n The First Texas
Regiment was recruited mainly in east Texas in
April 1861. This was the only regiment in the Confederate Army with twelve companies. There usually are only ten. During the Spring and Summer of 1861, the companies of this regiment made their way to Virginia to be met by the 4th and 5th Regiments in the
Fall. The colonel of the 1st Regiment, Louis
Trezevant Wigfall (now promoted to
brigadier-general), was now in command of the
new Texas Brigade. Formed completely from Texas
Frontiersmen, the 1st , 4th , and 5th Regiments, who were known as the best horsemen and riflemen in the army, the Texas Brigade was first assembled at Dumphries, Virginia on November 13, 1861. Despite this, the 1st Infantry met its
day of a graceful defeat in a cornfield at
Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17,
1862.
