Waul's Legion

WAUL'S TEXAS LEGION. A legion is a military unit composed of infantry, cavalry, and artillery components. Waul's Texas Legion, the only true legion of Texas troops in the Confederate States army, was raised in and around Brenham in spring of 1862 by Thomas Neville Waul. It originally consisted of twelve companies of infantry, six companies of cavalry, and a six-gun battery of field artillery with a total complement of 2,000 men. The first infantry battalion was originally commanded by Lt. Col. Barnard Timmons and the second by Lt. Col. James Wrigley. The cavalry battalion was first led by Lt. Col. Leonodias Willis and the artillery battery by Capt. William Edgar. The legion was assigned first to Arkansas and Louisiana. There, owing to the difficulty associated with commanding mixed arms, it was stripped of its cavalry and artillery components. In October 1862 the infantry companies were transferred to Mississippi and reorganized into two battalions of six companies each. Attached to Gen. John C. Pemberton's Army of Vicksburg, the legion played a stalwart role in that city's defense. With the exception of a single company, then on detached duty, it was captured with the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. Paroled by mid-July, the members of the legion reorganized in Houston and were assigned to duty protecting the Texas coast in the region of Galveston. With Waul's promotion to brigadier general, Timmons was promoted to colonel and assumed command of the legion, serving in that capacity until the end of the war.

Texans in the Civil War
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