Texas Almanac, 1956-1957 Page: 66
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TEXAS ALMANAC-1956-1957
by United States forces. On Jan. 1, 1863,
however, the Confederate forces under
Gen. John B. Magruder recaptured Gal-
veston, attacking simultaneously by land
and sea. Galveston remained in the hands
of the Confederates until the end of the
war.
In September, 1863, Sabine Pass was
attacked by gunboats of the United States
Navy convoyming a force of 5,000 soldiers,
whom it hoped could be landed for an in-
vasion of Southeast Texas. A force at
Sabine Pass under Lieut. Dick Dowling
hotly resisted the federal attack and re-
pulsed it with heavy losses. There was
also United States Army activity along
the Mexican border in the Rio Grande
Valley where a lucrative business had
grown up in the export of cotton which
was bringing a fabulous price at the time
because of the federal blockade of all
Confederate ports. It was in the Lower
Valley in May, 1865, that the last shot of
the War Between the States was fired.
Pendleton Murrah was elected to suc-
ceed Lubbock and served from Nov. 5,
1863, to June 17, 1865, when he fled to
Mexico with the fall of the Confederacy.
Gen. E. Kirby Smith, who commanded the
Confederate department including Texas,
surrendered May 30, following Lee's sur-
render April 9. After the departure of
Governor Murrah for Mexico, *Lieut.
Gov. Fletcher S. Stockdale became Gov-
ernor, but Gen. Gordon Granger of the
United States Army had been placed in
command of Texas, and A. J. Hamilton
was appointed Governor by President An-
drew Johnson.
Reconstruction in Texas.
Outright military rule lasted only a
short time, but even after constitutional
government was set up under the new
regime, the institution of the "ironclad
oath" barred from participation in elec-
tions practically the entire body of citi-
zenry who had controlled state policies
prior to the War Between the States. The
state was flooded with fortune seekers
and adventurers from the North who
came to be known as Carpetbaggers be-
cause it was said, they came with all
their possessions in a single carpetbag.
Southerners who joined in the Recon-
struction, as members of the Republican
party, were known as Scalawags.
A noteworthy event of that disorderly
time was the robbery of the State Treas-
ury, June 11, 1865, by a band of about
forty outlaws. They obtained approxi-
mately $17,000 before being driven off by
a hastily organized company of Austin
citizens. There was about $100,000 in
gold and silver in the Treasury at the
time.
Governor Hamilton served from June
17, 186, to Aug. 9, 1866. A Reconstruc-
tion convention, to which Unionist citi-
zens selected delegates, met in Austin
Feb. 10, 1866, and declared acts of the
secession convention void. A Constitution
was adopted harmonizing with the Fed-
eral Constitution and an election ordered
*There is a question as to whether Stockdale
actually became Governor before Governor Hamil-
ton was appointed. Some historians think that he
should not be included among those who served
in this office.in July, at which J. W. Throckmorton
was elected Governor.
Pease Administration
Governor Throckmorton served from
Aug. 9, 1866, to Aug. 8, 1867. After much
conflict in the United States Congress,
however, Texas, with the remainder of
the South, was placed under military
rule. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan was put in
command of the district, including Texas.
Throckmorton and Sheridan could not
agree on policy and the Governor was re-
moved. Elisha M. Pease, who had served
as Governor from 1854 to 1857, inclusive,
was appointed Governor. Pease served
from Aug. 8, 1867, until Sept. 30, 1869, a
period ot great confusion.
A constitutional convention was con-
vened in Austin June 1, 1868, but after
much bitter wrangling recessed, meeting
again in December and in February, 1869.
The convention, which had consisted only
of "radical" or extreme Unionist citizens,
and had been constantly under military
domination, did not finish its work. The
document was finished by the Secretary
of State under military orders and
adopted by popular ballot (of those then
having the privilege) on Nov. 30, 1869.
Governor Pease, a Unionist but stanch
Texas patriot, had become discouraged
and resigned Sept. 30. For several months
there was an interregnum without a head
of the Texas civil government. In the
November election, at which the Consti-
tution was ratiftled, Edmund J. Davis was
elected Governor.
The Union Leagues had sprung up in
Texas during the two preceding years,
dominated by "radical" whites, but main-
taining political power locally and in the
State Government, largely through the
Negro vote. The secret, oath-bound Ku
Klux Klan sprang up in Texas, as in
other states of the South, and exerted an
influence in opposition to the Union
Leagues until removal of requirement of
the "ironclad oath" permitted the former
dominant political element to regain con-
trol of the state.
Bitter controversy marked the admini-
stration of Governor Davis (Jan. 8, 1870,
to Jan. 15, 1874). The "radical" element
was in control because of disfranchise-
ment of most Southern syinpathizers
through the "ironclad oath." Davis' newly
organized state police force was unpopu-
lar. In his favor were his efforts to im-
prove the school system.
Texas Re-enters Union
Texas was readmitted to the Union,
March 30, 1870, after ratifying the Thir-
teenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend-
ments to the Federal Constitution. The
"ironclad oath" was removed and the
radical or Carpetbag, element lost con-
trol of Legislature during the second
biennium of Davis' administration, which
was four years under the Constitution of
1869.
Coke Vs. Davis
Reconstruction and Carpetbag.rule fi-
nally ended with the defeat of Davis, Re-
publican, by Richard Coke, Democrat, in
December, 1873, by a vote of 85,549 to
42,633, but not until after a final crisis.
Davis contested the election "and was
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Texas Almanac, 1956-1957, book, 1955; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117138/m1/68/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.