Continued from Vol. II No. 6

Enough additional men joined Houston at Groce's that a new regiment was formed, the 2nd Regiment of Texas Volunteers. Sidney Sherman of the 1st was elected Colonel of the 2nd while Somerville moved from Major of the 1st to Lt. Colonel and Captain Robert McNutt of "G" Company succeeded Somerville. James Bennet was elected as Lt. Colonel of the 2nd and Lysander Wells served as Major and Adjutant. A total of eight infantry and one cavalry company made up the regiment. Sources conflict as to whether they were numbered 1-8 or given letters. It appears that within the regiment numbers were used so as to distinguish them from the 1st Regiment, but returns from the field of San Jacinto show that to Houston's headquarters at least the companies were lettered.

In addition Lt. Colonel Henry Millard and four companies of the Texas Regular Infantry Regiment reported at Groces. There are sources that claim much of this unit was made up of U.S. Army personnel that had been given leave to go "shooting" but all such references are from "secondary sources". On a personal basis, I like to believe such, but the longer I look into this the less primary evidence can be found, Never the less, the members of my Texas Infantry Battalion look like members of the U.S. Army.

The last and important addition to Houston's Army was the arrival of the two 6-pound field guns, courtesy of the City of Cincinnati. Shipped to Texas in packing cases marked "HOLLOW WARE" they provided the Army with some badly needed field artillery. Lt. Colonel James Neil took charge of the guns with a detachment of approximately 30 men. Though these were field guns, there were neither horses or limbers for them, they were to be hauled by oxen to the battlefield then moved by manpower -- hence the need for the large number of men for gun crews.

On April 20, 1236 after a skirmish at San Jacinto, Houston made one last change in his order of battle. The cavalry element of the Army, such as it was, were formed into the Texas Cavalry Corps/Battalion, with an ex-private by the name of Mirabeau Lamar had managed to jump to the rank of commander as a reward for his actions. This unit was made up of Company J, 2nd Texas Volunteers and Captain Carnes Spy Company. Some reports indicate that one additional company of the 1st Texas was left at Houston's camp along the Buffalo Bayou, which may account for the fact that the 1st Texas Regiment of Volunteers was down to six companies on the field of battle.

The following is a list of Houston's Army as it was on April 21st, 1836.

COMMAND & STAFF
Major General S. Houston
A Staff Corps of ten members, including as an Aide de Camp Colonel Thomas Rusk, Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas.

TEXAS ARTILLERY CORPS
Colonel George Hockley.
Lt. Colonel Neill [WIA April 20]
Unit strength of four officers, 33 men, two six-pound field guns. One gun commander was Captain Isaac Moreland and the other was Captain William Stilwell. [Moreland was a Captain in the Texas Regular Artillery Corps while Stilwell was a 1st lieutenant of the Regular Infantry, Hockley was officially the Inspector Generall].

TEXAS CAVALRY CORPS
Commander Colonel Mirabeau Lamar.
Unit strength of 7 officers and 50 men. Cavalry Company may have been Captain Karnes Scout Company with another company which was Company "J" 2nd Texas led by Captain William Smith.

TEXAS REGULAR INFANTRY BATTALION
Commander Lt.Colonel Henry Millard.
Headquarters Staff was 2 officers and 2 enlisted men.
Companies A,B,C,& D totaled 10 officers & 179 men.
Company "A" was commanded by Captain Andrew Briscoe. Company "B" was commanded by Captain Amasa Turner. [both held commissions in the unit as Captains]

1st REGIMENT OF TEXAS VOLUNTEERS
Commander Colonel Edward Burleson.
Headquarters Staff and 6 Companies comprised of 16 officers and 301 men present at San Jacinto.
Note that as 10 companies were organized I shall try to list all ten and where they were as well as any facts known about them:

Co."A": Captain William Wood, raised by Sidney Sherman in Kentucky-Ohio area, carried only a Texas flag at San Jacinto which it had carried with it from Kentucky.
Co."B": Captain Richard Roman, may have been present at San Jacinto.
Co."C": Jesse Billingsley, was present at San Jacinħo.
Co."D": Mosely Baker, was present at San Jacinto.
Co."E": Wiley Martin, was detached to cover refugees due to personality conflict between Houston and Martin.
Co."F": Captain William Heard, present at San Jacinto.
Co."G": William McNutts Company, new commander not known, left behind to guard camp at San Jacinto.
Co. "H": Captain William Hill, may have been present at San Jacinto. Hill was a Captain in the Texas Cavalry Corps.
Co. "I"; Captain William Fisher, at San Jacinto, company equipped with musket and bayonets.
Co."K": Captain Robert Calder, at San Jacinto, Calder had a commission as 3rd Lieutenant in the Texas Artillery.

2nd REGIMENT OF TEXAS VOLUNTEERS
Commander Colonel Sidney Sherman.
Headquarters of 4 officers and 4 enlisted men.
8 Companies of 24 oficers and 302 men.
All 8 companies were present at the Battle of San Jacinto.

1st Co.: Captain Haydern Arnolo.
2nd Co.: Captain William Ware.
3rd Co.: Captain William Logan.
4th Co.: Captain William Patton.
5th Co.: Captain Thomas McIntire. [was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the Texas Artillery] 6th Co.: Captain James Gillaspie.
7th. Co.: Captain Benjamin Byrant..
8th. Co.: Captain Juan Secuin, this was the only Tefano company in the Army [native Mexicans fighting for an Independent Texas].

RECAP

The total of Houston's Army on April 21st is said to have been 913 men but accounts of the battle indicate that only 750 men took part. Checking the above figures, but not counting Houston's Staff, a figure of 741 officers and men is obtained. [Houston states that his Army had 783 men present, while Rusk indicates that there were 750]

THIS ARTICLE BY GREG NOVAK FIRST APPEARED IN THE "MIDWEST WARGAMER'S ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER" VOLUME III, No4. 1985 WHICH WAS A SPECIAL ISSUE DEALING WITH THE "TEXAS WAR OF INDEPENDENCE" AND THE "MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR"AND IS RE-PRINTED WITH THE KIND PERMISSION OF HAL THINGLUM ITS EDITOR.