'Hood's Brigade Association to hold Seminar' by Jeanne Williams.Temple Daily Telegram:

Hood’s Brigade Association to Hold Seminar Nov. 11-12

by Jeanne Williams - Temple Daily Telegram

November 1, 2011

“Texians to Arms!” The Civil War Sesquicentennial Seminar of Hood’s Texas Brigade

Association, Re-activated is set for Nov. 11-12 at the University of North Texas in

Denton in honor of the 150-year anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War.

The original association was founded in 1872 by surviving members of Hood’s Texas

Brigade of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and existed until the final

meeting, attended by only two veterans, in 1933.

The group was dissolved, but reactivated in 1967 by Col. Harold B. Simpson of Hill

College in Hillsboro as a descendants’ organization.

In 2004, the organization became independent of Hill College and has continued its

activities.

Fort Hood and Hood County are named in honor of Gen. John Bell Hood, a West Point

graduate whose Confederate Army brigade was the only unit from Texas to fight under

Gen. Robert E. Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Hood’s Texas Brigade was composed initially of the 1st, 4th and 5th Texas Infantry

Regiments. During the course of its existence, units from other states were attached to

the brigade, namely the 18th Georgia Infantry, Hampton’s South Carolina Legion and the

3rd Arkansas Infantry. The fighting prowess and bravery of the brigade are renowned and

are studied worldwide.

Of about 4,500 soldiers of the brigade only about 450 were present at the surrender,

according to accounts.

The mission of the Hood’s Texas Brigade Association is to honor and perpetuate the

memory of the members of the brigade.

Activities include locating graves of Hood’s Brigade veterans and placing markers where

necessary; maintaining and repairing existing gravestones and markers; holding periodic

meetings and conferences; archiving biographies of all members ofHood’s Texas Brigade;

and creating scholarships and internships at the Confederate Research Center at Hill

College in Hillsboro.

“We have around 10 members in the organization, including some from other countries,

Great Britain, Italy and Australia,” said Martha Hartzog of Austin, Hood’s Brigade

Association, Re-activated president. “We have an annual ‘muster’ in the early summer,

which recently has taken place in Waco at the Texas Collection, in San Antonio at the

Bright Shawl Restaurant, and in Granbury at City Hall,” Hartzog said.

“We recently mounted a successful fundraising campaign to erect a large monument at

Gaines’ Mill Battlefield in Richmond, Va., to Hood’s Texas Brigade. This will be a

Texas Historical Commission Battlefield Monument and it will be dedicated in May of

next year.”

Several companies of Hood’s Brigade were raised in Central Texas including the “Milam

County Grays” from Milam County, the “Tom Green Rifles” from Travis County, the

“Robertson Five Shooters” from Robertson County and the “Lone Star Rifles” from

McLennan County.

The “Grays” were officially designated as Company G, 5th Texas Infantry.

The company was commanded by Capt. J.C. Rogers, who was eventually promoted to major. A

large group of Milam County men joined the “Robertson Five Shooters” which became

Company C, 4th Texas Infantry.

The seminar will begin at 8a.m. Nov. 12 at Wooten Hall,1121 Union Circle, at the

University of North Texas. A pre-seminar event, “A Texas Evening,” will start at 6:30

p.m. Nov. 11 at Love & War Restaurant in Grapevine.

The cost of the seminar is $50, which includes lunch. The pre-seminar Texas Evening is

$60.

Registration may be sent to Pat Parsons, P.O. Box 469, Luling TX 78648. For information

on registration, contact Parsons at patbake46@yahoo.com. For information on the

seminar, see www.hoodstexasbrigade.org.

jwilliams@tdtnews.com

All articles from the Temple Daily Telegram are published with the permission of the
Temple Daily Telegram.
All credit for this article goes to
Jeanne Williams and the Temple Daily Telegram

General John Bell Hood

Texas Historical Marker commemoriates Hood's Brigade in Temple, TX

A Texas Historical Marker in Bell County commemorates the 42nd reunion of Hood's Texas Brigade. The marker was placed in 1967 at Barton Avenue and North Main Street in Temple.

Photo by Rusty Schramm/Telegram