The Yankee Invasion of Texas

3. Fall Back and Save the Cotton

On July 13, 1863, the commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department, Lt. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, issued an invitation to the civilian leaders of the four states within his region.1 Prompted by the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, Smith asked these leaders to attend a conference in Marshall, Texas, sometime in the middle of August. The loss of the Mississippi had severed ties with Richmond; consequently, Smith realized the Trans-Mississippi “must be self-sustaining and self-reliant in every respect .” He also wanted to allay the public’s despondency by providing convincing proof of the loyalty and unanimous determination of the TransMississippi ’s leading men to fight on to ultimate victory. Smith also hoped to relieve people’s fears of army despotism by arranging an exhibition of the civil government’s supremacy over the military. Ironically, the calling together of civilian leaders by a Confederate general seemed to be an assertion more of military power than civilian.2 On August 15, 1863, civilian representatives from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri met at Marshall to discuss the future of the TransMississippi Department. Texas sent Gov. Francis R. Lubbock, governor-elect Pendleton Murrah, Maj. Guy M. Bryan, and Confederate senator W. S. Oldham . The participants examined topics such as Smith’s authority, foreign affairs , and the department’s resources. They discussed the problem of securing and disposing of cotton without stirring up opposition. The delegates stated that “cotton is the only safe and reliable means for carrying on efficient military operations for the defense of the country west of the Mississippi.” As a result, Smith was advised to take charge of all of the cotton in his department except what was required to meet the people’s needs.3 Although the Marshall conference had no legal standing, it reaffirmed what Smith already knew: The department had to export cotton in order to Three FallBackandSavetheCotton  obtain war supplies. Prior to the meeting, Smith had established the Cotton Bureau and sixteen other executive and military agencies. The representatives at Marshall gave Smith a vote of confidence to assume extraordinary powers during this crisis. The officials who attended also expressed the determination of the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy to fight on to the bitter end.4 In August 1863 Smith established the Cotton Bureau, which centralized control over the cotton trade in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He appointed Lt. Col. W. A. Broadwell to head the bureau, which would have its main headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana. Since Texas provided the only viable means of exporting large amounts of cotton through the BrownsvilleMatamoros region, the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department established a Texas Cotton Office in Houston. This branch was designated as the purchasing agent of all supplies through the medium of cotton and had direct authority over all of the Confederate agents engaged in the purchase of cotton in Texas.5 Cotton was vital to the Confederate war effort west of the Mississippi River. A list of purchases made by the Texas Cotton Bureau in December 1864 impressively illustrates its purchasing power. More than one million dollars ’ worth of ordnance stores was bought, including 23,000 rifles, 10,000 percussion caps, 200,000 pounds of gunpowder, 200,000 pounds of niter, and a varied assortment of cannons, swords, and pistols.6 When the first U.S. vessels appeared near the mouth of the Rio Grande on November 1, 1863, panic enveloped Texas. The first dispatches sent from Brig. Gen. Hamilton Bee, commander at Fort Brown, clearly illustrated what he considered to be a top military priority. On November 2 he said, “I have sent out a detachment to turn back all cotton wagons en route for this place.” On November 3, Bee destroyed six hundred bales of cotton that would have fallen into the enemy’s hands. That same day his scouts informed him that Union troops were advancing on Brownsville. Later that day Bee and eighty men of the 33rd Texas Cavalry left Brownsville, heading for the King Ranch, about one hundred miles to the north. On November 5, Bee sent a dispatch to Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder, commander of the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, informing Magruder that he had destroyed, as ordered, all of the cotton at Brownsville and removed one million dollars’ worth of supplies. Clearly, Magruder wanted nothing of value, especially cotton, to be appropriated by the enemy. By stopping at a major cotton depot such as the King...