4th Texas Mounted Volunteers
Regimental Artillery
"The Victoria Invincibles"
Historical Sketch
and
Company C, 4th Texas Mounted Volunteers was formed in Victoria County, Texas, in June 1861, as state militia. In Sept. 1861 they were sworn into service of the Confederate States. They were mostly farmers and town-dwellers, though some were undoubtedly drovers and stockmen. They had to bring their own horses, saddles, shoulder weapons, revolvers, knives, and camp equipment. The Regimental Artillery was in Col. James Reily's regiment, the 4th Texas Cavalry (the men referred to themselves as mounted volunteers). Col. Reily was sent to Mexico by General Sibley, the brigade commander, and missed the entire New Mexico campaign. Lt. Col. William Read Scurry commanded the regiment during the New Mexico campaign. (See the map of the route to New Mexico and the detail map in New Mexico.)
Sibley formed two four gun batteries of mountain howitzers that were to be a part of the 5th Texas and the 4th Texas. Each of these batteries consisted of thirty six men, all mounted. The commander of the 4th Texas Regimental Artillery was the son of the 4th Texas Commander, Col. James Reily. Also in the battery was 1st Sgt. John E. Hart of Lockhart and Pvt. Frank Star of Nacogdoches.
The batteries used mountain howitzers on pack carriages. These little guns were designed to be light and easily dissembled so that they could be carried on pack mules. This came at a price, however, as the maximum range was limited to only 1000 yards with shell and 800 yards with spherical case shot. Also the little guns could not shoot solid shot. However, they did have a full twelve pound bore (4 5/8 inches) and were excellent close range antipersonnel weapons. The tubes were short, only 32 inches long, were made of bronze, and weighed only 220 pounds. The carriage was likewise diminutive.
Each battery required twenty two mules. It required one mule for each tube, a mule for each carriage, and a mule for each pair of ammo chests. There were two tool chests requiring an additional mule. Each ammo chest contained eight rounds and weighed 100 lbs. There were 24 ammo chests with 48 rounds per gun. Each round was an assembled unit consisting of the projectile, a sabot, and an attached powder charge. This could be rammed down the barrel as a single unit.
There were three kinds of ammunition in each chest, one round of shell, a round of canister, and six rounds of case shot. the shell had a thick iron casing and had a large bursting charge for its concussive effect. The case shot had a thin casing and was filled with musket balls and a small bursting charge. The charge was designed to break the casing apart and spread out the musket balls in a shotgun fashion. The bits and pieces would retain their forward momentum and fall on the troops below. The canister round was a tin can filled with 148 musket balls. These turned the gun into a large and, at close range, a very lethal shotgun.
One glance at the diaries and letters left by them will show the reader these were decent men. They were poor and ignorant, but they were in the army to serve their nation, and they tried hard to be good soldiers. One glance at their battle record will tell how well they succeeded. Another indicator of the quality of the men of the Sibley Brigade is the nature of the men they elected to lead them.
Most but not all of the diaries were left by officers and NCOs. They were shrewd witnesses, sensitive to the suffering and horror around them. They appreciated the bravery of their enemies, and they were well aware of the political and economic factors that had led them into war against their former countrymen. The men had elected the leaders of their communities, and many of these leaders had seen battle in the Mexican War and the Texas Revolution. The men and their officers shared a desire to look like good soldiers, and they worked hard at it. The diaries tell us the brigade was drilled intensely.
Their uniforms were a mixture of civilian clothing, Texas militia, leftover Mexican War, captured US, and locally-made copies of regulation Confederate uniforms. Sibley brought some regulation uniforms with him from Richmond, but those would have undoubtedly gone to staff officers. It is reasonable to suppose they were used as patterns for the local manufacture of uniforms. Texas had a lot more cotton than wool, so it is also reasonable to expect that many items would be of cotton. By the time of the battle at Glorieta Pass, March 28, 1862, most of the items the men had worn from home were worn out. Union items and items purchased from civilian stores would have been used as replacements Several prominent and wealthy New Mexican families supported the brigade, and one of the diarists mentioned that shopkeepers were forced at gunpoint to accept Confederate script in exchange for food and clothing.
