The original Texas Brigade was organized on October 22, 1861, primarily through the efforts of John Allen Wilcox, a member of the First Confederate Congress from Texas who remained as the brigade's political patron until his death in 1864. The brigade was initially and briefly under the command of Louis T. Wigfall until he took a seat in the Confederate Senate. Command was then given to John Bell Hood (hence the Texas Brigade was often known as "Hood's Brigade" or "Hood's Texas Brigade").