Confederate line, the Texans attacked at 7 p.m. on the 29th and drove back the Yankees near Groveton. Stiffening Northern resistance and nighttime command problems soon put an end to the fighting with only light Texan casualties. The next morning the Texans moved against Chinn Ridge, one of the key positions of the battlefield. Routing a line of New York Zouaves, the brigade moved on to capture a Union battery, and then cleared the Yankees from the woods at the foot of the ridge. By now the Texans were badly disorganized, but some, especially the men of the 5th, advanced up the ridge and aided Kemper's Virginia division in the final successful assault. Once again, the Texan's gallantry had played a key part in the Southern victory, but at a great cost. 627 men of the brigade were killed or wounded, including at least 225 in the 5th Texas.

The Texans left the battlefield of Manassas on September 1

Battle of Antietam

On September 5, 1862, Daniel Kinsey and the 4th Texas forded the Potomac at Point of Rocks, to the tune of "Maryland, My Maryland", played by the brigade's brass band. On September 7, they went into camp on the Monocacy River near Frederick City, and on the 10th, marched on to Hagerstown.

On the 14th, the Texans were ordered to march for Turner's Gap in South Mountain, where a small contingent under D. H. Hill needed help in holding off the Yankee advance, a strong force that included the Iron Brigade. A bayonet charge by the Texans helped hold the field until nightfall, when the Confederates withdrew to begin a concentration around the village of Sharpsburg.

By this time the Texans were becoming quite ragged. One veteran recalled, "No clothing or shoes had been furnished since it left Richmond, and in a month and a half of hard marching and harder fighting hundreds of the men had become ragged and barefooted, while lack of provisions forced them to subsist on green corn and green apples." But they went into battle in high spirits. On the evening of the 16th, the Division took position in an open field in front of the Dunker Church, north of Sharpsburg. About an hour before sunset, they met a probe by Hooker's Corps, and fought a brief battle that caused the Yankees to retire. The Texans now spent the night cooking the first rations that they had seen in several days, but at 6 a.m. they were ordered to prepare to advance to the support of Lawton's division in a cornfield north of the church. Raising the rebel yell, they advanced through heavy musket and artillery fire, driving the Yankees out of the corn. Soon the 4th was locked in a firefight with the Iron Brigade. By 7:30 a.m., Hood's men had reduced Hooker's Corps to a shambles, but at terrible cost. Of the 854 men of the Texas Brigade who went into the battle, 519 were casualties. The 1st Texas had set a particularly gruesome record: 82% of its men were killed or wounded, the highest percentage of loss for any Confederate regiment in any battle throughout the war. About 9 a.m., Hood's men were withdrawn to the Dunker Church, where they spent the rest of the day in reserve. On September 18, Lee's army retreated to Virginia, with the Texans in his rear guard. There they went into camp north of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley. The Battle of Antietam was over.

October

As October began, the Texans were resting near a large spring about three miles north of Winchester in the Valley of Virginia. They had little to do. The men's memoirs report occasional short drills. Food was ample, and large quantities of clothing and shoes were issued. Some men remembered changing their clothes for the first time since leaving Richmond in early August! Also at Winchester, the men of the 4th received the first mail distributed since leaving Richmond. One break in camp routine came on October 8, when the brigade was reviewed by Generals Longstreet and Hood. While camped at Winchester, the 4th was notified on October 10th that their former colonel, John B. Hood, had been promoted to Major General. Henceforth, they would serve in a new formation that was officially styled "Hood's Division." Finally on October 26th, the Texans broke camp. Shadowing the movement of the Federal Army, they crossed the Blue Ridge in perfect autumn weather and turned their steps toward Culpepper Court House.

