officers6

REGIMENTAL OFFICERS

The sixth was named for its commanders and had the following designations:

Ross' Cavalry, John S. Griffith's Cavalry, B. Warren Stone's Cavalry;

Robert M. White's Cavalry, Jack Wharton's Cavalry, Stephen B. Wilson's Cavalry,

A. J. Hardin's Cavalry, J. L. Smith's Cavalry, T. H. Bowen's Cavalry,

R. S. Guy's Cavalry and Fayette D. Smith's Cavalry.

B.(Barton) Warren Stone Jr. (1817-1881) - Obtained authority to raise a regiment of cavalry       at the beginning of the Civil War and the unit came together in early September 1861 at
     Camp Bartow, Dallas County, Texas, Stone commanded the Sixth through the first four
     engagements. On May 14, 1862, Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross was elected Colonel and       Stone returned to Texas to raise another regiment.
     See:http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/fst63.html

Lawrence Sullivan ?Sul? Ross (1838-1898 ) ? Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross enlisted

In Company G, 6thTexas Cavalry Regiment under his brother Peter Ross who was the company Commander. A few days later when the regiment organized Sul Ross was elected Major. After eight months he was elected the commander of the 6th. He was not new to command having commanded a Ranger company. He was also offered a regular Army commission by Van Dorn during his Ranger duties. After a few months commanding the 6th He was given command of the Texas Brigade, when General Whitfield became sick. He assumed that command in Mid-December 1863.
See: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/RR/fro81.html

Wharton, Jack Colonel (1832-1882)-Jack Wharton studied law and was practicing

law in Maryland pryor to coming to Texas in 1857. In 1858 he went to California as an officer with a regular army unit acting as quartermaster officer. After this he returned to Maryland to visit, and invested in a horse ranch along the borders of Kaufman and Van Zandt Counties. Rather than practicing law he worked the ranch. In 1861 he enlisted in a local company and was soon elected Captain. When Stone organized the 6th, Wharton filled out the company and took it to Dallas and it became Company E. After Ross was elevated to brigade commander, Wharton was selected to command the 6th. He did well and was commended by Ross, but low morale in Mississippi after the fall of Vicksburg, caused him problems with the troops. Ross asked him to step aside and Peter Ross took over the 6th. After the war he returned to his horse ranch, but was soon asked to supervise the construction of a railroad to Shreveport, Texas. In the 1870's he moved to New Orleans and worked in government for a while. In 1878 after the Packard government fell, Wharton was appointed Marshall over Louisiana by President Hayes. Four years later at the end of his appointment he died in Maryland at the age of 50. Part of this bio is found in Victor Rose's book on the Texas Brigade.

Griffith, John Summerfield, Brigadier General (June 7, 1829 - August 6, 1901).

John Griffith born in Montgomery County, Maryland, was Captain of a Ranger company and Militia company in Bell County. When the 6th was formed he went to Dallas and his militia became Company H. Because of his leadership and expertise, he was elected the deputy commander of the 6th in September 1861 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He retained this position until after the Battle of Corinth, even though he could have left or gone to other units after Ross' election. While Ross and Whitfield were gone in December 1862, Griffith came up with the plan for the Holly Springs Raid. This is said to have been a masterful plan that had far reaching effects on the war. He was then allowed to execute the plan and see its success. After that he had health problems and returned to Texas. About a year later the governor appointed him command of the 2nd Department of Texas with the rank of Brigadier General.
See: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/fgr63.html

