1st Texas Cavalry Regiment (Arizona Brigade)

The 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment (Arizona Brigade) was a unit of mounted volunteers from Texas that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. In fall 1861, John R. Baylor first conceived the idea to form a brigade of cavalry to conquer the southwestern territories for the Confederacy. Baylor recruited a four-company battalion of cavalry which was placed under the command of Philemon T. Herbert. In May 1862, the Confederate States Army empowered Baylor to organize five battalions of Partisan Rangers of six companies each. Since its aim was to recapture the territories lost during the New Mexico campaign, it was called the name Arizona Brigade. Henry Hopkins Sibley dismissed Baylor and appointed Peter Hardeman as the battalion's commander. It camped at Victoria, Texas, from summer 1862 to April 1863, part of the time under the temporary leadership of William Polk Hardeman. The unit, now a full regiment, joined Richard Montgomery Gano's cavalry brigade in the Indian Territory. In 1864, it fought at Poison Spring and Cabin Creek. Subsequently, the regiment was ordered to march to Hempstead, Texas, where it was dismounted. Later its numbers dwindled to 175 men. On May 15, 1865, the unit disbanded while camped near Richmond, Texas.