The 1st Texas Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Ragged Old First," was an infantry regiment raised in Texas for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.
The 1st Texas Infantry Regiment was assembled at Richmond, Virginia, in August, 1861, with ten companies from Marion, Cass, Polk, Houston, Harrison, Tyler, Anderson, Cherokee, Sabine, San Augustine, Newton, and Nacogdoches counties. Later two companies from Galveston and Trinity County were added to the command. Part of Hood's Texas Brigade, it served under Generals Hood, J.B. Robertson, and John Gregg. The regiment fought with the Army of Northern Virginia from Seven Pines to Cold Harbor except when it was detached with Longstreet at Suffolk, Chickamauga, and Knoxville. It was involved in the Petersburg siege north and south of the James River and later the Appomattox Campaign. This unit had 477 effectives in April, 1862 and lost 186 of the 226 engaged at Sharpsburg, a casualty rate of 82.3% percent.Brigade Marker No. 324 (Wofford's Brigade), Antietam National Battlefield This staggering casualty rate was the highest suffered by any regiment, North or South, on a single day, during the entire war.Otott Jr., George E. "First Texas Infantry - A History In incurring these losses during ferocious fighting in Miller's cornfield the regiment lost a battle flag which was picked up by federal troops when they re-occupied the cornfield (the First Texas having previously withdrawn without noticing the loss of their flag).
The highest number of casualties, on the other hand, was suffered by the 26th North Carolina Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg. They suffered 72% casualties out of the 820 engaged. The 1st Texas suffered more than twenty percent of the 426 during the same engagement. It surrendered with 16 officers and 133 men. The field officers were Colonels Frederick S. Bass, Hugh McLeod, Alexis T. Rainey, and Louis T. Wigfall; Lieutenant Colonels Harvey H. Black, Albert G. Clopton, R.J. Harding, and P.A. Work; and Majors Matt. Dale and John R. Woodward.
The 1st Texas also lost a battle flag on April 8, 1865, at Appomattox Court House when it was captured by 1st Lt. Morton A. Read of the 8th New York Cavalry. Read earned the Medal of Honor for this deed.
Formation After the Battle of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, by Confederate Forces under General P. G. T. Beauregard in Charleston, South Carolina. Militia companies started to be raised across the state of Texas. Initially, the Confederate Government wanted the Texas forces to stay to provide defenses for the state, but 10 companies marched off to Richmond without the authorization to do so. These companies constituted the nucleus that became the 1st Texas Infantry Regiment. +Recruitment Areas of the 1st Texas Infantry Regiment Company Nickname Recruitment Area A Marion Rifles Marion County B Livingston Guards Polk County C Palmer Guards Harris County D Star Rifles Cass County E Marshall Guards Harrison County F Woodville Rifles Tyler County G Reagan Guards Anderson County H Texas Guards Anderson County I Crockett Southrons Houston County K Texas Invincibles San Augustine County L Lone Star Rifles Galveston County M Sumter Light Infantry Trinity County
1861 By July 8, 1861, enough companies from Texas reached Richmond to form the 1st Texas Infantry Battalion. Because of the Battalion's unauthorized presence at Richmond, the Confederate government allowed the battalion to stay in the region with the condition that the government would pick their regimental officers. The government chose Louis T. Wigfall as lieutenant colonel and Hugh McLeod as major. The battalion was stationed in Richmond until the First Battle of Bull Run, as the Battalion was rushed to the front on a double-header train to reinforce Beauregard's forces along Bull Run (Occoquan River tributary). While en route to the front, the train dashed into a washed-out culvert during a thunderstorm and causing a wreck that killed and wounded 40 men of the battalion. Due to the train wreck, the battalion failed to reach the battle in time. However, the men were able to walk the battlefield and see the aftermath of the fight the day after the battle. The battalion proceeded with General Joseph E. Johnston in his pursuit of the Union Army from Manassas until being positioned on the Confederate right flank at Dumfries, Virginia.
By August 1861, enough companies joined to qualify the battalion to become an infantry regiment. Wigfall was promoted to colonel and McLeod to lieutenant colonel. Captain Alexander T. Rainey of Company A was promoted to major. Initially, the battalion was designated as the Second Texas Infantry Regiment, as another regiment was fully formed in Galveston, Texas before. However, due to Wigfall's political connections to Jefferson Davis, his command was given the honor of being designated as the 1st Texas Infantry Regiment, a grievance the 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment under Colonel John Creed Moore would not forget during their service.
The regiment continued to hold its position along the Dumfries Line for the rest of 1861. On October 22, 1861, the Texas Brigade was created when the 4th Texas Infantry Regiment under John Bell Hood and 5th Texas Infantry Regiment under James J. Archer arrived in Richmond and were brigaded with the 1st Texas Infantry at Dumfries, Virginia. Colonel Wigfall was promoted to brigade command as brigadier general while Lieutenant Colonel McLeod and Major Rainey were both promoted to colonel and lieutenant colonel respectively. Captain Harvey H. Black of Company A was promoted to the position of major. In November 1861, Brigadier General Wigfall was elected as senator of Texas and vacated his position, James J. Archer of 5th Texas assumed temporary command of the brigade. Later that month, the 18th Georgia Infantry Regiment under Colonel William T. Wofford were also added to the brigade. For the rest of the winter of 1861–1862, the 1st Texas Infantry with the rest of the Texas Brigade defended the Dumfries line until Major General George B. McClellan's invasion of the Virginia Peninsula in March 1862.
