Texas in the Civil War - A Resume History

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Title: Texas in the Civil War - A Resume History
Author: Ashcroft, Allan C.
Language: English
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TEXAS IN THE CIVIL WAR:
A RÉSUMÉ HISTORY

Allan C. Ashcraft, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of History
The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas

A Publication of the
Texas Civil War Centennial Commission
Austin, Texas
January, 1962

TEXAS CIVIL WAR CENTENNIAL COMMISSION
112 East 18th Street
Austin, Texas

Walter E. Long, Austin, Chairman
Rupert N. Richardson, Abilene, Vice Chairman
Mrs. C. C. Cameron, Austin, Second Vice Chairman

A. Garland Adair _Austin_
Mrs. John M. Bennett, Jr. _San Antonio_
Lincoln Borglum _Beeville_
Mrs. Mike Butler _Austin_
Millard Cope _Marshall_
Joe Cruze _Driftwood_
J. A. Dodd _Kingsville_
Mrs. L. E. Dudley _Abilene_
John T. Duncan _Bryan_
Mrs. R. R. Farmer, Jr. _West Columbia_
Mrs. L. J. Gittinger _San Antonio_
H. A. Hooks _Kountze_
Jess Irwin, Jr. _Austin_
Burris C. Jackson _Hillsboro_
Ray Kirkpatrick _Austin_
Sam Lanham _Waco_
Mary Lubbock Lasswell _Austin_
F. Lee Lawrence _Tyler_
Walter Malec _Hallettsville_
Stuart McGregor _Dallas_
Tom B. Medders _Wichita Falls_
I. C. Parma _Granger_
Cooper K. Ragan _Houston_
Mrs. Edward Randall, Jr. _Galveston_
Joe H. Reynolds _Houston_
John Ben Shepperd _Odessa_
Harold B. Simpson _Waco_
Mrs. H. M. Stamper _Houston_
Heyl G. Tebo _Houston_
Charles R. Tips _Dallas_
Frank E. Tritico _Houston_
Mrs. Max Weinert _Seguin_
Robert C. Wells _Kingsville_
James E. Wheat _Woodville_
R. T. Wilkinson _Mount Vernon_
Mrs. Dan Lester _Jefferson_

George W. Hill _Executive Director_

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Millard Cope
John T. Duncan
Cooper K. Ragan
F. Lee Lawrence
John Ben Shepperd

[Illustration: ★ TEXAS ★ CIVIL WAR CENTENNIAL COMMISSION]

FOREWORD

The Texas Civil War Centennial Commission has long felt the need for a
booklet setting forth a brief history of Texas’ participation in the
Civil War and the Confederacy. Many requests for such a publication have
come from schools, organizations and individuals.

We are proud to present “Texas in the Civil War” and feel that it will
lead to an understanding of the true story of this period of Texas
history.

We are especially indebted to Dr. Allan C. Ashcraft, who prepared “Texas
in the Civil War” at no cost to our Commission. Mr. James Wilkins of
Tyler contributed the art work. A chronology appears on page 45 and was
prepared by the Committee on Chronology. Professor John T. Duncan of the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas served as chairman.

This publication is dedicated as a memorial to all Texans who served in
the Armed Forces of the Confederate States of America.

Walter E. Long
Chairman

Publications of the
TEXAS CIVIL WAR CENTENNIAL COMMISSION

_Texas Civil War Centennial Program_
_Texas in the Civil War: A Resume History_
_Texas at Vicksburg_ published, jointly by the _Texas Civil War
Centennial Commission_ and _Texas Historical Survey Committee_

PRINTED BY WEST TEXAS OFFICE SUPPLY, ODESSA, TEXAS

CONTENTS

FOREWORD 3
TEXAS IN THE CIVIL WAR: A RÉSUMÉ HISTORY 5
TEXAS IN 1860 7
POLITICS, SECESSION, AND WAR 7
MOBILIZATION: EVENTS OF 1861 10
CAMPAIGNING: 1862 12
TEXAS UNITS FIGHTING ELSEWHERE: 1861-1863 15
ISOLATION OF THE SOUTHWEST: 1863 19
BEGINNING OF THE END: 1864 22
FIGHTING BEYOND TEXAS: 1863-1865 25
THE BREAK-UP: 1865 28
NOTES 31
BIBLIOGRAPHY 38
MANUSCRIPTS 38
REPRODUCED COPIES OF MANUSCRIPTS 38
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 39
OTHER PRIMARY SOURCES 39
SECONDARY SOURCES 39
NEWSPAPERS 40
ARTICLES 41
CHRONOLOGY 43
EVENTS IN TEXAS, 1861-1865 45

TEXAS IN THE CIVIL WAR:
A RÉSUMÉ HISTORY

TEXAS IN 1860

Texas in 1860 was an area where the Old South faded into what was to
become the new West. The state was a partially settled land of contrasts
surrounded by enemies on all but the Louisiana side.[1] This one
friendly boundary was a powerful tie that linked Texas both physically
and psychologically with its Southern parent lands.

Because the state was in an early phase of settlement, the population of
420,891 white persons included a great majority of people who had been
born in other states or in foreign countries. Barely one-third of the
whites had been born in Texas, while over ten percent of them were
originally from countries other than the United States. Most of the
settlers from other states were from the South.[2] Thus far these hardy
individuals had organized counties along the entire length of the Rio
Grande and, elsewhere, as far west as the 100th meridian frontier line.

Within the main settled portion could be found several distinctive
agricultural regions. The principal center of the cotton plantation
system was in a cluster of a half-dozen counties that touched the coast
in Matagorda and Brazoria counties, and included the best soil in the
Gulf Plains. Much cotton was also raised in the Brazos, Colorado, and
Trinity river bottoms. Most of the state’s Negro population (182,566
slaves and 355 free Negroes) lived in the vicinity of these heavy cotton
producing counties. To the north and east of the plantation centers was
an area of agricultural diversity. Cotton was raised as a “cash crop”,
while grains and vegetables were grown for local consumption. Northwest
and west of the cotton lands was a subsistence agricultural belt that
extended to the frontier. Here, strong men fought marauding Indians and
contended with periodic drought in an effort to make a meager living for
their families. Finally, to the southwest of the plantations was cattle
country, where almost four million unmarketable beeves roamed the open
ranges from the San Antonio River to the Rio Grande.

The agrarian nature of 1860 Texas is well reflected in the fact that
less than five percent of the population lived in urban areas. There
were fifty-two incorporated towns (settlements of over 1,000), of which
only San Antonio and Galveston exceeded the 5,000 mark. Other points of
minor population concentration were scattered villages and a score of
Federal military forts that were situated along the Rio Grande and near
the frontier line.[3]

POLITICS, SECESSION, AND WAR

In state politics Texas was divided between a loosely organized
Democratic Party and the followers of Sam Houston. Houston’s strong
anti-sectional views cost him the gubernatorial election in 1857. Two
years later, however, the aging hero of San Jacinto capitalized on a
general reaction against sectional extremists and was elected governor
on a nationalist platform. When Abraham Lincoln won the Republican
presidential nomination in 1860, Governor Houston urged his fellow
Texans to keep cool heads and to avoid taking drastic steps that might
later be regretted.[4]

In the national election of November, 1860, the voters of the Lone Star
State cast a three to one majority for John C. Breckinridge (Southern
Democrat) over John Bell (standard bearer of the conservative
Constitutional Union Party.) The names of Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas
(Northern Democrat) did not appear on Texas ballots. When it was learned
that the Republican candidate had won the presidency, Texans, like other
Southerners, went into mourning and many replaced United States flags
with state banners. Then, when other states of the South called for
secession conventions, Texans demanded that the same action be taken in
their state.[5]

Governor Houston managed to block all secession calls until December,
when Attorney General George M. Flournoy, Associate Justice O. M.
Roberts of the State Supreme Court, and lawyer William P. Rogers and
John S. Ford took the lead in calling for a state-wide election of
secession convention delegates to meet in Austin on January 28, 1861. A
subsequent statement explaining this move cited a Texas Constitutional
provision that the people “have at all times the unalienable right to
alter, reform, or abolish their form of government” as a source of
authority for the convention call.[6] It was also at this time that the
voters of Texas were promised a popular referendum on the secession
assembly’s work; and of the original seven Confederate states, Texas was
the only one to hold such an election on the question of secession.
Seventy-two prominent citizens, including Lieutenant Governor Edward
Clark, signed this second call.

As provisions for the forthcoming election of delegates were being made,
Sam Houston called for a special session of the legislature to meet on
January 21. The Governor desperately hoped to use the legislative body
to neutralize the work of the convention. But this remote possibility
was stifled when the House and the Senate promptly adopted an
anti-Houston attitude and enthusiastically welcomed the assembling
convention.[7]

On Monday. January 28, 1861, the secession delegates organized under the
presidency of Judge O. M. Roberts. As late comers kept arriving, the
body eventually came to number one hundred seventy-six members. Elected
from state legislative districts, the delegates were mainly lawyers,
planters, and farmers.[8] In short order a heavy majority approved a
resolution to withdraw Texas from the Union, and an Ordinance of
Secession was passed by a vote of 166 to 7. This ordinance basically
charged that the United States government had failed to meet its
responsibilities under the “compact of Union.” Specifically, it was
asserted that Federal authority had neglected to give “protection either
to the persons of our people upon an exposed frontier, or to the
property of our citizens.” The document also condemned the Northern
states for attempting to make the central government into “a weapon with
which to strike down the interests and prosperity of the people of Texas
and her Sister Slaveholding States.” Therefore, concluded the Ordinance,
the people of Texas chose to withdraw from the Union and to reclaim all
sovereignty delegated to the Federal government when Texas joined the
United States.[9]

The convention established a Committee of Public Safety to oversee
security matters while the main delegation recessed to await popular
approval of secession. Just before being disbanded until March 2, the
Austin assembly named seven representatives[10] to the Montgomery,
Alabama, convention of the seceding states. These men were to journey to
Alabama where they would speak for Texas in the forming of the new
Confederate government.[11] With his hand thus forced, Governor Houston
ordered an election to be held on February 23 to determine whether or
not the Secession Convention’s work would be approved by the people.[12]

Shortly before this election was held, the Committee of Public Safety
decided that for purposes of state security the almost 3,000 Federal
soldiers stationed in Texas must be surrendered. This delicate matter
was settled on February 15, when the followers of Colonel Ben McCulloch
suddenly surrounded military departmental headquarters in San Antonio.
McCulloch’s strong show of force was sufficient to cause the bloodless
surrender of Brevet Major General David E. Twiggs—aged commander of all
United States forces in the state. According to the terms of his
capitulation, Twiggs was to evacuate his soldiers and turn over all
station property to the state.[13]

A week later in the midst of fiery editorials and heated discussions.
the mandate on secession was held and county results were forwarded to
Austin. On March 2, the anniversary of Texas independence, the Secession
Convention re-assembled to canvass the result of the election. Because a
quorum was lacking, however, this task had to be postponed until Monday,
March 4.[14] Of the one hundred twenty-two counties reporting, only
nineteen, located mainly in northern Texas or along the middle of the
frontier line, showed a preference to stay with the Union. In overall
figures, secession was endorsed by a vote of 46,129 to 14,697. When
these results were certified to the convention. President Roberts
proclaimed Texas to be “a free, sovereign and independent nation of the
earth.”[15] Later that same day a disgruntled Governor Houston
officially admitted to his people that a large majority had favored
secession.

The convention next considered the complex problem of defending Texas,
and at the same time, rushed instructions to the Texas delegation in
Montgomery, Alabama, to secure admission of the state to the
Confederacy. Sam Houston, when he learned of these actions, charged that
the convention was completely overstepping its authority. To counter
such protests, the determined secession delegates developed a plan that
would ultimately cause Houston to remove himself from office. A
resolution was passed requiring all high state officials to swear
allegiance to the Confederacy at noon on March 16. When Houston failed
to appear at the oath-taking ceremony, the convention declared his
office to be vacant. Pro-secessionist Lieutenant Governor Edward Clark
assumed the gubernatorial position for the nine months remaining in
Houston’s term. Finally, with its work accomplished, the Texas Secession
Convention adjourned _sine die_ on March 26.[16]

Meanwhile, the Confederate States government had been organized and
Judge John H. Reagan of Texas was named Postmaster General. In late
April news reached Texas that Fort Sumter had been fired on. With war
between the sections now a reality, Governor Clark promptly set about
gearing the state for military action. Measures were taken to capture as
prisoners of war all federal troops who had been surrendered by General
Twiggs and who were still in the process of leaving the state.[17] Also,
the Governor asked for 3,000 volunteers to supplement several existing
regiments that had been called into service by the Secession Convention.
Later in April, Clark called for an additional 8,000 volunteer
infantrymen to serve the South.[18]

Not all Texans were confident that the state had been wise in seceding
and in joining the Confederacy. German settlers in the San
Antonio-Fredericksburg-New Braunfels areas were especially disturbed
over the turn of events. They had never accepted the idea of slavery and
they now came to be looked on with distrust when some of their numbers
elected to leave the state. A group of North Texans similarly decided to
abandon their homes for the security of the United States. Still other
malcontents, who wished to escape from the Confederate government or the
dangers of war, moved to the Far West or across the Mexican border.[19]

MOBILIZATION: EVENTS OF 1861

Throughout 1861 Governor Clark issued calls for more troops and worked
to bolster state defenses. By September Texas had ten regiments in
Confederate service or in the process of being organized. Several of
these units were in Virginia, while the rest were standing by to secure
the state from possible invasion.[20]

The forming of companies was seldom a smooth procedure. For one thing,
all Texans wanted to fight on horseback, but the Confederate army
already had sufficient cavalrymen and now needed only foot soldiers.
Also, the Southern leaders wanted men to serve for the war’s duration,
but most volunteers were reluctant to sign up for more than twelve
months. While these requirements tended to make young men feel less
enthusiastic about serving their country, the state government was
seriously hampered in its recruiting operations by an over-anxious
Confederate War Department. Richmond kept sending heavy troop levies to
the Governor while also authorizing private persons to carry out their
own recruiting programs. This resulted in serious recruiting competition
between the state and the Confederate officers. In several cases units
ear-marked to meet state troop requirements were marched away by
“recruiting colonels.” Despite Governor Clark’s protest, this problem
continued to exist for many months.[21]

