The Story of Union Forces in South Texas

The Story of Union Forces in South Texas During the Civil War
Compiled and Edited by
Norman Rozeff

Revised February 2008

With an aim to provide a comprehensive but brief overview of Union activities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley during the Civil War, this narrative borrows freely from published and online resources.

The history begins, of course, with Secession of Texas from the Union. This was initiated January 28, 1861 when, at a Secession Convention, the delegates overwhelmingly approved an ordinance of secession. It was then ratified by almost a 4 to 1 popular vote on 2/23/61. The state government was reorganized with secession loyalists taking office, and the state then went on to join the Confederacy after seceding from the Union on March 2, 1861.

There were United States troops garrisoning Fort Brown and the Ringgold Barracks in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). These were companies of the First Artillery and Companies C and E of the Third Infantry according to Frank Cushman Pierce in his Texas' Last Frontier. These were under Major W. H. French, 1^st and 2^nd Artillery, Fort Brown; Lieut.Col. E. Backus, 3^rd Infantry, Fort Brown; Capt. B. H. Hill, 1^st Artillery; Lieut. James Thompson, 2^nd Artillery; and 2^nd Lieut. G. D. Bailey, 2^nd Artillery. Even before the ratification was completed E. B. Nichols, Commissioner for Texas, arrived in Brownsville on 2/22/61 and in an interview with Capt. Hill asked those of the U.S. Army who were not inclined to join the Confederacy to depart the state but leave behind arms and ordnance. This latter request was refused. The Federals tried to destroy stores and arms that were at Brazos de Santiago, but a considerable quantity was retrieved by Texas forces landing on the island.

The Steamer Daniel Webster with Maj. Fitz John Porter, Assistant Adjutant General U. S. Army Fort Brown, departed New York on 2/15/61 and arrived at Brazos de Santiago on March 3 to commence evacuating Federal troops. Porter was assisted by E. B. Nichols. Transported to New York were Companies M, Second Artillery, and Companies C and E of the 3^rd Infantry. Almost immediately with their departure the Confederates took control of the garrisons.

On 2/21/61 Texas CSA troops under Col. John Ford had captured the U.S. Depot with its mortars, siege guns, and ordnance in the town of Brazos de Santiago on the north end of Brazos Island. J. P. Magruder of the CSA ordered the blasting of the Point Isabel Lighthouse, but, when executed, it was only damaged. Later its lenses were removed and buried in the backyard of Ford's Brownsville residence.

Louis J. Wortham in his "A History of Texas: From Wilderness to Commonwealth" goes on to tell us:

It was the Succession Convention of February 1861 that commissioned Colonels John S. "Rip" Ford and Henry E. McCulloch, both Indian fighters and Rangers, to each enlist a regiment for border service for short periods, six to twelve months in the Confederate service. McCulloch's and Dalyrimple's forces were consolidated and afterwards reorganized as the First Texas Mounted Rifles.

This command was succeeded by an organization first known as the Frontier Regiment organized as State troops in 1862 and afterwards known as the 36^th Texas Cavalry in the Confederate service. In the spring of 1864 Governor Murrah transferred the regiment to the Confederate service, and it was sent to the west. In 1863 and 1864, another regiment, which had several engagements with Indians, was in the frontier commanded by Colonel James Bourland. The last State troops on the northwest frontier during the winter of 1864 and spring of 1865 were 200 men under Major John Henry Brown. This force was disbanded in May 1865.

Later as part of the 32^nd Brigade, Cameron County provided the 12^th Infantry (CSA), a unit, usually composed of 115 men.

As the war progressed and the Union Navy became more adept at blockading Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports of the Confederate states, the South took another tact to continue exporting its most valuable commodity—cotton. Money-generating cotton was funneled through Texas into Mexico. Texas became a "blockade-running haven" referred to as the "back door" of the Confederacy.

In July 1861 President Abraham Lincoln gave an order to blockade all rebel seaports, including that of Brazos de Santiago (transl.: Arms of St. James) on Brazos Island. Little was accomplished along the South Texas coast until, on 12/5/61, a naval blockade was organized at Point Isabel. This was extended to Brazos Santiago on 2/24/62, one of the participating Federal vessels being the Portsmouth. On May 10, 1863 the U.S.S. Brooklyn sent small boats over the Brazos Santiago Pass bar into the bay to attack schooners involved in smuggling. [Note: Brazos Santiago Pass is that now defined by the jetties projecting from the extreme south end of South Padre Island and the northernmost extent of Brazos Island]. Soon circumventive action was taken by the merchants who were exporting smuggled, southern cotton via Mexico, moving it down the last stretch of the

Rio Grande from Matamoros, and then offshore through Brazos Santiago. To avoid confiscation by blockading navy forces they began to fly the flag of Mexico on the lighter boats ferrying the cotton to British ships. It did not take long, that in violation of international neutrality laws, British ships suspected of delivering munitions and the like to the Confederacy via Mexico were seized by the Union off Brazos Island. These seizures led, of course to diplomatic protests. Eventually the British made sure to anchor in Mexican waters for discharge of merchandise to Bagdad, Mexico and the subsequent on-loading of cotton bales.

From Ralph Wooster in the Handbook of Texas Online we learn more about the trading action:

Trade with Mexico made more materials available to Texas than any other Confederate state. In return for cotton, Texas received military supplies, medicines, dry goods, food, iron goods, liquor, coffee, and tobacco. Matamoros on the Rio Grande across from Brownsville and Bagdad, Tamaulipas, a seaport village at the mouth of the Rio Grande, were the centers of this activity, in which thousands of vessels from Europe and the United States engaged in a flourishing business. The trade was interrupted from time to time by Union military activities along the Texas coast but even so provided many items needed by Texas during the war.

Few realize that the cotton brokerage and sales entities in New York City were such a major part of the city's economy that many there, including the city's mayor, involved in those operations opposed the war due to its negative effects on their livelihoods.

The Valley area and the Confederate soldiers assigned here were under the control of Col. P. N. Luckett and Col. John S. Ford until Gen. H. P. Bee arrived on 1/29/63. From Fort Brown to Rio Grande City the Confederate force numbered about 1,200 men.

The military strategy of the North generally relegated Texas operations to the back burner but did make sporadic attempts to achieve specific goals. Wortham summarizes the Union events as follows:

The third attempt to invade Texas was more successful, but it caused no inconvenience to the thickly settled parts of the state. Indeed, its purpose was not primarily to subjugate Texas. The French had just seized Mexico and, in as much as the United States, under the Monroe Doctrine, was opposed to French plans in connection with that seizure it was feared by the Federal government that France might join forces with the Confederacy and thus complicate the war. In order to prevent any direct access from the French through Mexico, the Federals decided to occupy the Texas coast near the Mexican border. On 11/5/1863, therefore, an army of 6,000 Federals under General Banks took possession of Brownsville, the small force of Confederates there retiring without resistance. During the next two months Banks extended his operations by occupying Corpus Christi, Aransas Pass, Mustang Island, Pass Cavallo, St. Joseph Island, Indianola, and Port Lavaca.

After the French scare passed, however it was decided to attempt an invasion of Texas by way of the Red River, and all of the Federal forces along the south coast were withdrawn, except a small body of troops which occupied Brownsville. An expedition started from New Orleans with the role of invading East Texas but was defeated by Confederate forces before reaching the Texas border. Later the small force at Brownsville was withdrawn, and Texas remained free from the menace of French invasion during the rest of the war.

Much has been written by Civil War historians about Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks. Banks had been a politician in Massachusetts, and then nationally, from 1849. Considered by President Lincoln for a cabinet post, he was eventually chosen as one of the first major generals of volunteers on 5/16/61. He was resented by United State Military Academy graduates despite the fact he "brought political benefits to the administration, including the ability to attract recruits and money for the Federal cause." His Shenandoah (1862) and Red River (1864) Campaigns are looked upon as defeats for his Union forces.

After the defeat of Confederate-occupied Vicksburg by General Grant, and pretty much complete control of the Mississippi River was then obtained by Federal forces, attention was paid to South Texas.

Various reports outline the activities that occurred. Primarily these are from the adjutants general of the different states. These are the chief administrative officers of an army and who are responsible especially for administration and preservation of personnel records.

Gen. Banks was commanding the Department of the Gulf with Maj. Gen. Napoleon J. T. Dana its Second Division, Thirteenth Army Corps. Under the latter fell the Second Brigade that took on the Rio Grande Expedition and operations on the coast of Texas. It was under the command of Col. William McEntire Dye. The units it initially encompassed were the 94^th Illinois, 19^th Iowa, 20^th Iowa, 13^th Maine, 20^th Wisconsin, 1^st Missouri Artillery (Battery B), 15^th Maine, 1^st Engineers (Corps d'Afrique, a Black unit), 1^st Texas Cavalry, and Pioneer Company (another Black unit).

The formation of the Black units deserves some clarification. The history of the 87^th Infantry—Old, US Colored Troops is as follows: It was organized at New Orleans, Louisiana in October 1863 as the 16^th Infantry, Corps d'Afrique; designated this regiment, April 4, 1864, consolidated with the 95^th Colored Infantry, November 26, 1864, to form the 81^st Colored Infantry (new), designation changed to 87^th Colored Infantry (new), August 14, 1865. The Pioneer Company also consisted of Black soldiers, primarily doing engineering duties. Additional Colored troops of the 87^th were assigned to Brazos Island duty from 9/64 to 5/65 after having been stationed in Morganza, Louisiana.

The Union Army in the Civil War was organized as follows:
        company—82 privates, 13 sergeants and corporals, 2 lieutenants, 1 captain or 98 total;
        infantry regiment—10 companies or 980 men commanded by a colonel, assisted by a lt. colonel and major;
        cavalry regiment—12 companies;
        brigade—initially 2 regiments or about 2,000 men commanded by a major general or brig. general;
        division—several brigades (normally 3);
        corps—several divisions;
        army—group of more than one corps.

Initial recruitment for a regiment would be 1,100 with the expectation that reduced numbers would occur due to attrition. As the war progressed losses brought inroads to the stated numbers and in some instances regimental units were combined.

Maj.-Gen. Francis J. Herron took command of the Union in the Valley on 1/3/64. Pierce gives a total figure of 6,479 U. S. soldiers along with 16 heavy guns and 12 field guns in the LRGV.

