Walker’s Texas Division, C.S.A.: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi. By Richard Lowe. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004. Pp. xi, 339.)
Richard Lowe, a professor at the University of North Texas, published a review of Confederate Maj. Gen. John G. Walker’s Texas Division’s experiences in the Civil War. The Division served exclusively in the Trans-Mississippi region and has the distinct honor of being the only Division in the Confederate or Union military composed entirely of men from a single state (xi). Lowe recounts the story of the Division from formation to dispersion and uses the demographics of the soldiers to dispute the argument that the Civil War was a rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight. Lowe contends that Texas soldiers of all socioeconomic classes fought to keep the Union military out of Texas and wanted to keep their families and property safe from the destruction of war. Walker’s Texas Division earned the nickname, “Greyhound Division” due to their extensive marching. The Division crisscrossed three states totaling 3,500 miles in addition to steaming up and down 600 miles of inland rivers.
The book contains fourteen chapters including an introduction and epilogue. Lowe included an appendix of the causalities in Walker’s Texas Division and it is a helpful reference. The chapters are organized chronologically and review the lifespan of the Division from volunteering for service in 1862 to the disbanding of soldiers once General Lee surrendered at Appomattox in 1865. Lowe used a variety of sources including soldier’s personal diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers, periodicals, government records, books, articles, theses, and dissertations. The bibliography is an impressive list of sources for researchers and scholars. The book outlines the life of Texas soldiers in the Trans-Mississippi region by reviewing all aspects of soldiering. Lowe highlights the poor decision making by Confederate generals, lack of reliable reconnaissance, conditions of camps, the hazards of marching, civilian reactions, issues with ammunition and artillery, and the weather.
At the time of formation, the Division had 12,000 soldiers but desertion, sickness, and restrictions on age forced a reduction in size to 6,000 soldiers by the time it started its first campaign and marched into Arkansas. During the winter of 1862-1863 the men drilled and trained constantly but that did not take the soldier’s minds off their poor clothing, poor rations or stop the boredom of camp life from affecting the men’s resolve to fight. Many men deserted during this time forcing Confederate generals to implement a strict punishment—death by a witnessed firing squad. In the middle of the 1862-1863 winter, in the Trans-Mississippi Department issued six conflicting orders to Walker. Consequently, the Division crisscrossed Arkansas and Louisiana until they finally stopped at Milliken’s Bend in June of 1863. Confederate Lt. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith ordered Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor to break Maj. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s supply line as Grant marched towards Vicksburg with the assistance of the Texas Division. Unfortunately, they met with only the remnants of Grant’s supply line and engaged in what became the smallest, bloodiest battle of the war.
The Division’s significant contribution to the Confederate defenses in the Trans-Mississippi region occurred in the Red River Valley from March to mid-May of 1864. The Union army planned to invade East Texas through an overland campaign supported by the Union Navy. They succeeded in pushing the Confederate forces, including the Texas Division, forty miles south of Shreveport. Taylor’s 9,000 Confederate soldiers confronted 20,000 Union soldiers commanded by General Nathaniel Banks. The Texas Division managed to break Bank’s left flank and assisted in forcing a Union retreat. For 70 days the Confederate troops chased the Union troops over 930 miles and fought in three pitched battles forcing the Union troops out of the Red River Valley. Lowe states that the men of Walker’s Texas Division achieved their goal. They kept their families and their property safe from the battlefield by stopping the Union invasion of East Texas. After the Red River Valley campaign, the Smith ordered the Texas Division back to Texas to defend the state from another Union invasion but that invasion never occurred. In the spring of 1865, the Division disbanded by simply walking away from their summer camps and walked home.
Lowe’s account of the hardships and successes of Walker’s Texas Division is entertaining. The story of Walker’s Texas Division is one of struggle—they marched endlessly and endured severe cold, heat, humidity, rain, starvation, inconsistent orders, and poor reconnaissance. The physical feats that the Division achieved are unparalleled in the Civil War. The author contributes to the historiography of the Civil War scholarship by highlighting a unique Division’s experiences and exposing the humanity of soldiers through their diaries and letters to family members.
Texas Christian University Brooke Wibracht