A typical example of the mechanics of forming a unit took place at
Marshall in April, 1861, when organization of the W. P. Lane Ranger
Company was announced. Volunteers were expected to supply their own
mounts while the state agreed to furnish arms. On the appointed day the
young men were massed in the center of the town, had their horses
examined for serviceability, elected their officers, and were given an
oath of allegiance to Texas by a local judge. The rest of the day was
spent in preparing the unit’s roll of members and in attending a special
church service. The next morning saw the company reassembled in the town
square, awaiting the presentation of a flag that had been made by the
young ladies of Marshall. After a long and flowery presentation speech,
the banner, reported to have measured six by fifteen feet, was accepted
by the unit. Then, at noon, amidst tears and kisses, the company took up
the march to its destiny. A few miles down the road, however, destiny
was delayed while the men were feasted at a local college. By dusk the
badly scattered soldiers straggled to a camping site and dined on
delicacies that had been brought from home. The Rangers were feted,
lauded, and blessed in almost every town through which they passed. Late
in May they arrived in San Antonio where they were armed, mustered into
Confederate service as Company “F” of the Second Texas Mounted Rifles,
and assigned to patrol duty on the state’s frontier.[22]

As more regiments were formed, a growing scarcity of firearms caused
grave concern. A few units solved this difficulty by demanding that the
enlistees secure weapons on their own initiative. By using this system
Captain Strobel’s Company of Terry’s Texas Rangers could boast that each
of its men carried a double barrel shotgun, a six-shooter, and an issued
“Texas tooth-pick.” This last item was described as a “two edged pointed
knife, 24 inches long, and weighing about three pounds, and a man using
it could cut another man’s head off and not half try.” Most companies,
however, relied on the state to furnish arms. By summer, 1861, Texas had
issued almost all of the weapons that it owned.[23]

Because of the increasing scarcity of guns, Governor Clark adopted a
policy of keeping the remaining state-owned weapons within the confines
of Texas. Future troops mustered into Confederate service would have to
draw arms from the Richmond government. Clark also sent agents to
Mexico, Cuba, and Europe in a near fruitless effort to make contracts
for the purchase of foreign guns. The state likewise encouraged the
establishment of local arms factories and powder plants.[24] Such things
as military clothing, blankets, and messing equipment would have to come
from the penitentiary cloth mills at Huntsville, from private donations
through county soldiers’ relief agencies, through trade with Mexico, or
from Confederate supply depots.[25]

By fall, 1861, the security of Texas was being jeopardized by Indian
depredations along the frontier, by danger of invasions from the north
or by way of the coast, and by the possibility of violence along the
Mexican border. Repeated dispatches received in Austin reported fierce
Indian raids centering in the Brown-Gillespie County area. Also, rumors
had it that the Union was preparing a force in Missouri that would
momentarily undertake an invasion into Texas. Proof of the United States
forces having overrun Missouri was seen when pro-secessionist Governor
C. F. Jackson and Lieutenant Governor T. C. Reynolds arrived with the
Seal of the State of Missouri and set up a temporary government at
Marshall, Texas. Governor Clark took so seriously the threat of a Union
thrust into Texas that he expressed his concern to President Jefferson
Davis and declared that his state stood ready to assemble 4,000
cavalrymen if it became necessary to block such a move on the part of
the enemy. In the same letter to Richmond, Clark indicated a fear that
West Texas might be faced with a Union column coming through New Mexico.
To defend this approach and to safeguard the frontier from further
Indian raids, legislative approval was secured to organize a Frontier
Regiment of ten companies.[26]

Texans were likewise fearful of invasions or raids along the coastline,
which could be discouraged by building fortifications and by stationing
garrisons at such key points as Sabine Pass, Pass Cavallo (in Matagorda
County). Port Aransas, and Galveston.[27] Continuous Union naval
activity off Galveston caused that island to be regarded as a critical
invasion objective. In fact, so serious was this threat that emergency
plans were prepared for a quick evacuation of the city and possible
destruction of the railroad bridge that linked the island with the
mainland.[28]

As Union craft tightened the blockade of Texas port towns, the main
unblocked trade route from Texas to the outside world came to be the
overland trail from San Antonio to Matamoros. This Mexican town
contained a number of merchant houses that were willing to exchange
valuable Texas cotton for goods needed by the South. To safeguard this
supply route, to control border violence, and to intercept shirkers and
Unionists attempting to cross the Rio Grande, Texas kept a number of
state troops on patrol duty along the international river.[29]

In spite of these manifold dangers and wartime conditions, Texas
politics continued as usual. In November, 1861, an exciting contest
allowed Francis R. Lubbock to replace Edward Clark as governor. Lubbock
had wide political experience in the Lone Star State and, once assured
of his narrow victory, he made a quick trip to Richmond to consult with
principal Confederate leaders.[30]

CAMPAIGNING: 1862

Throughout the early mobilization period Texans were anxiously observing
the invasion of New Mexico by Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor and
three hundred men of the Second Texas Rifles. As the summer of 1861
passed, the Baylor force pushed scattered Federal defenders northward
along the upper Rio Grande.[31] Despite this early success, the Texas
commander made it clear to leaders of the South that he would need many
more soldiers to hold these gains. Southern control of the Arizona-New
Mexico territory would increase the Confederate land area, it would give
the new government access to rich minerals and poorly guarded Union
supply dumps, it would secure western Texas from invasion, and it would
give the South ownership of the Old Santa Fe Trail gateway to the Far
West.[32]

To strengthen Baylor’s position, Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley
organized three regiments in San Antonio and proceeded to Fort Bliss in
December, 1861. In the meanwhile, a deeply concerned Union War
Department rushed forces from California and Colorado to bolster sagging
Federal defenses in upper New Mexico. Sibley cut his way to Albuquerque
and Santa Fe before these Union relief columns could arrive on the
scene. During the battle at Apache Canyon, a United States detachment
destroyed the Confederates’ supply train. This disaster plus the
intelligence the Federal relief columns were converging on him from two
directions caused Sibley to order a withdrawal to southern New
Mexico.[33]

This retreat quickly degenerated into a rout, however, as the sick,
hungry, and hard-pressed Texans straggled towards El Paso. In all,
General Sibley lost over half of his 3,000 men in the withdrawal that
ended only after the Union had seized the western tip of Texas. The
United States kept patrols and small garrisons in the Davis Mountain
region of the state and in El Paso throughout the remaining years of the
war.[34]

Union successes in Arkansas in March of 1862 again reminded Texans of
the dangers they faced from invasions through that state. The Federal
victory at Pea Ridge, where Confederate Brigadier General Ben McCulloch
of Texas was killed, opened the way for United States troops to advance
on Fayetteville.

To neutralize this threat, Governor Lubbock had several state regiments
shifted to Tyler where they could act as guard forces to blunt Union
thrusts.[35] Yet, as this precaution was being taken, the sudden fall of
New Orleans and ever increasing United States naval activities in the
Gulf caused Texans again to cast anxious eyes on their vulnerable
coastline. In May, Galveston was partially abandoned under the threat of
Union gunboat bombardment that never materialized.[36] Several months
later Corpus Christi withstood a four day shelling by three Federal
ships.[37]

October saw an overpowering flotilla of eight enemy craft secure the
surrender of Galveston Island. With the loss of Galveston, Governor
Lubbock sealed off the entire bay area and called for 5,000 volunteers
to defend the main coastline. In issuing this call, Lubbock declared
that “The crisis of the war seems to be at hand in Texas, and we must
prepare to defend our homes, or be driven from them with insult and
degradation, and all the horrors of rapine and violence.”[38]

Some five hundred Massachusetts soldiers occupied Galveston while Union
Major General N. P. Banks ordered several strong regiments to be
transferred from Louisiana to this Texas toe-hold.[39] Before these
reinforcements could embark for Galveston, however, Major General John
B. Magruder, recently named commander of the Confederate Military
District of Texas, instituted a lightening stroke to regain the island
for the South. He called for volunteers from Sibley’s veterans and a
number of militia companies to mass at Virginia Point. Then in the early
hours of January 1, 1863, two converted gunboats, the _Neptune_ and the
_Bayou City_, attacked the United States fleet while Magruder, whose men
had crept across the railroad bridge, attacked the Galveston wharves.
Within a matter of minutes the attack ended in marked success. The
Texans took three Federal ships and over three hundred and fifty
prisoners. Galveston was once more under the Stars and Bars.[40]

In various actions during the first two years of the war, Texans took a
number of prisoners of war. These men had to be held in custody until
arrangements could be made for their exchange. Some of the prisoners
were kept in “prison canyon” near Camp Verde in Kerr County. There was a
pit-like gully where Union soldiers were allowed to build shacks and to
get adequate exercise with little risk of escape. At one time this crude
system held six hundred inmates.[41]

A much larger and better equipped prison was Camp Groce, near Hempstead.
Prisoners were housed in four long rows of rough barracks that were
described as “enclosed cowsheds.” Because of open country to the north
and much military patrol activity to the south, few prisoners attempted
to escape from Camp Groce.[42]

The largest prison in the state was Camp Ford, four miles northeast of
Tyler. Eventually it consisted of ten acres enclosed by a stockade of
eighteen foot logs. Prisoners made dugout shelters on a hillside and
roofed these “shebangs” with split logs. About 5,000 men were held in
confinement there when the prison was operating at maximum capacity.[43]

The Confederate Congress, in April of 1862, passed its first
conscription act. Although Texas now had fifty-five regiments
formed,[44] all able-bodied young men from eighteen to thirty-five (the
age limits were later repeatedly raised) would henceforth be subject to
the draft.[45] Indignation against this act caused many protests to be
heard in areas that were unenthusiastic about the war. Strongest
anti-conscription feeling centered in Gillespie County. In fact, the
German settlers near Fredericksburg went so far as to form a five
hundred man Union Loyal League to defy the draft and to promote
sympathetic feelings for the United States. To suppress this subversive
group, Dunn’s and Freer’s state militia companies took control of the
town, declared martial law, and gave the citizens six days in which to
take an oath of loyalty to the South. Most Germans peacefully complied
with this requirement, a few troublemakers were arrested for a short
time, and a small number of incorrigibles quietly fled to Mexico.[46]

Occasionally pro-Union refugees would make their way to occupied New
Orleans, where they could enlist in Judge E. J. Davis’ First Regiment of
Texas United States Volunteers. As this unit grew in size, Texas
officials came to fear that it might be used in the execution of raids
on the state. One embittered Houston editor, in publishing the facts on
Davis’ command, stated “let these refugee traitors set foot on the soil
of Texas, whether as mounted or unmounted riflemen, and their blood will
wash out their treason.... God grant that their carcasses may all enrich
the soil their lives have cursed!”[47]

As passive signs of disloyalty continued to exist, Confederate military
and state civil officials decided to cope with Unionism in an
overpowering fashion. In mid-1862 martial law was declared over the
entire state. Every alien and all native white males over sixteen were
to register and to answer the questions of county provost marshals.
People were required to have passes to cross county lines. Severe
punishments were set for those who attempted to depreciate Confederate
currency. Finally, those suspected of disloyalty were to be expelled
from their counties—presumably to settle in some other county and
conform, or else, to be driven from county to county until they left the
state. Unfortunately for the proponents of this stern policy, the
martial law decree was not approved by Richmond. That fall President
Jefferson Davis declared it to be an unwarranted assumption of power and
revoked the entire program.[48]

During the first two years of the war, the state government and the
people at home diligently struggled to supply Texas regiments with the
essentials of life. Prison made cloth, contributed items of clothing,
and special county tax funds and bond sale receipts were forwarded to
needy companies.[49] As for the care of the sick and wounded Texans, the
financially embarrassed state passed heavy appropriations for the
establishment and support of special hospitals for Texas casualties in
various parts of the South.[50]

TEXAS UNITS FIGHTING ELSEWHERE: 1861-1863

While the leaders of Texas were busily concerned with the well being of
their own state, the men of Texas were actively serving the Confederate
cause elsewhere. From the very outbreak of the conflict Texas units made
proud names for themselves on all fighting fronts.

The Lone Star State was represented in northern Virginia by three
regiments in the brigade of John Bell Hood. This brigade was formed at
Dumfries, Virginia, in September of 1861, and consisted mainly of the
First Texas Infantry, the Fourth Texas Infantry, and the Fifth Texas
Infantry.[51] After intensive training first under L. T. Wigfall,[52]
and then under Hood, the Texans were baptised in fire at Elthan’s
Landing, Virginia, in May of 1862. Hood’s men had been ordered to
protect the Confederate retreat route from Yorktown to Richmond.
Suddenly, the Texans ran into a Union skirmish line of unknown strength
near the York River. In a running fight, the Texas units chased the
enemy for a mile and a half, taking forty prisoners. Hood, frequently
apologetic in his reports, mentioned that the density of the forests had
limited his movements to such a degree that he was unable to take more
captives.[53]

In June, Hood’s Brigade was attached to Jackson’s Corps. Particularly at
Gaines’ Mill the unit showed promise of its future greatness. It overran
fourteen Union artillery pieces and captured an entire enemy regiment.
The cost of these gains was not light, however, as the Fourth Texas lost
all of its field grade officers and the entire brigade had five hundred
and seventy casualties. General Jackson, on later viewing the site of
the Texans’ triumph, declared “the men who carried this position were
soldiers indeed!”[54]

The brigade’s next major action was at the Second Battle of the Manassas
in the last days of August, 1862. On the 29th, the Texans engaged in a
counter-attack that gained six Federal colors. An advance on the
following morning cost the Union a mile and a half of ground and four
artillery guns. Although Hood had been elevated to the command of a
division, he could proudly claim that the Texans’ “gallantry and
unflinching courage” were “unsurpassed within the history of the world.”
In this great struggle the Fifth Texas lost seven color bearers.[55]

Then, in September, the brigade gained even greater renown at Antietam.
At one point the Texans and one other brigade were pitted against two
full Union corps. Hood described the event as “the most terrible clash
of arms, by far, that has occurred during the war. The two little giant
brigades of this [Hood’s] division wrestled with this mighty force,
losing hundreds of their gallant officers and men but driving the enemy
from his position and forcing him to abandon his guns on our left.”[56]
The division’s rear guard action saved the Confederates from near
certain annihilation, but at the end of the Antietam campaign only a
fraction of the command could still be classed as “effectives.” The
Texas Brigade lost five hundred and sixty men out of eight hundred and
fifty-four present for duty. The First Texas lost over eighty percent of
its original two hundred and twenty-six members.[57]

