ginia was engaged. At Gettysburg, at Chickamauga, and in the Wilderness they added new lustre to their name, and they kept their fame untarnished until the end of the struggle at Appomattox.
Hitherto I have told of their deeds; but I will here quote what some of the illustrious soldiers, under whose eye they fought, said of them, so that it may be seen in what estimation they were held in that army.
BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE,
Here is what General Hood, who, if he does not stand so high as some others as a tactician or strategist, takes rank with the bravest of the brave as a soldier and a fighter. He says: "So highly wrought were the pride and self-reliance of these troops that they believed they could carve their way through almost any number of the enemy's lines formed in an open field in their front." And again he says: "Long and constant service with this noble brigade must prove a sufficient apology for a brief reference at this juncture to its extraordinary military record. From the hour of its first encounter with the enemy at Eltham's Landing, on York River, in 1862, to the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, in almost every battle in Virginia, it bore a conspicuous part. It acted as the advance guard of Jackson when he moved upon McClellan around Richmond, and almost without an exceptional instance it was among the foremost of Longstreet's Corps in an attack or pursuit of the enemy. It was also, as a rule, with the rear guard of this corps, whenever falling back before the adversary. If a ditch was to be leaped, or fortified position to be carried, General Lee knew no better troops upon which to rely. In truth, its signal achievements in the war of secession have never been surpassed in the history of nations."
And hear what the greatest military chieftain of modern times, General Robert E. Lee, addressing General Wigfall, on the 21st of September, 1862, just after Sharpsburg, writes: "General, I have not heard from you with regard to the new Texas regiments, which you promised to raise for the army. I need them very much. I rely upon those we have in all our tight places, and fear I have to call upon them too often. They have fought grandly and nobly, and we must have more of them. Please make every