November-December

As November dawned, the Texans were on the move, headed southeast from their camp near Winchester towards Culpepper Court House. The weather was fine for marching, and the troops were allowed almost two weeks to make the march, arriving in Culpepper on the 5th of November. They remained there until the 19th, when the brigade began to move north, arriving at Fredericksburg on November 22. Although the brigade had received some clothing while camped at Winchester, they were still very short of foot-gear. Chaplain Davis of the 4th Texas wrote a letter to the Richmond Whig describing the destitution of the Texans, "...too far from home to look to our friends there for help...." Various civilian groups answered by collecting hundreds of pairs of shoes, socks and gloves, as well as other wearing apparel. While enroute to Culpepper on November 1, Col. Jerome Robertson of the 5th Texas was promoted to Brigadier and assigned to command the brigade. On November 26, the 18th Georgia and the infantry companies of the Hampton Legion were transferred out of the brigade, and replaced by the 3rd Arkansas. The reorganization was celebrated by four or five hours of drill each day up until the battle of Fredericksburg. The weather turned very cold about the 6th of December, with a heavy snow. The troops built small two- and three-man huts they called dog houses, floored with dry leaves. By pooling blankets, the inhabitants were able to keep comfortable. At Fredericksburg, the position assigned to Hood's Division was the right of Longstreet's Corps, with the Texas Brigade in the center of the division. The Texans dug entrenchments on the floor of the valley, behind Deep Run, but their role in the battle was primarily as spectators, as the fighting all occurred well to their left and right. The Texans lost only one man killed and four wounded. After the battle, the Texans had an excellent opportunity to gather abandoned Yankee gear. Blankets were especially sought after, as several inches of snow fell shortly after the battle. Real coffee and desiccated vegetables also were found in abundance, and the latter were turned into soup that helped ward off the cold. Nor did they forget the kindness of the citizens of Virginia who had provided winter clothing. To repay the favor, the soldiers of the Texas brigade contributed a large fund from their pay to provide for the refugees whose homes had been destroyed by the Yankee occupation of Fredericksburg.

1863

January-February

The Texans spent January and most of February encamped near Fredericksburg. One Texan reported, "...The weather was cold and dry, although snow lay on the ground for days at a time; fuel was abundant, guard and fatigue duty light, and drilling not required...." The principal diversions were snowball fights and performances at the brigade theater, a single-story log building erected by the Texans. The theater featured plays and performances by the brass band of the 4th Texas.

This peaceful interlude ended on February 16, when Hood's Division took up the march to Richmond in a heavy snow over slushy, muddy roads. They passed through Richmond on February 22nd, where Secretary of War Seddon commented favorably on "...their general appearance, spirit and cheerfulness...." The brigade ended their march at a new camp four miles south of Richmond at Falling Creek, near the Richmond & Petersburg R.R.

While at Falling Creek, the Texans enjoyed frequent passes to visit Richmond. The various memoirs report that both liquor and gambling houses were readily available in the city. At camp, they also were issued new clothing, although hats remained in short supply. The Texans remained at Falling Creek for the remainder of the month of February.

March-April

The first of March found the Texans resting at their camp on Falling Creek, about four miles south of Richmond, near the Confederate battery at Drewry's Bluff. Here the men were issued new clothing and received frequent passes to visit the Confederate capital.

On March 17th, the Texans were notified that the Army of the Potomac was on the move, and the next day they began a forced march to rejoin Lee's army. They had almost reached Ashland, Va. when the summons was canceled, allowing the Texans to make camp for the night.

Daylight revealed to the shivering Texans that their camp was covered with several inches of new-fallen snow, and the men began the return March to Falling Creek in a blinding snow storm. As the brigade passed through Richmond, it practically disappeared as men fell out to find spirits that would warm them up. "Aunt Pollie" Robertson, the brigade commander, was scandalized and planned a round-up by a provost guard, but Hood intervened to allow the men this break from duty.

After this brief spree, the Texans returned to the Falling Creek camp and remained there until April 1, when they moved south to Petersburg, remaining there three or four days. They then took up the march to Suffolk, arriving about April 6.

