Seventh Star of the Confederacy: Texas during the Civil War

by Kenneth W. Howell

Overview

On February 1, 1861, delegates at the Texas Secession Convention elected to leave the Union. The people of Texas supported the actions of the convention in a statewide referendum, paving the way for the state to secede and to officially become the seventh state in the Confederacy. Soon the Texans found themselves engaged in a bloody and prolonged civil war against their northern brethren. During the course of this war, the lives of thousands of Texans, both young and old, were changed forever. This new anthology, edited by Kenneth W. Howell, incorporates the latest scholarly research on how Texans experienced the war. Eighteen contributors take us from the battlefront to the home front, ranging from inside the walls of a Confederate prison to inside the homes of women and children left to fend for themselves while their husbands and fathers were away on distant battlefields, and from the halls of the governor's mansion to the halls of the county commissioner's court in Colorado County. Also explored are well-known battles that took place in or near Texas, such as the Battle of Galveston, the Battle of Nueces, the Battle of Sabine Pass, and the Red River Campaign. Finally, the social and cultural aspects of the war receive new analysis, including the experiences of women, African Americans, Union prisoners of war, and noncombatants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781574413663
Publisher:	University of North Texas Press
Publication date:	03/15/2009
Series:	War and the Southwest Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Kenneth W. Howell is an assistant professor at Prairie View A&M University. He received his Ph.D. in history form Texas A&M University and also taught there as a visiting assistant professor. He is the author of Texas Confederate, Reconstruction Governor: James Webb Throckmorton and coauthor of The Devil’s Triangle: Ben Bickerstaff, Northeast Texans, and the War of Reconstruction in Texas and Beyond Myths and Legends: A Narrative History of Texas.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vi

List of Maps vii

Preface viii

Acknowledgments xii

Part I A Historical Overview of Texas and the Civil War

Chapter 1 The Impact of New Studies about Texas and Texans on Civil War Historiography Alwyn Barr 2

Chapter 2 The Civil War and the Lone Star State: A Brief Overview Archie P. McDonald 21

Part II The Time for Compromise Has Passed

Chapter 3 The Impending Crisis: A Texas Perspective on the Causes of the Civil War James M. Smallwood 32

Chapter 4 The Knights of the Golden Circle in Texas, 1858-1861: An Analysis of the First (Military) Degree Knights Linda S. Hudson 52

Part III In Sight of My Enemy

Chapter 5 Frontier Defense: Enlistment Patterns for the Texas Frontier Regiments in the Civil War John W. Gorman 70

Chapter 6 Reckoning at the River: Unionists and Secessionists on the Nueces, August 10, 1862 Mary Jo O'Rear 85

Chapter 7 Without a Fight: The Eighty-four-day Union Occupation of Galveston, Texas Donald Willett 110

Chapter 8 "Nothing but Disaster": The Failure of Union Plans to Capture Texas Edward T. Cotham 130

Chapter 9 Hide Your Daughters: The Yankees Have Arrived in the Coastal Bend, 1863 Charles D. Spurlin 149

Chapter 10 Red and White Fighting the Blue: Relations between Texans and Confederate Indians Charles D. Grear 167

Chapter 11 Defending the Lone Star: The Texas Cavalry in the Red River Campaign Gary D. Joiner 189

Chapter 12 Prison City, Camp Ford: Largest Confederate Prisoner-of-war Camp in the Trans-Mississippi James M. Smallwood 208

Part IV Political, Social, and Cultural Life during the War

Chapter 13 The Confederate Governors of Texas Kenneth E. Hendrickson 228

Chapter 14 "A Sacred Charge upon Our Hands": Assistingthe Families of Confederate Soldiers in Texas, 1861-1865 Vicki Betts 246

Chapter 15 On the Edge of First Freedoms: Black Texans and the Civil War Ronald E. Goodwin Bruce A. Glasrud 268

Chapter 16 Feed the Troops or Fight the Drought: The Dilemma Texas Beef Contractors Faced in 1861-1865 Carol Taylor 287

Chapter 17 Distress, Discontent, and Dissent: Colorado County, Texas, during the Civil War Bill Stein 301

List of Contributors 317

Index 326

Interviews

 College Station, TX

Editorial Reviews

"Howell has managed to gather eighteen of the very best Texas Civil War historians for this fine publication that is certain to attract considerable attention. It surpasses similar edited versions of the war in Texas and may well be one of the very best books on the subject." --Jerry Thompson, professor of history, Texas A&M International University

