The Yankee Invasion of Texas

Preface

In October 1863 the U.S. Army launched the Rio Grande expedition from New Orleans. The third of four Federal campaigns against Confederate Texas, this expedition was led by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, who had been ordered by Pres. Abraham Lincoln to plant the flag in Texas as a warning to the French in Mexico. Banks was also to stop the export of cotton through Brownsville, Texas. By December, Union forces controlled the Texas coast from Brownsville to the Matagorda Peninsula. By January 1864, however, the expedition had ground to a halt as Banks prepared for the fourth and final attempt to invade Texas—in the Red River campaign. This book tells the story of the Rio Grande expedition. It examines not only the military activities of Union and Confederate forces but also the fear generated within the civilian population of Texas as Union invaders threatened to overrun the state. It also considers the impact that Federal troops had on events in Mexico, both during and after the war. Iwould like to thank several people who helped in the writing of this book. I want to thank Richard Lowe, my major professor at the University of North Texas, for encouraging me to take my dissertation and publish it as a book. I would also like to thank my family, especially my wife, Jill, whose gentle prodding kept me moving forward. In addition, I extend my thanks to Deborah Reade for drawing two maps that appear here and to Jerry Thompson for contributing a map. Finally, I would like to thank Carol Hoke for her careful editing of the final manuscript. preface the yankee invasion of texas  ...