No wonder Robert E. Lee always spoke so fondly of [b]'My Texans'[/b] when referring to them in his reports to Richmond!
The Texas Brigade fought in all the battles engaged in by the Army of Northern Virginia except Chancellorsville and it more than made up for missing this battle by fighting with the Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga and Knoxville and with Longstreet at Suffolk. The war record of this renowned fighting unit was a gallant and glorious one, written in blood, smoke and bandages. [b]General Lee knew of no better troops upon which he could depend. In fact he referred to them as "My Texans," stating "I rely upon them in all tight places" and "Texans always move them."[/b]
In 1889 Jefferson Davis wrote [b]"the Texas Brigade … showed on many battlefields a willingness to live and die for Dixie."[/b]
Indeed, the Texans had no fear of death at all. On May 20, 1863, Private West penned a letter to his wife in Texas and remarked, "We can’t be whipped, though they may kill us all," a statement which nearly came true. Of the estimated 5353 men who enlisted in the three Texas and one Arkansas regiments, only 617 remained to surrender their well-used Enfields and bullet riddled flags on April 12, 1865 at Appomattox, Virginia. … ...We pray to God that this feat of valor shall never be suppressed nor forgotten.
Gather round and I will tell you the story of Bobby Lee and His Texans at the Battle of the Wilderness...at a later date.
Eric The(Lee,ToTheRear!)Hun[>]:)]