By February 1864 Major-Gen. Herron would report the garrisoning of Brownsville by the Second Division composed of two brigades. The First Brigade was composed of the 37^th Illinois Infantry, 26^th Indiana Infantry, 91^st Illinois Infantry, the 38^th Iowa Infantry, and Battery E, 1st Missouri Artillery with 1,172 men all told. The Second Brigade consisted of the 20^th Wisconsin Infantry, 19^th Iowa Infantry, the 94^th Illinois Infantry, and Battery B, 1^st Missouri Artillery with a total of 918 men. In addition there were 925 cavalry, though available horses only numbered 650. Herron wished to enhance this number by purchasing local horses at the cost of $40-50 gold or $60-65 in treasury notes. The 37^th Illinois and 26^th Indiana were old regiments that would re-enlist as veterans but would be furloughed within 30 days. In addition Herron listed the two regiments of Colored troops at Point Isabel and Brazos Island. In all these totaled 632 men.

Herron emphasized to his superiors the economic importance of the region to the Confederacy, namely its channeling of cotton into Mexico. He noted that the Matamoros cotton merchant, Belden, had such a great vested interest in the successful smuggling of cotton into Mexico that he had supplied a large number of pistols to Confederate Col. Benavides at Laredo. The merchant Samuel N. Belden, in partnership with Charles Stillman and Simon Mussina, had in 1848 formed the Brownsville Town Company.

Herron went on to clarify the situation. He transmitted the following information:

There would be strong inducements for the rebels to attack this post if weakened, for the following reasons: Before the occupation of Brownsville by the Federal troops this was the main crossing for cotton from Texas to Mexico, and for passing goods back. Since our arrival here they have been forced to cross at Eagle Pass, miles north, but within the past two weeks Vidauri (sic), governor of the States of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, has been seizing all cotton crossed into his States for an old debt due from the Confederate Government to citizens of Monterrey, and principally to one Milmo, his son-in-law. This action, of course, has made the blockage of the Rio Grande complete.

Most of the rebel officers in Texas are directly interested in the cotton now awaiting shipment to Mexico, and will not hesitate to use troops to get it over if that will do it. If passed into the States of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, it will be seized, and the only State left to them is Tamaulipas. There is no point above Brownsville that they could cross into Tamaulipas with subjecting themselves to attack from us, and therefore it would be just as well for them to open the route through Brownsville if possible. So great is the pecuniary interest of the Governor of Texas and the military officers in this matter that 2,500 troops can be had for such a purpose whenever necessary, and whenever that number of troops can accomplish it. A majority of the merchants in Matamoras have large amounts due them from these same cotton operators, and are therefore anxious to have some means devised for getting cotton through, and will furnish both money and arms for the purpose.

The general pointed out the importance of Brazos Santiago as the only good harbor within 150 miles on either side of the Rio Grande. The depth of water on Brazos Bar was given at 9 feet while the mouth of the Rio Grande had only 2 feet clearance.

Many of the aforementioned units had come down the Mississippi River after the battle of Vicksburg. Banks had tried to seize Sabine Pass, Texas, but "the expedition was a disgraceful failure." He then decided to move on to the South Texas coast after first hiding his intentions with a feint on Opelousas, Louisiana.

The landlubberly army troops were to experience a defining period in their lives. Their transport to Texas would leave them with lifelong impressions. What they were to encounter at sea was an intense, deep, low-pressure system accompanying the passage of a continental cold front. The storm that passed over them left an indelible imprint on their collective memories.

Edwin B. Lufkin, a private of Co E, 13th Maine wrote of the succeeding events in a memoir published in 1898. His experiences of embarking and crossing the Gulf of Mexico are mirrored in other accounts. To quote:

The morning of Oct.23^rd dawned dull and gloomy. During the forenoon there were occasional showers, each heavier than the one preceding, and by the middle of the afternoon the rain began in earnest. At 4 p.m. the regiment left its comfortable quarters, marched to the levee in the poring rain, and went aboard the new steamer Clinton, of the Crescent City Line, where we found the 15^th Maine already embarked. The steamer was so badly crowded that there was not room for nearly all the men to lie down, and many had to sleep that night in a sitting position. About dark, the steamer moved up river and anchored at Carrolton, where the next day the regimental baggage and horses were taken on board. Three companies of the 15^th Maine were transferred to the Steamer Gen. Banks (formerly the Creole) thus making it possible for those who remained to lie down, by close packing.

About 4 p.m. the steamer returned to the city and took on board several life-boats, then continued down river, passing Fort Jackson about midnight, and at 2 a.m. next morning anchoring at the head of the passes, where the expeditionary force was assembling. After daylight, on attempting to fill water casks, the water in the river was found to be salt; a strong southeast gale having driven the water from the gulf up into the river. The steamer, therefore, went back up the river in search of fresh water, but did not find any fit to use until the Quarantine Station, forty miles from the mouth of the river, was reached, and even there was brackish.

In the morning of the 27^th, we dropped down through the Southwest Pass and anchored again. In the afternoon the expedition sailed, being convoyed by several gunboats. Many of the steamers, including the Clinton, each had a sailing vessel in tow, loaded with stores.

Nothing of note occurred until the 30^th, when there was a shower, followed by heavy wind; the water becoming so rough that the men on the hurricane deck were ordered into the cabin, as they were in danger of being pitched overboard. The schooner which was in tow sprung a leak, and by evening had taken so much water that it had to be abandoned, the crew being saved with much difficulty.

The next morning, though the wind had gone down, not another vessel could be seen from the Clinton's deck; but during the day most of the expedition reassembled, and in the afternoon we came in sight of Padre Island, on the coast of Texas. Shortly after noon, Nov.1^st, the Clinton anchored off Brazos Santiago Pass, a few miles northeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande.

Henry Carl Ketzle of Company A, 37^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry and called the Illinois Greyhounds, also put down his sea transport experiences in a Civil War Diary. He relates of the passage:

Embark by noon of the 23^rd on the G. Peabody along with two troops of 1^st Texas Cavalry. Drop down past Crescent—26^th go down to head of passes and by noon October 27^th steam through southwest pass into Gulf—on the 28^th under convoy of gunboats start in regular line across the heaving bosom of the Gulf of Mexico (need I say how he exacted his tribute of nearly all of us) had fair weather and sailing on the 29^th, but on the morning of the 30^th it was quite stormy and rough, so much so that our rudder chain snapped and thus left the boat unmanageable—boat hands with the assistance of our boys (most of Company D being old lake sailors) soon fixed the steering apparatus with ropes, block and tackle thereby we were able to keep in our course but soon we noticed other boats having apparently worst trouble than we, as some we could see white flags hoisted.

Morning of October 31^st found us on place of rendezvous, assigned by General, where we found a dispatch boat and soon others followed till afternoon when Generals Banks and Dana, in their boats ordered us into proper line, but 7 vessels of the fleet were still missing. On the 1^st of November by 4 p.m. we dropped anchor near Brazos San Diego.

A word here about the First Texas Cavalry, USA from the Handbook of Texas Online: During the Civil War, Texas contributed two regiments and two battalions of cavalry to the Federal army. A total of 1,915 men from Texas served the Union; of these 141 died, 12 in action. One source states that" the strength of the Texas Federal Regiments consisted primarily of Mexicans, Germans, and Irishmen." It was organized at New Orleans on November 6, 1862 and was assigned the defense of that city. After other action in Louisiana it embarked October 23 as part of the Rio Grande expedition, landing on the South Texas coast on November 2 and occupying Brownsville four days later. Within a month the First Texas Cavalry, which reached Texas with a strength of 16 officers and 205 enlisted men, grew by slightly over 50 percent. During this time the Second Texas Cavalry Regiment was formed at Brownsville. Both regiments left Texas in July 1864 for duty in Louisiana.

Associated with the First Texas Cavalry is the story of Edmund J. Davis. He first got involved in military affairs in 1859, when as a district judge of the Twelfth Judicial District at Brownsville, he accompanied the ranger unit of Capt. William G. Tobin during the Cortina wars in Brownsville. As the Civil War approached he supported Sam Houston and opposed secession. After secession he refused to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy and was removed from his judgeship. President Lincoln commissioned Davis a colonel in the Union army. Davis then recruited and led the First Texas Cavalry, USA and saw action in Galveston, Matamoros, and the Rio Grande Valley. The latter included his unit marching "to Rio Grande City in order to seize cotton and slaves in an effort to disrupt the border trade."

Davis was involved in an international incident when, on March 15, 1863, Confederate citizens and off-duty soldiers seized Davis in Bagdad, Mexico where he was attempting to take his family out of Texas and recruit men for his unit. He and Union officer Capt. W. W. Montgomery had come to the mouth of the Rio Grande on the Federal Steamer Honduras. This event precipitated diplomatic trouble between the Confederacy and Mexico until Gen. Hamilton P. Bee released Davis to appease Mexican Governor Albino Lopez. Bee's men has however already hung Montgomery. Why this occurred is unknown for, as a prisoner of war, he should have had some rights, unless of course, he was treated either as a spy or a traitor.

Davis was promoted to brigadier general in November 1864 after which time he commanded the cavalry of Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds in the Division of Western Mississippi. On June 2, 1865 he was among those who represented the Union in the surrender of Confederate forces in Texas. In 1869 Davis would be elected governor of Texas in the reconstruction era. His administration was a controversial one, and he lost re-nomination by the Republican Party.

Any footnote to Texan participation in the war has to include the strange tale of Adrian J. Vidal. He was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1840. After his father, Col. Luis Vidal, died his mother Petra (Vela) moved to Mier on the Rio Grande. Steamboat entrepreneur Mifflin Kenedy was smitten by her, and they were married in Brownsville in 1852.

Adrian entered a period of debauchery and at age 21 traveled to San Antonio where he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army. It soon promoted him to lieutenant and because of his border knowledge sent him with a militia to guard the mouth of the Rio Grande. Shortly rising to the rank of captain he captured a Union gunboat but, impatient and fractious, he mutinied and took his command with him in early 1863. When soldiers were sent by General Bee to rein him in he killed two of them and commenced a period of banditry using Mexico as a sanctuary. By this time the Union had occupied the area, so he enlisted himself and his men as "Vidal's Independent Partisan Rangers". Frustrated once more he deserted the Union army and returned to Mexico to join Benito Juarez along with Juan Nepomuceno Cortina and his fight against Emperor Maximilian. Captured by Imperial troops at Camargo, Adrian was put before a firing squad and executed. Mifflin Kenedy arrived too late to negotiate a ransom, and took Adrian's body to Brownsville for burial.

David Wildman tells yet another story of the stormy crossing, this time relating the experiences of Lt.T.L. Dilley of the 38^th Iowa Volunteer Regiment. According to Wildman "On October 23, 1863, the regiment embarked on the ocean steamer, Empire City, and joined the expedition to Texas, under the command of Maj.Gen. Banks. There were sixteen transports loaded with troops, and three gunboats accompanied the fleet. The fleet went to sea on October 28^th, and on the 30^th, encountered a heavy storm, during which one of the vessels foundered, but the troops, which she carried, were removed to the Empire City, and no lives were lost."