Peter F. Ross, Colonel (1836-1909) Peter F. Ross, Texas Ranger, cattleman, and

Confederate Army officer, was born on July 27, 1836, at Bentonsport, Missouri, the son of Catherine H. (Fulkerson) and Shapley Prince Ross.qv In 1838 he moved with his family to Milam County, Texas. After attending Mount Vernon Military Academy in New York from 1853 to 1855 he returned to Texas, where he assisted his father, a Texas Indian agent, in his duties on the frontier. Peter was described as a tall, wiry, youth, physically and mentally well fitted for a military career. In 1858 he was commissioned captain in the Texas Rangersqv and raised and commanded a company that served for two years against the Comanches and other warlike tribes on the northwest frontier. In May 1860 he served as captain of the spy company of allied Indians that accompanied Col. Middleton Tate Johnson'sqv expedition against the Comanches and pushed into Indian Territory without encountering the enemy. With the outbreak of the Civil Warqv he raised a company of cavalry in Dallas for Confederate service that was organized as Company G of Col. B. Warren Stone'sqv Sixth Texas Cavalry regiment. Ross was elected captain of his company but was soon elevated to regimental major. He served under Gen. Ben McCulloch in Arkansas and Missouri until McCulloch's death at the battle of Elk Horn Tavern, Arkansas, in March 1862, at which time he was transferred with the regiment across the Mississippi River. There he saw action under the command of General Van Dorn at Corinth. He received serious wounds at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi. In 1863 he was promoted to colonel and commanded the 6thTexas Cavalry Regiment during the Atlanta Campaign under General Joseph Johnson and his brother. After Atlanta fell his unit went with John Bell Hood'sqv ill-starred Tennessee campaign. The unit was commended by General Forest for there dependability and courage during several rear guard actions covering for Hood?s Army. After the war, as a cattleman, Ross made several trail drives to New Orleans. He married Laura Harrison, the daughter of Gen. James E. Harrison,qv on December 26, 1866, they had two children. In 1870 Ross moved to Los Angeles, California, where he farmed and engaged in trade. He returned to Texas in 1874 and served as deputy sheriff of McLennanCounty under his brother Sul until elected sheriff himself in 1875. After serving two terms as sheriff Ross bought a farm in 1880 on the Brazos River some ten miles below Waco. He died on March 26, 1909, and was buried in Waco. He was a Democrat, a Knight Templar, and a Baptist. GalvestonDaily News, March 27, 1909. Willis Lang, Diary (MS, Barker Texas History Center, University
ofTexas at Austin). A Memorial and Biographical History of McLennan, Falls, Bell, and Coryell Counties (Chicago: Lewis, 1893; rpt., St. Louis: Ingmire, 1984). This data came from the Handbook of Texas Online. See: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/RR/fro82.html

White, Robert M, Major / Lieutenant Colonel (1829-April 26, 1863)

Whenever there was fighting, Robert M. White was likely to be there. White was in Bell County by at least 1850, and was recorded in the Indian troubles in 1853. That was when a posse was sent to track down a party of Indians that had slipped through the military line of frontier posts, and had stolen horses from David Williams, Riley Irwin and Melville Wilkenson or Wilkerson. The horses were recovered and returned to their owners. By 1855, joining a frontier ranger company was a status symbol in BellCounty. It was also necessary for survival, as the Indians could create quite a problem for BellCounty residents in the 1850's. White is listed as an active participant in the frontier units. White apparently came to the Belton area in the early 1850's. He was born in Tennessee about 1829. The Bell County census of 1860 lists White, his wife Sarah, age nineteen, and their infant daughter, Christina. White's occupation is listed as a grocer. By 1859 Robert M. White is listed as first lieutenant in the BellCounty Rovers, formed by John Henry Brown, as the successor company to the Independent Blues. By 1860 he was lieutenant in command of Bob White's Ranging Company. This company was organized of twenty-five men, under the authority of Governor Sam Houston, for protection of the frontier. In a July 1860 roster it lists Robert M. White as the first lieutenant. White was a prominent States Right Democrat, advocating secession. When Texas left the Union he raised the first company to leave BellCounty for the War Between the States, and was elected its Captain. He was one of at least seven to raise a military company from Bell County to serve the Confederate cause. As company commander White was laying all his experience in many Indian Wars on the line. He and served as commander of many ranging companies organized on the spot to retrieve people and property stolen by small bands of Indians. He also had the reputation of being a good Indian scout. White's unit left amidst pomp and ceremony. It was July 1, 1861. As his unit was leaving Belton for the war, Miss Victoria Bradford, a popular Southern belle, presented White and his men a Confederate flag. White's company camped first at old Bosqueville, near Waco, and then moved on to Camp Stone, near Lancaster, Texas. While at Camp Stone, the Bell County Commissioners Court passed a special tax and appointed a special commissary officer, John W. Scott, to buy food, clothing, and other supplies for White's company while in training. After leaving Camp Stone, White's unit saw service in Arkansas, the Choctaw Nation, Southwest Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. This company saw more fighting, and on a more severe basis, than most Texas units and any other Bell County unit. White would prove to be a popular and brave Confederate officer. White was promoted to major in Sul Ross' regiment in 1862. The company was reorganized under Captain William B. Whittington, who was commander until the end of the war. The company left Bell County as cavalry, but the unit was dismounted in 1862, and the horses returned to Bel lCounty. The company was remounted after the Battle of Corinth and remained cavalry until the end of the war. Major Robert M. White was killed in action on April 26, 1863 on the Tennessee River. It was likely the he would have been the regimental commander had he not been killed. His body was returned to BellCounty for burial in the South Belton Cemetery. Buried in the same plot are Kittie White (1859-1860), apparently the infant daughter listed in the 1860 census, and R. M. White (1861-1883), apparently a son born the same year White left BellCounty for the war. His wife is buried near him under the name of Sarah Riggs. After his death she married W. S. Riggs, another CSA veteran.
ArnoldHuskins

