Dismounted Texas Cavalry

Many of the unhorsed regiments ended up in Walker's Texas Division, organized at Camp Nelson, Arkansas, in October 1862; the 13th Texas Cavalry, one of those the plaque lists, was assigned to its first brigade. It was the only Confederate division made up throughout of troops from a single state, and its long forced marches earned it the name Walker's Greyhounds. It fought at Milliken's Bend in June 1863, at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill in April 1864 and at Jenkins' Ferry, where two of its three brigade commanders were killed. The men disbanded themselves at Hempstead in May 1865.

What the plaque says

Dismounted Texas Cavalry The 95,000 men of military age in Civil War Texas, unaccustomed to walking, preferred the daring and mobility of the cavalry used to scout the enemy, screen troop movements and make lightning attacks. 58,533 Texans joined it, riding their own horses or ones donated by citizens' groups. Many of Texas' 325,000 horses were sent to other states. Yet footsoldiers were needed, too. The state set up camps of instruction, to teach Texans to walk and fight. By mid-1862 the need for infantry was so great that the following units were unhorsed under strong protest: 6th Texas Cavalry Battalion, 13th, 16th, 18th, 22nd, 24th, 25th and 28th Texas Cavalry regiments. On Aug. 15, 1863, a part of A. W. Terrell's Cavalry regiment at Richmond was ordered to dismount and march to the defense of Galveston. On Sept. 11, an order to dismount still more men caused mutiny, and 91 rode their prized horses north to homes on the Indian frontier or to join other cavalry units. When 25 were tried later, only the officers were punished. Enlisted men returned to the regiment, and fought in such actions as the 1864 Red River campaign to prevent a Federal invasion of Texas. (1964)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Brazos Bend State Park — 17 mi
  Oak and pecan bottomland, lakes and alligators on the Brazos River 45 miles from downtown Houston, with the museum's George Observatory in the woods.
• The Menil Collection — 23 mi
  John and Dominique de Menil's free museum in Montrose: a grey-sided Renzo Piano building among bungalows, holding antiquities, Surrealism and art of Oceania under natural light.
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — 23 mi
  The oldest art museum in Texas, grown from a 1900 schoolroom art league into a campus of Watkin, Mies van der Rohe and later buildings, with Ima Hogg's Bayou Bend up the bayou.
• Rothko Chapel — 23 mi
  An octagonal chapel open to all faiths, built by the de Menils around fourteen dark canvases by Mark Rothko, with Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk standing in the pool outside.

More markers nearby

• Morton Cemetery — 1.3 mi
• Site of the Home of Mirabeau B. Lamar — 1.3 mi
• Fort Bend — 1.3 mi
• Morton Lodge No. 72, A. F. & A. M. — 1.3 mi