Lt. Dilley on board the Belvadier (sic) composed letters dated October 31 through November 1, 1863 and addressed to Capt. Know, then editor of the Indianola (Iowa) Visitor. They read:

Dear Captain—As the sea is not very rough today, I embrace the opportunity to write you another prosy epistle, hoping the same may have a salutary effect upon the good people generally. We set sail from New Orleans on Sunday, 25^th inst., at 3 p.m. a large concourse of citizens assembled upon the wharf to witness our departure; and as the vessel pushed off and headed downstream, a farewell salute was fired which made the welkin ring with everything but melody. After passing the city the first object, which engaged our attention, was the battle-ground upon which General Jackson defeated the British forces under command of Packingham. We saw the monument erected upon the battlefield, in honor of that patriot and hero, General Jackson. On Sunday night, we anchored at the head of the Balize, where we remained until Tuesday morning. At nine a.m. Tuesday we passed over the bar and anchored near the delta of the southwest pass of the Mississippi River.

After arranging the preliminaries of the voyage and firing thirteen guns in honor of General Banks, we raised anchor and set sail in a southwesterly direction. We soon found ourselves sailing on the bosom of the great briny substance, far from home, land, and everything pleasant or desirable. Nothing occurred to mar our joy until after several hours' sailing, when suddenly a score of men and officers were seized with a violent upheaving of great alimentary depository, which resulted in the summary ejection of all that had been deposited during the day. As we felt no disposition to "upheave", we, of course, laughed at those who did, which, to them was cold comfort.

On Wednesday morning we had but few aboard who were not prostrated by "seasickness." Lieutenant Martin, Swank, and myself were the only lieutenants who were able for duty. The sea during Wednesday and part of Thursday was rather rough, but not enough to terrify the timid or unsophisticated. The barometer on Tuesday evening indicated that a change was going on in the elements above, and that a storm would probably overtake us ere we entered port of destination. This proved to be no mistake; for at five o'clock on Friday morning, there was a sudden gale from the north, accompanied with rain. The sea began to move with great violence, the ship rolled to and fro as if in great agony, the inmates were awakened from their slumbers and arose from their beds, only to be dashed from one side of the ship to the other, or to witness the increased fury of an angry ocean. The waves loomed like mountains; and as they lashed against the ship and swept over the fore-castle, she trembled as if shaken by an earthquake. The heavens grew more dark, the winds rage with greater fury, the ocean groaned with greater anger, and the waves lashed with greater violence; and as the deep, solemn roar of the sea greeted our ears, and the waves rolled on in whitened madness, as the ship quivered, rolled and plunged like a mountain in labor, as she rode on the top of a towering wave and then with quickened speed descended into the opining chasms below, we thought all would be lost—that the next moment or the next wave might carry us down to a watery grave. Thoughts of the future, of home, of friends, of a watery grave far out at sea, rushed across our minds like an electric flash, and can you, dear Captain, imagine our feelings at that moment? Nay; they are beyond the description of an angel, and can only be comprehended by those who have witnessed a storm at sea. The storm continued unabated until in the afternoon, when the clouds became broken, the winds hushed, and the sea calmed. As our terror and fright in the storm was great, so was our joy when the storm ceased and the sea resumed its calmness. We have often heard and talked of the "calm cerulean sea", "a life on the ocean wave", "a home on the roaring deep", but such poetic phrases are "played out", and the sea has no charms for us except of grandeur. We often thought, when we were young and had matrimony in our head, that when we became so fortunate as to get a wife, we would indulge in a wedding tour across the ocean, but alas! For such boyish thoughts, they are gone: gone to the moles and bats. With the light of age, wisdom and experience, we are prepared to say when we marry, yeas marry, we would prefer spending a fortnight, or even a month, in a lonely and deserted cabin in a western prairie, rather than cross the ocean with all the pomp and paraphernalia of an Emperor. We are heartily tired of that thing called a gulf, sea, or ocean, and long to plant our feet upon old mother earth.

The ships, being eighteen or twenty, kept together until separated by the storm, and up to this time, they have not been gathered together; probably some have perished. We expect to land tomorrow at some point not far from the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

November 1^st--- The ships, during the night, wandered about as if lost, and of course, made little headway. We have been out to sea five days, and have not even seen land in the dim distance. How long we are to remain out of sight of land and rebels, Diety only knows. From the delta of the Mississippi to the mouth of the Rio Grande, is a distance of five hundred mile, which ought to be sailed in forty-eight hours, but we are occupying three times as many hours. There is a strong gale blowing from the south today, which will keep us from landing, as we cannot venture in shallow water while the wind blows to the land.

Six o'clock p.m.—At two and a half p.m., the fleet came in sight of land, and if you possess a comprehensive imagination, and a vivid conception, you can perhaps, realize to some extent, at least, the joy which filled our hearts and ravished our souls. Columbus, and his mutinous crew, could not have felt more joyous than we, when the sandy coast of Texas peered above the dashing waves.

One last account of the voyage is provided by J. S. Clark, historian of the 34^th Iowa Regiment. He comments:

On the 24^th of October 1863, our division embarked at Carrollton on Steamer Belvidere, reaching the mouth of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico on the 27^th, and after a tedious and stormy voyage, during which storm to save the ships the cavalry horses of the command were thrown overboard, and on the third of November arrived at Brazos de Santiago. Nine days were occupied in the passage for which three was the usual time.

Nearly all were very sea sick, and during the 30^th, men lashed themselves to the sides with ropes, otherwise they would have been washed overboard.

While the worst part of the passage was behind them there still awaited some dangers associated with landing. A dispatch dated Nov. 3 states "Commenced landing by lighters and small boat on Brazos Island, consuming several days, and losing two steamers and two schooners."

Lufkin of the 13^th Maine relates:

About noon of Nov. 2^nd, the Gen. Banks and the Clinton were ordered to cross the bar and land their troops. The Gen. Banks, a steamer of light draught, went ahead and crossed the bar without difficulty. Then came a trial for the Clinton. The channel was narrow and crooked, with barely water enough for the steamer, while the breakers were running dangerously high. Her commander, Capt. Baxter, a brave and skillful old sailor, gave the order to go ahead slowly; and with only good steerage-way the steamer cautiously approached the bar.

The scene at that moment can never be forgotten by those who stood on the deck of the Clinton, uncertain whether the next hour would see them safely ashore or trying to escape in life-boats from a stranded vessel. The unclouded, noon-day sun, shone from a sky of as a brilliant a blue as poet or painter ever gave the sky of Italy. On the right, the low, sandy shore of Padre Island extended farther than the eye could reach; on the left, the high, round-topped sand hills of Brazos Island hid the distant mainland from view; and a little farther away, beyond the mouth of the Rio Grande, lay the chaparral-fringed Mexican coast, with the dark blue wall of the Guadeloupe mountains in the background [this is quite a stretch of imagination on the part of the author]; straight ahead, a few miles distant, stood a lofty landmark, the white lighthouse of Point Isabel while close at hand tossed the fierce breakers of Brazos Santiago bar.

With a sailor at each cathead, constantly heaving the lead, the Clinton moved slowly ahead in the narrow, crooked pass, and soon reached the most dangerous place, where just at the shoalest point the channel made a sharp bend. The order was given to starboard the helm, but the quartermaster who was then on duty, confused by his responsibility, made a mistake and turned the wheel the wrong way. "Starboard! Starboard!! Hard-a-starboard!!!" shouted old Captain Baxter. "What kind of a man are you? Fourteen years quartermaster and don't know starboard from port."

The error was quickly rectified and the bow slowly swung in the right direction; but it came too late, for the deeply loaded steamer struck heavily twice, though fortunately not sticking fast. The most dangerous place being passed, Capt. Baxter gave the order: "Hook her on, Mr. Synder and go ahead strong!" And, although rubbing the bottom several times, we were soon over the bar and in good water.

Preparations for landing were quickly made. Capt. Baxter, hurriedly lowering his boats, endeavored to land the first troops and succeeded in doing so.; but for some reason, our flag was not carried ashore till after one band had been landed from the Gen. Banks, thus losing for the Thirteenth the honor of displaying the first flag in the permanent occupation of Texas. As the landing was unexpected the enemy had no force there sufficient to attempt resistance, and soon the troops on both steamers were ashore.

The 37^th Illinois was joined by the rest of the missing boats on the morning of November 3. Ketzle wrote: November 4, our Regiment crossed the breakers and shortly afterwards in great joy, landed on the sandy beach but suffered for lack of water. Clark commented similarly when he wrote: "We remained on Brazos de Santiago three days on half rations of hard bread and only one quart of water to each man per day. One evening there was a rain when we filled our canteens with water caught on our rubber blankets." Logistics for all units seemed to have been problematic as they moved toward Brownsville.

On this same date the 20^th Iowa and 20^th Wisconsin had failed in the attempt to land, having drowned 3 or 4 men in the breakers and lost a number of arms, accouterments, knapsacks, etc.

The nation learned of the expedition's landing through newspaper stories. One popular source at the time was Harper's Weekly with its fine illustrations. The 11/28/63 issue carried an article written by a (New York?) Herald reporter who was aboard an expedition vessel. He gave an eye-witness account of General Bank's arrival at Brazos Santiago on November 2. Full of patriotic spirit and stimulating prose, it was prefaced by the statement "The expedition is destined to restore Texas to the Union and put an end to the contraband trade which has been carried on at Matamoras." It read:

At an early hour this morning the bar was examined and casks laid down as buoys. Nine feet of water was found upon the bar and, once over, navigation was easy.

We accordingly commenced preparing to enter the harbor, and the light-draught steamer General Banks with the 19^th Iowa on board got under way and was soon rising and falling amidst the foam of the huge breakers, but as she steamed gallantly on and crossed the bar in safety, the soldiers on board gave three cheers which were heard on the flag-ship and answered by the waving of hats and handkerchiefs.

She crossed the bar at precisely twelve o'clock noon. The General's dispatch boat-the little steamer Drew – followed, and she went capering along like a frisky young coquette of sixteen, bounding over the bar like a cork.

The Clinton with the 13^th and 15^th Maine regiments on board, was the third to cross, and it was her good fortune to be the first to disembark her troops, the soldiers of the 15^th Maine first touching Texas soil. The next moment, the flag of this regiment, followed by that of the 19^th Iowa was raised.

