12th Texas Cavalry Regiment

The 12th Texas Cavalry Regiment was a unit of mounted volunteers that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was enrolled in state service in September 1861 and in Confederate service the following month. The regiment fought at Whitney's Lane, Cotton Plant, and L'Anguille Ferry in 1862, Goodrich's Landing in 1863, and Blair's Landing and Yellow Bayou in 1864. The unit also participated in numerous skirmishes and scouts. It disbanded in May 1865.

Formation
Soon after the war started in April 1861, William Henry Parsons, a Waco newspaper editor began recruiting men for a cavalry regiment. On 11 September 1861 the unit organized at Rockett Springs near Waxahachie as the 4th Texas Dragoons with Parsons elected colonel. On 28 October the regiment was mustered into the Confederate Army as the 12th Texas Cavalry. A number of Texas counties were represented as follows.

History
On 25 April 1862, Earl Van Dorn received an order from Albert Sidney Johnston to transfer his Army of the West to Corinth, Mississippi. Van Dorn proceeded to shift all available soldiers, ammunition, food, and weapons to the east side of the Mississippi River. In May 1862, the Union Army of the Southwest under Samuel Ryan Curtis invaded eastern Arkansas and captured Batesville. Thomas C. Hindman, the newly appointed Confederate commander in Arkansas, was appalled to find almost no soldiers or military equipment to defend Little Rock. Hindman began improvising an army and a logistical base. Before Hindman's arrival, John Selden Roane started to detain Texas cavalry regiments as they crossed Arkansas headed for Memphis, Tennessee. The 12th Texas Cavalry was one of the units appropriated to defend the state of Arkansas.

The regiment fought at the Battle of Whitney's Lane on May 19, 1862. Before this skirmish, the local Union commander Peter J. Osterhaus reported to Curtis that Confederates and irregulars were harassing his division. At Whitney's Lane, the Texas cavalrymen surrounded a Union foraging party from the 17th Missouri Volunteer Infantry near Searcy. The Federals admitted losses of 15 killed, 32 wounded, and two missing; they claimed to have killed 18 Confederates. The Missourians complained that when they tried to surrender, their attackers yelled, "Damn you, we want no prisoners", and killed some of the Federal wounded. Curtis and Osterhaus called their attackers "armed bandits" and "outlaws" and threatened to shoot any prisoners taken. Another source stated that 100 troopers of the 12th Texas under Major Emory Rogers plus 50 local militia attacked a group of Union foragers at the intersection of Whitney's Lane and the West Point Road a few miles east of Searcy. They claimed to have inflicted losses of 22 killed and 33 wounded on their enemies while capturing a surgeon and four ambulance wagons. The Confederates reported losing four killed and several wounded.

The 12th Texas took part in the Battle of Cotton Plant on July 7, 1862. Unable to march to Little Rock due to breakdown of his supply line, Curtis moved his army south down the White River. He was opposed by Albert Rust with 5,000 Arkansas infantry and Texas cavalry. While crossing the Cache River, Curtis sent Charles Edward Hovey with 400 men and one gun to scout ahead. Near Parley Hill's plantation, the Federals bumped into 1,000 men from the 12th Texas and 16th Texas Cavalry Regiments under Parsons. After some fighting, the Texans gained the upper hand and forced part of Hovey's troops to retreat. But when the Texas cavalry galloped after their enemies, they were ambushed by three companies of the 33rd Illinois Infantry Regiment concealed in a cornfield. After a lull, 200 Union troops and two more cannons arrived as reinforcements to push back the Texans. Later in the day another Union brigade under William P. Benton appeared as additional reinforcements. Rust's troops withdrew behind another river and destroyed their boats. One Texan wrote that the 12th Texas lost 14 killed, 20 seriously wounded, 16 slightly wounded, and two missing.

The regiment attacked Curtis's supply line in the Battle of L'Anguille Ferry on August 3, 1862. On July 29, the 1st Battalion of the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry Regiment led by Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Hugh La Grange reached Marianna on the L'Anguille River. That same day, the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry under Major Henry S. Eggleston left Wittsburg with a convoy, heading south, and reached the L'Anguille Ferry near Marianna on August 2. Eggleston's force included 130 troopers, numbers of escaped slaves, 27 wagons, and 100 seized horses and mules. At dawn, Parsons led 600 horsemen of the 12th Texas in a surprise attack on the Union camp. After a half-hour of heavy fighting, the surviving Federals scattered into the woods. The Texans inflicted losses of 17 killed, 40 wounded, and 25 captured. They made off with seven wagons and the livestock and burned everything else. Parsons reported that the 12th Texas lost two killed and 10 wounded. Later that day, La Grange rode to the rescue with 200 troopers, but the Texans were gone.