Download Ch 12 Sect 3 Notes-#6

Texas History
Fort Burrows, B&B Ranch
Chapter
12
Life on the Home Front
Section Three
The people of Texas suffered during the Civil
War. The blockade slowed trade, though it
could not stop it completely. Ships called
blockade runners brought in some goods by
sailing quickly past the blockading ships. Still,
the people of Texas faced shortage of goods
during the war. The goods that were available
became very expensive. They learned to do
without things or to find substitutes.
Many men were away from the state fighting
in the war. As a result, many women had to do
the needed farm work. They learned to do the
protecting of their families. They also learned
how to run the Plantations.
Some made
uniforms and other supplies for the armies.
Many towns in Texas became the centers for
manufacturing. Texas farms also grew food for
the soldiers.
Most Texans supported the Confederacy.
Some though were Unionist. They supported
the United States government.
Some of them left the state. Others joined the
Union Army. Many stayed home, hoping to
avoid trouble. Sometimes, though, conflict
arose.
The blockade caused a
shortage of goods.
People had to make
their own goods or use
substitutes.
The Civil War
With men serving in
armies, many women
did farm work,
protected their
families, ran
Plantations
Many of the people in the town of Gainesville
were Unionist. They did not want to be drafted
into the Confederate Army. Fighting broke out,
and more than 40 of them were hanged. (On
Pecan Creek and buried in Fair Park Cemetery.)
There was also fighting between German
Unionist and Confederate Troops.
In April 1865, the Civil War ended when the
Confederate Army surrendered. The news did
not reach Texas right away. A month later, the
last battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas.
The Battle of Palmito Ranch was a Confederate
victory. This was in Cameron County, near
Point Isabel (Brownsville). Involved in the fight
with the Gray-Backs were Native Americans,
African Americans, and Mexican American. It
has been said that the Imperial Mexican Forces
also fought but, these reports were never
validated.
It did not change the outcome of the war. The
South had lost.
In Texas
Texas towns became
centers for making
equipment & supplies
needed by the army.
Texas farmers grew
food for the soldiers.
Unionists in Texas
supported the United
States. Sometimes there
were clashes between
them & people backed
the Confederates.
What Would You Do ?
A. Join the Confederate Army ?
B. Join the Union Army ?
C. Leave the State ?
D. Stay at home hiding to avoid conflict ?
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12.3 - Life on the Home Front
READ pgs 289 - 292
Main Idea:
Most Texans worked to produce goods to support themselves and the
Confederacy during wartime. Other Texans tried to remain neutral.
Vocabulary:
blockade runner – ship that slips past military blockade to deliver goods &
supplies
Unionist – person that remained loyal to and wanted to remain part of the
United States
The Wartime Economy
Wartime brought new hardships to many Texans. Most suffered from shortages of
manufactured goods and other supplies
the Union blockade eventually began to slow down and hurt Texas trade Economy
Texans were forced to manufacture their own goods
dishes, plows, wagons, clothing, ammunition, rifles, sugar, coffee and more
previously came from the North
farmers began growing corn and wheat instead of cotton to help feed the soldiers
Texas also provided beef and bacon to the entire South
√ Working Women
in Texas, women worked together to make uniforms for the troops
men fought the war and women had to work the farms and plantations
they also fought off the Indian attacks
√ Supplying the Army
the Confederate Quartermasters’ Clothing Bureau of 1862 ( CQCB )
provided food, clothing, & equipment for the army
inmates at Huntsville prison manufactured cloth for the uniforms
Houston area made shoes, tents, ammunition
Dallas, Tyler, Rusk, Waco made leather goods like boots, saddles, harnesses,
& wagons
factories in Tyler, Rusk & Columbia produced rifles & pistols
instead of cotton, Texas farmers grew corn and wheat, and supplied beef and
bacon to the army
Hard Times and Shortages
Texans made many sacrifices for the war effort
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farmers donated grain
women gave up their jewelry, so troops could purchase supplies
local committees collected food, clothing, and money for the war effort
the blockade forced Texans to go without coffee, sugar, paper, and other
items
Texas farms and plantations suffered less than the rest of the South due to
few battles that occurred on Texas soil
Texans made very little money during the war since they were donating to the
South ( Houstonians raised about $3000 weekly )
Patriotic song “homespun dresses”, like the Southern Ladies wear helped
them deal with the shortages of material to make clothes or new dresses
√ The ‘Great Hanging’
many who sided with the Union lived
in Gainesville and the Cooke County
area
they voted against leaving the Union
and protested against the draft of
their men into the Confederate Army
State troops from North Texas
rounded up 150 able-bodied men who
resisted the draft and charged them
with treason
40 of them were hanged in Gainesville
There are monuments in virtually every
Texas County to the Confederacy, but only a
few to the Union sympathizers who made up
the majority of the North Texas voters in
1860. There is a small one, not much bigger
than a tombstone, just West of the
intersection of California Street and IH 35 in
Gainesville. It commemorates the people
hanged in a single weekend in that town.
About 100 yards south of the monument is a
50 ft monument to the Confederacy.