1862 In January 1862, Colonel Hugh McLeod died of pneumonia; Lieutenant Colonel Rainey and Major Black were both promoted to colonel and lieutenant colonel respectively. On March 2, 1862, the regiment moved south with the Army of Northern Virginia to confront McClellan's flank movement at Yorktown, Virginia. The regiment arrived at the Siege of Yorktown (1862) on April 19, where they contributed sharpshooters to harass Yankee scouts and sharpshooters. The Federals quickly learned how effective the Pattern 1853 Enfield were in the hands of the Texans and Georgians of the Texas Brigade. By May 3, 1862, the Confederate forces pulled back from Yorktown and retreat towards Richmond, the Texas Brigade was detailed as the rearguard of William H.C. Whiting's Division. During their retreat up the peninsula, the 1st Texas along with its brigade was sent to confront an amphibious landing made by Brigadier General William B. Franklin's Division at the Battle of Eltham's Landing on May 7, 1862. John Bell Hood, the new commander of the Texas Brigade, drove the Yankees back to their boats during the brigade's first battle of the war and held the position until their baggage trains could pass safely. During the fight, Lieutenant Colonel Black was killed in action.
Battle of Antietam
After subsequent action during the Seven Days, in which the regiment was heavily engaged at Gaines Mill, the Texas Brigade accompanied the Army Of Northern Virginia during the 2nd Bull Run campaign and into Maryland. The brigade saw limited action during the battle of South Mountain but saw heavy action in the subsequent engagement at Sharpsburg. The morning of September 17, 1862, saw the brigade resting in fields north of Sharpsburg. The men had been marching for several days, and had not eaten for several long days. Hence, the Texans were awakened in the early hours of the 17th with empty stomachs by artillery fire and the clash of musketry, being forced to leave behind the first hot breakfast they had eaten in days they rushed to the sounds of the heaviest fighting. After arriving at the Dunker Church, the brigade was rushed forward to the Cornfield owned by a local farmer by the name of D.R. Miller. The brigade commenced a desperate counterattack to retake the Cornfield. The Texans clashed with the famed Iron Brigade who, having been heavily engaged earlier in the day, were exhausted and not an effective fighting force. The Iron Brigade quickly broke under the pressure of Hood's fresh, large division and fled. Wofford quickly pushed his Texans into the void created by his regiments’ raking fire. However, the attack stalled, and the brigade halted and reform. With the order given, the 1st Texas started their advance deeper into the Cornfield. Almost immediately the Texans came under a galling fire from Union artillery, but the Texans kept up their march. The Yankees quickly broke under the Texans' onslaught and fled to the rear. The Texans, ecstatic over their apparent victory pushed on.
The 1st Texas unknowingly advanced to the Cornfields northern fence, only 30 yards away. But before they realized this mistake, a line of blue coated soldiers seemingly appeared out of the ground and delivered a volley into the Texans. Federal soldiers had been waiting for this moment now for some time because the retreating Union soldiers had warned that the enemy was coming right for them. The fire rolled in on the Texans from their right as the 12th Pennsylvania Reserves fired, followed by a volley from the 11th Reserves on the 12th's right. The Texans were still reeling from this shock when another volley swept through the 1st Texas from the far left as the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves fired their volley at the left oblique. The Texans had walked into a firestorm. At first the brave Texans tried to hold their ground under this solid wall of fire, but not even the hardened veterans of the 1st Texas could withstand such a deadly volley. The Texans fell back with the rest of the brigade and did not see any more major action during the battle.
Battle of Gettysburg On July 2, 1863, Brigadier General Jerome Robertson and his Texas Brigade arrived at Gettysburg around 9:00 a.m. Among the regiments under the command of Robertson was the 1st Texas Infantry. The 1st Texas fought hard during its time at Gettysburg and achieved much for fighting with lesser numbers than the enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Phillip A. Work commanded the 1st Texas and successfully took the major objectives that he was assigned to take.
Robertson and his Texas Brigade arrived at their position on Seminary Ridge, along with the rest of the Confederate forces, and quickly organized his regiments left to right with the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment on the left, then the 1st Texas, 4th Texas, and 5th Texas. Soon after arrival on Seminary Ridge, both Union and Confederate artillery opened fire. According to General R. H. Anderson, the ridge that the enemy forces sat on was about twelve hundred yards away from the ridge that the Confederate forces positioned on. Anderson also mentioned that the area between the two ridges was “slightly undulating, enclosed by rail and plank fences and under cultivation.” For nearly an hour the Confederate troops stood in formation as the Union artillery collided with their lines. The troops of the 1st Texas infantry jumped as the cannon fire hit around them, as did the rest of the Confederate forces, but stood strong in their formation. The order to charge and take the heights was finally issued. As soon as he received the order, Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Work ran to the front of his regiment, pointed to his regiments flag and yelled “Follow the Lone Star Flag to the top of the mountain!”.