9th Texas Infantry at Chickamauga
Posted March 23rd, 2012 at 10:01 AM by Robtweb1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robtweb1 
An excerpt from the book : "DE ARAGON - The Chronicle of a Confederate Surgeon"
Bragg and Walker heard Wilson’s men engage the enemy and Bragg ordered Walker to attack with all the force he had. Forrest, however, had found Ector’s Brigade one-half mile away in the Youngblood field about the time Dibrell engaged Van Derveer. This time Forrest ignored Walker and called directly on Ector to come up. Wilson was pushing Croxton back on the left so he sent Ector in to support Dibrell on the right. The brigade arrived at Jay’s Mill soon after 9:00 a. m. They formed on the left of Dibrell’s Cavalry and attacked Van Derveer’s front. C. B. Kilgore, Adjutant of Ector’s Brigade, related this account after the war:
“On Friday night, September 18, 1863, Ector’s Brigade, of which I was adjutant, crossed Chickamauga Creek, and on Saturday morning, the 19th, formed on the extreme Confederate right, supporting General Forrest’s cavalry, which was very heavily engaged. The fighting soon became fierce for us, and we were barely able to hold our ground. General Ector became uneasy in regard to the protection of his right flank, and asked me to go to General Forrest and urge him to be very vigilant in his protection of it. I galloped up to where one of his batteries was engaged, as I had been told he was there. He had on a linen duster, with a sword and pistol on the outside of the duster, and was exposed to very heavy fire of infantry and now and then a shot from the enemy’s batteries. I said: ‘General Forrest, General Ector directed me to say to you that he is uneasy in regard to his right flank.’ He replied: ‘Tell General Ector that he need not bother about his right flank, I’ll take care of it.’ I reported to my commander, and about an hour later news reached us that Wilson’s brigade had been hard hit and driven back, and General Ector sent me again to Forrest to tell him that he was now uneasy about his left flank. I found him near the same spot, right in the thickest part of the fight, the battery blazing away and every man fighting like mad. I told him what General Ector had directed me to say, and this time he got furious. He turned around on me and shouted, loud enough to be heard above the terrible din that was in the air: ‘Tell General Ector that, by God, I am here, and will take care of his left flank as well as his right.’ It is hardly necessary to add that we were not outflanked on either side.”
Ector had the choice to charge or halt and return fire - he chose the latter. The brigade had no artillery support and the guns of Union Lieutenant Frank Smith’s Regular Battery tore holes in their line. They engaged in severe fighting till 11:00 a. m. when they were obliged to retire. As the brigade withdrew Union Brigadier General Absalom Baird’s Division came into position on Brannon’s right. Brigadier General John King’s Regular Brigade began a “passage of lines,” filing through Croxton’s line and opened fire on Wilson’s men. At that time the 9th Texas’ withdrawal took them across King’s front and distracted most of his brigade leaving only one battalion to face Wilson. Lieutenant Robert Ayres, 19th U. S. Infantry wrote the following in his report:
“We engaged the enemy and repulsed him, pursuing to the front some three-fourths mile and halted. Here the 9th Texas Regiment passing along our front from left to right, received our fire, which caused them to break and run, and many came into our lines as prisoners.”
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