Unionists
Unionist Texans that wanted the state to remain part of the U.S.
most lived in the northern part of the state and had no slaves
some lived on the frontier and had relied on U.S. troops for protection
many were German immigrants or from way-far Northern states
Sam Houston argued against secession and retired from public life
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√ German Unionist
most Germans in the Fredericksburg and San Antonio areas remained
neutral
Confederates suspected that these Germans supported the Union
Confederate troops attacked an armed group of 65 German men and boys
they killed many Germans in a clash known as the Battle of the Nueces or the
Nueces Massacre
The 1862 Hangings at Gainesville, Texas
Certainly one of the worst atrocities of the Civil War occurred in Gainesville, Texas in Oct.
1862, when 40 men, suspected of Union sympathies, were hanged. Although they were condemned
by a questionable "People's Court," and found guilty by a simple majority of seven slaveholders,
Dr. Richard Peebles characterized the act "the great lynching," for which statement he was exiled.
Cooke County and four of its Red River neighbors were a center of opposition to secession
from the Union. Five counties voted an average of from 61% to 70% against secession. When the
Butterfield Stage Line connected the region with Kansas and elsewhere, many new residents
resettled there from Kansas and Missouri, but the opposition to secession stemmed mostly from a
fear for personal safety, rather than Northern sympathy. The 369 slaves in Cooke County were
owned by only 10% of the population, and 95 of those were owned by the two men, Cols. James G,
Bourland and William C. Young, who were principally responsible for the atrocity.
Actual opposition was quiet until the Confederate Conscription Act of April 1862, was
announced. Thirty men, calling themselves the Peace Party, sent a petition to the Confederate
Congress, protesting the exemption from the draft for the largest slaveholders of Cooke County.
Bourland was commander of a battalion of Texas State Troops, called the "Border
Regiment." Young commanded the 11th Texas Cavalry, but as of Oct. 1862, he was home on
extended sick leave.
On Oct. 1, 1862, the two colonels arrested 150 men, who were accused of treason and
conspiracy. The colonels impaneled to try them, an extralegal "People’s Court" (unlisted in
"Gammells Laws of Texas"). Conviction came upon a simple majority of seven, and Bourland and
Young made certain, that of the impaneled jurors, seven of them were the county's largest
slaveholders. Hence, a contest between the slaveholders and the 90% owned no slaves.
The 40 defendants were convicted by the "People's Court," and the first 21 were hanged
during the same week. About October 10th, Col. Young was murdered by an unknown assassin,
and as a result, his son, Capt. James Young of the 11th Cavalry, took his place, exhibiting a real
vengeance; and he soon hanged the other 19 defendants. Young tracked down 2 men, accused of
killing his father, and he shot one, and lynched the other, using his own family slaves to do the dirty
work.
Bourland was also accused of other atrocities, but the Confederate Army took no action
concerning them. At the end of the war, he obtained a pardon from President Andrew Johnson, but
there is no record that he was ever subjected to a Union court martial. He was also acquitted of
wrongdoing by a civil court at Gainesville. He died in seclusion, a lonely and broken old man, on
Aug. 20, 1879.
Teachers Note
they were hung on Pecan creek, which runs through the middle of Gainesville
Fair Park Cemetery, on the East side, was built to bury the 40 men
I played on the ‘Confederate’ tombstones when I was in grade school
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my Daddy and Gran Daddy are buried there
The War Ends
By 1864, the North’s overwhelming advantage in soldiers and supplies took its
toll on the South
√ Surrender at Appomattox
Union General Ulysses S. Grant trapped Confederate General Robert E. Lee
at Petersburg, Virginia
Union General Sherman had gone through Georgia destroying railroads,
factories, and military supplies
Sherman captured Atlanta
Grant (North) accepted Lee’s (South) surrender at the Appomattox Court House in
Virginia, on April 9, 1865
√ Battle at Palmito Ranch
the Last Battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas.
news of the surrender did not reach Texas for weeks
some Texas Confederates refused to give up the war
on May 12, 1865, Union Colonel Theodore H. Barrett attacked Confederate
forces at Palmito Ranch
the Confederates counterattacked, forcing Barrett to retreat and defeat on
May 13
despite this victory, the Texas Confederates received orders to disband their
armies
troops went home and the Confederate Army and government simply
disappeared
Andrew Johnson, following the assassination of Lincoln on April 15, 1865
became President only a few days after the wars end
he was now leading the U.S.
Oran Roberts, 17th Governor of Texas, described the state during the war years,
“ The people in most parts of the state set about providing themselves with the
necessaries of life. From that time to the end of the war a person traveling past
houses on the road could hear the sound of the spinning wheel and of the loom at
which women were at work to supply clothing for their families and for their
husbands and sons in the Army. Nor was that kind of employment all. Many a wife
or daughter of a soldier went out on the farm and bravely did the work with plow
and hoe to make provisions for her and the little children.”
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1.
Who died in the “Great Hanging” ?
A.
inmates at the prison in Huntsville
B.
blockade runners
C.
Germans from San Antonio
D.
Unionists from the Gainesville area
2.
During the Civil War, what were Texans forced to sacrifice ?
A.
summer vacations
B.
wool
C.
cattle
D.
sugar
3.
How did the economy of Texas change during the war ?
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4.
What shortages did Texans face during the war ?
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5.
What hardships did Unionists face in Texas ?
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6.
What brought the Civil War to an end ?
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