ROSWELL WALTER LEE
USMA CLASS OF 1833
CULLUM'S REGISTER # 714

SECOND LIEUT., 3RD ARTILLERY - 1834
GARRISON DUTY, VA. & ME. , 1833-1836
FLORIDA WAR , 1836-37
FIRST LIEUT., 3RD ARTILLERY - 1837
FIVE YEARS ARMY SERVICE, CASHIERED
LIEUT., ARMY OF TEXAS REPUBLIC, 1839-41
COLONEL, TEXAS MILITIA, 1843-1861
COUNTY CLERK, FANNIN COUNTY, TEXAS , 1842 - 1852
DISTRICT COURT CLERK, FANNIN CO. , TEXAS, 1842-1845
CIVIL WAR SERVICE, CSA ARMY, 1861-1865
ADJUTANT, COL. COOPER'S REGIMENT, 1861
CHIEF OF ORDNANCE, GENERAL HINDMAN'S BRIGADE, 1862
CAPTAIN, ARTILLERY BATTERY, CSA INDIAN ARMY - 1863
INSPECTOR GENERAL, INDIAN NATION DEPT. - 1864
COLONEL, 1ST CHICKASAW REGIMENT, CSA ARMY, 1864-1865
FOUGHT AT BATTLES OF ROUND MOUNTAIN, CHUSTO-TALASAH, PEA RIDGE, PRAIRIE GROVE, HONEY SPRINGS
TEXAS SURVEYOR, CLERK, LAND AGENT, 1855-73

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CULLUM'S REGISTER

714 .......... ( Born Ct. ) ........... ROSWELL W. LEE .......... ( Ap'd Mas. ) .......... 8
................................................ Born AUG. 12, 1810 .......................................

Military History, --- Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1829, to July 1, 1833, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

BVT. SECOND LIEUT., 3D. ARTILLERY , JULY 1 , 1833

Served : in garrison at Ft. Monroe, Va., 1833 ; in Creek Nation, 1833-34 ; in garrison at Ft. Monroe, Va., 1834, --- Ft. Preble, Me.,

( SECOND LIEUT., 3D ARTILLERY, SEP. 14, 1834 )

1834-35, --- and Ft. Sullivan, Me., 1835-36 ; in the Florida Wars, 1836-37, being engaged against the Seminole Indians in the Battle of Wahoo

( FIRST LIEUT., 3D ARTILLERY, MAY 18, 1837 )

Swamp, Nov. 21, 1836 ; and on the Northern Frontier, 1838, during Canada Border Disturbances.

CASHIERED, JULY 16, 1838, FOR "SIGNING FALSE CERTIFICATES"

Served as Lieutenant in Army of the Republic of Texas, 1839-41, being engaged in several skirmishes with the Comanche Indians, 1840-41.

Civil History, ---=. Surveyor, Bonham, Tex., 1841-52. Clerk of the District Court of Fannin County, Tex., 1842-44, --- and of County Courts, 1842-52. Surveyor of Fannin Land District, 1852-54, General Land Agent and Notary Public, Bonham, Tex., 1855 -73. Colonel ,Texas Militia, 1843 -1861. ***

DIED, DEC., 20, 1873 , AT BONHAM, TEX., AGE 63

BURIED, PIONEERS REST CEMETERY, FORT WORTH, TEX.

***. The Register fails to record that Roswell Lee, as Cullum would have you put it, " Joined in the Rebellion of the Seceding States". He fought in Indian Territory Under the Indian Command of Gen. Douglas Cooper, at the head of the Northwest Frontier Command of Indian Territory, C. S. A., with the rank of Colonel ; a unit in turn comprising the First Osage Battalion, Major George Washington's Squadron of Indians ( Reserve Squadron of Cavalry ), and Major James W. Cooper's Battalion. He fought in at least two battles, Honey Springs and Elkhorn Tavern.

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MEXICAN WAR 1846-1848

Roswell Lee did not serve in the army during the Mexican War, but continued his Texas militia duties. It is said that he had recurring sickness during this time, resulting from his service in Florida in the 1830s.

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SOLDIER HISTORY - CIVIL WAR

ROSWELL WALTER LEE

Residence Fannin County, TX ;
Enlisted on 8/1/1861 at Fannin County, TX. as a 1st Lieutenant.

