Texas Army Attacked in Four Divisions

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Picture the scene: the Texas Army moving into position, not as one charging mass, but divided, deliberate, four divisions arrayed for what was coming. On the right, the Cavalry, commanded by Mirabeau B.

Lamar. Right there beside them, the Infantry under Lieutenant Colonel Henry Millard, and rolling with that Infantry, the Twin Sisters, those two cannon under Colonel George W. Hockley.

Now you hold that image for a second, because the naming alone, the Twin Sisters, tells you these Texans had a flair for the dramatic even in the thick of it. At the center, the 1st Regiment under Colonel Edward Burleson, holding that middle ground the way a spine holds a body together. And on the left wing, the 2nd Regiment, under Colonel Sidney Sherman, anchoring the whole line.

Four divisions. Four commanders. The Cavalry, the Infantry, the 1st Regiment, the 2nd Regiment, each one in its place, each one with a man whose name history kept.

That's the Texas Army as the marker lays it out, and friend, that's a formation worth rememberin'.

What the marker says

- The Cavalry on the right, commanded by Mirabeau B. Lamar; next, the Infantry under Lieutenant Colonel Henry Millard and the "Twin Sisters" cannon under Colonel George W. Hockley; the 1st Regiment in the center under Colonel Edward Burleson; the 2nd Regiment, the left wing, under Colonel Sidney Sherman.