Download Texans Fight for the Confederacy Texans Fight for the Confederacy

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Texans Fight for
the Confederacy
Why It Matters Now
Texans’ connection to the South
was strengthened during the
Confederacy and remains strong
today.
TERMS & NAMES
OBJECTIVES
MAIN IDEA
Francis R. Lubbock, Fort
Sumter, Hood’s Texas
Brigade, draft, John B.
Magruder, blockade, Battle
at Sabine Pass, Richard
Dowling, Battle at Palmito
Ranch
1. Describe Texas’s transition from a Union
to a Confederate state.
2. Explain why a military draft was needed.
3. Identify military campaigns involving
Texans.
Texas contributed to Confederate
military efforts by supplying soldiers
to fight in important battles and
defending the Gulf Coast.
After Lincoln’s inauguration in 1861, four more
states joined the Confederacy. War soon followed.
Lieutenant Elijah P. Petty of Bastrop joined
Walker’s Texas Division of the Confederate army.
In Camp 5-1/2 miles North of Tyler,
September 11th AD 1862
Dear Wife
Cheer up, don’t despair or be discouraged.
Keep all things right and when I give the
infernal Yankees their just desserts I will
Elijah Petty
return home to cheer up your spirits and make
home happy once more but whilst absent remember that I am in
the service of my Country fighting for liberty & human rights . . .
and that when I do meet the Yanks I will make them drink the bitter
waters of dark damnation for forcing me away from the Comforts
of home and the loved ones there. . . .
Yours Etc., E. P. Petty, Sept 11th 1862
Elijah Petty never made it home. On April 9, 1864, while fighting in
the Red River Campaign, he was killed at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana.
Organizing the Confederacy
Francis R. Lubbock was elected as Texas’s first Confederate governor
under Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Most federal operations,
especially post offices, were easily converted to Confederate services.
However, there were still 2,700 federal troops stationed in Texas that were
considered a danger. Major General David E. Twiggs was asked to surrender the troops and forts. Twiggs, a Southerner, agreed with secession but
Confederate flag, 1861 to 1863
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▲ Of the more than 5,000 men who
fought in Hood’s Brigade during the
war, only about 600 remained when
the brigade finally surrendered.
● How did General Robert E. Lee
feel about Hood’s Texas Brigade?
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was loyal to his military oath. He asked for enough
time to retire from service. At first Texans were patient.
Finally, Confederate brigadier general Ben McCulloch
was ordered to force out the 160 federal soldiers.
Twiggs surrendered the soldiers and property without
bloodshed.
The 11 Confederate states demanded that the
Union surrender all federal property, especially military posts. Many forts were taken over peacefully,
giving the Confederates badly needed supplies.
However, troops refused to leave Fort Sumter in Charleston, South
Carolina. Fighting broke out on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War.
Military Strength of Texas
According to the 1860 census, 92,145 white males between the ages
of 18 and 45 lived in Texas. Of that number, 60,000 to 70,000 actually
served as volunteers or soldiers in military units.
Governor Lubbock called for volunteers in 1861, hoping to raise 20
companies. By 1862, 32 companies had been organized. Some of the
volunteers, known as the Texas Brigade, were sent to Virginia to fight.
They were later called Hood’s Texas Brigade in honor of their first
commander, John Bell Hood. Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who
respected their courage and military ability, called them “my Texans.”
Other units from Texas earned fame during the war. They were
Terry’s Texas Rangers, commanded by General Benjamin F. “Frank”
Terry, and Ross’s Brigade, commanded by General Lawrence “Sul” Ross.
Many Texas soldiers who served in the Civil War fought in the Army of
Northern Virginia, the Army of Tennessee, or the Army of the TransMississippi. Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and Ben McCullough led
their troops bravely until each fell in battle.
Hood’s Brigade battle flag
Sending More Troops to Fight
Soon all of the men who wanted to volunteer had done so. However,
more people were needed to fight for the Confederacy. The Confederate
▲
Terry’s Texas Ranger volunteers were
required to bring a shotgun, Colt
revolver, Bowie knife, saddle, bridle,
and blanket when they reported for
duty. ● Why do you think volunteers
had to provide their own equipment?
