Chapter I: Part 1

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

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]