This note is found this in, Living and Fighting with the Texas 6th Cavalry by Newton A. Keen, page 47.
We then moved across to the Tennessee river where we got into a fight with some Yankee gun boats and transports. We killed and wounded about three hundred men and they had to sail by us in some forty yards. We were so low and the cannon shots from the boats went clean over us. My! how we played havock with those troops on the transport. They made it pretty hot for us with small arms and pistols. Major White of the sixth Texas cavalry was killed. He was standing about two feet to my right when he was shot through the body. We brought him back off the battle field some two miles and he died that night. He was a man beloved by all the soldiers. He was the only man touched on this scout which lasted us about three weeks.

Wilson, Stephen B., Major, Lt.Col.

Gurley, D. R., Adjutant

Myers, Edward G., Adjutant

Echols, Joseph A., 1st Lt, Co. G.

Witt, Andrew J., Capt., Assistant Quarter Master from Co. C

Rather, William S., Assistant Quarter Master

Baker, John J., Assistant Quarter Master

Thomas, D. B., Surgeon, r. May 1862

McGurdy, Thomas Briceland, Surgeon

Payne, N. H., Surgeon

Hill, John Walter, Surgeon

Bradford, Hamilton, Assistant Surgeon

Saddler, Richard B., Assistant Surgeon

McElHenney, James R., Hospital Steward

Arnold, James A., Hospital Steward

McKinney, Earnest A., Acting Commissary of Subsistance, Dropped Aug. 8, 1862

Menchaca, Jose M. Captain, Position unknown

Myers, Adjutant from Co. K

Hill, B. F., Chaplain

Vanderhurst, W. M., Chaplain, Killed Oct. 8, 1862 during retreat from Corinth.

Hudson, Edward, Chaplain

Edwards, Joseph M, Sergeant Major

Creel, John P., 1st Sergeant - records indicate he was dropped from rolls of Co. C, but he is also listed as Staff & Field First Sergeant.

Tucker, Thomas C., Acting Quartermaster

Gonnah, Earnest P, (or Goughnaut) Bugler, Chief Bugler FromCo. I

McCullough, Henry a., Bugler, Musician

Simmons, Benjamin P., Bugler

Farmer, John H., Pvt

Freeman, William H., Pvt

Leslie, John, Pvt

Stark, Henry F., Pvt from Co. c

Stringham, William, Pvt

Wair, J. P., Pvt

White, Charles, Pvt