"Columbia Blues"

"Columbia Blues". . , Bates' Fourth Regiment Texas Volunteers , Thirteenth Texas Infantry , Brown's Thirty-Fifth Texas Cavalry, On October 5, 1861, in Columbia, Texas (now East Columbia), men from this area organized the "Columbia Blues". They were mustered into the Confederate Army as Company A, Bates' Fourth Regiment Texas Volunteers., After a few months, the company became part of the newly-organized Thirteenth Texas Infantry Regiment, which was actually a "legion” - a unit consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Commanded by Col. Joseph Bates, the Thirteenth Texas Infantry occupied the forts at Velasco, Mud Island, and Quintana, and sent patrols down the Matagorda Peninsula in late 1863 and early 1864 as a result of US General Nathaniel Banks two Divisions of the 13th Army Corp invading the lower coast of Texas., In November 1863, Col. Reuben R. Brown organized Brown's Thirty-Fifth Texas Cavalry Regiment with six companies from Brown's Twelfth Texas Cavalry Battalion, Roundtree's Texas Cavalry Battalion and four companies from the Thirteenth Texas Infantry, including the Columbia Blues", which then became Company H. The regiment's primary duty was to serve as a scouting unit patrolling the Texas Gulf Coast. Brown's Thirty-Fifth Texas Cavalry participated in several skirmishes while protecting life and property in Texas., By May 1865, many of the men of the Thirty-Fifth had unofficially disbanded. Brown's Thirty-Fifth Texas Cavalry was surrendered with the Trans-Mississippi Department in Galveston on June 2, 1865., Captions , Joseph Bates , Reuben Brown