The next large scale action in which the brigade participated was at
Gettysburg in July of 1863. During a series of attacks against Little
Round Top Mountain, the men found that “as fast as we would break one
line of the enemy, another fresh one would present itself, the enemy
reinforcing his lines in our front from his reserves.”[58] The fighting
became so heated that the First Texas ran out of ammunition and had to
resort to emptying the cartridge boxes of fallen comrades and enemy
dead. When darkness fell on July 2, members of the command piled rocks
in front of themselves to protect their forward positions on the slope
of the hill. The Texans continued to hold the right of Lee’s line
throughout July 3, while Pickett’s great charge against the Union center
was broken and the Southern army was bloodily repulsed. Over four
hundred of Hood’s men were casualties in this great battle that marked
“the high tide of the Confederacy.”[59]

Elsewhere, in the great campaigning area of the
Kentucky-Tennessee-Mississippi region, Texas regiments were likewise
prominent in military campaigns of this first half of the war. At
Shiloh, described by Grant as “the severest battle fought at the West
during the war,”[60] Texas was represented by Terry’s Texas Rangers (the
Eighth Texas Cavalry), the Second Texas Infantry, and the Ninth Texas
Infantry. On April 6, 1862, the Rangers shielded the Confederate left by
scouting and blocking enemy flanking sweeps. The next day they protected
artillery positions and stood by to lead a counter-attack that never
materialized.[61] On the opposite extremity of the gray line the Second
Texas cut its way forward for two miles on the first day’s fighting. It
captured an entire Union artillery battery and, in the vicinity of the
Hornet’s Nest, it secured the surrender of Prentice’s Sixth Union
Division. One-third of the members of the Second Texas were casualties
by the time General P. G. T. Beauregard ordered a general retreat on
April 7. Beauregard had assumed command of Confederate forces after the
death of General Albert Sidney Johnston of Texas in the afternoon of the
first day.[62] Meanwhile, for two days the Ninth Texas had spearheaded
attacks of the Second Brigade, First Division, of Bragg’s Corps.[63]

At Iuka, Mississippi, in September, 1862, Whitfield’s Texas Legion
(twelve dismounted companies) and the Third Texas Cavalry (dismounted)
captured a Union battery after a one hundred and fifty yard charge into
the mouths of the guns. Then, as a Federal regiment sought to flank
them, the Texans redressed their line in such a way as to force the new
challengers back for several hundred yards. So close was this combat
that a company officer of the legion killed the opposing regimental
commander with a dragoon pistol. The Texas unit lost almost one-quarter
of its men.

One month later the Second Texas Infantry gained fame at Corinth,
Mississippi. For two days their courageous commander, Colonel William P.
Rogers, led charges against the enemy’s heaviest fortifications.
Finally, Rogers managed to plant his regimental flag on the wall of the
inner works. Seconds later, however, the Texans were forced to pull back
before a Union counter-thrust. In the withdrawal Rogers escaped about
twenty paces when his body was riddled by hostile fire. So brave had
been this Southern leader that the United States forces gave his body a
worthy funeral with full military honors. The Second Texas lost about
half of its men in these two days.[64]

In the December battle at Stone’s River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee, a
number of Texas organizations were attached to Bragg’s army. Terry’s
Texas Rangers, the Fifteenth Texas Cavalry, the Tenth Texas Cavalry, the
Eleventh Texas Cavalry, the Ninth Texas Infantry, the Fourteenth Texas
Cavalry, and Douglas’ Texas Battery were involved in this conflict. The
Rangers raided the enemy’s rear and gained intelligence while the rest
of the Lone Star State units, except Maxey’s Ninth Infantry, were
grouped together in Ector’s First Brigade of Hardee’s Corps. The Tenth
Texas Cavalry took three stands of enemy colors and six artillery
pieces, and the Eleventh Texas Cavalry captured three batteries and
drove the Union forces back for three miles. The remaining Texas units
participated in heavy fighting.[65]

Then, in the spring and early summer of 1863, two Texas organizations,
the Second Texas Infantry and eleven companies of Waul’s Legion
particularly distinguished themselves in the defense of Vicksburg. When
Grant’s men closed in on the river town, the Second Texas was charged
with safeguarding the vital Baldwin’s Ferry Road approach to the
Southerners’ line. This was judged to be “the assailable point of our
lines; the face of danger; the post of honor; the key of this portion of
our works of defense.”[66] After preliminary probes against the Texans’
positions, on May 22 the Union threw five regiments against them.
Colonel Ashbel Smith, the Second Texas regimental commander, reported
that during this horrible struggle “my men received the enemy with a
most resolute fire; my cannon belched canisters: my men made the air
reel with yells and shouts as they saw the earth strewn with the enemy’s
dead. One of the enemy’s regiments staggered and was thrown into utter
confusion. Our men, too, fell thick and fast; the detachment of
cannoneers suffered particularly.”[67] At times during the days’
fighting, opposing infantrymen were firing within five paces of each
other. Cotton bags that had been stacked to shelter the Confederates
were torn open by Minie balls, and as whisps of cotton floated through
the air some were ignited by the gunfire. In fact, these bits of burning
fibre had to be snuffed out by the Texans’ bare hands when they
endangered the unit’s ammunition supply. As the unsuccessful Union
attackers fell back that night, the Second Texas, all but broken as a
military organization, estimated that five hundred United States dead
were left on the ground before it.[68]

Beleaguered Vicksburg fell on July 4, but Colonel Smith could claim that
his unit was justifiably proud even in defeat.

The Second Texas Infantry achieved one victory—they utterly destroyed
any prestige which the enemy might have heretofore felt when the
soldiers they should encounter should be Texans.... When the Second
Texas Infantry marched through the chain of the enemy’s sentinels, the
spirits of most of the men were even then at the highest pitch of
fighting valor. Released from the obligation of their parole, and arms
placed in their hands, they would have wheeled about, ready and
confident.[69]

Also noteworthy in the great Vicksburg campaign was Waul’s Texas Legion,
commanded by Colonel T. N. Waul. On May 22, all but two of its companies
were defending the outskirts of the town. As an element of General S. D.
Lee’s Brigade, these Texans, “Unprotected by breastworks, ... were
subject to the most galling fire, and well they sustained the noble
cause for which they fought, never relaxing, but [fighting] with
increased ardor, until the last of the enemy was prostrated or driven
from their sight.” The loss was very severe, particularly so in
officers, every officer of the staff present being either killed or
seriously wounded.[70] Later, when two Alabama regiments were unable to
take a heavily defended United States flag on a close-in parapet,
General Lee assigned the task to Waul’s men. They “moved to the assault,
retook the fort, drove the enemy through the breach they entered, tore
down the stand of colors still floating over the parapet, and sent them
to the colonel commanding the Legion, who immediately transmitted it,
with a note to General Lee.”[71] At the time of surrender, Waul’s unit
had suffered almost seven hundred casualties at Vicksburg and had lost
more officers than all the other regiments of the oversized division to
which it was attached.[72]

These were instances of but a few Texas units involved in several major
engagements. Elsewhere dozens of Lone Star State regiments were proving
their military prowess. Naturally not all units were as outstanding as
Hood’s, but in the great majority of cases Texas organizations performed
in a very impressive manner.

ISOLATION OF THE SOUTHWEST: 1863

Until the latter part of 1863 the Union was unable to hamper the growing
cotton traffic from Texas to Mexico. According to the United States Navy
Department, there were frequently several hundred ships standing off the
mouth of the Rio Grande depositing goods in the Matamoros-Bagdad area
and picking up Texas cotton for trans-oceanic shipment. Before the war,
scarcely a half-dozen vessels visited these Mexican towns each year.[73]
Because the Rio Grande was an international body of water, the Union was
unable to blockade it. Foreign vessels, claiming to be trading with
Mexico, could not legally be denied use of it. About the only way that
this trade could be neutralized was for a Federal force to seize the
Texas side of the river and to establish a patrol system to intercept
all cotton haulers.[74] Most cotton for the Mexican trade was
transported overland by ox wagon from agricultural regions for distances
of up to five hundred miles or more. Convoys of three to fifteen
ponderous wagons, well equipped with food and water, would normally take
about three months to complete a round trip to the Rio Grande. Once
across the river, the bales would be exchanged for blankets, shoes,
powder, and chemicals used in the manufacturing and servicing of weapons
of war.[75]

A small portion of Texas cotton was carried to the outside world by
blockade runners. When the Union tightened its blockade against the
southeastern part of the Confederacy, a number of runners shifted their
bases of operation to the less closely patrolled coast of Texas. By 1863
Tampico, Vera Cruz, and Belize (British Honduras) had become rendezvous
areas for cotton runners and cotton purchasers.[76] To gain maximum
benefit from cargo space available in ships that were to run the
blockade, screw-jacks were used to compress the bales of cotton into
holds. It soon became a source of pride among stevedores to force the
greatest number of bales into a given ship. In fact one unfortunate
vessel was sunk when “over-ambitious bale handlers compressed the cargo
through the bottom of the ship.”[77]

Weapons and ammunition continued to be critically short in Texas.
General Magruder, in 1863, estimated that 40,000 arms were needed to
defend the Department of the Trans-Mississippi West.[78] With only a
trickle of guns coming from outside sources, the state continued to urge
local craftsmen to produce them. A cartridge factory was set up in the
old land office building in Austin. Also in the capital city were a cap
factory and a state foundry. Another cap factory, that used home-made
machinery, was in Gillespie County. A limited number of firearms were
fabricated in Rusk (Whitescarver and Campbell Co.) and near Tyler
(Short, Biscoe and Co.) Elsewhere, tiny weapons shops were busy in
Dallas County, and in the towns of Columbia, Lancaster, and
Marshall.[79]

The first half of 1863 saw campaigning in the Mississippi Valley that
was seriously to affect the future of Texas. United States forces sought
to wrest control of the great river from the Southerners. As Grant
maneuvered to take Vicksburg, northern Confederate stronghold on the
great river, Banks moved through Louisiana in preparation for an
onslaught against Port Hudson, lowest Mississippi River point still held
by the South. To scatter and confuse enemy defenders, Banks advanced on
Port Hudson in such a way as to endanger key points in Louisiana.[80]
These disruptive thrusts caused many Louisiana planters to bring their
slaves into Texas to escape possible capture.[81] Also, Banks’ probes
caused many Texas regiments to be shifted to Louisiana, where they were
to assist in blocking Banks’ column. Pyron’s Regiment was one such Texas
force. As it hurried from Galveston towards Niblett’s Bluff, on the
Sabine River enroute to Louisiana, a distinguished British military
observer reported on the unit’s appearance as it paraded by:

First came eight or ten instruments braying discordantly, then an
enormous Confederate flag, followed by about four hundred men moving
by fours—dressed in every variety of costume, and armed with every
variety of weapon; about sixty had Enfield rifles; the remainder
carried shot-guns (fowling pieces), carbines or long rifles of a
peculiar and antiquated manufacture. None had swords or bayonets—all
had six-shooters and bowie knives.[82]

Finally, when Banks withdrew to the east of the Mississippi River and
proceeded to concentrate against Port Hudson, most Texas commands in the
area were shifted to the Red River Valley of northern Louisiana.[83]

That summer the Union forces captured Vicksburg and Port Hudson, thus
gaining full control of the Mississippi River. By instituting a very
tight gunboat patrol system, the Union was able to transform this river
into a formidable barrier that cut the Southwest away from other states
of the Confederacy.[84] To size up the new situation Lieutenant General
Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Department of the
Trans-Mississippi West, called for a conference with the governors of
Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. The meeting was held at
Marshall in mid-August of 1863. The key question to be discussed was
that of Kirby Smith’s powers. While the governors showed a reluctance to
admit it, the General would obviously have to become virtual dictator of
the isolated trans-Mississippi region. Only in that way could the states
involved gain the vital strength in leadership that would allow them to
remain undefeated. Tacit recognition of Kirby Smith’s need for extensive
control was indicated by the governors’ agreement that he should
supervise all defenses and oversee all future cotton transactions with
Mexico.[85]

As the Marshall Conference was in progress, the Union War Department
ordered an invasion of Texas. In view of French gains against the Juarez
government of Mexico, General Banks was told that “there are important
reasons why our flag should be restored in some points of Texas with the
least possible delay.”[86] Left to his own discretion as to the exact
point of attack, Banks decided to land an expedition at Sabine Pass. The
main defense of the Pass was an unimpressive earthwork named Fort
Griffin which commanded the narrows about one and a half miles below
Sabine City. The fort had six guns and was manned by Company “F” of the
First Texas Heavy Artillery. This particular unit, under Captain F. H.
Odlum and Lieutenant Dick Dowling, was composed of Irish stevedores who
had been recruited in Houston and Galveston.

At midnight on September 6, a sentry sighted ship signals off the coast.
Because the company commander was absent, Dowling assumed command of the
fort. By mid-morning a fleet of twenty-two transport ships and five
gunboats was standing off Sabine Pass. On board the vessels was an
invasion force of 5,000 men. Until the following dawn the ships stood
off the narrows, and then the shelling of Fort Griffin commenced.
Dowling, who wished to draw the enemy closer, offered no fire in
response. Finally, when three of the enemy gunboats had been lured to
within a very close range, the Confederate cannoneers opened with a
tremendous barrage of fire. In forty-five minutes the battle ended with
Dowling the complete victor. His guns sank two gunboats, damaged one,
and drove off the remaining ships. He took three hundred and fifty
prisoners, killed almost one hundred men, and gained a number of Federal
weapons and supplies. No injuries were suffered on the Southern side,
although some of Dowling’s guns were almost ruined by the heat of the
rapid firing. The men of the company were highly honored for this
success, and their incredible victory served to boost the morale of
Texas and of the Confederate cause.[87]

Several months later, a second plan by Banks to take Sabine Pass by an
overland march from Louisiana was ruled out due to communication
difficulties. Then, in November, the determined Banks succeeded in
landing 7,000 troops, including a Negro regiment, on the Brazos de
Santiago bar at the mouth of the Rio Grande. When Brigadier General
Hamilton P. Bee learned of this at his headquarters in nearby
Brownsville, he realized that his 1,200 soldiers could not defend the
city. So, on November 3, 1863, Bee and his men evacuated the burning
border town.[88] With the Matamoros trade route thus closed by the Union
seizure of Brownsville, cotton for Mexico would now have to be hauled
either through Laredo, two hundred thirty-five miles upstream from
Brownsville, or through Eagle Pass, ninety miles up the river from
Laredo. As for continuing the occupation of the Rio Grande Valley, Union
commanders agreed that such an effort would involve the use of an
unjustified number of regiments.[89]

Elsewhere along the coast, Union troops were similarly active. By the
end of 1863 the Federals had limited forces at Corpus Christi, Mustang
Island, Pass Cavallo, Saint Joseph’s Island, Indianola, and Port Lavaca.
Except for Galveston the enemy controlled the principal coastal towns of
the state.[90] But, as Confederate officers and state leaders called for
more men and desperately planned to regain Texas ports, high strategic
considerations in Washington caused the Union to evacuate most of the
occupied coast. It was again a matter of tying up too many regiments,
forces that would be needed in 1864 for a massive invasion of the Red
River Valley, an action that might well cause the fall of the whole
southwest.[91] Gradually the invaders withdrew until the only force
remaining on the coast was a strong command located near Brownsville.