At Suffolk, the Texans participated in Longstreet's siege of the Yankee-held town while foraging far and wide in a relatively untouched part of the state. Their efforts netted large quantities of bacon and corn for Lee's army, though the town's defenses proved too strong to be taken. The Suffolk expedition ended for the Texans on April 29, when Longstreet received orders to return to Lee's army to help counter the Union maneuvers that became the Chancellorsville campaign. April 30 was spent breaking off the siege, gathering in the foraging wagons, and preparing to depart.

May

On May 2, Longstreet received orders from Lee to break off the siege of Suffolk and to hurry Hood's Division north to help repel Hooker. A day was spent gathering in the foraging wagons, and on May 4 the Texans started north, expecting to be two days on the march to Petersburg and the railroad. Their orders directed them to move north via the Blackwater Road, cross the Blackwater River at Franklin, and burn the pontoon bridge behind them.

No sooner had the Texans left Suffolk, however, than news was received of the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, and the pace of the movement was slowed. Too late to join in repelling Hooker, the Texans could point with pride to their part in an expedition that reportedly gathered over 2.5 millions pounds of bacon for Lee's army.

The Texans marched at an easy rate through Petersburg and Richmond, arriving at the capital about the 10th. From there they set out to Fredericksburg. They remained in Fredericksburg for two weeks before moving to Verdiersville in the Wilderness, and from there to Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan River. They were at this camp for almost three weeks.

While camped on the Rapidan, the units were inspected, artillery and transportation put in good order, and the men prepared for the summer campaign. The period of refitting was climaxed on May 27 by a review of the division, an event that included a mock artillery duel and bayonet charge. Several ladies visited the camp to watch the review, and they were watched in turn by appreciative Texans. The rest period was climaxed with a 14-mile training march under full packs on May 31.

While the Texans were passing through Petersburg early in the month, they came under the eye of a prolific diary writer The diarist was Captain Samuel T. Foster, of the 24th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), a member of the garrison captured at the battle of Arkansas Post in January 1863. Exchanged with the rest of that command in the spring of that year, Foster and his comrades found themselves in Petersburg, Va. on their way to a new assignment in Tennessee. Here's what Foster had to say about Hood's Texans as they appeared in May, 1863:

May 6. We take the cars for Richmond, Va. but to get to the cars, we walk across the river on the bridge -- just here we learn that the 4th and 5th Texas Inf. are coming along -- They have been down on the Blackwater towards No[r]folk; and are on their way back to Gen. Lees army. We can hear their Band playing "Old John Brown came tearing out of the Wilderness."

I stop to see them and here I find my brother Hale Foster [a member of the 4th Texas band] -- he is bare footed carrying a frying pan and a blanket.

Taken all together they are the hardest lot of men I ever met -- If this is soldiering, then it is certain we have not seen any yet -- These men have no baggage wagons -- Carry all their baggage and cooking utensils on their backs, and are not burdened at that.

-- Bare footed men are plenty -- some were bare headed -- some had pieces of clothing on. Some had a piece of meat on his Bayonett [sic]. Some had his frying pan stuck on his gun barrel -- as a convenient way to carry it.

June

The Texans left their camp on the Rapidan on June 4 and set out for Culpepper, arriving the same day. Two days later they moved to the west in a feint that brought them back to the Culpepper on the 7th. There they camped until the 13th.

The brigade's next move was to Cedar Mountain, where curious men visited the sight of the previous summer's battle, marked by gruesome unburied skeletons. On the 15th, they set out towards Ashby's Gap on the Blue Ridge, crossing the summit on the 18th and camping near the small town of Millwood, on the western slope. The next day they were ordered to Snicker's Gap and took position at the summit. They remained there during three days of heavy fog, and then on the 23rd returned to Millwood, from whence they took up the march toward Williamsport, Md.

