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Texas Secession
and
Civil War
Texas Secession
Convention meets
January 28, 1861
What would be
some reasons for
and against Texas
secession?
Federal government should
not intervene with state
affairs
Texans believed slavery was
vital to their economy***
Unfair
taxes on
imports
and
exports in
the south
Texas votes in favor of secession and joins the
Confederacy
“To Secede from the Union and set
up another government would cause
war. If you go to war with the United
States, you will never conquer her,
as she has the money and men. If
she does not whip you by guns,
powder, and steel, she will starve
you to death. It will take the flower
of the country – young men”
Governor Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Governor of Texas
Refuses to swear to the
Oath of Allegiance to the
Confederacy and is
removed from office
March 16, 1861
Texans go to war
Soldiers Needed
The Conscription Act required men between the ages of
18 and 35 to serve in the Confederate Army.
Some people were excused and allowed to hire a
“substitute” ( 20 slave rule)
Germans in central Texas objected to fighting against
the Union.
Before the war, 1/4 of all Texans were against secession.
Once the fighting began most people supported the
Confederacy.
Texans in the War
General Albert Sidney Johnston
was the second highest
ranking general in the
Confederate Army.
He commanded troops in
Tennessee.
He dies at the
Battle of Shiloh.
Terry’s Texas Rangers
Group of Texas volunteers for the Confederate Army
Fought in 275 battles in 7 states including the Battle of
Shiloh and fighting Sherman in Atlanta.
In Civil war history did a cavalry unit defeat an infantry
army. Terry’s Texas Rangers did it both times.
John Bell Hood
Leader of the Confederacy’s
Hood’s Texas Brigade
Fought at the Seven Day’s
Campaign and Gettysburg
Ft. Hood in Killeen is named
after him
John Reagan
Served in the cabinet of
Confederate President Jefferson
Davis as Postmaster General
Francis Lubbock
(Governor of Texas in 1861)
When his term was over in
1863 he joined the Confederate
Army serving under Major
General John Magruder
Thomas Green
Led the troops that
were on the
steamboats converted
to gunboats by
General Magruder,
who commanded
the Confederate
forces in Texas.
John B. (Bankhead) Magruder
Born in Virginia
Commanded Confederate forces in Texas
Recaptured Galveston
Battle of Galveston
July 1861 – the Union Navy
Began to blockade Texas
Ports
October 1862 – a Union fleet
sailed into Galveston Harbor and Confederate forces retreated.
January 1, 1863 Magruder recaptured it by converting two
steamboats into gunboats by lining their sides with cotton bales,
earning the nickname “cotton clads”
Several hundred Union soldiers were captured and the city of
Galveston is once again under Confederate control.
Battle of Sabine Pass
1863 Union wants to invade Texas by landing 5,000
troops near Sabine City and then plan to march to
Houston and Beaumont and attack.
Ft. Griffin at Sabine Pass is being
guarded by Conf. Lt. Richard
Dowling and Davis Guards.
Sept 8, 1863 Union soldiers
Attack,but Davis Guards fights
back and wins a victory for the
Confederacy.
Fun Civil War facts
By this point in time
Robert E. Lee has surrendered April 9 at Appomattox
Courthouse
Lincoln has been assassinated April 15 although he was
shot the night before
Booth himself has been shot and killed April 26, 1865
May 9 President Johnson has declared an official end to
the war.
May 10 Jefferson Davis is captured.
So what’s going on in Texas??
Battle of Palmito Ranch ( Last Battle of the Civil War)
Robert E. Lee surrenders April 9, 1865 due to slow
communication fighting continues.
May 12, 1865 Union Army moved inland
to occupy Brownsville but were unable to
hold the city
Texas/Confederate
victory
General Gordon Granger arrives
in Galveston to inform Texas
that all slaves were now free.
Approximately 250,000 slaves
in Texas were now free
General Orders, No.3
The people of Texas are informed that, in
accordance with a proclamation from the
Executive of the United States, “all slaves
are free.” This involves an absolute equality
of personal rights and rights of property.