Thus the men from the extreme northern point of the Union were the first to raise the flag of America over the soil of the extreme southern point and finish the work so gloriously begun, of planting the banner of freedom in the last state in rebellion, over which the Stars and Stripes have not waved for some time.

On landing on Brazos Island, the 15^th Maine, Col. Dwyer, accompanied by Major Von Hermann of General Bank's staff started for Boca Chica, took possession of the Pass, and encamped there throwing out pickets.

No resistance whatsoever was offered, and no human beings have yet been seen on the island or elsewhere, if I except the repulse of two companies of cavalry by the guns of the T. A. Scott , Captain O'Brien, which anchored off the mouth of Boca Chica this morning and opened upon the rebels who had attempted to cross.

The same transport the night previous and when off the mouth of the Rio Grande had amused itself by keeping up an almost constant fire upon the Mexican vessels crossing and re-crossing the river.

The old salt was a few miles wrong in his reckonings for he afterwards stated that he "thought he was peppering away at damned rebels in Boca Chica instead of harmless Mexicans on the Rio Grande." so that we shall have to make an apology for the slight mistake of firing upon their vessels while engaged in a contraband trade with the rebels on the Texas shore.

Those of you readers who have ever visited Ship Island can have a good idea of this barren, inhospitable shore. Brazos, as well as all islands along the Texas coast, is a sandy desert. One house, deserted, stands to the right, and a mile or so farther toward the interior are two lighthouses, one on each side. Charred ruins show that three dwellings were destroyed by fire some time ago. Nothing but the chimneys remain standing.

The foundations of the buildings used by General Taylor for stores can yet be seen, but no other vestige remains. Sand and sand-hills meet the eye in every direction; and for miles there is no covering from the rays of the burning sun by day, nor the heavy chilly dew by night.

Four wells were discovered by soldiers; but the water is brackish and unpalatable. Around these were collected from 30 to 40 head of poor cattle. They were suffering terribly from thirst, and drank with avidity the miserable water that our men gave out to them from the wells.

The few inhabitants who lived on this desert probably fled as our fleet anchored off the shore, for, as I have stated, not a human being was to be seen.

Lufkin had noted:

The Thirteenth landed on the east end of Brazos Island, near what was said to be the ruins of some salt works, marched about a mile, to where there were holes containing brackish water; and as we had no tents, went into bivouac. Next day quite a large detail from the regiment was at work unloading supplies from vessels; and as the regiment was all together in open ground for the first time since leaving Ship Island, nearly sixteen months before, Lt. Col. Hesseltine improved the opportunity by having a battalion drill. He soon ascertained that the regiment had not been perceptibly injured by its short stay in New Orleans. Every movement, from the simplest marching to the forming and reducing of a square, was performed with almost the accuracy of a machine.

Nov.4^th, reveille sounded at 3 a.m., and at 5 the regiment started for the mouth of the Rio Grande. There was a dense fog which hid all landmarks; and, as there was no competent guide, the regiment marched for some time almost at random. As this was our first experience in real marching, a large part of the men had started with knapsacks too heavily loaded. The marching in the loose sand was very hard; so at every halt the ground was strewn with articles which had previously been considered indispensable, but which now suddenly became serious encumbrances. By-and-by the fog lifted, and toward noon we reached Boca Chica Pass, at the west end of the island.

As there was only one small boat available for the crossing of our nearly 600 men, Lt. Col. Hesseltine ordered the men to strip and wade, carrying their clothes; while the guns, equipment, etc. were carried across in the boat. The water was only about three feet deep, but the bottom was covered with oysters; so the sixty rods of the ford became a real "Via Dolorosa" to our naked feet, and but few were so fortunate to escape without more or less cuts from the sharp edges of the shells. Each wing of the regiment ate dinner while the other wing was crossing, and soon as possible the march was continued, the route being along the beach.

Ketzle recalled this place also. He remarked: (on the 5^thwe) "started for mainland by fording Boca Chico (sic), an inlet over one-half mile wide and over four feet deep—most of the boys had to make two trips to bring arms, clothing, and accouterments across, a trip long to be remembered." [Boca Chica is the narrow pass that separates the south tip of Brazos Island from the mainland. It allows Gulf of Mexico waters to enter the shallow marine estuary called the Bahia Grande.] His recollection may err when he goes on to state: "After a short rest on mainland, form and march till about 9 p.m. We bivouac near Rio Grande on old battleground of Palo Alto. Remain for two days waiting for rations, resume march on the 8^th of November and by the 9^th reach Brownsville, pass thru town and go camp about one mile beyond."

Following the fording at Boca Chica the 13^th Maine moved up river as Lufkin records:

The marching on the beach was much easier than it had been in the dry sand of Brazos Island, but still by no means easy; and every man had had enough of it when we reached Clarksville, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, just before dark. As most of our canteens ahd been empty since noon, our first proceeding was to drink, almost intemperately, of the cool water of the river, the best water we had seen since leaving Maine nearly two years before—then after filling our canteens we marched back a short distance from the river and lay down for the night. There was a heavy shower in the night, but the weary soldiers were so sleepy, they were scarcely disturbed by it.

Clarksville, at that time consisted of three old wooden houses; but Bagdad, on the Mexican side, looked like quite a thriving place. We found at Clarksville the 20th Wisconsin, which had landed there the previous evening. Their landing, like ours at Brazos, had been unopposed by the enemy; but in landing through the surf some of their boats were capsized and a few men drowned. In the night the 94^th Illinois marched past us on the way to Brownsville. That was also our intended destination, but instead of marching again the next morning, we remained in Clarksville nearly all day, the reason being that the three day's rations which had been issued about the time of our landing, were nearly exhausted. As no rations could be obtained at Brownsville, it was not prudent to start for that place with empty haversacks.

In the afternoon the Quartermaster went across to Bagdad and purchased a supply of bread, which was immediately issued; then we were ordered to leave our knapsacks to be brought up by steamer and make a forced march to Brownsville. About 6 p.m. the regiment started, and after marching nearly ten mile on a road made terribly muddy by the rain of the previous night, we were obliged to halt for the night, as it was too dark to follow the road. Next morning the march was resumed, and at 3 p.m. the regiment reached Brownsville, arriving only eight hours later than the 94^th Illinois, which had started from Clarksville eighteen hours earlier than we did. For that night we quartered in an empty warehouse near the river.

Next morning Nov.7^th we marched down river about a mile and occupied Fort Brown, which we found to be a dilapidated earthwork, apparently unimproved since the Mexican War. In the afternoon a detail of two hundred men was made from the regiment for provost duty in town, and the next day another large detail for pickets at Freeport Crossing, a few miles upstream. As there as no drill, and not a large amount of guard or fatigue duty, the few men left in the fort had much leisure time. Much time was spent bathing tin the clear, sweet water of the Rio Grande; and many of the younger men swam across the river for the sake of setting foot on Mexican soil. Nothing of particular importance occurred in Brownsville while the regiment remained there; but between the 5^th and 6^th of November there were three revolutions in Matamoras, just across the river in Mexico.

During one of these revolutions, when the office of the United States Consul in Matamoras was threatened, the troops in Brownsville were held in readiness to cross the river to protect it; but as it was not actually molested we were not called upon to invade Mexico. Gen. Banks was at Brownsville during most of our stay; and it possible that his being there, with an armed force, may have has some influence on the result of the third revolution in Matamoras in which the successful party was hostile to Maximilian's French army and friendly to the United States.

Lt. Col. Hudnutt with the 38^th Iowans gave his impressions of the march to Brownsville. He wrote:

Our march thus far was over sand plains, destitute of water or vegetation save stinte (sic) shrubs and prickly pear (a species of Cactus) with here and there a cluster of Spanish bayonet (Yucca). The region is the same for leagues, dreary and desolate. Twenty miles from Point Isabel the Rio Grande is reached, along crooked muddy stream, fringed with chaparral or groves of musite (sic); and the soil produce a grass called musquite (sic) also said to be very nutritious. Large herds of cattle were met with, miles from the river and seem to be doing well upon the grass; no hay is cut or other provision for winter.

The Second Brigade, excepting the Twentieth Iowa, reached Brownsville on November 6. Clark was to relate "the rebels evacuated upon our approach after burning their barracks and all the cotton remaining on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. We could see thousands of bales which they had hastily moved across to the Mexican shore." The firing of the barracks had spread to adjacent properties destroying them as well. There was no military opposition in Brownsville for the rebel force had retreated toward the interior at the approach of the Union troops. The First Brigade, excepting the Fifteenth Maine which remained on Brazos, marched on the same day toward Brownsville while the Twentieth Iowa occupied Point Isabel.

Gen. Bee had learned of the Union landing on the afternoon of 11/2/63 and immediately laid plans for evacuating the area. The government building were burned as was some of the cotton stored in the garrison while many bales were thrown into the river. Bee and his force then marched off to Santa Gertrudis, now Kingsville. The uncontrolled fires spread to housing and businesses and if this didn't suffice to panic the residents it was the explosion of four tons of powder stored at the fort that caused deep consternation in the citizenry. Imperialist-favoring Mexican General Jose Maria Cobos, who had taken refuge in Brownsville, organized some semblance of order. A few short days later he returned to Matamoros only to be executed by followers of the cunning Juan N. Cortina.

Wildman reports in his 38^th Regiment history that:

The Rebels under the command of General Bee gave themselves up to plunder and violence once the order to evacuate was given. His actions excited the residents to a considerable degree of resistance. A former Mexican general, Jose Maria Cobos, was given permission by the Brownsville authorities to organize the residents to resist the rebel depredations and put out the fires. When the first Union soldiers entered the town, Cobos took his men across the Rio Grande and occupied the town of Matamoras, holding it as a bargaining chip for his own benefit.

The Adjutant General's report of the 91^st Illinois Infantry indicates that this unit started for Brownsville on the 6^th of November, "skirmishing all the way with the enemy, under command of the rebel General (Hamilton Prioleau) Bee, and landed at Fort Brown, Texas, on the 9^th day of November, 1863, and went into winter quarters where we remained until December 31, 1863…"

E. B. Quiner provides some history of the 20^th Wisconsin and one of its adventures in the Valley. He recounts that the regiment was assigned to the XIII Army Corps and left Carrollton for Texas on the steamer Thomas A. Scott which also carried the 20^th Iowa. On November 1 an unsuccessful attempt was made by Col. Bertram to land at the mouth of the river. Starting in small boats with 100 men, he got into the surf, losing two men of the 20^th Iowa and two sailors drowned. It subsequently joined the rest of the fleet at Brazos Santiago and using a light long-draught boat was able to clear the bar safely at dark. By the 9^th it was camped at Brownsville. After Rebel General Bee fled with his 300 men, the citizens welcomed the Union troops cordially. The prevention of the smuggling of English goods, including cloth and horseshoes, into the Confederacy was one mission of the troops. The English merchants at Matamoras had been doing an immense business.

