Texas Almanac, 1941-1942 Page: 57
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HISTORY OF TEXAS. 57
election, but was defeated by a narrow
margin by Frank R. Lubbock.
TEXAS IN THE CONFEDERACY.
Because of its isolated position Texas
was the scene of relatively little mili-
tary action during the Civil War. The
Lubbock administration (Nov. 7, 1861, to
Nov. 5, 1863) witnessed most of Texas'
participation. An expedition under Gen.
H. H. Sibley early in 1862 captured
Santa Fe, N. M., and surrounding ter-
ritory. However, this thrust proved un-
successful because of the arrival of su-
perior numbers of United States soldiers
and the difficulties of operating distance
from base of supplies.
The most important engagements of
the war probably were the capture and
recapture of Galveston, the principal
Sort of the state. The Texas coast was
Blockaded from the beginning of the
war, and on Oct. 4, 1862, Galveston was
captured. On Jan. 1, 1863, however, the
Texas forces under General Magruder re-
captured Galveston, attacking simultane-
ously by land and sea. The attack from
the sea was made by two steamers, on
the decks of which fortifications had
been erected with bales of cotton. Gal-
veston remained in the hands of the
Confederates until the end of the war. In
September, 1863, Sabine Pass was at-
tacked by gunboats of the United States
Navy convoying a force of 5,000 soldiers,
whom it hoped could be landed for an
invasion of Southeast Texas. A force
at Sabine Pass under Lieut. Dick Dow-
ling hotly resisted the federal attack and
repulsed it with heavy losses. There was
also federal 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 due to the
federal blockade of all Confederate
ports. It was in the Lower Valley
in May, 1865, that the last shot of the
Civil War 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 o the Confederacy.
Gen. E. Kirby Smith, who commanded
the department including Texas, surren-
dered May 30, following Lee's surrender
April 9. After the departure of Gov-
ernor Murrah for Mexico, Lieut.-Gov.
Fletcher S. Stockdale became Governor,
but Gen. Gordon Granger of the United
States Army had been placed in com-
mand of Texas and A. J. Hamilton had
been appointed Governor by President
Andrew Jackson.
ERA OF RECONSTRUCTION.
Reconstruction brought the darkest
hours of Texas history except, possibly,
the brief space of the Revolutionary era
between the fall of the Alamo and San
Jacinto. Outright military rule lasted
only a short time, but even after con-
stitutional government was set up under
the new regime, the institution of the"ironclad oath" barred from participa-
tion in elections practically the entire
body of citizenry who had controlled
state policies prior to and during the
Civil War. The state was flooded with
fortune seekers and adventurers from
the North who came to be known as
Carpet-Baggers because, it was said, they
came with all their possessions in a sin-
gle carpet-bag. From their dominance
of political affairs during Reconstruc-
tion it came to be known as the era of
Carpet-Bag rule. A noteworthy event of
that disorderly time was the robbery of
the state treasury, June 11, 1865, by a
band of about forty outlaws. They ob-
tained about $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, 1865, 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 constitu-
tion was adopted harmonizing with the
Federal Constitution and an election or-
dered in July, at which J. W. Throck-
morton was elected Governor.
Governor Throckmorton served from
Aug. 9, 1866, to Aug. 8, 1867. After much
conflict in the National Congress, how-
ever, Texas, with the remainder of the
South, was placed under military rule.
Gen. Philip H. Sheridan was put in com-
mand of the district, including Texas.
Throckmorton and Sheridan could not
agree in 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 of great confusion. A constitu-
tional convention was convened in Austin
June 1, 1868, but after much bitter wran-
gling recessed, meeting again in Decem-
ber and in February, 1869. The conven-
tion, which had consisted only of "radi-
cal" or extreme unionist citizens, and
had been constantly under military dom-
ination, did not finish its work. The doc-
ument 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. Gov-
ernor Pease, a unionist but stanch Texas
patriot, became discouraged and resigned
Sept. 30. For several months there was
an interregnum without a head of the
Texas civil government. In the Novem-
ber election, at which the Constitution
was ratified, Edmund J. Davis was elect-
ed Governor.
The campaign of 1869 was attended by
much bitterness in politics. The Union
Leagues had sprung up in Texas during
the two preceding years, dominated by
"radical" whites, but maintaining po-
litical 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 in-
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Texas Almanac, 1941-1942, book, 1941; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117164/m1/59/?rotate=270: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.