Chapter 15
Section 2
Texans Go
To War
In its declaration of secession, Texas stated that it
intended to go to war to preserve a southern way of life
that made racial distinctions, in part, by maintaining
blacks in a condition of servitude.
Civil War Begins
• The Civil War begins in April 1861 at
Fort Sumpter in Charleston Harbor,
South Carolina
• Confederate forces fire on a Union fort
in the harbor and war begins
• Beauregard vs. Anderson – Friends yet
enemies
Many Texans Become Soldiers
• Thousands of Texans like other Southerners
joined the Confederate army immediately.
• In April 1862, the Confederate Congress
passed the Conscription Act which required
men of a certain age to serve in the
Confederate military
• German American settlers objected to
fighting against the Union.
The two highest-ranking Texans in the Confederate
army were Albert Sidney Johnston and John Bell Hood.
Most Texans Support the South
• After the war began, most Texans who
previously had been against secession
now supported the Confederacy.
• James W. Throckmorton, who had
voted against secession, realized that
he could not fight against Texas.
• About 60,000 Texans joined the armed
forces of the Confederacy.
5TH TEXAS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, CO. K
Some Texans Aid the Union
• About 2,000 Texas Unionists, including
50 African-Americans, took up arms for
the Union. Mexican-Americans served
on both sides of the war.
• Many Texas Unionists who did not want
to fight on either side left Texas.
Major Battles of the Civil War
Chapter 15 Section 2
Americans Expect a Short War
• Union and Confederate Advantages:
A. Union advantages in war:
1) soldiers
3) food
2) factories
4) railroads
B. Confederate advantages in war:
1) cotton profits
3) generals
2) motivation to fight
Strategies
• Union strategy to conquer South
• Anaconda Plan (plan intended to):
1) blockade Southern ports
2) divide Southern states in half (at MS River)
3) capture Richmond, Confederate capital
• Confederate strategy
1) defend the Confederate states
2) invade Northern states if opportunity
arises
Union “Anaconda” Plan
• 1. Capture Richmond, Virginia
– Capital of Confederacy
• 2. Blockade Southern ports
– Prevent trade with other countries
• 3. Capture the Mississippi River
– Cut Confederacy in half
– Cut off trade routes from New Orleans and
Texas
Anaconda
Plan
Texas-Mexico Trade Routes
Texas was economically important to the Confederacy because
the Confederacy was able to conduct foreign trade through
Mexico by way of Texas.
The Progress of War 1861-1865
Ft Sumter
• April 12, 1861
• Charleston Harbor – Charleston, S.C.
• Union surrendered the fort
Significance of Ft. Sumter
• Led to the secession of Virginia,
Arkansas, Tennessee, and North
Carolina
• First military action of the war
• This is the start of the Civil War!
First Battle of Bull Run
• July 21, 1861
• Manassas, Virginia (also called “1st
Manassas”)
– 30 miles from Washington, D.C.
• Confederates won the battle, but failed
to chase the Union army
• 4,700 killed/wounded/captured (K/W/C)
Significance of Bull Run
• First major battle of the war
• Confederate victory; Morale boost for
the South.
• War would not go exactly as either side
expected-people thought the war would
be over in a few days
Battle of Shiloh
• April 6-7, 1862
• Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee
– near Shiloh Church
• Confederates drove Union back the
first day, but Union won the battle the
second day
• 24,000 K/W/C
Significance of Shiloh
• Texas General Albert Sidney Johnston
killed.
– Considered one of South’s best Generals
– Fought at Battle of San Jacinto
• Showed that this would be a long and
bloody war
• Showed the determination and skill of
Ulysses S. Grant
Battle of Antietam
• September 17, 1862
• Bloodiest single day of the Civil War
• Bloodiest single day battle in American
History!
• Battle is a Standoff = no side wins
• 28,000 killed (more WC)
Battle of Gettysburg
• July 1 - 3, 1863
• Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• R.E. Lee led Confederate forces into the
North. Union army defeated the
confederates in a costly 3 day battle
• 46,000 K/W/C
• Bloodiest battle of the entire Civil War
Significance of Gettysburg
• Turning point of the war
• Confederate invasion of the North
failed
• Huge morale defeat for the South
• Combined with the defeat at Vicksburg
the next day, the South was never able
to recover.
Vicksburg
• May 18 - July 4, 1863
• Vicksburg, Mississippi
– on Mississippi River
• Confederates surrender after 47 day
Union siege of the city
• 36,000 K/W/C
Significance of Vicksburg
• Ulysses S. Grant took control of the
Mississippi River
• Split the confederacy in half and cut off
important trade routes through New
Orleans and Texas
Texans on the Attack
• The Confederacy’s first objective was
to overtake Union garrisons and
supplies
• Texas launched a preventative strike on
Union Forces in New Mexico
• The New Mexico Campaign failed and
was abandoned in July 1862
Battle of Galveston
• Union ships blockaded Texas ports.
• Cotton was transported through Mexico
and sent to Europe in exchange for war
supplies.
• In October 1862 Union forces attacked
and captured Galveston.
• Texas Confederate forces retook
Galveston in January 1863.
Texans Defend Sabine Pass
• Confederate soldiers defeated Union
forces at Sabine Pass.
• Dick Dowling and the Davis Guards played
a major role by capturing 350 soldiers and
two boats.
• The Battle of Sabine Pass was an
important Confederate victory, foiling the
Union’s major campaign against Texas.
"There is no parallel in ancient or modern warfare to the victory of
Dowling and his men at Sabine Pass considering the great odds
against which they had to contend" Jefferson Davis
The Battle of
Sabine Pass
September 8, 1663
In the fall of 1863, Confederate
forces under the command of
Lt. Richard Dowling turned back
a much larger Union invasion
force at the battle of Sabine
Pass.
Forces Battle over Brownsville
• Hoping to cut off the overland supply
line, the Union focused on
Brownsville.
• In November 1863 Confederate
troops drove back a Union attack on
Brownsville.
Red River and Beyond
• Union forces captured New Orleans.
• With 25,000 troops, they moved
toward East Texas.
• A smaller Confederate army met the
Union forces 25 miles from the Texas
border in one of the bloodiest
campaigns.
Red River and Beyond
• Hood’s Texas Brigade and Terry’s Texas
Rangers served bravely
• Terry’s Texas Rangers served in more
battles than any other cavalry regiment in
the Civil War.
• General Robert E. Lee called Hood’s men
his “finest soldiers.”
Battle of Palmito Ranch
• General Robert E. Lee surrendered to
General Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia on
April 9, 1865.
• The last land battle of the Civil War took
place on May 13, 1865, at Palmito
Ranch, near Brownsville.
• Texans learned from their prisoners that
Lee had surrendered a month earlier.
Milton Holland – Medal of Honor
• Texan - Union soldier
• Won Medal of Honor
• Fifth U.S. Colored
Troops in Athens,
Ohio
• Son of Bird Holland
(TX Secretary of
State before Civil
War)
• Possible slave to
Bird’s half brother
Colonel Santos Benavides –Confederate
• Led may Mexican
American
Confederate Soldiers
• Supported Lamar
during Mexican
American War
• Supported South due
to close principles to
his beliefs in
regionalism
• Arranged safe
passage of Tx cotton
along Rio Grande to
Matamoras while
Union occupied
Massacre at Nueces