The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985 Page: 144
476 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
144
Houston could gather any such number. Apart from questions of au-
thorization, equipment, and supply, the number of Texans that Hous-
ton might raise for military service fell far short of that. Nor could
Lincoln have dreamed of transporting a great force to Texas. The en-
tire United States army numbered much less than 20,000. On March
1 1 General Scott advised Lincoln that, just to reenforce Fort Sumter,
it would take "six to eight months" to authorize, put together, and
transport the force Scott recommended of 5,000 regulars and 20o,ooo000
volunteers.43 Nor did there exist anywhere near the number of ships
that would be necessary to transport many tens of thousands of troops
to Texas.
On April 15, after the attack on Fort Sumter, Lincoln called into
federal service 75,000 state militia to cope with rebellion in all the
states then seceded.44 Houston, in September, probably was reading
into a generalized offer in March the action that Lincoln took when
war came. Then, indeed, had Houston stood with the Union, he
would have been allied with an army of 70,000 or more.
43Roy P. Basler (ed.), The Collected Works of Abiaham Lincoln (8 vols.; New Bruns-
wick, 1953), IV, 279 n. (quotation). The number of white males in Texas aged twenty to
fifty totaled 91,197 in 186o; there were 33,191 male slaves between those ages who would
have needed watching. Population of the United States in x86o, pp. 476, 482-483. Esti-
mates vary as to the number of Texans who served in the Confederacy. One historian
put the figure at betwen 50,ooo and 6o,ooo, while another has suggested 88,ooo. Ralph A.
Wooster and Robert Wooster, "'Rarin' for a Fight': Texans in the Confederate Army,"
SHQ, LXXXIV (Apr., 1981), 399-400oo.
44James D. Richardson (ed.), Messages and Papers of the Presidents (1o vols.; Wash-
ington, D.C., 1896-1899), VI, 13-14.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985, periodical, 1984/1985; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101210/m1/178/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.