He then relates this incident:

Matters were so unsettled and unsafe at Metamoras (sic) that the American Consul, Mr. (Leonard, Jr.) Pierce asked protection of General Herron, the two belligerent parties on that side of the river being engaged in constant warfare to the imminent danger of peaceable citizens and non-combatants. General Herron accordingly ordered Colonel Bertram with the Twentieth Wisconsin, Ninety-fourth Illinois, and Battery B, with forty rounds of ammunition and one day's rations, to move to the other side of the river into Mexico, with orders to protect the American Consul, not to fire upon either party unless fired upon-and then to defend themselves. The property in the custody of the Consul was removed to the other side of the river, and Colonel Bertram returned to Fort Brown on the 14^th. Great credit was conceded to Colonel Bertram for the admirable manner in which he managed this affair. The regiment remained at Brownsville, Col. Bertram being in command of the fort until it was evacuated by the Union forces, July 28^th, 1864. They embarked on the 1^st of August, and landed at Carrolton, above New Orleans, on the 5^th, and went into camp.

Another account is more colorful. It prefaced itself by remarking "Colonel Cortina, a Mexican officer with a small army had become engaged in a civil broil with the authorities of Matamoras and in the night attacked the town." The somewhat fanciful account goes on to read:

In a short time an exciting battle was raging in the streets in the heart of the city. The federals advanced with the stars and stripes flying, and the bands playing "Yankee Doodle" and "Rally Round the Flag, Boys." The Twentieth was detailed to guard the residence of the Consul during the fight. Each of the belligerents sought the aid of the Yankees against the other. The women thanked God at their approach. Colonel Bertram, however, in accordance with his instructions, took no part in the fray. For the skillful manner in which he performed his delicate task, he was afterwards complimented in all order by Major General Herron. General Banks, also, says that the duty could not have been entrusted to better hands to execute. The Consul and three army wagonloads of gold and silver were escorted across to Brownsville for safety. All returned to the American side on the 14^th, and the Twentieth returned to Fort Brown.

Frank Pierce in his book quotes the communication American Consul Leonard Pierce, Jr. had addressed to Herron on 1/12/64. It reads:

A battle is now raging in the streets of this City between the forces of Governor Manuel Ruiz and Col. Juan N. Cortina. My person and family are in great danger as the road between here and the ferry is said to be infested with robbers. I have also about $1,000,000 in specie and a large amount of other valuable property under my charge in the consulate, and from the well-known character of Cortina and his followers, I fear the city will be plundered. I therefore earnestly request that you send a sufficient force to protect myself and property and to transport the money within the limits of the United States at the earliest possible moment.

Gov. Ruiz was shortly thereafter to confirm the state of affairs to Herron who then dispatched Col. Black of the 37^th Illinois Infantry to make a firsthand inspection of the situation. Upon confirmation Herron sent 40 men of the 20^th Wisconsin to take charge of the ferry and four companies of the same regiment to the Consulate.

The American Consulate flying the U.S. flag was located on the principle square's south side and near the Cathedral. It was on the upper story of Francisco Yturria's large mercantile building. This gentleman had learned to amass his fortune under the tutelage of Charles Stillman, Brownsville founder, steamboat baron, and cotton speculator. The consulate's offices were in the front and living quarters to the rear. The astute Yturria had made the second story available to the Americans at no cost. In this manner he hoped to protect his belongings from marauders of any persuasion. Indeed some of valuables transported north may have belonged to Yturria.

Iowa records show that after resting a few days in Brownsville some of the 34^th marched with Forest's Battery F, First Missouri Light Artillery to Point Isabella where they arrived on November 14. The account says, "Our first duty after arriving at this place was to boil every coat and shirt, each pair of pants, socks drawers, and blankets. I need not explain why." [Lice were an ongoing headache for soldiers everywhere throughout the war] The Thirteenth Maine that commenced a march from Brownsville to Point Isabel on the 13^th while the Fifteenth Maine had crossed over from Brazos Island. These soldiers then constituted part of an expeditionary force under the command of Brig.-Gen. Ransom, a brave, dashing, and intelligent general who wounded many times during the war, died in Tennessee, just at its close. Ships would carry them north to see action on Mustang Island.

The 13^th Maine's movement to Point Isabel was again a hardship one. Lufkin tells us:

Nov. 12, we at last received our knapsacks, which had been left at the mouth of the river, and also received orders to march the next morning for Point Isabel. The men on detail having returned, the regiment left Brownsville about 8 a.m., Nov. 13^th. The noon-day halt was made at Resaca de la Palma, and in the afternoon we crossed the plain of Palo Alto, both famous battle-fields of the Mexican War. At Resaca de la Palma there was a small spring, but where we stopped for the night there was no water, and we were obliged, as the plainsmen say, to make a dry camp. In the morning there was issued a small supply of water, which was hauled from Brownsville; and then the regiment started to cross a desert, where for more than twenty miles, there was no water, and no vegetation but scattered bunches of prickly pear.

The scanty ration of water was soon gone, and for the rest of the day the men suffered the torture of thirst; this being aggravated to the highest degree by the desert mirage, which for several hours was very brilliant. Beautiful lakes, surrounded by groves of trees, could be seen on all sides, some of them apparently but a short distance away; and it required all the authority of the officers to keep some of the men from leaving the ranks to fill their canteens. When our march led us toward one of these lakes, it would fade away and another would be seen further on, and soon all realized how great was the delusion.

Just before dark, weary, thirsty, and foot-sore, the regiment reached Point Isabel, where we found an expedition organizing in which we were to take part. We remained in Bivouac, not far from the Point Isabel Lighthouse, till about noon the next day, November 15^th, when the regiment embarked on the steamers Matamoras and Planter, six companies on the former and four on the latter. The Matamoras was a light-draft, stern-wheeler, built at Pittsburgh, Pa. For use on the Rio Grande, and had been loaned Gen. Banks by the Mexican General Cortinas; the Planter was an Alabama River steamer, which had been captured by the blockading fleet while trying to run across from Mobile to Cuba with a load of cotton.

Hodnutt's Iowans didn't reach the town until the 9^th. Prior to that he gives a description:

By the river we camped for the night and after breakfast resumed our march 11 miles through the chaparral to Brownsville. The first object that met our gaze was a Spanish dog without a hair on its hide; the next a leather colored Mexican child, perfectly nude, and here the dust mercifully blinded us, till we reached the center of town, else there's no knowing what we may have seen. Col. McNulta of the 94^th Illinois has preceded us a day or so, and the streets were filled with blue coats and Mexican blankets in picturesque hues. Camp was selected about one mile up the river just opposite the famed or rather infamous town of Matamoras, Mexico.

Once Union forces had taken Brownsville, Andrew Jackson Hamilton was established there as Texas Military Governor. He had been a U.S. Congressman from Western Texas prior to the war. The Handbook of Texas Online tells us that after fleeing Texas:

Hamilton became a hero in the north and delivered speeches in New York, Boston, and other northern cites. His rhetorical targets included slavery, disunionists, and the "slave power", which he believed was trying to subvert democracy and the rights of non-slave owners. After he met with President Lincoln in November 1862, he accepted a commission as brigadier general of volunteers and an appointment as military governor of Texas.

From the summer of 1865 to the summer of 1866 Hamilton would be Provisional Governor of Texas during its initial Reconstruction.

Major General Banks was already settled in Brownsville by November 9. In a dispatch on that date to Maj. Gen. H. W. Halleck, General–in Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D.C, Banks reported that:

"Affairs are quiet in Matamoras. Governor Ruiz [He was the Juarista military governor.] is in Brownsville, Cortina in power, and messengers have been dispatched for Governor Serna, who resides 200 miles distant. The friendship of the Cortinas party for the American Government has been signally manifested by his placing three Rio Grande steamers on this side of the river under our control. One of these, the Matamoras, is the only boat that can cross the bar.

General Dana arrived in Brownsville last evening. I shall remain here until our affairs are in a settled condition."

He then goes on to entreat for 5,000 to 10,000 men to be assigned him and who would be of "incalculable service in the restoration of Texas." He adds, "Our success, thus far, has exceeded my most sanguine expectations. The people on both sides of the river are friendly to the Government, and if affairs are managed with any discretion, the cause of the Government will be greatly strengthened throughout the whole Southwest.

The Fifteenth Maine Volunteers is at Brazos; the Twentieth Wisconsin at Point Isabel. Two regiments of the Corps d'Afrique, the First and Sixteenth, occupy Brazos Island. The balance of the force connected with the expedition is en route for this point."

The expeditionary force under Ransom met with success after departing the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Aransas Pass was captured November 17, 1863, Fort Esperanza on 11/27/63, then on the 29^th the earthworks at Pass Cavallo guarding Matagorda Bay were secured. Lt.-Col. Frank S. Hesseltine of the 13^th Maine was to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his leadership at Matagorda Bay, December 29-30, 1863.

Local military action was generally scant. One action of note involved the 91^st Illinois Infantry. It departed Brownsville on 12/31/63 and then conducted its famous raid on Salt Lake, 90 miles out in the enemy country. The Illinois Adjutant General reported: "It captured a lake of salt two miles square, a few hundred horses, mules, and cattle, which were promptly confiscated for the good of the command. The lake we left behind, for the use of future generations.

January 9, 1864, arrived safely back on the Rio Grande, after a march of over 260 miles, without the loss of a man. Here the regiment remained doing frontier duty until the 28^th day of July, when it left Brownsville, and on the 30^th day of July, 1864 arrived at Brazos de Santiago, Tex., and was left to do duty as a garrison of the place until the 11^th day of September, 1864, when the regiment had quite a fight with the rebels near Bagdad, on the north side of Rio Grande River, and it was said at the time a squadron of French troops forded the Rio Grande to help the rebels, but all to no use, for they were driven back and over the old battle field of Palo Alto of 1846. Rebel loss, 20 killed and left on the field. Our loss, two wounded." [The accuracy of this account is suspect in that Palo Alto is far removed from the Bagdad area.] The 91^st was to remain in the Valley until December 1864 after which time it was sent by steamer to New Orleans and was later to advance on Mobile, Alabama.