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105˚W
100˚W
95˚W
35˚N
Nine Civil War Battles In or Near Texas
ARKANSAS
INDIAN TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO TERRITORY
Mansfield (Apr. 8, 1864)
Dove Creek (Jan. 8, 1865)
TEXAS
LOUISIANA
Sabine Pass (Sept. 8, 1863)
Austin
CHIHUAHUA
30˚N
Nueces (Aug. 10, 1862)
Galveston Is. (Jan. 1, 1863)
Capital
Battle site
Port Lavaca (Oct. 31, 1862)
COAHUILA
Laredo (Mar. 19, 1864)
0
200 Miles
0
250 Kilometers
Palmito Ranch (May 13, 1865)
NUEVO LEÓN
Image not available
for use on CD-ROM.
Please refer to the
image in the textbook.
Corpus Christi (Aug. 16–18, 1862)
Gulf of Mexico
TAMAULIPAS
▲ Although most of the fighting during the Civil War took place outside of Texas’s borders,
nine battles were fought in or near Texas. ● Geographically, what did these battle sites have
in common? Why do you think these battles occurred where they did?
government started a draft requiring men to serve in the army. This angered
many people. Soldiers who had volunteered did not trust those who had
not. Those who were drafted did not want to serve at all. Also, the law
made unpopular exceptions. For instance, men who owned 20 or more slaves
were allowed to stay at home. The draft also threatened cotton production.
The state militia was placed under the command of General Paul
Octave Hébert (eh•BAIR), commander of the military district of Texas.
Hébert angered many Texans by enforcing the draft. He was replaced by
General John Bankhead Magruder, who commanded Texas troops for
the remainder of the Civil War.
draft the enlisting of persons for
required service in the armed
forces
Military Affairs in Texas
Many Texans expected Confederate soldiers to replace the federal
troops guarding the frontier of West Texas. But Confederate commanders had almost no troops to spare from fighting Union soldiers in the
East. In most cases, Texans had to defend the frontier against Native
Americans on their own for the first few years of the war.
Most of the fighting in Texas centered on Confederate efforts to keep
the Gulf Coast ports open. Called the “storehouse of the Confederacy,”
Texas provided weapons, food, and horses for the war effort. Although
no major battles were fought in Texas, several important events took
place on the coast or near the state’s borders. In 1861 John R. Baylor
led troops into New Mexico to claim it as a Confederate territory.
Then, in early 1862, General H. H. Sibley, with the help of General
Tom Green, led another Confederate army into northern New
Mexico. They defeated Union soldiers at Valverde but later lost at the
Battle of Glorieta. Sibley’s troops could not defeat the Union soldiers,
in part because they could not get more supplies so far west. Their
defeat returned the New Mexico territory to Union control.
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Please refer to the
image in the textbook.
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blockade action to stop transportation of goods or people into
or out of an area
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Another battle occurred at Galveston Island. President Lincoln had
ordered a blockade of Southern ports to stop the shipment of supplies.
Galveston was one of the most important ports in Texas. Union troops
captured the island. They hoped to use it as a base to guard the Gulf of
Mexico. Confederate General John B. Magruder launched an attack to
retake the island on January 1, 1863. One group of soldiers sailed into
Galveston Harbor on cottonclads, or flat-bottom boats lined with
stacked cotton bales to protect the soldiers from bullets. They attacked
Union ships in the harbor. Other troops crossed the railroad bridge from
the mainland. Confederate forces took over Galveston Island and
remained in control of it until the end of the Civil War.
PLACE
The coast of Texas is lined
with barrier islands, which are
made of sand that builds up
just offshore. Bays and lagoons
separate the islands from the
mainland. When lagoons fill
in, the barrier islands may
become part of the mainland.
Galveston Island is a barrier
island. Sabine Pass is a channel where river water flows past
a barrier island that is connected to the mainland. ● Why
might Union troops have chosen Galveston Island as a
base?