Near the end of 1863 the Texans again held a gubernatorial election.
When the able Lubbock announced that he would not seek office again, the
contest was between Pendleton Murrah and T. J. Chambers. In a dull
campaign the ailing Murrah easily won.[92]

BEGINNING OF THE END: 1864

The western frontier of Texas was again being ravaged by Indian raids in
1864. The Frontier Regiment still existed; but, once it was accepted
into Confederate service, all but four of its companies were transferred
to East Texas. These four companies and a small command known as
Bourland’s Border Regiment, stationed near the Red River, simply could
not safeguard the state’s extensive line of settlement against heavy
Indian attacks.[93] In one raid six hundred Comanches and Kiowas
depredated the Elm Creek locality in Young County.[94] The only help
that the Texas government could offer the hard-pressed frontiersmen was
advice to “fort up” for security. In explaining this means of defense, a
state general order stressed the need for “getting together & building
blockhouses and stockade to live in. Four, five, or more families might
get together in this way, & thus insure the safety of the women &
children.”[95] Buck Barry, an experienced Indian fighter, described an
ideal stockade as four houses fenced together with picket logs and
featuring two log bastions on opposite corners to allow sharpshooters to
cover all approaches.[96] Until well after the end of the great
sectional struggle, Texas frontier families relied on this passive
defensive means during frequent periods of Indian unrest.

With the arrival of spring, 1864, the Federals commenced an invasion up
the Red River that was expected to penetrate into Texas. Again General
Banks had charge of the expedition. This time his forces moved up the
Red River while another Union column pushed southward through Arkansas.
The objective of both Federal armies was Shreveport. By late March,
General Kirby Smith had received communications that convinced him of
the seriousness of these two enemy columns. In all, the enemy forces
were estimated to total 50,000 foot soldiers and 8,000 cavalry troops.
Major General Richard Taylor, in command of Confederate forces in
western Louisiana, and Major General Sterling Price, Confederate
commander in Arkansas, were both instructed to pull back cautiously
toward Shreveport before the Federal advances. The two commanders were
also warned to avoid heavy clashes with the invaders unless success was
sure to follow for the Southerners.[97] General Kirby Smith warned
Governor Murrah of the situation: “It is my duty to advise you that your
State, especially, in its Northern Section, is threatened with immediate
invasion, that the means at my disposal are comparatively small and
inadequate, and I urge upon you the necessity of putting immediately
every armed man in Texas into the field.”[98]

In answer to this situation, drastic means were taken to force men into
uniform. Shirkers were arrested and forced into military service, and
troops detailed to non-combatant jobs were returned to active commands.
Confederate regiments at guard positions in Texas were shifted to
Louisiana, while defense of the Gulf ports was left to state
soldiers.[99] In the meanwhile, Major General F. Steele and the Union
forces in Arkansas pushed across the Little Missouri River to within two
hundred miles of Banks, who had now secured Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Then, on April 8, 1864, as Banks’ invaders occupied Pleasant Hill,
Louisiana, and advanced to within three miles of Mansfield, Louisiana,
General Taylor committed his forces in a desperate attempt to throw back
the Federals. After a hard fought battle Banks’ army was defeated and
compelled to retreat to Pleasant Hill. Taylor’s men retained close
contact with the retreating Federals and after equally hard fighting on
the second day, the Confederate commander could report that the Union
troops were undertaking a night withdrawal to the Red River near
Natchitoches. Later Southern reports claimed a Union rout on the first
day and a definite check on enemy counter-attack on the second day.[100]

When Union prisoners captured in this fighting were asked what had
caused their retreat, some of them claimed that it was “them ‘durned
Texans’ hollerin’ that scared them.”[101] Texas troops especially
enjoyed the capturing of

A regiment of New York Zouaves all dressed in red flannel trousers,
looking somewhat like ladies’ bloomers of later times. They wore
dainty red caps with tassels and made a sight for the Texans to look
at, and when they were marching by and were halted, the Texas troops
pretended to get mad, swore because they had been compelled to fight
women. Some of them threw down their guns and declared that if they
were to fight any more women they would go home. The Zouaves thought
the Texas boys were in earnest and protested loudly that they were not
women.[102]

Banks eventually withdrew to Alexandria, barely saving his fleet, which
was almost stranded upstream by a sudden fall in the Red River.[103]
Meanwhile, in late April, Price forced an enemy retreat in Arkansas. At
Poison Springs, Marks’ Mill, and Jenkins’ Ferry, General Steele was
repulsed and his command pressed northward. Thus, the overall Union plan
to converge on Shreveport was frustrated and Kirby Smith’s men had
victoriously repulsed overwhelming numbers.

Although Richmond was delighted to hear this news, these successes in
the Trans-Mississippi West had a strange effect on the thinking of
Confederate leaders. President Jefferson Davis and the War Department
suddenly came to look on Kirby Smith’s scattered, unpaid, and poorly
organized army of 30,000 men as a powerful source of reinforcements for
hard-pressed Confederate commands to the east of the Mississippi River.
Orders were issued for heavy portions of Kirby Smith’s army to cross the
great river in August, 1864. At the last moment, however, these plans
were cancelled—partly because of the near impossibility of the river
crossing operation and partly because of heated protests from General
Kirby Smith. While the War Office was justified in seeking relief for
the divisions in the east, Kirby Smith made it clear that his regiments
were barely capable of securing the Southwest. The loss of any
appreciable number of men would spell sure doom for his department.[104]

While Texas now seemed temporarily safe from military advances, other
signs of weakness were to be observed. Confederate paper dollars came to
be worth only twenty cents or thirty cents in specie. Texas tried to
correct this condition by issuing state treasury warrants, but this
paper likewise suffered a drastic drop in real value as the war
continued.[105] The heavily indebted state pressed Richmond for payment
of defense claims; but unfortunately for Texas, these claims were never
honored.[106] As for cotton sales in Mexico, this one great source of
revenue for the Lone Star State was very poorly managed. Due to
conflicting rules set down by the Confederate government, by the
departmental commander, by the state military district commander, and by
the state civil government, the entire commerce was badly hampered.[107]
Added to this were the manipulations of dishonest state and Confederate
purchasing and marketing agents. About the only successful cotton
brokers were those men who flaunted the laws and smuggled bales across
the Rio Grande.

Other serious weaknesses in Texas were a continued scarcity of weapons,
a shortage of laborers that forced the Confederate authorities to
impress slaves, and refusals on the part of civilians to sell supplies
to the army that ultimately resulted in impressments.[108] As for the
citizens, they were oppressed by high taxes, inflation, and shortages of
basic necessities. By late 1864 shoes cost $30, watermelons sold at $5
each, coffee brought $10 per pound when it was available, and one woman
reportedly paid $90 for a yard and a half of denim material.[109] Salt
was so scarce that many people dug up the floors of their smoke-houses
and leached the soil to regain the saline drippings. Toothbrushes
consisted of the chewed ends of twigs. Whole dishes were scarce and were
handled with loving care. Paper, quinine, and tea were almost impossible
to find.[110] Finally, the overall unhealthy situation of the times was
aggravated by unconfirmed reports of Unionist uprisings in the state,
unwarranted speculation on future invasions of Texas, and dozens of
extremely wild rumors.[111]

FIGHTING BEYOND TEXAS: 1863-1865

After heavy losses at Gettysburg, Hood’s Texas Brigade was shifted to
Tennessee in September of 1863. At Chickamauga, the First Texas, Fourth
Texas, and Fifth Texas charged through artillery and small arms fire to
push repeatedly against a determined enemy in well protected positions.
One company of the First Texas had only a single officer and no men
surviving as a result of the many days of fighting. The First and Fifth
Texas had fewer than one hundred men each who were unscratched at this
point of the campaign.[112]

In November, the Texans in Hood’s Brigade marched off with Lieutenant
General James Longstreet to capture the Federal stronghold at Knoxville.
When this plan miscarried, Longstreet’s army was compelled to spend a
miserable and austere winter in northeastern Tennessee. With the spring
thaws of 1864, the Texas Brigade again was shifted to the Virginia
front. Back in familiar surroundings, the battered regiments struggled
to withstand General Grant’s hammering. At the Wilderness, Spotsylvania,
Cold Harbor, and other prominent Virginia engagements, the brigade
continued to rely on bravery to compensate for its lack of size.

The remaining months of the war saw the Texans manning a portion of the
Richmond line and then acting as a rear guard in April of 1865, when
Longstreet’s Corps tried to retreat to Danville. As the news of the
surrender was heard, the Texans were entrenching themselves in the face
of an impending attack. The three Texas regiments had performed
remarkable feats of arms and, on a number of occasions, had been singled
out by General Lee for praise. But again the price of military fame had
been staggering—the historian of Company “M” of the First Texas made
this all too clear when he recorded that only six of the company’s
original one hundred and twenty-five men were present at the
surrender.[113]

Meanwhile, after Hood’s Brigade marched off towards Knoxville in late
1863, almost a dozen Texas units had remained behind to complete the
Chattanooga campaign. In Breckinridge’s Corps were the Sixth Texas
Infantry, the Seventh Texas Infantry, the Tenth Texas Infantry, the
Fifteenth Texas Cavalry (dismounted), the Seventeenth Texas Cavalry, the
Eighteenth Texas Cavalry, the Twenty-Fourth Texas Cavalry, the
Twenty-Fifth Texas Cavalry, and Douglas’ Texas Battery. Two other Texas
cavalry regiments, the Eighth (Terry’s Texas Rangers) and the Eleventh,
were assigned to Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps.

On November 24 and 25, the Texas regiments in Cleburne’s Division of
Breckinridge’s Corps engaged in bitter combat on Missionary Ridge. As
the center of the Confederate line was broken, Texas regiments that had
been making progress against the Union right were commanded to fall back
to Ringgold, Georgia, twenty miles away, and to make a defensive stand
there as the main Southern army pulled back through that town. On
November 26, the Texans were manning blocking positions near Ringgold.
Strenuous fighting there delayed Union advance elements until General
Braxton Bragg’s main forces were safe. At one time in this rear guard
action, three Texas companies routed “an entire regiment, the
Twenty-ninth Missouri (Federal), capturing their colors and between 60
and 100 prisoners, and causing the attacking brigade to withdraw.”[114]
The Texans were tendered a vote of thanks by the main army for their
protective screening of the retreat. Hiram B. Granbury, who had recently
been given command of a brigade of these Texas regiments, was promoted
to the rank of brigadier general for this action.[115]

Throughout 1864 the Texans were active in the fighting that took place
in northwestern Georgia and in the defenses of Atlanta. That fall, the
men of the Lone Star State were present when John Bell Hood assumed
command of the Army of Tennessee and instituted his winter push back
into Tennessee. At Franklin, Granbury’s men were all but wiped out in a
series of unsuccessful assaults against Union positions on November 30,
Granbury being one of the killed. The next morning not a single captain
in the brigade was capable of performing duty. The remnants of the
shattered Texas regiments were almost captured at Nashville when Union
Major General George Thomas’ pressure caused a break in the Southerners’
left and center. As a rout-like withdrawal commenced, the Texans on the
extreme right were not given the word to fall back. When they discovered
that the rest of the army was retreating, the Texans fell back and were
again assigned the serious task of guarding the rear of the main
force.[116]

After Hood’s failure in Tennessee, command of the army was returned to
General Joseph Johnston in January, 1865. For the rest of the war the
Texans in Johnston’s army fought in vain to arrest Sherman’s advance
from Savannah into the Carolinas. At the time of the surrender there
were only about six hundred men in the eight regiments that composed
Granbury’s old brigade. In one company of the Eighteenth Texas Cavalry
there were but five men left.[117]

Elsewhere, earlier in the war, Ross’ Cavalry Brigade had engaged in
extensive raiding operations in the Alabama-Mississippi-Tennessee area.
Ross’ command was composed of the Third Texas Cavalry, the Sixth Texas
Cavalry, The Ninth Texas Cavalry, and Twenty-Seventh Texas Cavalry.
After patrolling to the south of Vicksburg, the brigade spent much of
the remainder of 1864 harassing a large Union force that shifted from
the Mississippi Valley to the east, and in defending Atlanta. While
striving to delay United States advances against Atlanta, the brigade
averaged a fight a day for over three months. Late that fall, Ross was
ordered to support Hood’s re-entry into Tennessee. In raids of late
November and December, Ross lost over one hundred men; yet he captured
over five times that number of prisoners, he seized nine Federal colors,
he relieved the enemy of a great amount of equipment, he destroyed two
fully loaded United States railway supply trains, and he captured almost
fifty supply wagons. Ross’ Brigade ended the war again conducting patrol
actions in Mississippi.[118]

Similarly active was Terry’s Texas Rangers. After suffering forty per
cent casualties in the Chickamauga-Chattanooga struggles, the Rangers so
diligently carried out raids against Federal camps that they crossed and
re-crossed the Tennessee River on six different occasions in the winter
of 1863-64. After the fall of Atlanta and the commencement of Hood’s
Tennessee campaign, the Rangers remained in Georgia with Wheeler’s
Cavalry Corps—the only sizable unit left to oppose Sherman’s march
across Georgia. When the Union army reached Savannah and redirected its
march into the Carolinas, the Texans kept up their futile efforts to
delay the advance of the overpowering Federal forces. Finally, in April
of 1865, at Greensboro, North Carolina, the Texans learned of General
Joseph Johnston’s surrender. In spite of this, a number of men agreed to
evade their captors and to flee westward in small groups to join Kirby
Smith’s army in the Southwest. But by the time these men reached the
Mississippi River, news was heard of the surrender of all Confederate
forces to the west. Disappointed brigade members then realized the
hopelessness of their situation and disbanded.[119]

Texas contributed heavily to the Confederate military effort in terms of
manpower and in the area of leadership. It contributed one general,
Albert Sidney Johnston. It was the adopted home of a lieutenant general,
John Bell Hood. It furnished three major generals: S. B. Maxey, John A.
Wharton, and Tom Green. In addition there were thirty-two brigadier
generals and almost one hundred colonels.[120] As for troop units, the
Lone Star State supplied the Confederate army with forty-five regiments
of cavalry, twenty-three regiments of infantry, twelve battalions of
cavalry, four battalions of infantry, one regiment of heavy artillery,
and three light artillery batteries. Besides these units mustered into
Confederate service, Texas had many organizations that remained under
state control. A current listing of named Texas units includes thirty
artillery batteries, one artillery regiment, thirty-nine cavalry
battalions, sixty-one cavalry regiments, thirteen infantry battalions,
twenty-eight infantry regiments, and two legions.[121] These
organizations fought in all parts of the South and their operations
ranged from Maryland to Arizona and from the Potomac River to the Rio
Grande. As for heroism, the state produced such outstanding regiments as
those of Hood’s Brigade and such noted individuals as Lieutenant Dick
Dowling. In all, the men of Texas did their utmost to support the
Southern cause to which they had pledged their allegiance.