Another action recorded for the Rio Grande Expedition is that of November 20, 1863. "The First Texas Cavalry, the 37^th Illinois, and Battery B marched on Ringgold Barracks, some 200 miles above the Rio Grande, where a force of rebels were said to be and of this date, 11/30, still absent."[Confederate Col. Santos Benavides and his small army were forced to flee across the river to Reynosa. The Second Texas Cavalry USA went on to destroy the salt works at El Sal de Rey.] The Fremont Rifles of the 37^th Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry were in the LRGV from late 1863 and saw duty guarding the river until February 1864. Between 11/23 and 12/3/63 the regiment conducted an expedition to Rio Grande City.

The importance of La Sal de Rey is outlined in the Handbook of Texas Online. It states, "In the Civil War a huge increase in the demand for salt caused the state government to take control of its mining and export. Governor Francis R. Lubbock appointed Antonio Salinas of Brownsville as controlling agent, and after allowing Jesus Cardenas, owner of the lake, to sell the salt already mined, the confederate government rushed salt to designated points by camel caravan, each camel carrying 600 pounds. Freight thefts, however, caused so many problems that the camel project was abandoned." Eileen Mattei writes that the price for salt rose to $8 a bushel and that "The wagons that smuggled southern cotton to the Mexican border port of Bagdad returned home with cargoes of salt and guns until the Yankees captured the salt lake in 1863."

Ketzle in his diary briefly reports that his Illinois Greyhounds had camped in the

neighborhood of Brownsville from November 9 until the 21^st.

Then receive orders to march. Company A, F, and G taking the overland route with teams under Major Payne, while the rest of command embark on a river steamer (Mustang). The three companies named reached Ringgold Barracks on the 25^th of November (ahead of those on the steamer) seizing over 80 bales pf cotton—flour and other stuff. Remained here for two days. Then return to boat which was aground on one of the numerous sandbars some 30 miles below the barracks. Reaching the boat they embarked for the return, but owing to low stage of water made slow progress but finally got to Brownsville December 12^th, being 22 days on a 12 day supply of rations, but beef was plentiful along the river, also raw sugar. We remain in camp fro December 12 to the 31^st, receiving on the 26^th a Christmas present in the shape of two months pay.

In an Expedition report covering November 1863, it was noted, "The remainder of the troops are at Point Isabel and Brazos Island, engaged in fortifying and holding those posts. Health of the troops generally good. A large amount of cotton and valuable stores have been captured and turned over to proper departments, for which the various staff reports will account." In reality the quantities of cotton the Union would secure over time were scant compared to the totals being shipped through the area.

In January 1864 Maj.-Gen. Francis J. Herron assumed command of the XIII Corps and occupied the Texas coast with headquarter in Brownsville. There were about 6,500 troops in South Texas. This Medal of Honor recipient had been a hero at Prairie Grove, Arkansas and Vicksburg. While here he provided aid to Mexican President Benito Juarez and prevented French troops of Emperor Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria from establishing themselve along the Rio Grande. Herron was scheduled to depart in July for Alabama when the Department in South Texas was divided and given to the Trans Mississippi Department.

In March 1864 Union forces moved against Laredo in an attempt to seize thousands of bales of cotton there. Col. Benavides defended the town and forced Federal soldiers to retire down the river. In their hasty retreat they abandoned rifles, pistols, and ammunition at the Ringgold Barracks. These fell into the hands of Col. Ford.

The political and social unheavals occurring in Mexico, coupled with the incursion of Emperor Maximilian, made that side of the border ever bit as volatile as the U.S. side where battle tides of the Civil War caused uncertain and fluctuating events. Juan Cortina with his ever-changing alliances in the state of Tamaulipas only added to the confusion and challenges facing Union military leaders in the region. It is little wonder that in the Wisconsin Adjutant General's history confusing and prejudicial statements were made. Still they reflect the attitudes at he time and are deserving of attention. Several passages are of note in portraying the Brownsville area of the period. They state:

For years, a kind of guerilla warfare had been waged along both sides of the Rio Grande, in which Mexicans, Texans, and Indians had taken a part-- the Mexican a cross between the Indian and Negro, and the Texan, an outlaw, who fled from civilization to save his head. The poorer Mexicans lived in houses of cane and straw that resembled cow sheds rather than human dwellings. Many of them obtained a livelihood by selling wood which they transported on the backs of poor, wretched, little, lean donkeys, the crooked limbs of the wood being adjusted to the animal's ribs.

Hay was carried in the same way, and also upon carts drawn by oxen hitched together at the horns, oxen poorer than Pharoah's lean kind. Half-naked Mexicans harnessed themselves to barrels in which they drew water about the streets for citizens. The common dress was of leather, horsehide tanned with the hair on being preferred as most genteel. Deer skin jackets, hats with enormous brims, belts with concealed knives, and red sashes, constituted some of the articles of clothing seen in the streets of Brownsville. During their stay of eight months, the regiment enjoyed excellent health. The water of the Rio Grande was more than any they had drank except that of the Mississippi, since leaving Missouri. They built an ice house and cleaned the filthy streets of Brownsville. Only five deaths occurred in the regiment while they remained.

By June 1864 army engineers, with Col. Hodnutt in charge, began to construct a railroad from Brazos de Santiago to the river in order to facilitate the movement of supplies. [See the Cameron County Historical Commission online essay "Nathaniel White, La Feria's Man of Mystery" for more on this railroad completed the following year by Gen. Phil Sheridan.]

Meanwhile the Union army began to retrench in the area and cut its manning to about 2,500 soldiers. By July 28 it abandoned Fort Brown but kept a presence on Brazos Island for the remainder of the war. One account says that 2,000 refugees accompanied the retreat. Col. Henry Martin Day was left in command of this residue force that included a number of black soldiers protected by eleven artillery pieces. In early May 1865 there were 1,600 Federal soldiers on the island. Herron was to depart his command in August 1864. His replacement was to be Brig.- Gen. Fitz-Henry Warren.

With Federal troops encamped at Clarksville in August 1864, they were able to somewhat impede the easy flow of cotton into Mexico. However, when they removed themselves to Brazos Island, the trade by the spring of 1865 had risen to about 2,000 bales per month.

Different volunteer units were also experiencing the end of their commitments to military service and Fort Brown saw the mustering out of numerous veterans. These included Battery E of the 1^st Missouri Light Artillery (Cole's) mustered out in June 1864. Soldiers of the 37^th Illinois Veteran volunteer Infantry were veteranized 2/28/64 but given a furlough until April after which time they were moved to Memphis, Tennessee. The 26^th Indiana also re-enlisted and was sent home on furlough. As a result, by February 1864, the First Brigade, now under Col. Hodnutt, consisted of only the 38^th Iowa and 91^st Illinois.

While the battlefield had slight dangers here, the threat of disease was ever present. Soldiers were to die of typhoid fever, pneumonia, tuberculosis (consumption), chronic diarrhea, congestive chills, cholera, and malaria [also at the time called ague].

For a period of nine tranquil months the 38^th Iowa Volunteer Infantry remained on duty in Brownsville. A series of letter written by 27-year old Capt. Horace Baldwin to his 20- year old wife Catherine (Katie) traces his life in Brownsville in the year 1864. Mainly professing the love of his wife, the letters touch on the temptations here of liquor and loose women. Some of the latter had come from New Orleans to conduct business. Also the soldiers could daily get an eyeful of Mexican women bathing unabashedly in the river along the Matamoros shore. Periodic rumors would arise about the Rebels organizing a force to attack the Union troops, but nothing ever came of them. Soon the excitement would recede and the soldiers would settle back into the old dull and monotonous camp life.

Baldwin frequently complained about the boredom and of "old Maj. Chadwick", an officer over him that he considered incompetent. He also expressed no admiration for the hard-drinking Herron and indicated he was anxious for him to be relieved. He took notice of the malodorous smells wafting from across the river. "Over in Matamoros dead horses and cattle are allowed to lie around the streets, and if they are ever removed it is to a place just opposite our camp and there they remain until decomposed. The skeletons of hundreds of animals are now lying within a short distance of the Mexican city. I cannot see how they can bear the smell of them—as they are closer the city than they are to us and when the wind comes from that direction we can scarcely put up with the smell."

In mid-March 1864 Baldwin wrote home of the death of his fellow Iowan and neighbor Sgt. Sholts, who had suffered many months with chronic diarrhea. He wrote that he had "his boys put on their best clothes—and told them I wanted them to look and to do their best—and they done it—I never saw men do better. As we marched through the streets of Brownsville going to the grave, the people flocked out in crowds to see us—I have not written his wife yet…poor woman how I pity her and her two little one." He writes, "Thus it is that our comrades are passing away. Twenty-nine have gone—almost half of our number when we left Dubuque—but I am in hopes that our loss will not be so great in the next year."

By the end of April Baldwin wrote his wife that the cavalry was out scouting for Rebel activity, that Old Fort Brown had been thoroughly repaired and several heavy guns mounted in it, and that the available force was 2,500 men. Lastly, he expressed confidence in the ability of the soldiers to defend the fortification, even under the attack of a superior force. Col. Ford at this time vastly overestimated the Union contingent in Brownsville and accordingly acted cautiously.

The fortifications at Fort Brown were minimal relative to other forts to be found across the country. In July 1861 Col. Ford had received some funds from Gov. Edward Clark to use in repairs of Old Fort Brown and some improvements were made at that time. In one dispatch to his superiors Herron had described the fort's defenses as consisting of a "series of small redoubts, connected by strong rifle-pits, extending across a peninsula just above the town. These works are constructed of sand, and, although not as strong as could be wished, would nevertheless enable the garrison to make a stout defense. They mount at the present time three guns, two 20-pounder Parrotts, and one 24, smooth."

A Parrott (rifle) was a type of muzzle loading rifle-bore artillery weapon. It was created in 1860 and manufactured with a combination of cast iron and wrought iron. A 20 pounder was the next to smallest size, having about a 3" bore and a range up to 1,900 yards with a trained crew. Its barrel alone weighed over 1,800 pounds. Although it had a welded wrought iron reinforcing band, it still retained a poor reputation for safety.

The 24 (smooth) was a muzzle-loading smooth bore cannon with a diameter of 5.8" and a tube length of 124". With a six pound explosive charge it propelled 24.3 lbs. of shot up to a range of 1,592 yards. Iron models weighed 5,790 lbs.

With pressing military concerns in Alabama requiring more soldiers, the Union forces in the LRGV had by 6/23/64 abandoned nearly all of their outposts along the river. Gen. Herron was relieved of his command in the Valley on 7/12/64 and in two days later sailed for Morganza, Louisiana. He took with him all the forces except the 91^st Illinois, 1^st Texas Cavalry under Capt. P. G. Temple, 1^st Missouri Artillery under Lieut. A. Hils, 19^th Iowa Infantry, and the 81^st Negro Engineers who remained at Brazos Santiago under Col. H. M. Day.

