To
make my impression versatile, I came across three Shotwells
in Hood's Texas Brigade, a Private (later Corporal), a 2nd
Sergeant and a Captain. Depending on the situation or event
I can portray any of the three. With our group I always do
the portrayal of Sergeant Shotwell, an older veteran of the
Texas War of Independence (as a youth) and the Mexican War
who has been assigned as a Headquarters Guard due to being
very long in the tooth. Captain J. I. Shotwell was Inspector
General of Hood Texas Brigade and then later in the War commanded
the Foreign Battalion. Considering the Texas Brigade and later
Hood's Division was east of the Mississippi River for most
of the War until the Surrender, it was never clear where a
lot of the replacement troops came from Texas.