THE BREAK-UP: 1865

By spring, 1865, the soldiers of the trans-Mississippi region were
showing signs of the increasing defeatist feeling. A Union officer who
scouted widely in the Rio Grande valley reported that “the
demoralization of the rebel army in Texas is very extensive. In all the
counties from San Antonio to Austin up to the mountains the rebel
soldiers are coming home in large numbers, and in two or three places
have notified the enrolling officer and provost-marshal that their
services were no longer needed.”[122]

But on the other hand, the Confederate government and General Kirby
Smith were taking extreme measures to keep the field forces intact. In
February, 1865, all non-fighting troop details were outlawed except
where soldiers were needed to keep a few key manufacturies in operation,
all white men from eighteen to forty-five were ordered to report for
immediate military service, and all leaves were cancelled.[123] Kirby
Smith implored Richmond to make available the $50,000,000 in back pay
due his men.[124] All Confederate prisoners on parole in Texas were
declared to be exchanged and were commanded to rejoin their units.
Unauthorized absentees were promised pardons if they returned to their
companies within twenty days.[125] Once more Federal invasion troops
were moving up the Red River and down from Arkansas. Only by thus
scraping the bottom of the barrel could Texas hope to keep the
determined foe at bay.

In late April, 1865, just as a number of scandals involving illegal
seizures of privately owned cotton were coming to light, the word
arrived in Texas that General Lee had surrendered in Virginia. General
Kirby Smith and Governor Murrah quickly penned proclamations asking the
soldiers and citizens of the trans-Mississippi region to continue the
struggle. Murrah declared that “These unforeseen calamities imposed
additional responsibilities on the State of Texas” because Southerners
now looked “with eager eyes and anxious hearts to the people and armies
of this Department, for rescue and deliverance. They will not—they must
not look in vain. With God’s blessing, it may yet be the proud privilege
of Texas, the youngest of the Confederate Sisters, to redeem the cause
of the Confederacy from its present perils.”[126]

But such inspiring words failed miserably to compensate for the common
realization that the Confederacy had failed. It could now be seen that
for many months past the Southwest had endured the war in a desperate
hope that Lee would soon achieve complete victory. With this one great
hope crushed, the entire department was too demoralized to continue the
fight. Desertions in very large numbers followed. Oftentimes bands of
ten and twenty men would leave their undersized regiments in a single
night. In Galveston, only the timely calling out of faithful troops
prevented the attempted desertion of four hundred soldiers.[127]

By May, surrender negotiations between Kirby Smith’s representatives and
the United States government were in progress. It was at this time that
the last land action of the war took place in the isolated Brownsville
sector. In mid-May some eight hundred Union soldiers were moving from
their Brazos de Santiago base when they suddenly made contact with
several hundred of Colonel John S. Ford’s Confederates who were camped
at White’s Ranch. The Southerners had heard nothing of Lee’s surrender,
but had been warned of the presence of Union troops by French and
Mexican observers on the south side of the Rio Grande. The Federals
quickly formed a skirmish line, pushed against the Confederates, and
then entrenched in the sandy soil of Palmetto Ranch. As this occurred,
Ford managed to position six artillery pieces on Palmetto Hill and fired
down into the United States soldiers’ defensive works. This forced the
superior Federal command to retire from the field. In all, the Union
lost over one hundred prisoners. When these captives convinced Ford of
Lee’s surrender, the Texans were so stunned that no pursuit of the
retreating enemy soldiers was attempted.[128]

Finally, on May 26, Lieutenant General S. B. Buckner, Kirby Smith’s
Chief of Staff, negotiated a “military convention of peace” with high
Union officials in New Orleans.[129] This act was finalized on June 2
when General Kirby Smith formally signed the articles of surrender
aboard the Union warship _Fort Jackson_ in Galveston harbor. In the same
month Federal troops arrived to occupy Texas. To impress French
observers in Mexico, the Rio Grande was made a point of concentration
for occupation soldiers. A strange sight was seen in Galveston on June
16 when the occupation officially started. Three hundred silent Texans
watched as a United States transport ship loaded with soldiers was tied
to the landing while a blue clad band played “Yankee Doodle.” Three days
later, on “Juneteenth,” Major General Gordon Granger, recently named
commander of Union forces in Texas, landed at the same port and
immediately issued a proclamation declaring free all Texas slaves.[130]
Eventually there were over 50,000 Federal soldiers in Texas. Parts of
Herron’s Division occupied northeastern Texas. Mower’s Division occupied
Galveston. Custer and 4,000 cavalrymen occupied Austin. Merritt occupied
San Antonio with an even larger force of mounted men. Elsewhere the
state was occupied by the Fourth Corps, the Thirteenth Corps, and the
Twenty-Fifth Corps.[131]

The war was at last over. Some Texans were able to express pleasure that
the end had finally come while others were not talking. A few of the
state’s leaders during the war fled to Mexico. The solid citizenry of
the state faced the task of creating a respected state government and an
enduring nation. They faced this task with a firmness of purpose that
has characterized our citizens since the establishment of the Republic
of Texas.

NOTES

1. To the north were Commanches and Kiowas, to the west were Apaches and
hostile New Mexicans, and to the south were unfriendly Mexicans.

2. _Population of the United States in 1860_ (Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1864), pp. 472-90.

3. _Ibid._, _Agriculture of the United States in 1860_ (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1864), pp. 140-51. A. B. Bender, “Principal
Military Posts in the Southwest” in _The March of Empire_ (Lawrence:
University of Kansas Press, 1952), opposite p. 284.

4. Ernest W. Winkler, _Platform of Political Parties in Texas_ (Bulletin
of the University of Texas, 1916: No. 53), pp. 11-80. Llerena Friend,
_Sam Houston The Great Designer_ (Austin: The University of Texas Press,
1954) pp. 241 ff. Charles W. Ramsdell, “The Frontier and Secession” in
_Studies in Southern History and Politics: Inscribed to William
Archibald Dunning_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1914), p. 74.

5. Hattie J. Roach, _A History of Cherokee County_ (Dallas: Southwest
Press, 1934), pp. 61-62. Anna I. Sandbo, “Beginnings of the Secession
Movement in Texas” in _The Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, XVIII,
No. 2, Oct., 1914, pp. 169-72.

6. The convention call referred to Section I of the “Bill of Rights” of
the Texas Constitution of 1845. This section provided that “All
political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are
founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit; and they
have at all times the unalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish
their form of government, in such a manner as they think expedient.”
Constitution of The State of Texas (1845) in H.P.N. Gammel, _The Laws of
Texas 1822-1897_ (Austin: The Gammel Book Co., 1898), II, p. 1277. Oran
M. Roberts, “The Political, Legislative, and Judicial History of Texas
for its Fifty Years of Statehood” in Dudley G. Wooten, A _Comprehensive
History of Texas 1685 to 1897_ (Dallas: William G. Scarff, 1898), II, p.
88.

7. Edward R. Maher, Jr., “Sam Houston and Secession” in _The
Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, LV, No. 4, Apr., 1952, pp. 453-54.
Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, _The Writings of Sam Houston
1813-1863_ (Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1943), VIII, pp.
220-21. Ernest W. Winkler [ed.], _Journal of the Secession Convention of
Texas 1861_ (Austin: Austin Printing Co., 1912), pp. 9-13.

8. _Ibid._, pp. 20-22, 405-08.

9. Gammel, _The Laws of Texas_, IV, pp. 1519-20.

10. The seven delegates to Montgomery Convention were: Louis T. Wigfall,
John Hemphill, John H. Reagan, John Gregg, W. S. Oldham, T. N. Waul, and
William B. Ochiltree.

11. Winkler, _Journal of the Secession Convention_, pp. 15-85.

12. “Proclamation by the Governor” Executive Record Book Governor F. R.
Lubbock 1861 to 1863, No. 279, MSS, p. 187. Texas State Archives.

13. Winkler, _Journal of the Secession Convention_, pp. 262-83.

14. Roberts, “Fifty Years of Statehood” in Wooten, _A Comprehensive
History of Texas_, II, p. 114.

15. Winkler, _Journal of the Secession Convention_, pp. 86-90.

16. _Ibid._, pp. 92-251.

17. “Texas and Texans in the Civil War. 1861-1865” in Wooten, _A
Comprehensive History of Texas_, II, pp. 522-26.

18. “Proclamation to the People of Texas,” Apr. 17, 1861, Executive
Record Book, No. 279, pp. 237-40. “Proclamation to the People of Texas”,
Apr. 24, 1861. _Ibid._, pp. 242-43.

19. Ella Lonn, _Foreigners in the Confederacy_ (Chapel Hill: The
University of the North Carolina Press, 1940), p. 59, 124. McCulloch to
Davis, Mar. 25, 1861. _The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies_ (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), I, 9, pp. 704-05. Hereafter
referred to as _O.R._, and assumed to be Series I unless otherwise
indicated. _Idem._ to _idem._ Mar. 31, 1861, _ibid._, p. 705.

20. “Statement of regiments, etc. mustered into the service of the
Confederate States,” Sept. 30, 1861, _ibid._, IV, 1, p. 630.

21. Clark to Legislature, Nov. 1, 1861, Executive Record Book, No. 279,
pp. 355 ff. _Idem._ to Davis, July 28, 1861, Executive Record Book,
Governor Edward Clark 1861, No. 80, MSS, p. 97. Texas State Archives.

22. W. W. Heartsill, _Fourteen Hundred and 91 Days in the Confederate
Army_. Bell I. Wiley [ed.] (A Facsimile reproduction of the original.)
(Jackson, Tennessee: McCowat-Mercer Press, 1954), p. xv, 2-4, 14 ff,
22-23.

23. _The Southern Confederacy_ (Seguin), Sept. 20, 1861. Clark to Rogers
and Felder, May 17, 1861, Executive Record Book No. 80, pp. 70-71. Byrd
to McCulloch, Sept. 22, 1861, _O.R._, 4, p. 109.

24. Clark to Baylor, May 13, 1861, Executive Record Book, No. 80, p. 63.
_Idem._ to Nichols, May 17, 1861, _ibid._, p. 71. _Idem._ to Bee, Aug.
15, 1861, _ibid._, pp. 108-09.

25. _Idem._, to Carothers, Aug. 29, 1861, _ibid._, p. 123. _Idem._ to
Walker, Sept. 7, 1861, _ibid._, pp. 127-28. Myers to Minter, Sept. 14,
1861. _O.R._, 4, p. 105. Clark to the “People of Texas”, Aug. 31, 1861,
Executive Record Book, No. 80, pp. 124-25.

26. Frank Anderson, “Missouri’s Confederate State Capitol at Marshall,
Texas” in _The Missouri Historical Review_, XXVII, No. 3, Apr., 1933,
pp. 240-43. Clark to Davis, July 28, 1861, Executive Record Book, No.
80, pp. 97-98. Joseph C. McConnell, _The West Texas Frontier_ (Palo
Pinto: Texas Legal Bank and Book Co., 1939), II, p. 46. Gammel, _The
Laws of Texas_, V, pp. 452-54. Lubbock to Reagan, Dec. 27, 1861, _O.R._,
4, pp. 161-64. _Idem._ to McCulloch, Dec. 24, 1861. Executive Record
Book, Governor F. R. Lubbock, 1861 to 1863, No. 81, MSS, p. 60. Texas
State Archives.

27. Pratt to Hunter, July 1, 1861. _Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Navies in the War of Rebellion_ (Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1912), 16, pp. 829-30. Hereafter referred to as
_O.R.N._ Reports of Stevens, June 12, 1861, _ibid._, pp. 825-26. Lubbock
to McCulloch, Dec. 23, 1861. Executive Record Book, No. 81, pp. 52-53.

28. _Idem._ to Hébert, Dec. 7, 1861. _ibid._, pp. 31-34.

29. Bee to Secretary of War, Oct. 12, 1861, _O.R._, 4, pp. 118-19.
Claude Elliott, “Union Sentiment in Texas 1861-1865” in _The
Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, L, No. 4, Apr., 1947, pp. 459-62.

30. William McGraw, _Professional Politicians_ (Washington: The Imperial
Press, 1940), pp. 117-18.

31. _Galveston Weekly News_, Aug. 20, 1861. William C. Whitford,
_Colorado Volunteers in the Civil War_ (Denver: The State Historical and
National Historical Society, 1906), p. 29. Lynde to Canby, July 7, 1861,
_O.R._, 4, p. 58. Report of Lynde, Aug. 7, 1861, _ibid._, pp. 5-6.

32. Charles S. Walker, “Causes of the Confederate Invasion of New
Mexico” in the _New Mexico Historical Review_, VIII, No. 2, Apr., 1933,
pp. 76-97. Mamie Yeary, _Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray 1861-1865_
(Dallas: Smith and Lamar, 1912), pp. 247-48. Whitford, _Colorado
Volunteers_, pp. 20-21.