Col. J. O. Hodnutt, in command of the 38^th Iowa Brigade, was to write:

Some worthy secesh has very kindly furnished me with a home—a good country house surrounded by fine old trees, and the grounds round ornamented with shrubbery, the whole known under the Euphonius title of Shannondale. On hearing of our approach the owner kindly vacated the premises and moved across to Mexico and so modest is he that he has never called to see how vandal Yank has cared for his premise.

This regiment left Brownsville on July 28, 1864 and on the 31^st at Brazos Island embarked on the steamer City of Richmond for New Orleans. It then moved on to Alabama for the successful siege of Fort Morgan.

The Confederates quickly moved in to fill the vacuum. It was on 6/23/64 that Col. Ford and twelve other officers leading 250 to 400 men encountered a force of 100 men of Companies A and C, Davis Texas Cavalry, camped at Las Rucias Ranch (now just west of the current community of Los Indios). They were engaged in picket duty under Capt. Temple. After taking refuge in the only brick building in the area the Federals were to be defeated with a loss of two killed, 5 wounded, and 28 taken captive. Many fled across the river. On the Confederate side 4 were killed and 11 wounded. Ford then tried to cut off communications between Brownsville and Brazos Santiago but failed in this tactic.

The engagements that then ensued are best characterized by the term "skirmishes" rather than battles. One such event occurred on 8/9/64 when 75 men from the 81^st Negro Engineers went to Point Isabel from the post on Brazos Island in order to collect lumber that had been landed there for their use. A small contingent of Confederates surprise them and then retreated. So did the Federals under Captain Jordan. They retreated and embarked on the little steamer Hale that had brought them across the bay. The following day Capt. William M. Shepherd of the 91^st Illinois took a detachment from his regiment and also soldiers from the 19^th Iowa back to Point Isabel. The few Confederates retired upon being confronted by this larger force. The fact was that by 8/1/64 there were but 1,200 Union soldiers now stationed at the Brazos de Santiago post under the command of Colonel Day.

The scenario of military action becomes confusing at this point, for in the region Liberal Mexican soldiers were confronting the Imperialist army of Maximilian. Having heard that the Confederates were herding cattle at White's Ranch to turn over to Imperialist forces across the river, Col. Day on 9/6/64 set off with 300 men of the 91^st Illinois and 1^st Texas Cavalry together with one 12-lb. howitzer from the 1^st Missouri Artillery. At Palmito Hill Day encountered a small detachment of the 33^rd Texas Cavalry Confederate under Capt. Richard Taylor. It was soon driven off and the cattle confiscated. After Taylor retreated to Brownsville and recounted the circumstances, Baird's regiment and Lt.-Col. Showalter with a force of 600 moved south to retake the cattle.

In the meantime Cortina's Liberal forces had been repelled in an attempt to attack the French forces in Bagdad. In retreat, the fleeing soldiers crossed the river to the U. S. side. Once there Col. Day demanded that the refugees turn over all their arms. They did so, but when Showalter's forces showed up at Palmito Hill the arms were returned so the Mexicans could assist the Federals in the ensuing confrontation. The combined forces took the day after two days of fighting, and the routed Confederates retreated back to Brownsville. Fourteen of Cortina's men had been captured in the contest however. Day then claimed that the Mexicans were regularly enlisted soldiers. Southern records would later claim that the whole episode had been orchestrated and that Cortina was supposed to advance and take Brownsville for the Union. By 9/22/64 the evasive Cortina, who controlled Matamoros, had made an agreement with Ford allowing the Confederates unlimited passage between Brownsville and Matamoros.

Exchanges would continue. On 10/14/64, fifty Confederates reached Boca Chica and met an equal force of Day's. When Federal warships were thought to enter the fray, the Confederates retreated. Neither side sustained casualties.

There was to be one last major military engagement in the LRGV. When the end of the Confederacy was evidenced in March 1865," local Confederate commanders, Brig. Gen. James E. Slaughter and Col. John S. Ford accepted Maj. Gen. Lewis Wallace's invitation to meet at Point Isabel to discuss terms of peace. An informal truce was established and a formal peace seemed at hand." All later learned of Gen. Lee's surrender of his Army of Virginia to Gen. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. This didn't occur until May 18. According to Pierce, on May 1, 1865 the total number of Union soldiers in Cameron County and under the command of Brig. Gen. E. B. Brown was 1,915 of which 1,165 were Colored.

This agreement was broken when Col. Theodore H. Barrett, who commanded the forces at Brazos de Santiago, precipitated an attack on Rebel forces at White's Ranch. Initially he had planned to move into Point Isabel and likely on to Fort Brown which he may have believed would soon be evacuated by retreating Confederates. Bad weather had changed this strategy. On 5/11/65 Barrett had dispatched 250 men of the 62^nd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment (Missouri) and 50 unmounted men of the 2^nd Texas Cavalry Regiment USA under the command of Lt.-Col. David Branson. Fifty additional Federal troops were to join them. The Rebels, believed to be 65 in number, were not at the ranch. The next morning (the 12^th) Branson sought action with a group of Confederates at the Palmito Ranch about 1 ½ mile above White's Ranch. In a brief morning skirmish, the Union soldiers drove Confederate Capt. George Roberson (a second source names this individual Capt. W. N. Robinson) and his 190 men of Lt. Col. Giddings's Texas Cavalry Battalion back toward Brownsville. Three Confederates were captured along with two horses, four cows, and 10 days rations. Reinforcements for them lingered at Fort Brown. These were General James Edwin Slaughter and Col. John S. Ford with 600 men commanded by Capt. D. M. Wilson and a section of Capt. O. G. Jones' light artillery. Slaughter and Ford were not in agreement as to what action to pursue. Slaughter favored a retreat while the diehard Ford wished to attack. No action occurred as Branson retreated to White's Ranch for the night. Once here he sent a messenger to the island requesting reinforcements. These appeared at daybreak of the 13th as Lt.-Col. Barrett arrived with 200 men of the 34^th Indiana Volunteers. This brought the Union force total to 500.

The Union forces advanced this day to Palmito Ranch and again encountered Roberson. They then fell back a mile and a half to a bluff and dug in at this point. Ford assembled the Second Cavalry troops loyal to him and Col. Santos Benevides' Texas Cavalry Regiment (all told about 300) and six pieces of artillery. These were augmented by Roberson's men. . By mid-afternoon Ford encountered Col. Barrett's force near Rancho San Martin. At 4 p.m. Jones' artillery, some manned by French volunteers, commenced a bombardment creating considerably terror in Union ranks. The Union force had no artillery to answer back. Ford's aggressive cavalry quickly had the 34^th Indiana and the 2^nd Texas on the run. Within a few hours the outcome was clearly in favor of Ford. Erroneously Barrett had come to believe that he was outnumbered by a two to one margin. After a victory had already been assured the Confederates, Gen. Slaughter was to arrive late in the day along with the battalion commanded by Col. Thomas C. Cater. He now exhibited the desire to take full advantage of the chaos and ordered the tired troops to resume battle. As the sun set that day the Federal forces had been driven all the way back to Brazos Island. Were it not for 140 men of the 66^th Colored Infantry who formed a line north from the river to effect a somewhat orderly retreat by the remaining Union soldiers, losses would have been great. Once on the island the Federals were covered by fire from a Union sloop of war and the skirmish drew to a close. John Jefferson Williams of the 34^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry is documented as the last man killed at the Battle at Palmito Ranch and hence the last soldier to die in an active skirmish of the Civil War. In the four-hour fight, twenty to thirty Federals were said to have died (some drowning while attempting to swim the river to Mexico), nine Union men sustained wounds while one hundred eleven men and four officers were captured by the Confederates. It was lax discipline on the part of the 34^th Indiana under Col. Morrison that resulted in "the relative disorder of its retreat". Ford later wrote that Barrett "seemed to have lost his presence of mind" and to have led his troops off the field in a "rather confused manner". It is with some irony that the last battle of the Civil War was a victory for the Confederate States of America.

Union officers committed themselves to educating the Blacks in their commands. It was done in a military fashion however. General Order No. 31 issued to the Missouri Black Regiment at Morganza, Louisiana, July 3, 1864 by Lt. Col. David Branson stated in effect that all non-commissioned officers of the command who should fail to learn to read by January 1, 1865 would be reduced in rank. It went on to say, "All soldiers of this command who have by any means learned to read and write, will aid and assist to the extent of their ability their fellow soldiers to learn these invaluable arts, without which no man is properly fitted to perform the duties of a free citizen."

Once encamped at Brazos Santiago Branson continued in the same vein with his Gen. Orders No. 35 of 10/29/64, to wit:

Hereafter when any soldier of this command is found to be, or to have been, playing cards, he will be placed in some prominent position in the camp with book in hand, and required then and there to learn a considerable lesson in reading and spelling: and if unwilling to learn, he will be compelled by huger to do so. When men are found gambling in any way, the money at stake will be seized and turned into the Regt. Hospital fund. No freed slave who cannot read well has a right to waste the time and opportunity here given him to fit himself for the position of a free citizen. This order will be read twice to this command, and copied in each order book.

On 1/25/65 Maj. J. K. Hudson, commanding the regiment, in his General Orders No. 4 provided a carrot rather than a stick when he ordered:

The Regimental Council of Administration having appropriated Fifty Dollars for the purchase of premiums for the encouragement of the enlisted men of this Regiment to learn to write it is hereby ordered that a gold pen be given to the Sergeant in each Company, who shall learn to write the best by the fourth day of July 1865; that a gold pen be given in each Company who shall learn to write the best by the 4^th day of July 1865; that a good book be given the private of each Company who shall learn to write the best by the 4^th day of July 1865, these rewards to be publicly given by a committee chosen as mentioned in orders.

It was in April 1865 that Gen Grant ordered Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan to the southwest immediately with a goal to cut off any fleeing Confederate soldiers and Confederate government officials while at the same time securing and sealing off the U.S.-Mexico border from French imperial forces under Archduke Maximilian who had installed himself as emperor of Mexico in 1864. Once in New Orleans Sheridan found Gen. Kirby-Smith, CSA, ready to surrender his remaining forces. Kirby-Smith did so verbally on May 26. On May 29, 1865 Sheridan announced his assumption of command of the military Division of the Southwest. The day before Union Brig. Gen. E. B. Brown had started all of his forces for Brownsville. When they arrived there on the morning of May 30, any Confederate artillery to be secured had been turned over to the Imperialists by Gen. J. E. Slaughter, CSA.

