LIKEN’S 35^th TEXAS CAVALRY, CSA

COMPANY “G” of UPSHUR COUNTY, TEXAS

By J. D. Stevens

The War Between the States had been in progress for almost two years. The northern armies were getting larger and stronger. The Federals were making a concerted effort to regain control of the entire Mississippi River. If successful, the Trans-Mississippi Department would be severed from the eastern theater of major operations. In Texas, General John B. Magruder had taken over as the military commander and launched a land and gunboat attack that had recaptured Galveston on New Year’s Day 1863.

The state of Texas expected another Federal invasion at any time somewhere along the Gulf Coast. The Confederate government was calling on Texas to furnish more men to replace losses in the armies east of the Mississippi River. Every able bodied male citizen was called upon to enlist. The draft ages were expanded to include both younger teens and older men. Those of draft age who had to be coerced into joining were called conscripts. Veterans who had been sent home to recover from wounds, paroled prisoners, and those discharged previously in the war due to disabilities caused by illness were pressed back into service. Companies of men began to assemble at camps around the state. In the spring of 1863 a company of men were recruited from Upshur County which included today’s Camp County. A few men also came from neighboring counties. They were stationed at a camp near Tyler to begin training as a company of cavalry under Gustavas “Gus” Erickson Warren (1824-189). Gus owned a grocery store in Gilmer and served as magistrate and county clerk for Upshur Co. He had previous service as the 1^st Lieutenant of Company E, 14^th Texas Cavalry earlier in the war.

In June 1863, Colonel James B. Likens, a veteran of the Mexican War and a lawyer was authorized to raise a regiment of infantry, but was changed to Calvary because “it was the service universally preferred by Texians.” Earlier in the war he had raised and commanded a battalion of state troops along the upper Gulf Coast. For reasons unknown, Likens’ new regiment was given the number designation 35^th even though another Texas Calvary regiment had already been designated with the same number. Even today, historians and record keepers often confuse the two units, but Likens’ and Brown’s regiments were two different regiments of cavalry with the same number.

After Vicksburg and Port Hudson fell in July 1863, Federal commanders, politicians, and cotton speculators began planning how and where they were going to invade Texas. The effort to organize and supply more men was stepped up. The size of a standard military company was supposed to be about 100 men and officers, but seldom reached this strength. The custom of the day was to elect officers and non-commissioned officers by the men of each company. In September 1863 Gustavas E. Warren was elected captain of the Upshur County men and served in that capacity for the remainder of the war.

By late October, companies designated to become Likens’ Regiment, but still scattered around Texas were ordered to Houston for assembly. A common practice was for a substitute to serve in place of older men if they could be found. In the case of Squire Stevens and G. M. Suggs, both had young sons, John Stevens and Robert Suggs, who served in their place while at Tyler. When orders came for Company G to march to Houston, the men replaced their sons and sent them home. John went home, sold the families best mule, purchased a horse, and rejoined the regiment. Both boys reenlisted under their own names.

In early November, Col. Likens had assembled his 10 companies, including Company G for drill and outfitting at Camp Lubbock about 2 or 3 miles west of Houston on Buffalo Bayou. Later in the month an inspection report of the 35^th shows Company G had 54 men present, 12 on leave, and none were AWOL. At this time many of the men in the regiment were not armed. Others had hunting rifles, shot guns, muskets, or assorted pistols brought from home.

In September, a Federal invasion had been repulsed at Sabine Pass. In November, several thousand troops under General N. P. Banks began operations along the lower Gulf Coast. They established a camp on the southern tip of Matagorda peninsula. Protected by gunboats, Confederate forces could do little to dislodge them. Expecting the Yankee invasion to use the peninsula as a highway so their gunboats could provide cover, the Rebels built a fort on the northern end of the peninsula where it connected to the mainland at the mouth of Caney Creek. In December 1863 the 35^th along with several other regiments were ordered south where they could respond to the expected invasion in that theater.

This regiment’s first winter was bitter cold and all the troops and their horses suffered from lack of food, forage, camp equipment, clothes, and medical supplies. The 35^th was brigaded with other units and patrolled along the coast from the Brazos River to Matagorda Bay as Federal feints and probes were attempted in several locations. The Federal gunboats would move in close to shore and shell the Confederates in their small earthen forts and rifle pits. The men made periodic scouts down the peninsula, always wary of the gunboats. The weather and constant movement of the regiment began to take its toll not in battle casualties, but sickness and disease. Most of the men had been farmers and not accustomed to communal type living. Few had been exposed to childhood sicknesses such as measles or mumps. They did not understand the diseases caused by unsanitary conditions created by so many men living in close proximity or the poor drinking water found in the stagnant, muddy bayous of the Texas Gulf Coast. Once started, sickness would spread through a regiment causing many to be disabled and too often resulted in death. R. J. Davis of Company G was one of these casualties.