The morning of the 26th found the Texans camped near the northern border of Virginia. About noon, they forded the Potomac and entered Williamsport in a hard, driving rain. There the men stacked arms and built fires to dry their clothing, but there was little or nothing to eat. To warm his men, General Hood kindly ordered that each man be issued a gill (a quarter of a pint) of some captured whiskey. The non-drinkers shared their rations with their less temperate comrades, and, according to Texan John Stevens,

...inside of half an hour there was more drunk men in Williamsport than I think I ever saw in my life. ...some laughed, some cried, some hooped and yelled, some cussed and swore, others ripped and tore and called for gore. It kept the sober boys busy to keep the drunk ones from killing each other. Soon some fell by the wayside, helpless, and were dumped into wagons and ambulances, and hauled the balance of the day.

Just at this place the state of Maryland is only seven miles wide. On we move, and about 5 p.m. we reach the Pennsylvania line....We march a mile or two into Pennsylvania and stopped for the night near the city of Greencastle....Hood's division on that day performed a feat never performed by any troops during the war. We ate breakfast in Virginia, dinner in the state of Maryland, supper in the state of Pennsylvania and slept in the state of intoxication--four states in 24 hours....

Several veterans ruefully reported in their post-war memoirs that this attempt at a whiskey issue caused so much havoc that their commanders never offered the like again.

On the 27th, the Texans, led by a brass band playing "Dixie," marched north through the rich Cumberland Valley and entered Chambersburg. As the Britisher Arthur Freemantle described the scene,

[The Texans were]...full of good-humor and confidence in themselves and in their general, Hood. They answered the numerous taunts of the Chambersburg ladies with cheers and laughter. One female had seen fit to adorn her ample bosom with a huge Yankee flag, and she stood in the door of her house, her countenance expressing the greatest contempt for the barefooted Rebs; several companies passed her without taking any notice, but at last a Texan gravely remarked, "Take care, madam, for Hood's boys are great at storming breastworks when the Yankee colors is on them." After this speech the patriotic lady beat a precipitate retreat.

That night the Texans camped a mile north of Chambersburg, Md. The commissary wagons were slow to come up, and when they finally did, they supplied only musty flour and rancid bacon. All day our Texans had passed well-stocked Pennsylvania farms, and they were hungry. General Lee had issued orders prohibiting stealing from civilians, but self-appointed moralists in the Texas ranks reasoned that this would not preclude the troops from purchasing food from citizens for Confederate money.

The division remained in Chambersburg for two more days, and they were spent in foraging through the country-side. According to brigade historian Polley,

...The greater part of the supplies that found their way into camp were paid for in Confederate money, the rest were voluntary offerings. Soldiers as hungry as were the Confederates could not be expected to refuse proffers of food, even when they suspected such proffers were made through unwarranted fear of ill-treatment.

A Texan who rejoined the brigade late on the night of the 30th left a vivid description of the scene that greeted him at dawn the next day:

...Every square foot of an acre of ground that was not occupied by a sleeping or standing soldier, was covered with choice food for the hungry. Chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese squaked, gobbled, quackled, cackled and hissed in harmonious unison as deft and energetic hands seized them for slaughter,. . .and scattered around in bewildering confusion and gratifying profusion appeared immense loaves of bread and chunks of corned beef, hams and sides of bacon, cheeses, crock of apple-butter, jelly, jam, pickles, and preserves, bowls of yellow butter, demijohns of buttermilk, and other eatables too numerous to mention.

July

The morning of July 1 found the Texans at Chambersburg, PA, recovering from their heavy dinners of the night before. At 3 p.m. on the afternoon, the well-fed soldiers broke camp and moved out on the road that led to a little town called Gettysburg. Once they finally started, then the Texans were delayed for some four hours when they met the Second Corps trains at an intersecting road. They finally went into camp near Cashtown about 2 a.m.

After only some two hours of sleep, the troops were on the road again, and reached Seminary Ridge shortly after dawn. A halt for breakfast was abruptly terminated by orders to move to Lee's right flank, where they took position in Biesecker's Woods, with the left of the 4th Texas resting on the Emmitsburg Road.

At about 4:30 p.m., the Texans received the order to advance. As they moved across the field with bayonets fixed, the brigade separated, with the 1st Texas and 3rd Arkansas moving into Rose's Woods north of Devil's Den, and the 4th and 5th Texas following Law's Alabama brigade south of Devil's Den.

