9th BRIGADE TEXAS MILITIA

& TEXAS STATE TROOPS

Compiled by Ron Brothers

A great deal of confusion arises over the 9th Brigade. Many people confuse it with the 9th Texas Infantry organized by Sam Bell Maxey. In the service records of these men the letters TM and TST indicates Texas Militia and Texas State Troops. Records with these indicators are what confuse most beginners into believing these men were a part of the 9th Texas Infantry Confederate States Army. They were not. The two units were entirely different.

Texas was divided into Military Districts to provide for local defense. Hopkins and Lamar counties were the 9th Military District. Each district was ordered by law to form a Brigade of volunteers within its borders. These volunteers were not allowed to leave the state as a Military fighting unit. Thus they were home guards only. I have yet to find an occasion were this Brigade was brought together for a battle with Indians or any other threat to the two counties. As a matter of fact it is highly unlikely that the Brigade was ever in one single location in its full compliment. Mostly, each voting Precinct (or beat) enlisted the men of their area, got together to elect officers, drilled for a few hours and then went home. There is very little documentation of the activities of the Brigade, all of which is in the Brigade Correspondence section below. The commanding General of the Brigade was hard pressed to keep his rolls updated because many of the men enlisted in regular army and cavalry units at different times. In the beginning there were over 2000 men on the muster rolls of the 9th Brigade. It took only a few weeks before this was reduced to 500 or less when most of the men joined regular troops and went off to the war in the east. The Brigade was left with men mostly too old to fight or enlist in the regular army.

Biographies

Brigade Correspondence

All Enlistments in the 9th Brigade Texas Militia

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 1 (no records survive or are available)

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 2

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 3

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 4

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 5

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 6

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 7

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 8

Company for Hopkins Co. Beat No. 9