21st Texas Cavalry Regiment

21st Texas Cavalry Regiment
First Texas Lancers
Unidentified Confederate cavalryman sports a revolver and Bowie knife. The regiment never received lances.
ActiveSpring 1862 – May 1865
Country Confederate States of America
Allegiance Confederate States of America,  Texas
Branch Confederate States Army
TypeCavalry
SizeRegiment
Nickname(s)1st Texas Lancers
Engagements
Commanders
Notable
commanders
George W. Carter

The 21st Texas Cavalry Regiment was a unit of mounted volunteers from Texas that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. In spring 1862, George Washington Carter began organizing a lancer cavalry regiment in central Texas. So many men were recruited that two additional lancer regiments, the 24th and 25th Texas Cavalry, were formed. The three units moved to Arkansas where the 24th and 25th were dismounted to serve as infantry, but the 21st remained mounted. Since, the unit never received lances, it served as an ordinary cavalry regiment. The 21st Texas Cavalry fought at Cape Girardeau in 1863. It arrived too late to participate in the key battles of the Red River campaign in 1864, but fought at Yellow Bayou. In 1865, the unit moved to Texas where it disbanded at the end of the war.[1]

See also

Notes

References

  • Boatner, Mark M. III (1959). The Civil War Dictionary. New York, N.Y.: David McKay Company Inc. ISBN 0-679-50013-8.
  • Oates, Stephen B. (1994) [1961]. Confederate Cavalry West of the River. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-71152-2.
  • Bailey, Anne J. (2011). "Twenty-First Texas Cavalry". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved November 16, 2022.