Aided by Georgia and Alabama troops, the 1st and 3rd cleared the Devils' Den area and the valley of Plum Run in fighting that one Texan called "one of the wildest, fiercest struggles of the war." Meanwhile, the 4th and 5th pushed on through the woods on the northeast flank of Big Round Top, stopping to dress their lines as their reached the open ground at the foot of Little Round Top.

The battle raged until nightfall. Three times the Texans advanced up the boulder-strewn slope against the center of Vincent's Union brigade, striking the 83rd Penna. and the 44th New York, later reinforced by the 16th Michigan and the 140th New York. One company of the 5th advanced within 20 yards of the Union line. But each time the Texan assault was forced back. It was the first time in the war that they had failed to carry a position that they had assaulted.

Finally the Texans fell back to a position on the high ground above Devil's Den. There they built a stone wall to protect their position. Skirmishing continued throughout the next day, and the Texans were slightly involved in repulsing an attack by Union cavalry under Elon Farnsworth, their hardest fighting was over.

Casualties among the Texans were heavy. The attack had scarcely begun when division commander Hood was seriously wounded by a shell. Col. Key, Lt. Col. Bane and Major Carter of the 4th were all wounded in the attack on Little Round Top, and brigade commander Robertson was also wounded, just as the brigade was digging in for the night. Among the soldiers of the brigade, 43% had become casualties.

The Texans left Gettysburg at dawn on the 5th, headed for the Potomac at Williamsburg. They reached Hagerstown on the 7th, but their crossing was delayed by rain-swollen waters. They finally passed the river on the 14th. Once back in Dixie, they via Martinsburg and Darkesville to Bunker Hill, where they camped from the 16th to the 19th. The brigade then moved via Chester Gap to Culpepper Court House, and pitched camp there on the 24th. They remained at Culpepper for seven days.

August-September

The fall campaign commenced on Sept. 3, with a move further down the river to Port Royal. After a few days on picket duty, the brigade left Port Royal on Sept. 8 and marched to Bowling Green, where they boarded the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad for Richmond. One of the brigade's biggest adventures was under way. In common with Longstreet and 12,000 of his men, they were en route to the west to reinforce Braxton Bragg and the Army of Tennessee.

The Texans marched through the capital on the morning of the 9th and boarded trains of the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad. The rolling stock provided was primarily freight cars -- boxes, flats, and a few stock cars. Many men climbed onto the roofs for a better view, while those inside used bayonets to pry off siding for light and ventilation.

Traveling on over the Petersburg and the Wilmington & Weldon, the Texans arrived in Wilmington, NC. There it was necessary to change trains, as the railroads entering the port from the north were a different gauge from those leaving to the south. This delayed the movement one day and night.

Underway again, the Texans were routed over the Wilmington & Manchester Railroad to Kingsville, S.C., and thence via the South Carolina Railroad and the Georgia Railroad to Atlanta. John C. West of the 4th reported that

At every depot and station throughout the state [of South Carolina] the ladies, young and old, flocked in loaded with baskets of provisions, fruits and delicacies of every character which these scant times afford, which were offered amid smiles and tears and expressions of congratulations and encouragement to every soldier.

At Sumterville, reported Val Giles, the Texans detrained to eat supper at a long table spread with food cooked by the ladies of the town. In general, however, the trains moved night and day, and diarist Mary Chestnut, who saw them pass through Kingsville, SC, spoke of

...what seemed like miles of platform cars, and soldiers rolled in their blankets lying in rows with their heads all covered, fast asleep. In their gray blankets packed in regular order, they looked like swathed mummies.

The Texans appear to have reached Atlanta by the 14th, and then spent some time sidetracked at Resaca, Ga, but on Sept. 17, 1300 strong, they unloaded at Catoosa Station on the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a short distance south of Chattanooga. The first of Longstreet's men to complete the journey, they had traveled over 900 miles using eight different railroads in nine days. The train had been delayed by a derailment shortly before reaching Atlanta, and one man was killed when he fell from the cars south of Wilmington, but otherwise the movement had been a huge success.