On 8/1/1861 he was commissioned into Field & Staff. IT. 1st. Chick - Choc Cavalry.
( date and method of discharge not given )
( Estimated date of Commission )

On 4/1/1863. he was commissioned into TX. Lee's Light Artillery
( date and method of discharge not given )
( Estimated date of Commission )

Promotions :
*. ist Lieut. 8/1/1861 ( 1st Lieutenant. &. Adjutant )
*. Captain. 4/1/1863 ( As of Lee's TX Light Artillery ( set date ))

Other Information :
born in 1811, in New Haven, CT
died 12/20/1873. in Fannin County, TX
Buried : Pioneers Rest Cemetery, Tarrant County, TX

Married Susannah ( Moody ) Jackson. in 1841, Fannin Co.TX.
Grad. USMA. 1833, Service in FL. Indian War.

After the War he lived in Fannin County, TX

SOURCES :
---- Index to Compoled Confederate Military Service records
--- USMA : Register of Graduates and Former Cadets
--- Research by Patricia Adkins-Rochette
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CIVIL WAR SERVICE :

1861

Spring 1861 -- Applied for Officer's Commission with the Confederate Government in Montgomery, Alabama. Appointed Second Lieutenant in the Confederate Army, Indian Territory.
May 9 -- Captured 15 wagons from Fort Cobb, IT , with company of men near Fort Arbuckle, IT.
May 31 -- Transferred to the Command of Col. Douglas Hancock Cooper at Fort Washita, IT. Joined the First Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles.
June-July --Temporarily commanded the regiment at Ft. Washita and Scullyville , while Col. Cooper was at Ft. Smith, Ark. Drilled the troops , and organized the regiment , acting as Quartermaster and Commissary officer.
July 31 -- Passed over in officer elections for the regiment.
Mustered into Captain Jerry Wades Company H. Choc & Chick Mounted Rifles.
August -- Appointed adjutant officer of the regiment, on Col. Cooper's Staff.
November 15 -- Regiment marches out to engage Creek Indian force aligned with the north.
Nov. 19 -- Battle of Round Mountain. Rosewall Lee mentioned in Col. Cooper's dispatch.

" About 50 Choctaws and Texans were then sent out under acting Assistant Adjutant General R. W. Lee to examine the ravine in front, and the flanks , when it was found that the enemy had left the field and retreated in the direction of their camp. The conduct of both officers and men was marked by great coolness and courage." He then stated that Roswell Lee was " worthy of high commendation."

December 9 -- Battle of Chuslo-Talasah. Cooper's regiment pursue Creek force and have a 4 hour pitched battle, routing the Creeks, forcing them to retreat. Adjutant Lee was wounded in the battle, mentioned in Colonel Cooper's dispatch.

" I would particularly notice here the conspicuous conduct of Asst. Adj. Gen. R. W. Lee, who fought on foot with the men, cheering and encouraging them during the conflict at this point, and who here received a contusion , his life probably being saved by his pistol belt turning the ball."

December -- Due to Adjutant Lee's wound , he is sent home to Bonham, Tx to recover for the next ten weeks, thereby missing the Battle of Chustenahlah.

1862

Early Spring -- Lt. Lee has recovered from his wound, and is unofficially borrowed by General Albert Pike , Commander of Indian Territory, who wanted Cooper's " right hand man " for the Confederate campaign by General Van Dorn into Southern Missouri.
March 7-8 -- Battle of Pea Ridge ( Elkhorn Tavern ). Southern defeat on the second day. Lt. Lee is mentioned in General Pike's dispatches twice on the first day of the battle. At one point on the first day, General Pike's Indian regiment charged and captured a Federal gun emplacement.

" The officers of my staff, Captains Schwarzman and Hewitt and Lieutenant Pike, with Captain Lee of Acting Brigadier-General Cooper's staff , rode with us in the charge."

" I directed Capt. Roswell W. Lee, of Acting Brigadier -General Cooper's staff, always conspicuous for gallantry and coolness to have the guns which had been taken , faced to our front, that they might be used against the battery just discovered, but he could not induce a single man to assist in doing so.

July -- Albert Pike resigns as Commander of Indian Territory, replaced by Colonel Douglas Cooper. Roswell Lee , now a Captain, travels to Richmond, Virginia to apply for higher advancement. The trip was unsuccessful, and he traveled back to Texas and Indian territory.
Autumn -- Transferred out of Colonel Cooper's department, assists in the Quartermaster department, while applying for a position and waiting for orders from Richmond.
Autumn - Winter -- Takes position as Aide-de-Camp and Chief orf Ordnance on the staff of Major General Thomas H. Hindman, Commander, First Corp, Trans Mississippi army.
December 7 -- Battle of Prairie Grove . As Chief of Ordnance, there was never enough of everything in the Southern army, especially in the west, and the lack of supplies resulted in a Union slight victory as the Southern troops withdrew. General Hindman , in his report mentions Lt. R. W. Lee and the rest of his staff as being " constantly under fire, '. " They displayed great coolness and disregard of danger in the discharge of their duties. " General Hindman's First Corp retreated to Ft. Smith , to end the year.