In January 1864 the 35^th was ordered to support Colonel Duff’s Regiment at Victoria. They were ordered to picket a section of the coast near the old town of Texana, Texas. They set up camp on the Lavaca River. This is a few miles south of today’s Edna, Texas. Since Federal troops were at Indianola on Lavaca Bay, they patrolled the coast and bay to prevent Union foragers from ranging inland to steal cattle and other supplies. They also maintained a vigil for gunboats and troops who might attempt to steam up the Navidad River to capture or raid the Texana.

By early 1864, the Federals had set their sights on Shreveport, Louisiana and possibly east Texas via the Red River. The six regiments of General Hamilton P. Bee’s Division, including the 35^th, were ordered to report to General Richard Taylor’s army in Louisiana to defend against the impending invasion. Since the senior officers of the 35^th were on leave, Major William A. Wortham was in command of the 35^th on the Lavaca River when he received marching orders on March 18^th to proceed immediately to Louisiana with all haste. Major Wortham left the Lavaca River and made a grueling forced march of over 370 miles to Mansfield, Louisiana. There are no official records to confirm the presence of Likens’ Regiment at the battle of April 8^th. Most of the regiment and baggage train would not, but a mixture of facts and statements by at six veterans of the regiment indicate a contingent of the better mounted troopers may have arrived in time for the battles at Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Blair’s Landing.

After the battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9^th most of General Taylor’s infantry was transferred to Arkansas to repel another Union army moving south from Little Rock. Taylor’s remaining small army of 5,000 mostly Texans were in daily contact with the enemy for six weeks. They made every effort to impede and force into submission an army of over 20,000 before they could reach the safety of the Mississippi River. Not only did the Texans oppose the army, but also attacked Admiral David Porter’s fleet of 26 gunboats, troopships, and support craft on the Red River. In one action near Montgomery which included the 35^th, the Federal navy was forced to blow up their largest gunboat, Eastport, which had run aground. Likens’ Regiment was assigned to Bagby’s Brigade and for six weeks they attacked and impeded the head of the retreating Union column almost every day. A general engagement took place at Monet’s Ferry where the Confederates tried to block Bank’s army before he could reach Alexandria, but were overwhelmed by numbers. Although unsuccessful in capturing Banks’ entire army, they did inflict heavy casualties and sank several gunboats and transports. By May 18^th, the Red River Valley was finally cleared of the invaders. Confederate troops, including Likens’ Regiment, made reconnaissance and skirmished against Federal operations while holding the line along the Atchafalaya River until early 1865. In February, the 35^th was ordered back to Texas and dismounted. On May 2, the the remaining 232 men and officers of the 35^th Regiment, now commanded by Lt. Colonel Wortham, arrived in Galveston. On May 21, Company G boarded a train taking them to Navasota where they received honorable discharges on the 25^th from the Confederate Army and went home.

The following 40 men are the only KNOWN members of Capt. G. E. Warren’s Company G, Liken’s 35th Cavalry Regiment:

Information concerning Liken’s Regiment and/or Captain Warren’s Company G is very scarce. The main references for this essay are listed below, but the numerous books concerning Texas in the Confederacy and the Red River Campaign are not. Additional sources of information can be supported on request. The author takes full responsibility for the accuracy of the information within. Please contact me if errors, oversight, and/or additional information regarding Captain Warren’s Company G is known. In turn, it would be my pleasure to share with additional information not included in this report.

It would be much appreciated if anyone with letters, diaries, pictures, etc of veterans of this unit would take time to contact the great-great and great grandson of veterans of Company “G”, Likens’ 35^th Texas Cavalry Regiment, CSA at jdstevens1@myway.com

Sources used to assemble this brief history of Company “G” are:

• Letters from members of Liken’s Regiment on file at the Texas Heritage Museum Historical Research Center at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas.

• War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies

• Discharge of John A. Stevens found on file in the Texas State Archives

• Pension records on file at the Texas State Archives of various veterans as listed in the table above. Pension records may also be found online @ Ancetry.com

• Original roster downloaded from Internet @ "Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Search Results."

• "Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray" by Mamie Yeary

• Terrell's Tx Cav, Appendix IV by John Spencer

• "Civil War Letters of Louis Lehman" by Edmund Louis Burnett

• Online @ "Fold3.com" of National Archives & Records Administration (NARA), Confederate Service Records.

• Ashbel Smith Paper @ UT Briscoe Center for American History, Box #2G236, 4L261, 4L262, 2G232

• Original tabular statement of enlisted men absent from the Regiment. Not dated, but probably late November or December 1863

• United Confederate Veteran Rosters @ LSU Hill Memorial Library in Baton Rouge, La.

• Various books on Texas in the Confederacy and the Red River Campaign
  

John Douglas Stevens

2427 – Pioneer Oaks Dr

Fresno, Texas 77545