Wood Co., TX - Company A Partisan Rangers

My name is Carlton Faulconer both my great-grandfathers, Archibald Faulconer and Dr. Charles Harper owned property in Wood County, Texas, about 1855 to 60, not sure when. My great-grandmother Virginia (Bain) Faulconer partitioned the court for a widows pension because her husband Archibald Faulconer died in 1864 while he was in the civil war as a confederate soldier. The court requires proof as you may know and she sent 3 letters that Archibald had written to her while serving in the war. The court approved her request microfished the letters and they are a public record.

The letters mention the name of other soldiers that served with Archibald and Dr. Harper that were in Co. A. They were both conscripted in March 1863 into Company A , Stones Regiment 2nd Partisan Cavalry. Several men from Wood county were also in Co A, Stones Regiment which was part of Colonel Majors Brigade, General Greens Division.

This is correspondence that is on microfiche at Corneal University on correspondence from both sides of the civil war. This particular correspondence is the first involvement that Stones Regiment had with the Federals.

Archibalds first letter written June 13, 1863 mentions that he has been ordered to cross the Atchifalia River and he fears that if they do in fact cross the river he will most likely not survive. His letter basically is saying goodbye to his wife and 4 children. He mentions each by name, very sad.

Stones Regiment is almost continuously engaged in battles with the Yankees and fought in some of the great battles in their zone of operation which was mostly in Louisiana.

Co 'A' was all men from Wood County. They were in Stones regiment which is out lined below. Co 'A' served honorable and fought valiantly in almost constant battles from their first encounter near Port Hudson until they were finally disbanded. Some of the most interesting warfare in our history. General Banks the Yankee commander of the armies that were to invade and occupy Texas planned to move and supply his army by ships and had about 90 ships involved in this attack of Texas. Stones regiment started to harass and attack these ship in and around Port Hudson to stop or delay the movement of General Banks attacks directed toward Texas. This regiment of about 400 of Stones cavalry attacking ships that were on the Atchifalia River and sinking many of these ships has never occurred before or since. A most interesting picture cavalry units riding along the banks of the Atchifalia and shooting at ships with rifle and cannon. There were unit citations for bravery and courage in some of the skirmishes where Stones Regiment was continuously engaged in battles for 46(?) straight days without food or rest fighting in their saddles with a few hours rest per day.

It is a microfish that was done by Cornel Universty on all correspondence from the civil war that was saved. There are about 136 volumes that covers almost all of the civil war and the units that fought in it. This is the correspondence between two federal officers discussing two sentry's that were captured and were members of Stones Regiment which is the regiment that Co 'A' from Woods County was assigned to.

The Second Texas Partisan Rangers was a cavalry regiment which was organized in March, 1863, at Fairfield, TX under Col. B. Warren Stone of Dallas. Isham Chisum of Kaufman county was its Lt. Colonel and later was its colonel. The counties where some of the companies were raised were: Co A (Wood), Co C (Dallas), Co G (Dallas), Co H (Denton, Dallas, Ellis), Co I (Collin?), Co K (Kaufman). The regiment went to Louisiana in May 1863, where it found in Col. James P. Major's cavalry brigade. It was involved in numerous skirmishes in southeastern Louisiana among which were the battle at Donaldsonville on 28 Jun 1863 and Bayou Bourbeau on 3 Nov 1863.

In December 1863, the Second Texas Partisan Rangers returned to Texas and were stationed at Virginia Point on the coast near Galveston Island. Their stay in Texas was short, for the Union launched the Red River Expedition, an attempted invasion of Texas from Louisiana and Arkansas, in March 1864. Chisum's regiment (as it was then known) was engaged in the battles of Mansfield, LA, 7 Apr and Pleasant Hill, LA, 9 Apr which turned back the Union advance. It continued to see action in harassing the retreating Union army down the Red River through the remainder of April 1864. The regiment remained in Louisiana through August 1864.

In September 1864, Chisum's cavalry was ordered to Arkansas where the most notable event was the skirmish at Hurricane Creek, near Benton, AR, 23 Oct.

By January 1865, Chisum's regiment was back in Texas. It escorted a group of prisoners from the prisoner-of-war camp at Tyler to Shreveport in February, and at Shreveport the regiment was dismounted in order to serve as infantry. After it was dismounted, Chisum's regiment returned to Texas, and it disbanded near Houston in May 1865.

WEST GULF BLOCKADING SQUADRON
Letter from Commodore Palmer, U. S. Navy, to Major-General Banks, U. S. Army,
requesting a force to prevent the occupation of the point opposite Port Hudson.

Exchange of correspondence from the Yankee side of the battles.

Lt. Gilbert mentioned here was the Lt in charge of a platoon in Co 'A' which my great-grandfather, Archibald Faulconer was in, as was all of Co 'A'.

Fighting between the confederate troops & the ships they were sinking & fighting with.

Stones regiment and the troops from Wood County in Co 'A'.

This is probable the first assignment for Stones regiment and the troops from Wood County in Co 'A' They were being ask to protect the frontier from Indians. I suspect because most of the men were fighting in the civil war none was left to protect the families of settlers who were trying to survive on their farms.