6th Regiment, Texas Infantry (Confederate)

Brief History
The 6th Texas Infantry was organized in November of 1861, and entered Confederate service at Camp McCullough near Victoria, Texas. Colonel Robert R. Garland was the 6th's first commander. For approximately six months, the regiment served in the Department of Texas. In the spring of 1862, the Texans joined the Confederate Army of the West, serving in General Dabney H. Maury's Brigade, and participated in the Corinth Campaign. In August of 1862, the regiment was transferred to the District of Arkansas in the Confederate Department of the Trans-Mississippi, and served in General Thomas Churchill's command. The regiment participated in the defense of Arkansas Post, a Confederate stronghold on the Arkansas River. Arkansas Post fell to Federal forces on January 11, 1863, and the regiment was surrendered with the rest of Churchill's troops. The Texans were prisoners of war for several months, until paroled by federal forces and exchanged for Northern prisoners in April of 1863.

"A Destructive Fire" In July of 1863 — its' ranks depleted by battle and imprisonment — the 6th Texas was consolidated with dismounted troops of the 15th Texas Cavalry and elements of the 10th Texas Infantry as part of General Patrick Cleburne's Division in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Under Cleburne, the survivors of the 6th Texas were engaged at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19-20,1863. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas S. Anderson, the Texans and their brigade endured some of the bloody battle's worst fighting while defending a hill on the Confederate right.

"We advanced to the crest of the hill, some 200 yards in front of the enemy's barricades and breastworks, when he opened a destructive fire upon us," recalled Colonel R.Q. Mills, who was the 6th's brigade commander. "We were ordered to lie down and commence firing. We now began the engagement in earnest, but at great disadvantage. The enemy was behind his defenses and we without cover. He had two batteries of artillery; we had none...." Chickamauga ended in a Confederate victory, but was a short-lived gain: Bragg's army was soon forced to retreat into northern Georgia.

After Chickamauga, the troops of the 6th Texas were engaged in the Siege of Chattanooga, at the Battle of Taylor's Ridge and in the defense of Atlanta. The troops of the 10th Texas were detached from the regiment, leaving the 6th Texas consolidated with the 15th Texas Cavalry. During the Atlanta Campaign, the regiment was engaged at Pickett's Mill, New Hope Church, Atlanta, and Jonesborough. As part of the Army of Tennessee under General John Bell Hood, the 6th Texas participated in the bloody fighting at Franklin and Nashville, then — under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston — helped defend the Carolinas against General William T. Sherman's invading army. The surviving members of the 6th Texas saw their last serious fighting at the Battle of Bentonville in North Carolina on March 19-21,1865. Consolidated with survivors from a half-dozen other Texas regiments as the 1st Infantry Consolidated, the war-weary troops of the 6th Texas Infantry surrendered to Sherman with the rest of Johnston's army at Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. The Texans from the 6th who returned to the Lone Star State were a slim fraction of the excited throng of new recruits that went to war in 1861.

Few surrendered on April 26, 1865.

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 1,925 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.


 * Gilbert, Rensler R., b. 1820. High Private's second edition of Confederate letters written for the Houston telegraph during the late war : with the addition of the Secrets of success, or, Business advice to the young men of the South. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1990),