1863

January -- General Hindman is replaced by Brigadier General William Steele. Lt. Lee remains Chief of Ordnance and Aide-de-Camp.
April -- Roswell Lee is given his own command. General Steele authorizes him to form a light howitzer battery, with the rank of Captain once again. His battery rejoins Cooper's Brigade.

Roswell's son-in law, years later would write about his artillery service -

" He would not talk of himself in the army. I heard some of his men talk of him as an artillery officer. He liked to take a six-pound rifle cannon , get the range himself, and break a piece ( enemy cannon ) in the line at a half a mile, like shooting a rifle 50 yards. His battery became famous but he seemed unconscious of it. He became a household word. One tribe had been fighting against the South, he got them to stay with him. He was a fine looking man, always neat, with his uniform and plume. The Indians called him " Big Captain."

July 17 -- Battle of Honey Springs -- The long awaited push by the Federal army south finally culminated in the battle, which was a southern loss and retreat. Captain Lee's Battery of cannon participated in the battle , giving effective fire, but were outgunned and lacked supplies. General Steele mentioned Captain Lee in his report. Little action occurred in the Territory the reat of the year.
August-December -- Captain Lee was put to work as Inspector General of Cooper's First Brigade in the southern area of the Territory. Samuel Bell Maxey became the new commander of the Indian Territory in December.

1864

January 15 -- The new Commander of the Indian Territory Samuel Bell Maxey wrote to General Kirby Smith, Commander of the Trans Mississippi Department the following :

"I need a first rate inspector, General Steele left none. Captain. R. W. Lee ( a graduate ) , a man of fine sense and great energy, has agreed to serve. His habits were once occasionally bad ; for twelve months they have been good, and I have no doubt will continue so. I hope you will give him as much rank as you can with the understanding above. He is under obligation of a private nature to me that will keep him true to his word. He ought to have at least two good assistants. No part of your department needs efficient inspectors so much as this. "

January 25 -- Captain Lee became Inspector General of the Indian Nation Department. In addition he worked on providing assistance to the families of the Indian soldiers, and keeping peace among the tribes.
August 21 -- Promoted by Maxey to Colonel and given a fighting command, the First Chickasaw Regiment.
August-December -- Colonel Lee and the First Chickasaw Regiment were posted to Fort Washita until the new year, to garrison and for training purposes

1865

January - March -- Garrison of Fort Washita continued into the year 1865.
March 21 -- Colonel Lee went on leave , having gotten sick from the continual fevers he endured, from his time in Florida 30 years earlier.
April -- Colonel Lee was still on leave when the war ended. Troops in the Indian Territory surrendered later than those of General Robert E. Lee, not having heard the news, General Stand Watie, the last Confederate Command to do so.
July 7 -- Gave his Parole to Federal authorities in Marshall, Texas.
September 12 - 21 -- Sick in the CSA Hospital in Shreveport, LA.

Colonel Lee ended to war finally in command of a fighting regiment, but saw no action with those men, a regiment vastly understaffed ,lacking supplies, with illness and desertion rampant, near the end of the war.

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CAT'S NOTES :

Colonel Roswell Lee was afflicted by the twin scourge of alcoholism and sickness. The sickness came from his service in Florida during the Indian War and the resulting fevers he was plagued by the rest of his life, sickness which may have been responsible for his Court Marshal and dismissal from the Army, in that the sickness made him make poor or illogical decisions. The alcoholism came from the sadness he endured during his life, dismissal, family trouble, the loss of his favorite daughter, the judgement of men who saw his dismissal from the army as a black spot, never to be removed. Yet he had many friends who would stick with him, like Cooper and Maxey, and he seemed to get along with all factions , finally reaching the coveted rank of command, only to have the war end too soon.

Colonel Lee filled just about every position he could in the CSA Army, Adjutant, Quartermaster, Commissary, Aide-de-camp, Inspector General, Artillery officer , Chief of Ordnance, command of a regiment. If he did not have the blemish on his record, how high could he have risen in the Confederate Army ? He was certainly more competent than many of his higher officers.

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Researched and Transcribed By :
ED CATTERSON
[email protected]
4/22/23