9th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Sims') (Confederate)

United States  U.S. Military   Texas    Texas Military   Texas in the Civil War  9th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Sims') (Confederate)

Brief History
In the late summer of 1861.Col. W. B. Sims, mustered the Ninth Texas Cavalry Regiment into Confederate service at Camp Reeves, Grayson County, Texas on October 14,  1861. The original unit consisted of about 1000 officers and men recruited principally from eight counties of North Texas: Cass, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Lamar, Red River, Tarrant, and Titus. With William Quayle as Lt. Col., N. W. Townes as Major and J. H. Bell as Adjutant, Sims quickly organized the men and  led them North into the Indian Territories to assist Col. Cooper. Adjutant Bell having given dissatisfaction, was accused of Abolitionism and of Bigamy, was  found guilty and the boys en masse took him out and hung him. By November 12, 1861 a detachment under the command of Lt. Col. Quayle went forward to Col. Cooper's camp to assist in fighting Indians. On November 19, 1861 they fought at Round Mountain and on December 9, 1861 they fought at Chusto-Talash, AKA Bird  Creek, Indian Territories. They then moved on to Ft. Gibson and joined other detachments and fought at Chustenahlah, Indian Territories on December 26, 1861. After this they rejoined their wagon train and resumed journey to Arkansas to join Gen. McCulloch's command in winter camp. On March 6-7, 1862, the Ninth were at Elkhorn Tavern, also called Pea Ridge by Union Historians. The 9th moved to the attack at 11 A.M. Quickly they captured an artillery battery that had fired on them and  captured 6 enemy while killing 50 to 75, but Col. Sims was severely wounded when  his arm was shattered by a cannon ball. He was later dropped from the rolls in May 1862. The next day started with the deaths of Gen. McCulloch and McIntosh and the capture of Col. Hebert, which caused a lack of communication and  leadership in these units, and Gen. Van Dorn's subsequent decision to retreat  from the battle field. In May all the units reorganized and were dismounted as Infantry. N. W. Townes was elected Colonel and Dudley W. Jones was elected Lt. Col. Soon after this Company H of the 9th was designated a sharpshooter and skirmisher company and on August 1, 1862 was attached along  with Company I of the 6th to Col. Ras Stirman's Arkansas Sharpshooter  Regiment. These regiments all part of Colonel Phiffer's Brigade began to march toward Corinth, to fight the General Rosecran's Army. On October the 3-4, 1862, the 9th fighting alongside the 6th attacked an Ohio  Brigade and received heavy casualties from cannon and rifle fire. Many of the wounded were left to be captured. This was true for the 9th and 6th. In the late afternoon of October 4th, These two units had had some success, but were running low on ammunition and men. Without reinforcement they were forced to retreat. Gen Van Dorn realized he was fighting a much larger force and decided to retreat his whole Corps. On the next day the 9th marched in column behind the 6th, and were able to stop and assume  shooting positions before they were shot down. Ross had a hundred men captured and many more dead and wounded. But soon the 6th, Ras Stirman's Sharpshooters, the 9th and artillery battery commanded the bluff on  the south side of the river and proceeded to blast away at the Union forces,  thus allowing Gen. Van Dorn's Army to retreat past the Union blocking force. Col. Townes resigned due to an eye injured at Corinth and Dudley W. Jones was elected Colonel, a position he would keep till the end of the war. In November the 9th was remounted and prepared for a raid to Holly Springs, Mississippi Union Supply Depot. This time they operated in a brigade that they would remain with throughout the war. The brigade's initial commander was Col. John Wilkins Whitfield who had commanded  the 1st Texas Legion. Gen. Van Dorn led the raid, but Lt. Col. Griffith of the 6th who designed the raid was its honorary commander. This was the first time the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 27th Texas Cavalry Regiments worked together. They were called Whitfield's Brigade but in less than a year they would be Ross' Texas Cavalry  Brigade. The 9th was a great part of the success of this raid and the subsequent disruption of rail roads in western Tennessee. The Ninth fought in Tennessee until it was then brought back with its brigade to help break the siege of Vicksburg. They skirmished outside the siege, but Vicksburg surrendered before they could help. Then began the most heroic part of the Ninth and Ross's Brigade histories, for over one  hundred days, they fought Gen. Sherman's Army, delaying its march toward  Atlanta. The battles of Rome, New Hope Church, Lovejoy's Station and Jonesborough were names in this campaign. They stopped two of Sherman's raids, even though the union had superior forces, but with great loss of men and  horses. When Atlanta fell and Gen. Hood took Ross' Brigade back to Tennessee, the 9th had only 140 men and most of the companies ceased to exist. The regiment operated as one large compamy. About 900 were dead, wounded, sick or left behind in various duties. Serving as part of Gen. Nathan B. Forest rear guard of Hoods Army of Tennessee, they helped prevent the loss of that force. Starting out the Brigade had only a strength of 686 men. Following these battles Ross' Brigade was no longer a viable force. The units bivouacked in Mississippi during the remaining few months of the war. Many of the men were furloughed and many just went home. The Brigade was officially captured and paroled at Citronelle, Alabama in May 1865. Of the Ninth, under Col. Dudley W. Jones' command only 100 remained to surrender.

Companies in this Regiment with the Counties of Origin
Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database lists 1,712 men on its roster for this unit. Roster.

Other Sources

 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in ‘Texas in the Civil War’ and ‘United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865’ (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * Texas in the Civil War describes many Confederate and Union sources, specifically for Texas, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States and Confederate States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * Crabb, Martha L. (Martha Louise Lewis). All afire to fight : the untold tale of the Civil War's Ninth Texas Cavalry. (New York, New York : Avon Books, c2000),