Tyler & Smith County, Texas: An Historical Survey Page: 39
x, 287 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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pointed Superintendent of Conscripts and it was in his honor that Camp
Ford, the largest conscript camp in the county, was named. Established in
late summer of 1862 on Ray's Creek, four miles northeast of' Tyler, the
camp served as a training post for Confederate inductees until the close of
the war. These trainees also served as guards for the Federal prisoners of
war at nearby Camp Ford Prison.10
Conscripts, being the least enthusiastic to serve, caused the most
problems for military authorities as well as the civilian populace living in
the vicinity of Camp Ford. Numerous reports of theft of' personal property,
laid to the conscripts, were reported by civilians throughout the war. On
one occasion the local militia company was ordered to march on the con-
script camp and "suppress sedition".'1 Other camps of' instruction and
various military encampments were located in the county. A prominent
camp site for transient Confederate units was Camp Daniels, located at
Belzora on the Sabine River some twelve miles north of' Tyler.
While the job of recruiting and training was being undertaken, other
local enterprises to serve the Confederacy were at work. In the early spring
of 1862 the Texas Military Board was apprised of' the possibility of' a
privately owned arms factory being established in Tyler. The Secretary of'
the Board, appreciating the critical firearms shortage existing in Texas,
approached J. C. Short, Tyler gunsmith and promoter of the factory, with
a proposed contract. The board wished to know how many Mississippi
Rifles Short could produce, how fast, at what price and the availability of'
materials for mass production existing in the Tyler area.'2
Short seemed to have been overwhelmed by the proposal and answered
that he could not fill a large contract. His partners and financial backers,
W. S. N. Biscoe and George W. Yarbrough, sensing an excellent oppor-
tunity, eventually convinced Short that such an enterprise was possible.
On 1 August 1862, the firm of Short, Biscoe and Company proposed a con-
tract with the State of Texas to manufacture 5,000 Mississippi Rifles,
caliber .577, walnut stocked and double sighted at a price of' $30 each unit.
The first of January, 1864 was agreed upon as the completion date and the
state was to advance one-third of the contract price at the time of' contract,
'"Clement A. Evans, ed., Confederate Military History, 12 vols. (Atlanta: no publisher, 1899), 11: 69-
70.
"Special Orders no. 379, 436, 18-19 October 1862, S. O. no. 21, 3 December 1864, "Military Letters
and Orders Book, Tyler, Texas". Original M.S. in possession of F. Lee Lawrence, Tyler, Texas.
Hereinafter cited as Military Letters M.S.
12p. De Cordova to J. C. Short, 1 April 1862. Texas Military Board Papers, State Archives, Austin,
Texas. Hereinafter cited as Military Board M.S.
39
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Glover, Robert W. Tyler & Smith County, Texas: An Historical Survey, book, 1976; Tyler, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61117/m1/43/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .