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The only movements of the different companies in the early part of the year 1861 (except a change of station of Company K), were made in compliance with an order issued by General Twiggs, the Department commander, for the troops to leave the State by way of the coast. The attempt to comply with this order resulted in the capture of all the regiment by the newly organized military forces of the Confederate States.
Company C, on entering the plaza at San Antonio April 22, was surrounded by an overwhelming force and obliged to surrender. Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffman, commanding the regiment, and the regimental staff and band, were taken prisoners about 10 o'clock the same day at San Antonio. The regimental colors were not captured, and the manner in which they were saved is narrated by Corporal John C. Hesse, Company A, as follows:
"A few days subsequent to the surrender, upon going to the former office of the regimental headquarters, the building being then in possession and under the control of the rebels, I met there Lieutenant Hartz, the regimental adjutant, and Sergeant-Major Joseph K. Wilson, 8th Infantry. Our regimental colors being in the office, Lieutenant Hartz proposed to us to take the colors from the staffs, conceal them beneath our clothing and try to carry them off. We did so. I took the torn color which the regiment had carried through the Mexican War, put it around my body under my shirt and blouse, and passed out of the building, which was strongly guarded by rebels. Fortunately the rebels did not suspect what a precious load we concealed with us, for if they had our lives would not have been worth much. We put the colors in one of Lieutenant Hartz's trunks, and next day left San Antonio for the North. On the route we guarded the colors with our lives, always fearing that the rebels might find out what we had taken away and come after us; but they did not, and we arrived safe with our colors on the 26th of May, 1861, in Washington City, and turned them over to the regiment."
For this act Sergeant Wilson and Corporal Hesse each received a medal of honor.
Companies A and D were captured at Indianola, April 24, and Companies B, E, F, H, I and K, under Captain I. V. D. Reeve, near San Lucas Springs, about 22 Miles west of San Antonio, May 9th. Company G had been broken up.
The officers of Captain Reeve's battalion were not paroled as the others had been, but were, with one or two exceptions, held prisoners at San Antonio for about nine months, when they were exchanged. The enlisted men were held until February 25, 1863, during which time they were divided into squads and removed to different posts on the frontiers of Texas, deprived of pay for more than two years, supplied with scanty food and clothing, and made to suffer severe military punishments. Recruiting officers visited them daily, offering them commissions and large bounties to desert their flag, With few exceptions, however, they repelled the bribes and avoided the treason. Those who chose a different course did it to escape their prison.The officers of the regiment who took commissions in the Confederate service were: Major Theophilus Holmes, Captains Larkin Smith, E. B. Holloway, Joseph Selden and E. D. Blake; First Lieutenants T. K. Jackson, T. M. Jones, R. G. Cole and Lafayette Peck, and Second Lieutenants J. R. Cooke and J. G. Taylor. The opening of the Civil War thus found the Eighth Infantry with its officers and men either prisoners of war, or debarred by their paroles from serving against the enemy; and it was not until October, 1863, that a body which can be considered fairly representative of the regiment could be assembled.
THE EIGHTH REGIMENT OF INFANTRY.
By LIEUTENANT RICHARD H. WILSON, ADJUTANT 8TH U. S. INFANTRY.
Company C, on entering the plaza at San Antonio April 22, was surrounded by an overwhelming force and obliged to surrender. Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffman, commanding the regiment, and the regimental staff and band, were taken prisoners about 10 o'clock the same day at San Antonio. The regimental colors were not captured, and the manner in which they were saved is narrated by Corporal John C. Hesse, Company A, as follows:
"A few days subsequent to the surrender, upon going to the former office of the regimental headquarters, the building being then in possession and under the control of the rebels, I met there Lieutenant Hartz, the regimental adjutant, and Sergeant-Major Joseph K. Wilson, 8th Infantry. Our regimental colors being in the office, Lieutenant Hartz proposed to us to take the colors from the staffs, conceal them beneath our clothing and try to carry them off. We did so. I took the torn color which the regiment had carried through the Mexican War, put it around my body under my shirt and blouse, and passed out of the building, which was strongly guarded by rebels. Fortunately the rebels did not suspect what a precious load we concealed with us, for if they had our lives would not have been worth much. We put the colors in one of Lieutenant Hartz's trunks, and next day left San Antonio for the North. On the route we guarded the colors with our lives, always fearing that the rebels might find out what we had taken away and come after us; but they did not, and we arrived safe with our colors on the 26th of May, 1861, in Washington City, and turned them over to the regiment."
For this act Sergeant Wilson and Corporal Hesse each received a medal of honor.
Companies A and D were captured at Indianola, April 24, and Companies B, E, F, H, I and K, under Captain I. V. D. Reeve, near San Lucas Springs, about 22 Miles west of San Antonio, May 9th. Company G had been broken up.
The officers of Captain Reeve's battalion were not paroled as the others had been, but were, with one or two exceptions, held prisoners at San Antonio for about nine months, when they were exchanged. The enlisted men were held until February 25, 1863, during which time they were divided into squads and removed to different posts on the frontiers of Texas, deprived of pay for more than two years, supplied with scanty food and clothing, and made to suffer severe military punishments. Recruiting officers visited them daily, offering them commissions and large bounties to desert their flag, With few exceptions, however, they repelled the bribes and avoided the treason. Those who chose a different course did it to escape their prison.The officers of the regiment who took commissions in the Confederate service were: Major Theophilus Holmes, Captains Larkin Smith, E. B. Holloway, Joseph Selden and E. D. Blake; First Lieutenants T. K. Jackson, T. M. Jones, R. G. Cole and Lafayette Peck, and Second Lieutenants J. R. Cooke and J. G. Taylor. The opening of the Civil War thus found the Eighth Infantry with its officers and men either prisoners of war, or debarred by their paroles from serving against the enemy; and it was not until October, 1863, that a body which can be considered fairly representative of the regiment could be assembled.
THE EIGHTH REGIMENT OF INFANTRY.
By LIEUTENANT RICHARD H. WILSON, ADJUTANT 8TH U. S. INFANTRY.