Organisasjonskart 1861
Table of organization 1861
Strength: 746 officers and men. Company A: 68 officers
and men.
RECRUITMENT AND ORGANIZATION 1861
In February 1861, Judge John Gregg of Fairfield, Texas,
was chosen to represent Texas in the Provisional Congress of the
Confederate States in Richmond, Virginia. When the fighting began
in Virginia, the 32-year old Gregg asked the Secretary of War for
authority to raise a regiment of Texas volunteers for service east
of the Mississippi. His request granted, he immediately wrote his
friends in Texas to go ahead and enroll volunteers, notably to Jeremiah
M. Clough of Marshall, Texas. Clough had served as Lieutenant in
the 2nd Texas Mounted Volunteers during the war with Mexico (1846-48),
and would render important assistance in recruiting and organizing
the regiment.
Having resigned his seat in Congress, John Gregg returned to Texas
in late September. He immediately called upon the volunteers to
assemble at Marshall, Texas. During the first week of October, 1861,
seven companies reported to Marshall, where they were promptly mustered
into the service of the Confederate States for a period of "three
years or the war". Gregg then received an urgent order to "proceed
to Memphis as soon as possible". Regimental organization had
to be postponed, and the first six companies marched away on October
10 for Monroe, Louisiana. From there, the journey continued by railroad
east to Vicksburg, Mississippi, then north to Memphis, Tennessee.
The seventh company was ready two days later, and the eighth and
ninth set out on October 17. Upon reaching Memphis, Gregg's Texans
were immediately ordered to Clarksville, Tennessee. Their journey
continued by rail, steamboat, and on foot. After a brief stay at
Clarksville, the Texans were on the march again, this time to Hopkinsville,
in southeastern Kentucky.
By November 7, 1861, all nine companies - numbering 749 men - had
arrived at Hopkinsville. Here the Texans reported for duty with
Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman, who commanded a brigade in the
Army of Central Kentucky. Two days later, the companies were finally
organized into the 7th Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment. It had
been a long and arduous journey for the raw Texas recruits. The
shortest distance made by any company on foot was nearly 200 miles
- one company had to march 400 miles. Rain, cold, exposure and exhaustion
had already claimed the lives of five men, and many more were now
sick. It was a rough introduction to soldier life, and it was to
become rougher still.
The "Waco Guards" - Company A
When judge John Gregg announced his intention to raise a regiment
for service east of the Mississippi, Hiram Bronson Granbury, a 30-year
old attorney and county official, promptly responded to the call.
He proceeded to organize a military company known as the "Waco
Guards" in his home town of Waco, McLennan County, Texas.
When Granbury received word that Gregg was on his way back to Texas,
the McLennan county volunteers set out for Marshall, their designated
assembly point 180 miles to the northeast. The "Waco Guards"
were the first company to arrive at and were mustered into the Confederate
States army on October 1, 1861. At the regimental organization in
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, November 10, the "Waco Guards"
became Company A of the 7th Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Hiram
Granbury was elected regimental Major, and C. N. Alexander took
his place as company commander.
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