Rebel Journey

From Louisiana they moved by train to Tennessee then again by foot to Richmond. His peaceful trip, which had taken 26 days, had ended. Ned’s journey had taken him almost 1900 miles but he was now part of the First Texas Infantry, Hood’s Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. Soon he would be joined by General Robert E. Lee, the officer he had seen at Fort Mason back in Texas. The rest of his journey would be as a combat infantryman.  With a friend’s help, he wrote his family twice during this time and received one letter from home:

    “….. you remember Mose jackson, came here from North Carolina. He lived near us a bit then took his family north to Pecan bayou ner Brownwood. We lerned that he and the family were killed by comannche . he and his wife and three little ones. All had throats slit and he by arrows, and all scalped by the savages. Kids were only  7 and 4 and oldest daughter maybe 16 – you remember her? God bless ‘em. The indians took the two other kids alive but they escaped few days later. We stay scared all the time now. wether turned cold and dirty today. Hope it is better when you journey back…..” .

Ned quickly excelled as a soldier and fought in several major battles. He was a sharpshooter and helped the First Texas gain a formidable reputation. So much so that General Lee once told a visiting British Military Officer, “Don’t mind the tattered appearance of my Texans, the enemy never sees their backside”. < body="">