Various flags were used in the campaign such as the Texas Flag, the First National and also used swallow tail guidons that consisted of a white star on a red field. The Regimental Artillery would have used the swallow tail guide-on.
As for small arms, the double-barreled 12 gauge shotgun was the weapon of the brigade in New Mexico. Later, they were issued 1853 Enfields, but General Sibley wrote of the Battle of Val Verde that never before had cannon fallen to shotguns. One of the troopers reported that the brigade should be called the Texas mounted shotguns rather than the Texas mounted rifles. Some men were issued captured U.S. Minnie rifles, and there were attempts to standardize the weapons, at least on the company level. Several types of single-shot breech-loading carbines were present in the New Mexico territory, and projectiles matching their caliber and type have been found on the battlefields. Sixty Sharps muskets and accouterment sets, along with 10,000 rounds of ammunition were taken from the supply post at Cubero, near Acoma. Also taken were several hundred US infantry great coats. The men of Sibley's Brigade carried a profusion of pistols, too. Especially popular was the 1851 Colt Navy model. Other pistols that would certainly have been in the area are the Colt's dragoons, the 1860 Colt, various pocket Colts and Remingtons, the Sharps derringer, and single-shot military or civilian pistols. Diarists on both sides noted the prominence of revolvers in the brigade, and Federal soldiers mentioned that the Texans were not noticeably shy about using them in battle. It is very doubtful that any of the Confederate copies of Colt revolvers were in the brigade in New Mexico; the campaign started in the late fall of 1861, and these weapons would not have been available until several months later.
Sibley's Brigade lost a tremendous number of horses at the battle of Val Verde. Many horses were starving and collapsed in the exertion of battle, but most were killed by Federal fire. The brigade was in danger of becoming foot-bound. General Sibley (or, more likely, Col. Green of the 5th regiment) decided to dismount the 4th regiment and elements of the 7th. The surviving horses were to be given to the 5th regiment and the artillery. The elements of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles, under Maj. Pyron, that had accompanied the brigade kept their horses. These last men were the spearhead of the campaign, being the first engaged at Val Verde, the first into Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and the first engaged at Apache Canyon. The dismounted men of the 4th and 7th regiments marched from Socorro to Glorieta Pass and back to San Antonio, Texas. Sibley's New Mexico campaign was more than twice as long as Napoleon's Moscow campaign about a half century earlier.
Muster Roll and Rosters
1861- 1862
Bill Manley - Researcher
Officers:
1st Lt. John Reily, 26 (Co. B)
2nd Lt. William T. Carrington, 28 (Co. F)
Acting 2nd Lt. Charles Mansfield Raquet, 27
1st Sergeant John E. Hart, 23 (Co. B)
Sergeant James Francis Coffee, 32 (Co. C, Oct. 13,1861)
1st Corporal John Clark, 20 (Co. B, Oct. 10,1861)
Corporal William Lee Alexander, 28 (Co. H)
Corporal John R. Burns, 38
Privates:
Armstrong, James H., 21 (Co. C)
Bates, Isaac V., 26 (Co. D)
Bernard, Louis, 23 (Co. G)
Campbell, John N., 24 (Co. K)
Copenhaber, Mathew, 26 (Co. B)
Doss, Richard, 23 (Co. G)
Dube, Gustav, 25 (Co. G)
Fish, A.L., 27 (Co. K)
Giese, Adam, 39 (Co. G)
Harris, Benjamin, 21 (Co. B)
Harpolt, George, 24 (Co. C)
Hudson, Marion L., 20 (Co. B)
Kenly, James, 32 (Co. D)
Moody, F.M., 22 (Co. C)
Moody, George H., 19 (Co. C)
Murray, William H., 19 (Co. B)
Porter, John W., 24 (Co. B)
Ragland, Henry, 19 (Co. C)
Ramsey, William J.L., 26 (Co. K)
Rhodo, Hugo, 20 (Co. B)
Schoonover, Eli, 41 (Co. E)
Starr, James Franklin, 18 (Co. H)
Tschoepe, Louis, 25 (Co. C)
Wade, F.S., 24 (Co. E)
Lt Col. William Read (Dirty Shirt) Scurry
4th Texas Mounted Volunteers commander
during Sibley's New Mexico campaign