33. Martin H. Hall, “The Formation of Sibley’s Brigade and the March to
New Mexico” in _The Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, LXI, No. 3,
Jan., 1958, pp. 385-405. Theodore Noel, _A Campaign from Santa Fe to the
Mississippi; Being a History of the Old Sibley Brigade_ (Shreveport:
Shreveport News Printing Establishment, 1865), pp. 5-6. Clark to Hogg,
Aug. 16, 1861, Executive Record Book, No. 80, pp. 110-11. General Order
No. 10, Dec. 14, 1861, _O.R._, 4, pp. 157-58. General Order No. 12, Dec.
20, 1861, _ibid._, p. 159. Wright to Carleton, Jan. 31, 1862, _ibid._,
pp. 90-91. Sibley to Cooper, Feb. 22, 1862, _ibid._, 9, pp. 505-06.
Donaldson to Paul, Mar. 10, 1862, _ibid._, p. 527. Canby to A. G., Apr.
11, 1862, _ibid._, pp. 549-50. W. W. Mills, _Forty Years at El Paso,
1858-1898_ (Chicago: W. B. Conkey, 1901), pp. 54-59. Yeary,
_Reminiscences_, p. 613.

34. Roberts to Thomas, Apr. 23, 1862, _O.R._, 9, p. 666. William A.
Keleher, _Turmoil in New Mexico 1846-1868_ (Santa Fe: The Rydal Press,
1952), pp. 188 ff.

35. Lubbock to Pike, June 18, 1862, Executive Record Book, No. 81, p.
275.

36. _Tri-Weekly Telegraph_ (Houston), May 24, 1862. Lubbock to Flournoy,
Executive Record Book, No. 81, pp. 293-94.

37. Report of Kittredge, _O.R.N._, 19, pp. 151-52. David D. Porter, _The
Naval History of the Civil War_ (New York: The Sherman Publishing Co.,
1886), pp. 345-46.

38. DeBray to Moise, Oct. 5, 1862, _O.R._, 15, p. 148. Cook to Franklin,
Oct. 9, 1862, _ibid._, pp. 151-53. Hébert to Lubbock, Nov. 8, 1862,
_ibid._, p. 858. Lubbock to Washington, Dec. 9, 1862, Executive Record
Book, No. 81, p. 436.

39. Banks to President, Dec. 18, 1863 (sic.) _O.R._, 15, pp. 1096-97.

40. Philip C. Tucker, 3d., “The United States Gunboat Harriet Lane” in
the _Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, XXI, No. 4, Apr., 1918, pp.
363-69. Porter, _Naval History_, pp. 269-71. Mrs. E. M. Loughery, _War
and Reconstruction Times in Texas, 1861-1865_ (Austin: Von
Boeckmann-Jones Co., 1914), p. 28. Yeary, _Reminiscences_, p. 139.

41. Chris Emmett, _Texas Camel Tales_ (San Antonio: Naylor Printing Co.,
1932), p. 197, 204, 212.

42. A. J. H. Duganne, _Camps and Prisons, Twenty Months in the
Department of the Gulf_ (New York: J. P. Robens, 1865), p. 243. Charles
C. Nott, _Sketches in Prison Camps: A Continuation of Sketches of the
War_ (New York: Anson D. F. Randolph, 1865), pp. 92-93, 171.

43. _Ibid._, pp. 171-72. Dr. Albert Woldert, _A History of Tyler and
Smith County, Texas_ (San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1948), pp. 39-40.
John W. Greene, _Camp Ford Prison; and How I Escaped_ (Toledo: n.p.,
1893), p. 27, 29-30, 32.

44. Lubbock to Pickens, Apr. 18, 1962, Executive Record Book, No. 81, p.
225.

45. Charles W. Ramsdell, _Reconstruction in Texas_ (New York: Columbia
University, 1910), p. 21.

46. Duff to Gray, June 23, 1862, _O.R._, II, 4, pp. 785-87. Lonn,
_Foreigners in the Confederacy_, pp. 312-13. Gertrude Harris, _A Tale of
Men Who Knew Not Fear_ (San Antonio: Alamo Printing House, 1935), pp.
13-15. H. A. Trexler, “Episode in Border History” in _Southwest Review_,
XVI, No. 2, Jan., 1931, pp. 237-38.

47. _Tri-Weekly Telegraph_ (Houston), Dec. 5, 1862.

48. General Order No. 45, May 30, 1862, _O.R._, 9, pp. 715-16. Cooper to
Hébert, Sept. 12, 1862, _ibid._, p. 735.

49. Heartsill, _1491 Days_, pp. 44-45. Matthew P. Andrews, _The Women of
the South in War Times_ (Baltimore: The Norman-Remington Co., 1920), pp.
416-23. Loughery, _War in Texas_, pp. 14-15. W. Lotto, “Fayette County,
Her History and Her People” in Leonie R. Weyand and Houston Wade, _An
Early History of Fayette County_ (LaGrange: LaGrange Journal, 1936), p.
252.

50. Lubbock to Rippetoe, Jan. 27, 1862, Executive Record Book, No. 81,
pp. 114-15. _Idem._ to Fluellen, Jan. 27, 1862, _ibid._, pp. 116-17.
_Idem._ to Lane, Feb. 5, 1862, _ibid._, p. 138. _Idem._ to Bryan, July
1, 1862, _ibid._, pp. 286-88. _Idem._ to Feris, Nov. 16, 1862, _ibid._,
pp. 388-89, 390.

51. J. B. Hood, _Advance and Retreat_ (New Orleans: Hood Orphan Memorial
Fund, 1880), pp. 15-19.

52. In early 1862 Wigfall was elected to the Confederate Senate and Hood
gained command of the brigade.

53. Douglas Southall Freeman, _Lee’s Lieutenants_ (New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1946), I, pp. 197-99. Hood, _Advance and Retreat_, p.
21.

54. _Ibid._, p. 28. Report of Whiting, _O.R._, 11 pt. 2, pp. 563-64.
Report of Hood, _ibid._, pp. 568-69.

55. Report of Hood, _ibid._, 12, pt. 2, pt. 604-06. Report of Guild,
_ibid._, p. 560. Report of Robertson, _ibid._, p. 618.

56. Report of Hood, _ibid._, 19, pt. 1, pp. 922-24. Report of Frobel,
_ibid._, pp. 924-26.

57. Report of Wofford, _ibid._, pp. 927-29. Report of Work, _ibid._, pp.
931-34.

58. Report of Robertson, _ibid._, 27, pt. 2, pp. 404-07.

59. Harry McCorry Henderson, _Texas in the Confederacy_ (San Antonio:
The Naylor Company, 1955), pp. 31-34. Freeman, _Lee’s Lieutenants_, III,
pp. 145 ff.

60. U. S. Grant, _Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant_ (London: Samson Low,
Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1885), p. 185.

61. William P. Johnston, _The Life of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston_ (New
York: D. Appleton and Company, 1879), pp. 557, 677. Mrs. Kate Scurry
Terrell, “Terry’s Texas Rangers” in Wooten, _A Comprehensive History of
Texas_, II, p. 685.

62. _Ibid._, pp. 577-80.

63. Johnston, _Johnston_, pp. 558 ff.

64. Report of Whitfield, _O.R._, 17, pt. 1, pp. 128-29. Grant,
_Memoirs_, pp. 210-14. “Texas and Texans in the Civil War. 1861-1865” in
Wooten, _A Comprehensive History of Texas_, II, pp. 618-19. “The Service
of Texas Troops in the Armies of the Southern Confederacy”, _ibid._, pp.
608-09. Henderson, _Texas in the Confederacy_, pp. 114-15.

65. Report of Ector, _O.R._, 20, pt. 1, p. 929. Report of Lock, _ibid._,
pp. 930-32. Report of Bounds, _ibid._, pp. 932-33. Organization of the
Army of Tennessee, _ibid._, pp. 658-61. Return of the casualties of the
Confederate forces, _ibid._, pp. 676-81.

66. Smith to Pemberton, July —, 1864, _ibid._, 24, pt. 2, p. 385.

67. _Ibid._, p. 388.

68. _Ibid._, pp. 388-90.

69. _Ibid._, pp. 393-94.

70. Waul to Memminger, July 30, 1863, _ibid._, p. 358.

71. _Ibid._

72. _Ibid._ Summary of the casualties in the Confederate forces during
the siege of Vicksburg, _ibid._, p. 328.

73. Welles to Chase, Apr. 21, 1863, _O.R.N._, 17, p. 417.

74. _Idem._ to Seward, May 22, 1863, _ibid._, p. 446.

75. Quintero to Lubbock, Dec. 2, 1861, _Gov. Lubbock Ltrs._, Oct. 14 and
Dec. 2, 11, 15, 1861, MSS. Texas State Archives.

76. W. S. Oldham, _Memoirs, 1861-1865_, pp. 353-54. Typed copy in The
University of Texas Archives, Frederic S. Hill, _Twenty Years at Sea_
(New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1893), pp. 191-92. Frank L. Owsley,
_King Cotton Diplomacy_ (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1931), pp. 278-79.

77. William Watson, _The Adventures of a Blockade Runner_ (London: T.
Fisher Unwin, 1892), pp. 64-65, 79.

78. Magruder to Gorgas, May 30, 1863, _O.R._, 26, pt. 2, pp. 24-25.

79. Frank Brown, _Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin_, Chap.
XXIII, pp. 3-4. Typed copy in the Texas State Archives. Report of
Military Board, Mar., 1865 in Edmund T. Miller, _A Financial History of
Texas_ (Bulletin of the University of Texas, 1916: No. 37), p. 138. Don
H. Biggers, _German Pioneers in Texas_ (Fredericksburg, Texas: Press of
the Fredericksburg Publishing Co., 1925), pp. 98-99. Roach, _Cherokee
County_, pp. 66-67. Dabney White [ed.], _East Texas, Its History and Its
Makers_ (New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1940), II, p. 871; III, p.
1248. Richard D. Steuart, “The Story of the Confederate Colt” in _Army
Ordinance_, XV, No. 86, Sept.-Oct., 1934, p. 90.

80. Richard Taylor, _Destruction and Reconstruction_, Richard B. Harwell
[ed.] (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1955), pp. 143 ff. Joseph B.
James, “Edmund Kirby Smith: Soldier of the South.” Unpublished M.A.
thesis, University of Florida, 1935, pp. 258-59.

81. Lt. Col. A. J. Fremantle, _The Fremantle Diary_. Walter Lord [ed.]
(Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1954), pp. 64-65.

82. _Ibid._, p. 58.

83. Lubbock to Harris, June 17, 1863, Executive Record Book. Governor F.
R. Lubbock, 1861-1863, No. 82, MSS, pp. 112-13. Texas State Archives.

84. Oldham, _Memoirs_, p. 371.

85. Report of Marshall Conference, Aug. 15, 1863, Executive Record Book
No. 82, pp. 129-37. Governors to the People, Aug. 18, 1863, _ibid._, pp.
137-39.

86. Halleck to Banks, Aug. 6, 1863, _O.R._, 26, pt. 1, p. 672. _Idem._
to _idem._, Aug. 10, 1863, _ibid._, p. 673. Lincoln to Banks, Aug. 5,
1863 in John G. Nicolay and John Hay, _Complete Works of Abraham
Lincoln_ (New York: The Lamb Publishing Company, 1894), IX, p. 56.
_Idem._ to Grant, Aug. 9, 1863, ibid., pp. 64-65.

87. Francis R. Sackett, _Dick Dowling_ (Houston: Gulf Publishing Co.,
1937), pp. 16-47. Porter, _Naval History_, pp. 346-47. Report of
Magruder, Sept. 10, 1863, _O.R.N._, 20, pp. 560-61. Andrew Forest Muir,
“Dick Dowling and the Battle of Sabine Pass” in _Civil War History_, IV,
No. 4, Dec., 1958, pp. 414 ff.

88. Kirby Smith to Davis, Nov. 13, 1863, _O.R._, 26, pt. 2, pp. 410-11.

89. Dana to Stone, Dec. 24, 1863, _ibid._, pt. 1, pp. 876-78.

90. Banks to Halleck, Dec. 12, 1863, _ibid._, p. 847.

91. Col. H. L. Landers, “Wet Sand and Cotton” in _The Louisiana
Historical Quarterly_, XIX, No. 1, Jan., 1936, pp. 159-62.

92. James T. DeShields, _They Sat in High Place_ (San Antonio: The
Naylor Co., 1940), pp. 241-49.

93. Lubbock to McCulloch, Sept. 2, 1863, Executive Record Book, No. 82.
pp. 147-48. Certificate by Murrah, Aug. 6, 1864, Executive Record Book,
Gov. Pendleton Murrah 1863-1865, No. 280 [_sic_], MSS, p. 140. Texas
State Archives, James K. Greer, _Bois d’Arc to Barb’d Wire Ken Cary:
Southwest Frontier Born_ (Dallas: Dealy and Lowe, 1936), pp. 249 ff.

94. Henry C. Williams, _The Indian Raid in Young County, Texas October
13, 1864_. Typed copy in The University of Texas Archives.

95. General Order No. 1, Dec. 13, 1864, Gov. P. Murrah, Ltrs.,
July-Dec., 1864 and undated, 1864, MSS, Texas State Archives.

96. James K. Greer [ed.], _A Texas Ranger and Frontiersman. The Days of
Buck Barry in Texas 1845-1906_. (Dallas: The Southwest Press, 1932), pp.
180-181.

97. James, “Edmund Kirby Smith”, pp. 284-85.

98. Kirby Smith to Murrah, Mar. 31, 1864, Gov. P. Murrah Ltrs., Mar.,
1864, MSS. Texas State Archives.

99. General Order No. 57, July 23, 1864, _O.R._, 41, pt. 2, p. 1021.
General Order No. 15, July 10, 1864, _ibid._, pp. 1002-04. Magruder to
Murrah, Mar. 14, 1864, Gov. P. Murrah Ltrs., Mar., 1864.

100. Kirby Smith to Price, Aug. 11, 1864, _O.R._, 34, pt. 3. p. 759.
Taylor to Boggs, _ibid._, pt. 1, p. 528. Drake to Irwin, Apr. 11, 1864,
_ibid._, pt. 3, pp. 127-28.

101. Yeary, _Reminiscences_, p. 448.

102. _Ibid._, p. 627.