Gen. Grant had promised Sheridan 25,000 men under Maj.-Gen. J. J. Reynolds. These would be from the 4^th Army Corps at Nashville Tennessee and the 25^th Army Corps at City Point, Virginia. Gen. Frederick Steele arrived with the bulk of the 25^th Army Corps between June 6 and 9, 1865. Sheridan himself arrived on the scene on June 23. To improve supply logistics, one of his first acts was to complete the construction of an 18-mile railroad between Brazos and White's Ranch. This became the Valley's first railroad.

The following four paragraphs are largely material from William Richter's book on the Army's role in Reconstruction in Texas.

It was on May 30, 1865 that the Confederates conceded the inevitable and surrendered Brownsville to Union forces without a fight. "Three days later, General Edmund Kirby-Smith, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy surrendered the last Confederate army to the United States and brought the Civil War to a close." The Confederate soldiers, now released from any military obligations, quickly dispersed in all directions, taking their small arms with them.

The XIII Corps, under Brevet Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, was broken into three segments in May 1865 in order to handle the vast Texas area. Federal troop did not arrive to restore order in Texas until 6/19/65 when 2,000 troops arrived in Galveston Island. On this date he issued Gen. Orders No. 3 that simply said, "All slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer." His Gen. Orders No. 4 "declared all acts passed by the state authorities during the rebellion to be null and void. Confederate civil and military personnel were ordered to report to Houston, Galveston, Bonham, San Antonio, Marshall, or Brownsville to be paroled. All public property seized after the surrender was to be turned over to the Federal officials in these same towns. Those who failed to comply would be arrested and held as prisoners of war. Granger declared that those who violated the law by committing acts of homicide or theft were "outlaws and enemies of the human race who will be dealt with accordingly."

Outside of Galveston the Union found the initial logistics of occupation difficult. Other Texas harbors simply lacked depth. Because the harbors were very shallow, men and matériel had to be off-loaded with lighters at all points except Galveston. Shallow-draft boats were in short supply and had to be requisitioned in order to get men and materiel ashore. Granger accordingly asked Sheridan for shallow-draft boats to use at Indianola, Corpus Christi, and Brazos Santiago.

"Having accomplished his initial instructions, Granger then spread his forces across the vast Texas interior. The physical size of Texas was overwhelming to most soldiers stationed there and caused many mistaken notions about distances and travel time needed. More important, the size of Texas strained an already overtaxed supply and transportation system. The third division of Granger's corps landed at the mouth of the Rio Grande, under the command of Brevet Major General Frederick Steele."

Expecting further trouble, Granger had detached Steele's command from the XIII Corps to secure the border with Mexico. Steele accepted the surrender of Brownsville on May 31 and received orders from Granger to advance up the river as far as Roma. He was also assigned command responsibilities in Indianola and Corpus Christi. Marching from the coast on a northerly route, the army occupied Roma on June 20 but didn't reach the Ringgold Barracks in Rio Grande City until August 1 due to the lack of troops and transport.

Steele recommended further movement up the Rio Grande to Fort McIntosh, and Eagle Pass to seal off the Mexican border from refugees and bandits.

Soldiers of Gen. Frederick Steele's Third Division and its 25^th Army Corps took possession of Fort Brown in the summer of 1865. Maj. Gen Steele, a West Point graduate, was to command the Western District of Texas with its headquarters in Brownsville from July through October 1865. The 27^th and 28^th Wisconsin were also sent to the island in June 1865. In the following two months they marched to Brownsville according to memoirs of Corporal Friedrich Buker. Historian Richter tells us, "Fully one-half of all the soldiers sent to Texas were stationed along the Rio Grande to intimidate Maximilian and the Mexican imperialists and to suppress continued riding by bands of desperadoes on both sides of the river."

"Steele's ability to close off the Rio Grande depended on the arrival of the XXV (Colored) Corps from Virginia. Composed of some twenty thousand veteran soldiers, this unit had been organized in December, 1863. The corps had taken part in the Petersburg siege, was bloodied at the Battle of the Crater, and was the first unit to enter Richmond in 1865.

Commanded by Brevet Major General Godfrey Weitzel, the XXV Corps had the greatest distance to travel to reach Texas. To reduce the amount of shipping needed, Weitzel was ordered to take only one-half of his wagons and one-fourth of his mules to the Southwest, along with a ''fair quantity of entrenching tools." The corps was to draw forty days' rations and embark from City Point, Virginia. By June, 1865, the XXV Corps had arrived at New Orleans, and Granger recommended that only one brigade be used to secure Indianola, another to land at Corpus Christi, while the rest of the corps would disembark at Brazos Santiago and be formed as a "movable column" to reinforce Steele."

Brevet Maj. Godfrey Weitzel's XXV Corps was moved to Texas and split, with some soldiers going to Corpus Christi and some to Roma. In addition the 28^th Regiment U.S. Colored organized in Indiana embarked to Brazos Santiago and the LRGV (and also Corpus Christi) 6/10 to 7/1/65. They served there until 11/65 at which time they were mustered out. The fact was that as white volunteer regimental units were quickly mustered out at he end of the conflict, the Colored units were not discharged as rapidly. The Colored troops then filled the breach in Texas. This did not sit well with white Texans and became yet another sore point in the Reconstruction Era. On 11/14/66 Sheridan is quoted as saying, "The condition of civil affairs in Texas is anomalous, singular, and unsatisfactory." It was not until January 1867 that Grant gave orders to demobilize the last of the Negro volunteers.

A brief account in Pierce's book indicates that the Black soldiers in the area were being treated shabbily and reacted accordingly. In the terminology of the time, he relates:

On October 9, 1865, at about 9 o'clock, a mutiny broke out among the negro soldiers in Brownsville. Having nothing but tents in which to live, suffering from mosquito pests, and finally chilled by a cold northern wind which had sprung up on the Saturday following, the negroes first entered a saloon on market square and there killed the proprietor. Then they rushed in parties through the city in quest of clothing, blankets, or lumber with which to protect their bodies from the cold. On the corner of 8^th and Elizabeth the Dalzell house was in the course of construction. They pounced on the lumber there. William H. Putegnat in an effort to drive them off was attacked and severely wounded by a bayonet thrust on the forehead. Several Mexicans were killed. The negroes, about 60, ultimately returned to their quarters unmolested.

Some discharged Black soldiers were sympathetic to the cause of Benito Juarez and joined his forces to fight against the Imperialists. On the other hand fleeing Confederate soldiers would join the Imperialists in hope of gleaning French support for the CSA. Maximilian and his army were conquered in Queretaro whereupon Juaristas executed him before a firing squad on June 19, 1867.

Some Civil War historians have characterized Gen. Bank's Rio Grande campaign as unsuccessful. Obviously any assessment is complex. James A. Irby wrote a slim book titled "Backdoor at Bagdad: The Civil War on the Rio Grande". According to the blog of a Civil War buff, the book provides "a pretty good summary of the role the Rio Grande played in the Civil War" and "introduces readers to the complexity of the blockade at the river's mouth and the tangled web of political/economic interplay at the border between Confederate, U.S., Imperial French, and Mexican interests." He adds, "Irby comes down somewhere in the middle of the debate over how important the Rio Grande trade was to the Confederate war effort. He blames the Confederate government's disorganized response for the general misuse of the economic opportunities the region offered. The Union war effort similarly failed to commit enough resources to choking off the cross border trade. On the other hand, he admits that the numbers needed to completely secure the border made such an effort unfeasible."

References

Mary Margaret McAllen Amberson, James A. McAllen and Margaret H. McAllen. I Would Rather Sleep in Texas, Austin, Texas Historical Association, 2003.

Lewis J. Wortham. The History of Texas: From Wilderness to Commonwealth. 5 Vol., Fort Worth, 1924.

Eugene M. Ott, Jr. & Gene Lich. First Texas Calvary, USA. The Handbook of Texas

Online. <http://www.tsha.utexas.edu.handbook/online/>

James A. Marten. Hamilton, Andrew Jackson. The Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu.handbook/online/

William L. Richter. The Army in Texas During Reconstruction 1865-1870. Texas A & M Univ. Press, College Station, 1987.

Fredrich Buker. Memoirs of a Union Soldier.< www.members.surfshop.net.ph/~klfcel/>

Horace C. Baldwin. "Letters to Kate". <iagenweb.or/chicasaw/militaryindex.htm>

Forces Garrisoning Brownsville, Texas-Second Division, Thirteenth Army Corps. <members aol.com/wis20th/or/or16.html>

"Quiner's" History 20^th Wisconsin. <members.aol.com/wis20th/>

Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.< http://www.secondwi.com/>

David Wildman. 38^th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Regiment-The Martyred Regiment. <freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cooverfamily/dw-preservation-2.html>

91^st Illinois Infantry, Civil War. http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/cw91-agr.html

Brewster Hudspeth. The Short but Eventful Life of Adrian J. Vidal. <http://www.texasescapes.com/FallingBehind/Short-but-EventfullifeofAdrian-J-Vidal.htm>

Texas Military Forces in the Civil War. http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/tnghist11.htm

Henry Carl Ketzle. Diary of the 37^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. <www.ketzle.com/diary>

Edwin B. Lufkin. History of the Thirteenth Maine Regiment. http://members.aol.com/Maine13th/lufkinhistory

J.S. Clark. The History of the 34^th Infantry of Iowa. www.brumm.com/genealogy/walkermoyers/certificates/Iowa34th.html

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Battle of Palmito Ranch.

National Park Service (CWSAC Battle Summaries). Palmito Ranch. http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/tx005.htm

Union-U.S. Colored Troops Infantry. www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/uncolinf3.htm

Wikipedia: Miscellaneous, including artillery, Heron, Steele, Banks, Dana, etc.

James A. Irby. Backdoor at Bagdad: The Civil War on the Rio Grande. Texas Western Press, 1977.

Palmito Ranch: The Last Battle of the Civil War. http://buffalo soldier.net/Palmito Ranch, Last Battle of the Civil War.htm

The History Net. Palmetto Ranch: War's Final Battle. http://historynet.com/cwti/bl-palmetto-ranch/index1.html

Frank Cushman Pierce. Texas' Last Frontier A Brief History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Originally published 1917. Republished March 1962, Rio Grande Valley Historical Society.

Bales of cotton stored along the Matamoros, Mexico shoreline of the Rio Grande.

Fort Brown and Rio Grande steamboats as seen from Matamoros, Mexico

Edmund J. Davis as a Union officer.

Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks.

Maj. Gen. Francis J. Herron

Gen. Hamilton P. Bee, CSA

Col. John S. "Rip" Ford, CSA

Harper's Weekly Drawing of Brazos Santiago Landing, November 2, 1863.
Note: Point Isabel Lighthouse in the right middle distance.