Robertson's Brigade joined other newly-arrived troops from Mississippi in a provisional division of five brigades under Bushrod Johnson, and moved to the front the next morning. Hood arrived later that afternoon and assumed command of the division. There was light fighting on the 18th as Federal troops were pushed back to Chickamauga Creek, but the highpoint of the day was a meeting with the first troops from home that the brigade had encountered since the start of the war: the 8th Texas Cavalry and the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry.

On 19th, Hood took over Longstreet's Corps, leaving his division to General Law. The Texans became the extreme left of the Confederate line as it moved that afternoon against the Federals holding the Viniard farm.

There they faced Union breastworks backed by Wilder's Lightning Brigade, armed with Spencer seven-shot repeaters. Though the Texans eventually captured the farm, the heavy fighting put three of the brigade's four regimental commanders out of action, and left the 4th under the command of Capt. J. T. Hunter of Co. H.

During the night, the brigade moved a short distance north, and it attacked again in late morning, advancing almost a mile in the face of Union artillery fire. At one point the Texans even came under fire from Confederate troops, an incident the men believed was due to the new uniforms issued at Fredericksburg, made of a gray said to be so dark that it appeared blue.

In the fighting on the 20th, the 4th Texas suffered especially heavy losses. Three color bearers were shot down, and a fourth was badly wounded but stuck to his place until the fighting ceased. The regiment came out of the fight with only 150 men, and of the 1300 members of the brigade who had traveled from Virginia, 570 were killed, wounded or missing. General Hood had also been badly wounded.

The 21st was spent burying the dead. On the 22nd, the Brigade moved north towards Lookout Mountain on the Tennessee River. The troops took up a position about a mile and a half east of the mountain on the 23rd, and helped initiate the siege of Chattanooga by building regular breastworks, the first the brigade had ever constructed. The rest of the month was spent on the siege line.

Daniel Kinsey died in action at Chickamauga on September 19, 1863. It is very likely that he was killed between 2:30 and 4pm, near Viniard Field. Many Texans lost their lives that day to the new rapid firing Spencer rifles being wielded by two regiments of "Wilder's Lightning Brigade." The battle had been going well for the Confederates, with the front line yankees already fleeing and being chased. As the Rebels followed and were attacking a Yankee battery,, they ran into a buzz-saw delivered by the union's reserves. Quoting a first hand Union report from the battle:

"Wilder's men cut loose a rapid and accurate fire, devastating the charging Rebels. In 2 minutes there was not a man � seen on his feet in our front." The Texans were driven back in disorder.

For those of you that didn't sleep through my talk last year on the use of GPS, the location of Daniel's death is 085W16'06" 34N54'29".

Co-incidentally, John Thomas Kinsey, son of Peter Kinsey, was also at the battle of Chichamauga, serving nearby with the 11th Texas Infantry. But John Thomas's story is for another day. Hood's brigade took great casualties during the battle of Chichamauga, and was never quite the same for the remainder of the war. It did go on to see action in Knoxville, Battle of the Wilderness, the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, the battle at Cold Harbor, at Petersburg (south of Richmond), and 145 men of the 4th Texas were at the surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. After a difficult trip home, what was left of the 4th Texas Infantry arrived by train in Houston on June 2, 1865, where they were met by a large crowd. The next day, they were treated to a round of dinners by the townspeople. Later that day, June 3, 1985, the brigade disbanded.

By the end of the war, 1343 men had served with the 4th Texas Infantry. Of those, 19% were killed in battle. Another 36% were wounded. 12% were captured by the Yankees. .4% (5 soldiers) were missing in action. Of the 1343 men that served, by war's end 909 were battle casualties. 67.7%, more than 2 out of every 3 men, were battle casualties.

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This page maintained by Cathy Wood Osborn. Last updated 11 December 2003.