I told Faddis our firm must be represented, on which we agreed, and that I wanted to join, but he insisted that it was his time to go, that I had been out twice, and I finally had to yield him the right. He then subscribed to join. The day he was ordered to Houston to be mustered in, he declined to go and frankly told me that he only signed to keep me from going, and he did his best to persuade me not to go. He said that the South was deceived in the spirit and strength of the North; that the North had every advantage of us—they had the army and navy, the arsenals, the treasury and large manufactories, as well as five men to our one; the whole world open to them, while we had nothing, our ports would be blockaded and we would be forced to depend upon our own limited resources, and, as to relying upon the justice of our cause, in the language of Abraham Lincoln, “might was right and would surely conquer.” I told him I could not agree with him and was satisfied the war would not last three months. As soon as we could drive these people back into their own territory, they would be willing to let us alone. “I am going to take your place, Faddis.” I had about an hour to arrange for board for my young brother and sister and Faddis agreed to look after them and pay their board out of my interest in the business, which he pledged himself to continue for our mutual benefit.
When we parted I expected to return inside of three months; he expected he would never see me again, as I might be killed and, if I should return, that I would be a crippled, subjugated man.
Faddis continued the business as far as he was able and finally, to protect us, had to take over the foundry and machine shop, arranging with our Englishmen to run it for him. He then, to keep out of the army, turned his attention to repairing old guns, making swords and other arms, and finally, on the persuasion of his English friends, cast a nine-inch Armstrong gun, the only one ever successfully made in the Confederacy.
This drew the attention of the Confederate Government, who impressed our property, paid him eighty thousand dollars for it and gave him a permit to stay in Brownsville and run cotton into Mexico, returning with goods.
On my return from the army, after four years, I heard of him through a party who knew him in Brownsville. This party reported that Faddis had more gold than he knew what to do with, and I concluded that I was fixed, too, but I was unable to communicate with him, as we had no mails, and did not hear from him until after two years, when he returned to Hempstead broke. He had lost all in grain speculations in Chicago.
I next proceeded to Houston, where I was mustered in with the balance of the regiment, to serve in Virginia, during the war. While in camp at Houston, we organized our company, electing John A. Wharton of Brazoria County captain of the company; who, on his election, made up a speech, in which he said that he had no ambition to gratify more than to command Company B, that he expected to return captain of Company B and did not want any promotion. He was offered by the balance of the regiment in connection with our company, the office of major. The balance of the commissioned officers of the company were Clarence McNeil, first lieutenant and Theodore Bennett, second lieutenant; and the noncommissioned officers were distributed among the different sections from which the company was made up; nobody caring for an office of any kind, as a private was generally the equal of any officer in command. All went to do their patriotic duty and contribute their mite for the success of the cause.
We now started on horseback. After reaching Beaumont we returned our horses to Texas, having to take boat to Lake Charles, Louisiana, from whence we were forced to walk to New Iberia, carrying our saddles and other equipment on wagons, across the country. At New Iberia we again took boat for New Orleans; this was the only route open, as our ports had been blockaded for some time, both at Galveston and at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
During our stay in New Orleans for three or four days, we had a good rest and waited for the balance of the companies to catch up. Colonel Terry received a telegram from General Albert Sidney Johnston at Bowling Green, Kentucky, stating that he had been ordered to take command in Kentucky, and requested Colonel Terry to urge the men to come and serve under him and, by way of inducement, authorized him to say that we should be mounted on the best horses that Kentucky afforded and that we should always remain a separate and distinct command, never to be brigaded with any other troops as long as he lived. General Johnston was well acquainted with the character of Texans, regarding them as fearless and enthusiastic people, proud of their Texas history; and, knowing the young men composing this regiment would endeavor to emulate the example of the heroes of the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto, on which point, he was not mistaken. General Johnston had been connected with the army, under General Houston, and had also engaged in sugar planting near the Kyle and Terry plantation in Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties, where a great friendship sprang up between him and Colonel Terry. Colonel Terry’s influence with the men of the regiment was unlimited and he had no trouble in persuading the men to accept General Johnston’s offer and serve with him in Kentucky.
While in New Orleans Colonel Terry made an official visit to General Twiggs, an officer of the old army, who had resigned, and tendered his services to the Confederacy, and who was then in command at New Orleans and the Southwestern territory. Colonel Terry, while there, asked information on the matter of obtaining cooking utensils and tents. When General Twiggs, who had served many years on the frontier of Texas, laughed him out of countenance, saying, “Who ever heard of a Texas Ranger carrying cooking utensils and sleeping in a tent?” It is needless to say that this matter was not mentioned again by Colonel Terry.
Our company arrived at Nashville, Tennessee, ahead of the balance of the regiment, where we were quartered in the Fair Grounds, there to await the arrival of the rest of the companies. I forgot to mention we started out with the name of the “Texas Rangers,” with a reputation we had never earned, but were called on to sustain; how well we did it, we leave history to record our services during the four years we served the Army of the West. While I would not make any invidious distinction as between our regiment and others who served under Forrest, Wheeler and Wharton, I am proud to be able to say that opportunities were afforded us, largely by accident, that demonstrated our ability to meet every expectation of department commanders, as evidenced by the following expressions during the war: