Part 3

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]