SPARTAN BAND: BURNETT’S 13TH TEXAS CAVALRY IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2005. vii,240pp. Index. Notes. Bibliography. Maps. Photographs. Hard cover. First edition. Book and dust jacket are very fine (in the original shrink wrap). This is the first book length study of the 13th Texas Cavalry that details the unit’s role in the western theater of the Civil War. As part of Walker’s Texas Division, it fought in several key engagement in Arkansas and Louisiana including battles at Lake Providence, Fort De Russy, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill and Jenkin’s Ferry. The author has given us a carefully researched, well written regimental history covering these actions. Additionally, he examines how social, political and economic issues effected the units, gives combat and non-combat casualty rates, the impact of disease on the troops, types of equipment and supplies issued throughout the war and, more importantly, fills an important void in the history of the Civil War west of the Mississippi.