103. James G. Wilson, “The Red River Dam” in _Galaxy_, I, June 1, 1866,
pp. 241-45.

104. Kirby Smith to Cooper, Apr. 14, 1864, _O.R._, 34, pt. 3, pp.
764-65. _Idem._ to Bragg, Aug. 3, 1864 in collection of the papers of
Edmund Kirby Smith, folder No. 45, The University of Texas Library.
Taylor to Buckner, Aug. 18, 1864, _ibid._

105. E. T. Miller, “The State Finances of Texas During the Civil War” in
_The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association_, XIV, No. 1,
July, 1910, pp. 12-13.

106. Commission by Murrah, Jan. 13, 1864, Executive Record Book, No. 280
[_sic_], p. 58.

107. Charles W. Ramsdell, “The Texas State Military Board” in _The
Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, XXVII, No. 4, Apr., 1924, pp.
269-71.

108. Boggs to Magruder, Mar. 22, 1864, _O.R._, 34, pt. 2, p. 1074.
Magruder to Bates, Apr. 22, 1864, _ibid._, pt. 3, pp. 784-85.
Impressment schedule, Jan. 1, 1864, _ibid._, pt. 2, pp. 811-14.

109. R. H. Williams, _With the Border Ruffians, Memoirs of the Far West
1852-1868_. E. W. Williams, [ed.] (London: John Murray, 1907), p. 286.
Eliza McHattan-Ripley, _From Flag to Flag_ (New York: D. Appleton and
Co., 1889), p. 102.

110. _Ibid._, pp. 97-100.

111. Heartsill, _1491 Days_, pp. 202-03.

112. D. H. Hamilton, _History of Company M. First Texas Volunteer
Infantry_ (n.p., n.p., 1925), pp. 32 ff. John C. West, _A Texan in
Search of a Fight_ (Waco: J. S. Hill & Co., 1901), p. 109.

113. Mrs. A. V. Winkler, “Hood’s Texas Brigade” in Wooten, _A
Comprehensive History of Texas_, II, pp. 672-80. Hamilton, _Company M_,
_passim_.

114. Report to Granbury, _O.R._, 31, pt. 2, p. 774.

115. Report of Cleburne, _ibid._, pp. 745-53. Report of Granbury,
_ibid._, pp. 773-75.

116. Richard O’Connor, _Hood; Cavalier General_ (New York:
Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1949), pp. 226 ff. O. P. Bowser, “Notes on
Granbury’s Brigade” in Wooten, _A Comprehensive History of Texas_, II,
pp. 751-53.

117. _Ibid._, pp. 753-54.

118. “Texas and Texans in the Civil War” in _ibid._, pp. 619-27. Report
of Ross, _O.R._, 45, pt. 1, pp. 767-73.

119. Terrell, “Terry’s Texas Rangers” in Wooten, _A Comprehensive
History of Texas_, II, pp. 689-94. J. K. P. Blackburn, _Reminiscences of
the Terry Rangers_ (Austin: n.p., 1919), pp. 71-74.

120. Henderson, _Texas in the Confederacy_, p. xi.

121. Wooten, _A Comprehensive History of Texas_, II, p. 571. Lester N.
Fitzhugh [compiled by], _Texas Batteries, Battalions, Regiments,
Commanders and Field Officers Confederate States Army 1861-1865_
(Midlothian, Texas: Mirror Press, 1959).

122. Dolan to Hurlbut, Apr. 3, 1865, _O.R._, 48, pt. 2, p. 17.

123. General Order No. 10, Feb. 13, 1865, _ibid._, pt. 1, pp. 1385-86.

124. James Ford Rhodes, _History of the United States From the
Compromise of 1850_ (New York: The MacMillan Co., 1912-28), V, p. 378.

125. General Order No. 32, Apr. 3, 1865, _O.R._, II, 8, p. 466. General
Order No. 42, Apr. 27, 1865, _ibid._, 48, pt. 2, pp. 1287-88.

126. Proclamation to the People of Texas, Apr. 27, 1865, Executive
Record Book, No. 280, [_sic_], pp. 12-13.

127. Report of Bell, _O.R._, 48, pt. 2, pp. 398-403. Magruder to Boggs,
Apr. 29, 1865 quoted in A. B. Booth, “Louisiana Confederate Military
Records” in _Louisiana Historical Quarterly_, IV, No. 3, July, 1921, p.
371.

128. Yeary, _Reminiscences_, pp. 44, 217. Frank C. Pierce, _A Brief
History of the Rio Grande Valley_ (Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta
Publishing Co., 1917), pp. 52-54. Florence J. Scott, _Old Rough and
Ready on the Rio Grande_ (San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1935), p.
113.

129. After these negotiations were concluded, Kirby Smith, Murrah, and a
number of other leaders left for Mexico.

130. _Tri-Weekly Telegraph_ (Houston), June 20, 1865.

131. Sheridan to Rawlins, Nov. 14, 1866, _O.R._, 48, pt. 1, pp. 297-303.
William A. Ganoe, _The History of the United States Army_ (New York: D.
Appleton and Co., 1924), p. 299.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

These are selected richer sources of the hundreds of books and documents
pertaining to Texas and the Civil War.

MANUSCRIPTS

_Executive Record Books_ and _Governor’s Letters_ (both in Texas State
Archives) contain extensive correspondence and records relating to the
problems of managing the state during the war.

REPRODUCED COPIES OF MANUSCRIPTS

_Collection of the Papers of Edmund Kirby Smith._ Folder No. 37-53
(1863-1866). Microfilm in Texas Collection, The University of Texas
Library, original at University of North Carolina. Selected military
problems of the departmental commander.

Oldham, W. S., _Memoirs, 1861-1867_. The University of Texas Archives.
Rich comments by Texas’ crusty Confederate Senator.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

_Eighth Census of the United States._ Government Printing Office,
Washington, 1864. Statistics of 1860 Texas.

_Journal of the Secession Convention of Texas 1861._ Edited by Ernest W.
Winkler. Austin Printing Co., Austin, 1912. Documentary coverage of the
convention’s work.

_Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the
Rebellion._ Government Printing Office, Washington, 1912.

_The War of Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the
Union and Confederate Armies._ Government Printing Office, Washington,
1880-1901. Specific parts on Texas are: Series I, Vols. 1, 4, 9, 15, 26,
34, 41, and 48; Series II, Vol. 1.

OTHER PRIMARY SOURCES

Barron, S. B., _The Lone Star Defenders, A Chronicle of the Third Texas
Cavalry, Ross’ Brigade_. The Neale Publishing Co., New York, 1908.

Blessington, Joseph P., _The Campaigns of Walker’s Texas Division_.
Lange, Little & Co., New York, 1875.

DeBray, X. B., _A Sketch of the History of DeBray’s (26th) Regiment of
Texas Cavalry_. Von Boeckmann, Austin, 1884.

Heartsill, W. W., _Fourteen Hundred and 91 Days in the Confederate
Army_. Edited by Bell I. Wiley. McCowat-Mercer Press, Jackson, Tenn.,
1954.

McConnell, Joseph C., _The West Texas Frontier_. Gazette Printing
Company, Jacksboro, Texas.

McHatton-Ripley, Eliza, _From Flag to Flag_. D. Appleton and Co., New
York, 1889.

Newcomb, J. P., _Sketch of Secession Times in Texas_. San Francisco,
1863.

Noel, Theodore, _A Campaign from Santa Fe to the Mississippi: Being a
History of the Old Sibley Brigade_. Shreveport News Printing
Establishment, Shreveport, 1865.

North, Thomas, _Five Years in Texas; or What You Did Not Hear During the
War from January 1861 to January 1866_. Elm Street Printing Co.,
Cincinnati, 1871.

Raines, C. W. [ed.], _Six Decades in Texas or Memoirs of Francis Richard
Lubbock_. Ben C. Jones & Co., Austin, 1900.

_Texas Almanac_ (for the years 1859 through 1865.) Richardson & Co.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Bancroft, Hubert Howe, _History of the North Mexican States and Texas_.
Vol. XVI of _The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft_. The History Co., San
Francisco, 1889.

Blackburn, J. K. P., _Reminiscences of the Terry Rangers_. Austin, 1919.

Dyer, John P., _The Gallant Hood_. The Bobbs-Merrill Company, New York,
1950.

Friend, Llerena, _Sam Houston The Great Designer_. The University of
Texas Press, Austin, 1954.

Hamilton, D. H., _History of Company M First Texas Volunteer Infantry_,
1925.

Henderson, Harry McCorry, _Texas in the Confederacy_. The Naylor
Company, San Antonio, 1955.

James, Joseph B., “Edmund Kirby Smith: Soldier of the South.”
Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Florida, 1935.

Loughery, Mrs. E. M., _War and Reconstruction Times in Texas,
1861-1865_. Von Boeckmann-Jones Co., Austin, 1914.

Miller, Edmund T., _A Financial History of Texas_. Bulletin of the
University of Texas, 1916: No. 37, July 1, 1916.

Owsley, Frank L., _King Cotton Diplomacy_. The University of Chicago
Press, Chicago, 1931.

Parks, Joseph H., _General Edmund Kirby Smith, C.S.A._ Louisiana State
University Press, Baton Rouge, 1954.

Pierce, Frank C., _A Brief History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley_. Geo.
Banta Publishing Co., Menasha, Wisconsin, 1917.

Ramsdell, Charles W., _Reconstruction in Texas_. Columbia University,
New York, 1910.

Rippy, J. Fred, _The United States and Mexico._ F. S. Crofts & Co., New
York, 1931.

Roberts, O. M., _Texas_. Vol. XI of _Confederate Military History_.
Edited by Gen. Clement A. Evans. Confederate Publishing Company,
Atlanta, 1899. A half-volume survey of Texas in the war.

Rose, Victor M., _Ross’ Texas Brigade_. The Courier-Journal Company,
Louisville, 1881.

Smith, Ralph J., _Reminiscences of the Civil War_. San Marcos, 1911.

Wooten, Dudley, _A Comprehensive History of Texas 1685 to 1897_. William
G. Scarff, Dallas, 1898.

Wright, Marcus J., _Texas in the War, 1861-1865_. Typed copy in Texas
State Archives.

Yeary, Mamie, Compiled by, _Reminiscenses of the Boys in Gray
1861-1865_. Smith and Lamar, Dallas, 1912.

NEWSPAPERS

Several dozen different newspapers are available covering the period. A
general guide to their existence and location is the rather outdated
_Texas Newspapers 1813-1939_. Prepared by Historical Records Survey
Program Division of Professional and Survey Projects. W. P. A. of Texas,
San Jacinto Museum of History Association, Houston, 1941. Of particular
value are:

_The Galveston Tri-Weekly News_—Texas State Archives and The University
of Texas Library.

_The Southern Intelligencer_ (Austin)—Texas State Archives and The
University of Texas Library.

_The Tri-Weekly Telegraph_ (Houston)—The University of Texas Library.

ARTICLES

Selections from _The Southwestern Historical Quarterly_ (earlier _The
Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association_) are helpful in
fitting missing pieces into the picture. Of particular value are:

Bridge, C. A., “The Knights of the Golden Circle”, LIV, No. 3, pp.
287-302.

Crimmins, Col. M. L., “An Episode in the Career of General David E.
Twiggs”, XLI, No. 2, pp. 167-73.

Delaney, Robert W., “Matamoros, Fort for Texas during the Civil War”,
LVIII, No. 4, pp. 473-87.

Elliott, Claude, “Union Sentiment in Texas 1861-1865”, L, No. 4, pp.
449-77.

Maher, Edward R., Jr., “Sam Houston and Secession”, LV, No. 4, pp.
448-58.

Ramsdell, Charles W., “The Texas State Military Board”, XXVII, No. 4,
pp. 253-75.

Sandbo, Anna I., “Beginnings of the Secession Movement in Texas”, XVIII,
No. 1, pp. 41-73; No. 2, pp. 162-94.

Valuable articles are also to be found in such journals as:

_Journal of Southern History_
_Mississippi Valley Historical Review_
_Southern Historical Society Papers_
_Southwest Review_
_West Texas Historical Association Year Book_

CHRONOLOGY

EVENTS IN TEXAS, 1861-1865

1861
January

5 Destruction of the printing office of _Die Union_ in Galveston
by mob.
21 Convening of the State Legislature in Austin in compliance with
Governor Houston’s proclamation of December 17, 1860.
28 Approval of the State Legislature of a joint resolution
authorizing the impending state convention to act for the people
of Texas on the question of secession.
Holding a Secession Convention in Austin by request of prominent
citizens (O. M. Roberts, George Flournoy, Guy M. Bryan, W. S.
Oldham and John Marshall) made on December 3, 1860.
30 Appointment of a Committee of Public Safety by the Secession
Convention.

February

1 Approval of an ordinance of secession by the Secession
Convention.
2 Committee of Public Safety directed to seize all Federal
property in Texas.
4 Adjournment of the Secession Convention until March 2.
6 Address to the people of Texas by the opponents of secession (D.
G. Burnett, E. M. Pease, E. J. Davis, A. J. Hamilton, J. W.
Throckmorton, John and George Hancock).
9 Proclamation by Governor Houston ordering an election to be held
February 23 for ratifying or rejecting the Ordinance of
Secession.
Adjournment of the Called Session of the Legislature until March
18.
16 Seizure of the U.S. Army Military Post, San Antonio, by
representatives and forces under orders of the Committee of
Safety.
18 Surrender of U.S. Military posts in Texas by General David E.
Twiggs.
19 Substitution of Colonel Carlos A. Waite for General Twiggs as
U.S. Army Commander, Department of Texas.
21 Seizure of U.S. property at Brazos Santiago by Colonel “Rip”
Ford’s Volunteers upon orders of the Committee of Safety.
21 Abandonment of Camp Cooper, Throckmorton County, by U.S. troops.
23 State election for ratifying or rejecting the Ordinance of
Secession.
26 Abandonment of Camp Colorado, Coleman County, by U.S. troops.

