Texas Almanac, 2002-2003 Page: 46
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Texas Almanac 2002-2003
Runnels was nominated for governor at the Democratic
convention held in Waco.
Sam Houston sought the governorship as an inde-
pendent, but he also got Know-Nothing backing. Demo-
crats were organized, however, and Houston was dealt
the only election defeat in his political career.
Runnels was a strong states'-rights Democrat who
irritated many Texans during his administration by
advocating reopening the slave trade. His popularity on
the frontier also dropped when Indian raids became
more severe.
Most Texans still were ambivalent about secession.
The Union was seen as a protector of physical and eco-
nomic stability. No threats to person or property were
perceived in remaining attached to the United States.
In 1859, Houston again challenged Runnels, basing
his campaign on Unionism. Combined with Houston's
personal popularity, his position on the secession issue
apparently satisfied most voters, for they gave him a
solid victory over the more radical Runnels. In addition,
Unionists AJ. Hamilton and John H. Reagan won the
state's two congressional seats. Texans gave the states'-
rights Democrats a sound whipping at the polls.
Within a few months, however, events were to
change radically the political atmosphere of the state.
On the frontier, the army could not control Indian raids,
and with the later refusal of a Republican-controlled
Congress to provide essential aid in fighting Indians, the
federal government fell into disrepute.
Secessionists played on the growing distrust. Then
in the summer of 1860, a series of fires in the cities
around the state aroused fears that an abolitionist plot
was afoot and that a slave uprising might be at hand - a
traditional concern in a slaveholding society.
Vigilantes lynched blacks and Northerners across
Texas, and a siege mentality developed.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected president (he
was not on the ballot in Texas), secessionists went to
work in earnest.
Pleas were made to Gov. Houston to call the Legis-
lature into session to consider secession. Houston
refused, hoping the passions would cool. They did not.
Finally, Oran M. Roberts and other secessionist lead-
ers issued a call to the counties to hold elections and
send delegates to a convention in Austin. Ninety-two of
122 counties responded, and on Jan. 28, 1861, the meet-
ing convened.
Only eight delegates voted against secession, while
166 supported it. An election was called for Feb. 23,
1861, and the ensuing campaign was marked by intoler-
ance and violence. Opponents of secession were often
intimidated - except the governor, who courageously
stumped the state opposing withdrawal from the Union.
Houston also argued that if Texas did secede it should
revert to its status as an independent republic and not
join the Confederacy.
Only one-fourth of the state's population had been in
Texas during the days of independence, and the argu-
ment carried no weight. On election day, 76 percent of
61,000 voters favored secession.
President Lincoln, who took office within a couple
of weeks, reportedly sent the Texas governor a letter
offering 50,000 federal troops to keep Texas in the
Union. But after a meeting with other Unionists, Hous-
ton declined the offer. "I love Texas too well to bringstrife and bloodshed upon her," the governor declared.
On March 16, Houston refused to take an oath of
loyalty to the Confederacy and was replaced in office by
Lt. Gov. Edward Clark.
Civil War
Texas did not suffer the devastation of its Southern
colleagues in the Civil War. On but a few occasions did
Union troops occupy territory in Texas, except in the El
Paso area.
The state's cotton was important to the Confederate
war effort because it could be transported from Gulf
ports when other Southern shipping lanes were block-
aded.
Some goods became difficult to buy, but unlike other
states of the Confederacy, Texas still received consumer
goods because of the trade that was carried on through
Mexico during the war.
Although accurate figures are not available, histori-
ans estimate that between 70,000 and 90,000 Texans
fought for the South, and between 2,000 and 3,000,
including some former slaves, saw service in the Union
army.
Texans became disenchanted with the Confederate
government early in the war. State taxes were levied for
the first time since the Compromise of 1850, and by
war's end, the Confederacy had collected more than $37
million from the state.
But most of the complaints about the government
centered on Brig. Gen. Paul O. Hebert, the Confederate
commander of the Department of Texas.
In April 1862, Gen. Hebert declared martial law
without notifying state officials. Opposition to the
South's new conscription law, which exempted persons
owning more than 15 slaves among other categories of
exemptions, prompted the action.
In November 1862, the commander prohibited the
export of cotton except under government control, and
this proved a disastrous policy.
The final blow came when Gen. Hebert failed to
defend Galveston and it fell into Union hands in the fall
of 1862.
Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder, who replaced
Hebert, was much more popular. The new commander's
first actions were to combat the Union offensive against
Texas ports. Sabine Pass had been closed in September
1862 by the Union blockade, and Galveston was in
Northern hands.
On Jan. 1, 1863, Magruder retook Galveston with
the help of two steamboats lined with cotton bales.
Sharpshooters aboard proved devastating in battles
against the Union fleet. Three weeks later, Magruder
used two other cotton-clad steamboats to break the
Union blockade of Sabine Pass, and two of the state's
major ports were reopened.
Late in 1863, the Union launched a major offensive
against the Texas coast that was partly successful. On
Sept. 8, however, Lt. Dick Dowling and 42 men fought
off a 1,500-man Union invasion force at Sabine Pass. In
a brief battle, Dowling's command sank two Union gun-
boats and put the other invasion ships to flight.
Federal forces were more successful at the mouth of
the Rio Grande. On Nov. 1, 1863, 7,000 Union troops
landed at Brazos Santiago, and five days later, Union
forces entered Brownsville.
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Ramos, Mary G. Texas Almanac, 2002-2003, book, 2001; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162510/m1/46/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.