Other Military Campaigns
A significant battle occurred on September 8, 1863, at Sabine Pass, a
narrow channel along the Louisiana border. Union general Nathaniel P.
Banks planned to move troops by ship through the pass. Then he would
march north to cut off Texas’s railroad connection to Louisiana. However,
Lieutenant Richard (Dick) Dowling stationed his Confederate unit along
the narrow channel. As Banks’s ships steamed into the channel, Confederate troops fired and sank two of them. No other Union ships tried to
pass through. Confederates, anxious for good news after losses at
Gettysburg and Vicksburg, hailed the victory.
TEXAS VOICES
Thus it will be seen we captured, with 47 men, two gunboats, mounting
thirteen guns of the heaviest caliber, and about 350 prisoners. All my men
behaved like heroes; not a man flinched from his post. Our motto was “victory
or death.”
Lieutenant Richard Dowling, report of Sabine Pass
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Galveston was one of the most
important ports in Texas during the
Civil War, and both the Union and
the Confederacy wanted to control
it. ● Why was control of Galveston
so important to both sides?
General Banks tried again to invade Texas by sending ships and
troops up the Mississippi River and then the Red River. He planned to
occupy northern Texas. Confederate soldiers from Texas, Louisiana, and
Arkansas, and volunteers from Missouri met the Union forces in
Mansfield, Louisiana, 25 miles east of the Texas border. The smaller
Confederate force, led by General Richard Taylor, defeated the Union
soldiers and forced them to retreat. Texas was safe from invasion.
The last land battle of the Civil War
was fought on May 12, 1865, at Palmito
Ranch in South Texas near Brownsville.
The Union blockade of Southern ports had
forced Confederate troops to find another
route to ship cotton out and bring in
supplies. Cotton was transported through
Brownsville to the Mexican port of
Matamoros. There it was loaded onto
foreign ships that were not affected by the
blockade. Beginning in November 1863,
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Camp Ford as it looked during the war
Camp Ford archeological dig
CAMP FORD Located near Tyler, Camp Ford was
established in 1862 to train Texas soldiers. By 1863 it was
a Confederate prison camp. Camp Ford grew into the largest
Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi. When the
prison population increased in 1864, food and shelter were
scarce. Some prisoners dug holes in the ground to stay
warm in winter. In operation only two years, Camp Ford held
almost 6,000 prisoners of war. When the Civil War
ended, the remains of Camp Ford were destroyed by Union
soldiers, and the land was farmed. Later the site was bought
by the Smith County Historical Society. Today, archeologists are trying to determine how Camp Ford looked and
operated during the Civil War. ● Why might food and shelter have been scarce in the camp?
Union forces occupied Brownsville, trying to enforce the blockade.
Confederate forces under the command of John S. “Rip” Ford and Santos
Benavides took over the area on July 30, 1864. On May 13, 1865, unaware
that General Robert E. Lee had already surrendered, Union forces fought
with Confederate troops in a skirmish at Palmito Ranch. Although the
Confederates won this battle, they had already lost the war.
2
Terms & Names
Organizing Information
Identify:
• Fort Sumter
• Hood’s Texas
Brigade
• draft
• blockade
• Battle at Sabine
Pass
• Battle at Palmito
Ranch
Use a diagram like the one
shown to list three problems
mentioned in this section
that the Confederate army
experienced in Texas. Next
to each problem, write the
action taken to solve it.
ACTIVITY
History
PROBLEM
ACTION
Which problem do you think
had the greatest impact on
the war? Why?
Critical Thinking
1. How were federal troops
removed from Texas?
2. Why was the Confederate
draft important?
3. What happened at the
Battle of Sabine Pass,
and why was a
Confederate victory
needed?
Interact with History
Review your response to
Interact with History in your
Texas Notebook. What
happened to the federal
troops stationed in Texas?
What measures were taken
in Texas to support the
Confederacy?
The Confederate draft supplied troops for the war, but many Texans opposed it. Create a poster
persuading Texans to support the draft.
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