"This book is an important addition to works pertaining to Texas 1861–1865 as a Confederate state. The survey chapter by Alwyn Barr on historiography is exemplary. Particular chapters that stand out include James Smallwood on the causes of the Civil War and Vicki Betts on the families of Confederate soldiers."--Joseph G. "Chip" Dawson, professor of history, Texas A&M University

"The volume opens with a historiographical essay by Alwyn Barr that covers the research on Civil War Texas published since 1990. The highlight of the collection, Barr's essay does a fantastic job of detailing the state of this particular field."--Journal of Southern History

“The essays covering military topics are particularly strong. . . . Overall, this is a first-rate essay compilation and Editor Howell should be applauded. The essays are tied together smoothly with hardly any overlap. . . . Seventh Star of the Confederacy is an important collection for any historian of the Civil War period in Texas and would serve as an excellent book for undergraduates.”—Southwestern Historical Quarterly

“With its sweeping coverage of military, political, economic, and social issues and subjects, there’s something new for scholars and interested readers of all stripes. This is the best Texas Civil War essay compilation I’ve encountered. Highly recommended.”—Civil War Books and Authors

“Among the strongest essays in the collection are James Smallwood’s piece on Texas’s role in the secession crisis, Gary Joiner’s work on the role of Texas cavalry in the Red River Campaign, and Vicki Bett’s discussion of the role played by families of Texas soldiers.”—New Mexico Historical Review

"This book is a significant addition to the Texas Confederate experience and will be read with great interest by students of Texas history for generations to come. . . . All aspects of the war are covered in what may well be the definitive work on the subject."--Blue & Gray Magazine

"In sum, Howell does a fine job of bringing a somewhat disparate group of articles together into a very cogent whole. . . . [T]he work is well crafted and worthy of an interested scholar's time and effort."--Louisiana History

From the Publisher

“Among the strongest essays in the collection are James Smallwood’s piece on Texas’s role in the secession crisis, Gary Joiner’s work on the role of Texas cavalry in the Red River Campaign, and Vicki Bett’s discussion of the role played by families of Texas soldiers.”—New Mexico Historical Review

New Mexico Historical Review

“With its sweeping coverage of military, political, economic, and social issues and subjects, there’s something new for scholars and interested readers of all stripes. This is the best Texas Civil War essay compilation I’ve encountered. Highly recommended.”—Civil War Books and Authors

Civil War Books and Authors

“The essays covering military topics are particularly strong. . . . Overall, this is a first-rate essay compilation and Editor Howell should be applauded. The essays are tied together smoothly with hardly any overlap. . . . Seventh Star of the Confederacy is an important collection for any historian of the Civil War period in Texas and would serve as an excellent book for undergraduates.”—Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

"The volume opens with a historiographical essay by Alwyn Barr that covers the research on Civil War Texas published since 1990. The highlight of the collection, Barr''s essay does a fantastic job of detailing the state of this particular field."--Journal of Southern History

Journal of Southern History

“Among the strongest essays in the collection are James Smallwood’s piece on Texas’s role in the secession crisis, Gary Joiner’s work on the role of Texas cavalry in the Red River Campaign, and Vicki Bett’s discussion of the role played by families of Texas soldiers.”—New Mexico Historical Review

New Mexico Hist Review

“The essays covering military topics are particularly strong. . . . Overall, this is a first-rate essay compilation and Editor Howell should be applauded. The essays are tied together smoothly with hardly any overlap. . . . Seventh Star of the Confederacy is an important collection for any historian of the Civil War period in Texas and would serve as an excellent book for undergraduates.”—Southwestern Historical Quarterly

SWHQ

"This book is an important addition to works pertaining to Texas 1861–1865 as a Confederate state. The survey chapter by Alwyn Barr on historiography is exemplary. Particular chapters that stand out include James Smallwood on the causes of the Civil War and Vicki Betts on the families of Confederate soldiers."--Joseph G. "Chip" Dawson, professor of history, Texas A&M University

Joseph G. "Chip" Dawson

"Howell has managed to gather eighteen of the very best Texas Civil War historians for this fine publication that is certain to attract considerable attention. It surpasses similar edited versions of the war in Texas and may well be one of the very best books on the subject." --

Jerry Thompson, professor of history, Texas A&M International University

Jerry Thompson