March

1 Dismissal of General Twiggs from U.S. Army service.
2 Reassembly of the Secession Convention in Austin.
Seizure of U.S. revenU.S.hooner _Henry Dodge_ by armed forces
acting under orders of the Committee of Safety.
4 Votes canvassed on secession ordinance: for secession, 46,129;
against, 14,697.
7 Abandonment of Ringgold Barracks, Starr County, and Camp Verde,
Kerr County, by U.S. troops.
12 Abandonment of Camp McIntosh, Webb County, by U.S. troops.
15 Abandonment of Camp Wood, Real County, by U.S. troops.
16 Administering the Confederate oath of office to state officials
in the presence of the Secession Convention; Governor Houston
refused to take the oath.
17 Abandonment of Camp Hudson. Val Verde County, by U.S. troops.
19 Abandonment of Forts Clark, Kinney County; Inge, Uvalde County;
and Lancaster, Crockett County, by U.S. troops.
Governor Sam Houston’s farewell address published in newspapers.
20 Abandonment of Fort Brown, Cameron County, and Fort Duncan,
Maverick County, by U.S. troops.
23 Abandonment of Fort Chadbourne, Coke County, by U.S. troops.
Ratification of the permanent Constitution of the Confederate
States by the Secession Convention.
25 Adjournment of the Secession Convention.
29 Abandonment of Fort Mason, Mason County, by U.S. troops.
31 Abandonment of Fort Bliss, El Paso County, by U.S. troops.

April

5 Abandonment of Fort Quitman, Hudspeth County, by U.S. troops.
9 Adjournment of the called session of the legislature.
11 Arrival in New York of Federal troops from Texas aboard _U.S.S.
Coatzacoalcos_.
12 Fort Sumter fired upon.
13 Abandonment of Fort Davis, Jeff Davis County, by U.S. troops.
17 Texas Volunteers under Colonel Earl Van Dorn, C.S.A., capture
_Star Of The West_ off Texas coast near Indianola.
20 Seizure of U.S. Coast Guard schooner _Twilight_ by W. A. Jones,
Deputy Custom Collector, Aransas, Texas.
21 Assumption of Military Command of Texas by Colonel Earl Van
Doren, C.S.A.
23 U.S. Army officers at San Antonio made prisoners of war; capture
of 8th U.S. Infantry near San Antonio.
25 Surrender of U.S. forces at Indianola.
Abandonment of Fort Stockton, Pecos County, by U.S. troops.

May

9 Capture of U.S. troops near San Lucas Springs or Adams Hill,
fifteen miles west of San Antonio.
5 Capture of Forts Arbuckle, Cobb and Washita, Indian Territory,
by Texas state troops commanded by Colonel W. C. Young.
13-14 Burning of the _Alamo Express office_, San Antonio by the
Knights of the Golden Circle

June

? Organization in Virginia of the First Texas Infantry Regiment.
13 Organization of the Third Regiment, Texas Cavalry.

July

2 Blockading of Galveston initiated by the _U.S.S. South Carolina_.
4-12 Destruction and capture of twelve vessels off Galveston by the
_U.S.S. South Carolina_.
Taking the Oath of Allegiance to the State of Texas and the
Confederacy by Live Oak County residents at a mass meeting in
Oakville.
8 Ordering of Brigadier General H. H. Sibley of Texas to expel
U.S. forces from New Mexico.
27 Fort Filmore near Mesilla, New Mexico, captured by Second
Regiment Texas Mounted Rifles under Lieutenant Colonel John R.
Baylor, C.S.A.

August

? Skirmishing near Fort Bliss; preparation of Confederate forces
for the invasion of New Mexico.
3 Bombardment of Confederate batteries at Galveston by _U.S.S.
South Carolina_.
11 Ambushing of Lieutenant May’s detachment of fourteen men,
Company D, Second Regiment Texas Mounted Rifles, in a fight with
Apaches near Fort Bliss.
14 Appointment of General Paul O. Hébert, Commander of all
Confederate troops in Texas.

September

6 Mustering of the Sixth Regiment of Texas Cavalry into service at
Camp Bartow, Dallas County.
7 Capturing of the _Solidad Cos_ off Galveston. Its cargo was
coffee.
9 Mustering into service Terry’s Texas Rangers at Houston.
18 Transferring the command of Confederate troops in Texas from
General Van Dorn to General Hébert.

October

1-20 Discovery of a secret organization in Cooke and adjacent
counties to overthrow the Confederate state Government resulting
in numerous hangings in and near Gainesville.
2 Organization of the Ninth Texas Cavalry at Brogden Springs,
twelve miles north of Sherman.
3 Capturing of the _Reindeer_ off San Luis Pass by the _U.S.S. Sam
Houston_.
5-8 Evacuation of Galveston during a four day truce.
11-16 Military Operations from Fort Inge, Uvalde County, against
Indians led by Sergeant W. Barrett and Company D, Second
Regiment Texas Mounted Rifles.
22 Sibley’s Brigade leaves San Antonio for the invasion of New
Mexico.
27 Capturing of the brig _Delta_ off Galveston by the _U.S.S.
Santee_.

November

1 Skirmishing between Indians and a scouting party of the First
Texas Regiment Mounted Rifles near Pease River.
7 Francis R. Lubbock inaugurated governor.
8 Capture of the _Royal Yacht_ by Federal sailors in Bolivar
Channel.
12 Organization of the First, Fourth and Fifth Texas Infantry
Regiments and the Eighteenth Georgia Regiment into a brigade.

December

7 Suspension by Texas Legislature of all law providing for the
collection of certain debts and liabilities on bonds, promissory
notes, bills of exchange and contracts for money payments until
January 1, 1864, or six months after the end of the war, except
for those applying to enemy aliens.
30 Capturing of the schooner _Gasonne_ off Galveston.

1862
January

6 Permission by the State Legislature to Anderson County allowing
the levying and collection of taxes sufficient to pay for 128
Morse Rifles.
Legislative appropriation of $5,000 to pay the cost of
transporting all clothing or other contributions to Texans in
the Confederate service.
8 Legislative provision for a Hospital Fund of $150,000 to care
for the sick and wounded Texas Soldiers.
11 Legislation creating a State Military Board with authority to
buy arms and munitions, to manufacture arms and munitions and
establish foundries for the manufacture of ordinance and arms.
13 Legislative authorization of County Patrols.
14 Legislative appropriation of $1,000,000 for military purposes.

February

11-13 Policing of Aransas Bay by Federal Navy.
21 Defeat by General H. H. Sibley’s Brigade of the Federal forces
at Val Verde and the capture of Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
22 Attack on Aransas Pass by U.S. Navy.

March

25 Organization of Sixteenth Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment at
Camp Groce near Hempstead, Texas.
28 Defeat of General H. H. Sibley’s Brigade at Glorietta, N. M.;
return of troops to Texas and collapse of John R. Baylor’s
Confederate government in the Arizona Territory.

April

5 Patroling by the U.S. Navy in San Luis Pass, Galveston Island.
? Organizing and enlisting of the Thirty-First Texas Cavalry for
the duration of the war.
16 Enactment of the first Confederate conscription law.
22 Capture of U.S. Navy launches off Aransas Pass.
25 Capture of U.S. Troops at Saluria (Matagorda Island).
Surrender of U.S. forces at Indianola.

May

14-15 U.S. Navy demonstrations at Galveston.
26 Creation of the Trans-Mississippi Military Department of the
Confederacy.
30 Declaration of martial law in Texas.

July

4 Attack on U.S. vessels at Velasco.
7-17 Increased Patrol activity by U.S. Navy in San Luis Pass.

August

? Burning of Fort Bliss by retreating units of Sibley’s Regiment;
reoccupation of reservation by Federals.
10 Skirmishing at Nueces River, near Fort Clark, Texas, between
Unionists and Confederates.
11 Action by U.S. Navy at Velasco.
12 Capture of the _Breaker_ and the destruction of the _Hannah_ at
Corpus Christi.
16-18 Bombardment of Corpus Christi by U.S. Navy.
20 Placing Texas and Arizona Territory in the Trans-Mississippi
Military Department.

September

2 Enactment of new Confederate conscription law raising the age
limit to include all males from 18 to 45; repeal of martial law
in Texas.
13-14 Operations at Flour Bluff, near Corpus Christi.
24 U.S. Navy bombards and captures Sabine Pass.
26 U.S. Navy captured Sabine City.
27 U.S. Navy attempts to burn railroad bridge across Taylor’s Bayou
in Jefferson County.

October

2 Burning of the railroad depot at Beaumont.
5 Capture of Galveston by U.S. forces.
10 Arrival of General J. B. Magruder to command Confederate forces
in Texas.
29 Confederate troops attack U.S. Steamer _Dan_ at Sabine City.
31 Bombardment of Lavaca by U.S. Naval forces.

November

14 Naming of A. J. Hamilton Federal Military Governor of Texas.
20 U.S. Naval action near Matagorda.
29 General J. B. Magruder assumes command of District of Texas, New
Mexico and Arizona with headquarters in Houston.

December

12 Naval action against Confederate installation on Padre Island.
24 Occupation of Galveston by Federal forces.

1863
January

1 Confederate use of a combined land and water attack to capture
Galveston as well as the _Harriett Lane_ and to destroy the
_Westfield_.
11 Naval engagement near Galveston between the Federal _Hatteras_
and the Confederate _Alabama_.
31 Confederate gunboats _Josia Bell_ and _Uncle Ben_ capture Union
warships _Morning Light_ and _Velocity_ off Sabine Pass.

March

5 Legislative addition of $200,000 to the Hospital Fund;
appropriation of $600,000 for distribution among needy members
of soldier’s families and doubling of state tax rate.

April

18 U.S. Navy paid a call on Sabine Pass, resulting in capture of
landing party.

May

3 U.S. Navy landing party upon Joseph Island attacked and repulsed.
22 Capture of the schooner _Stingaree_ on the Brazos River.
30 U.S. Navy attack at Port Isabel.

August

10-13 Mutiny at Galveston.

September

8 Repulse of General Bank’s expedition at Sabine Pass by
Lieutenant Dick Dowling’s men.

November

2-6 Occupation of Brazos Island and Brownsville, result of Federal
combined army and navy action.
5 Pendleton Murrah inaugurated Governor.
17 Capture of Confederate battery at Aransas Pass.
22 Skirmishing in Cedar Bayou, Matagorda County.
25 U.S. Navy attack on and capture of Fort Esperanza, Matagorda
Island.

December

1 A. J. Hamilton arrives at Brownsville and attempts to exercise
authority as Military Governor of Texas.
10 Legislative authorization for the Governor to sell $2,000,000 of
cotton bonds.
15 Enactment of law defining “sedition” and “disloyalty” and
setting the punishment upon conviction before a jury.
Legislative appropriation of $200,000 for the Hospital Fund.
Legislative appropriation of $1,000,000 to be spent in the next
biennium for support and maintenance of families of Texas
officers and soldiers.
16 Appropriation of $1,000,000 in Confederate State Treasury notes
to be expended for the defense of the state’s western frontier,
1864 and 1865. Severe Indian raids in Montague and Cooke
counties.
23 Indianola occupied by a Federal Brigade.
29 Skirmishing of Confederates and Federals on Matagorda Bay;
attack of U.S. Navy on Cavallo Pass.

1864
January

3 Major General Francis J. Herron assumed command of Federal
forces on the Rio Grande.
8 Naval action at entrance of Caney Creek, Matagorda County.
21-25 Reconnaissance on Matagorda Peninsula.

February

11 Bombardment and destruction of the town of Lamar, Aransas
County, by the Federal Navy.
17 Changing of conscription law to include ages 17 to 50 and to
make exemptions from service subject to approval of President
Davis.
23 Naval fighting near Indianola.

March

12 Evacuating Fort McIntosh by the Confederates.
13 Skirmishing at Los Patricios or San Patricio by Federal and
Confederate troops.
16 Skirmish at Santa Rosa, Cameron County, by Federal and
Confederate troops.
17 Attack on Corpus Christi by Confederates.
19 Federal attack on Laredo.
21 Attack at Velasco by Union blockading ship.
22 Defeat of Federals under E. J. Davis near Laredo.
Affair at Corpus Christi.

April

12-13 U.S. Navy expedition up Matagorda Bay.

June

15 Evacuation of U.S. held Cavallo Pass.
19 Skirmishing at Eagle Pass.
26 Skirmishing at Los Rucias, 24 miles from Brownsville.

July

7 Expedition into Galveston Bay by ships of the U.S. Navy.
30 Reoccupation of Brownsville by Confederate forces.

August

4-15 Military operations off Brazos Santiago Island by Federal Forces.
17 General J. B. Magruder transferred to District of Arkansas and
Major General John G. Walker assumed command in Texas.
19 Skirmishing at Port Isabel.

September

6 Skirmishing at Palmetto Ranch near Brazos Santiago.

October

13-20 Indian engagement on Elm Creek near Fort Belknap, Young County,
on the 13th; operations against the Indians until 20th.
14 Skirmishing of Federals and Confederates at Boca Chica Pass,
near Brownsville.

November

12 Passage of a joint resolution by the Legislature expressing an
unfavorable attitude toward agitation for a reunion of the
states by rewriting the constitution so as to include guarantees
favorable to the Confederate states.
15 Legislative appropriation for the annual use of 600,000 yards of
cloth and excess thread manufactured by the state penitentiary
to be distributed to indigent families and dependents of Texas
soldiers; distribution to be the task of the county courts.

December

15-20 Raiding by Indians from Oklahoma in Montague and other North
Texas counties.

1865
January

8 Texas troops defeated in Dove Creek Indian Fight, 16 miles south
of San Angelo.

February

10 Creation of the Military Department of the Gulf, to include
Texas and Louisiana by the U.S. Government.

March

31 Replacing of General John G. Walker by General J. B. Magruder as
Commander of the District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

April 19 to May 17

Negotiations for Confederate surrender in Trans-Mississippi.

May

11-14 Federal expedition from Brazos Santiago Island; skirmishing and
fighting on 12th and 13th at Palmetto and White’s ranch, last
fighting of the war.
25 Alerting of the 25th U.S. Army Corps for duty in Texas.
29 Assumption of command by General Phil H. Sheridan, U.S.A., of
the Military Division of the Southwest.

June

2 Surrender of the Trans-Mississippi Department, C.S.A., by
General Kirby Smith at Galveston.
17 Assumption of command of all U.S. troops in Texas by General
Gordon Granger.
Appointment of A. J. Hamilton provisional governor of Texas.
19 General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued order
freeing all slaves in Texas and Louisiana.
27 Assumption of command by General Phil H. Sheridan of the
Military Division of the Gulf.
Naming of General E. R. S. Canby as commander of the Department
of Louisiana and Texas.

COVER DESIGN BY JAMES LEWIS WILKINS

Transcriber’s Notes

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.

—Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Texas in the Civil War - A Resume History" ***

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