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Long known as a place of cross-border intrigue, the Rio Grande’s unique role in the history of the American Civil War has been largely forgotten or overlooked. Few know of the dramatic events that took place here or the complex history of ethnic tensions and international intrigue and the clash of colorful characters that marked the unfolding and aftermath of the Civil War in the Lone Star State.

To understand the American Civil War in Texas also requires an understanding of the history of Mexico. The Civil War on the Rio Grande focuses on the region’s forced annexation from Mexico in 1848 through the Civil War and Reconstruction. In a very real sense, the Lower Rio Grande Valley was a microcosm not only of the United States but also of increasing globalization as revealed by the intersections of races, cultures, economic forces, historical dynamics, and individual destinies.

As a companion to Blue and Gray on the Border: The Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail, this volume provides the scholarly backbone to a larger public history project exploring three decades of ethnic conflict, shifting international alliances, and competing economic proxies at the border. The Civil War on the Rio Grande, 1846–1876 makes a groundbreaking contribution not only to the history of a Texas region in transition but also to the larger history of a nation at war with itself.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. i-vi
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Foreword
  2. Gary W. Gallagher
  3. pp. ix-xii
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  1. Preface
  2. Roseann Bacha Garza, Christopher L. Miller, Russell K. Skowronek, and Edinburg, Texas
  3. pp. xiii-xvi
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xvii-xxii
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  1. 1. Prelude: From the Seno Mexicano Frontier to the Nueces Strip Borderland
  2. Christopher L. Miller
  3. pp. 1-26
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  1. 2. To Occupy and Possess Our Own: The Mexican War, the Civil War, and the Fight for the Rio Grande Valley
  2. Douglas A. Murphy
  3. pp. 27-58
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  1. 3. Life Lived along the Lower Rio Grande during the Civil War
  2. M. M. McAllen
  3. pp. 59-81
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  1. 4. Race and Ethnicity along the Antebellum Rio Grande: Emancipated Slaves and Mixed Race Colonies
  2. Roseann Bacha-Garza
  3. pp. 82-106
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  1. 5. Separate Wars and Shared Destiny: Mexico and the United States, 1861–1878
  2. Irving W. Levinson
  3. pp. 107-137
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  1. 6. Col. José de los Santos Benavides and Gen. Juan Nepomuceno Cortina: Two Astounding Civil War Tejanos
  2. Jerry Thompson
  3. pp. 138-158
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  1. 7. Los Algodones: The Cotton Times on the Rio Grande
  2. Karen G. Fort and Tom A. Fort
  3. pp. 159-196
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  1. 8. From the Bluegrass to the Rio Grande: Kentucky’s US Colored Troops on the Border, 1865–1867
  2. W. Stephen McBride
  3. pp. 197-221
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  1. 9. Archeological Insights into the Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmito Ranch, May 12–13, 1865
  2. Rolando Garza
  3. pp. 222-248
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  1. 10. The Black Military Experience in the Rio Grande Valley
  2. James N. Leiker
  3. pp. 249-268
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  1. 11. Discovering America’s Forgotten War Front: The Rio Grande in the Era of the American Civil War
  2. Russell K. Skowronek
  3. pp. 269-294
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  1. References
  2. pp. 295-310
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  1. About the Authors
  2. pp. 311-316
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 317-330
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  1. Back Cover
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