The western frontier of Texas was again being ravaged by Indian raids in
1864. The Frontier Regiment still existed; but, once it was accepted
into Confederate service, all but four of its companies were transferred
to East Texas. These four companies and a small command known as
Bourland's Border Regiment, stationed near the Red River, simply could
not safeguard the state's extensive line of settlement against heavy
Indian attacks.[93] In one raid six hundred Comanches and Kiowas
depredated the Elm Creek locality in Young County.[94] The only help
that the Texas government could offer the hard-pressed frontiersmen was
advice to "fort up" for security. In explaining this means of defense, a
state general order stressed the need for "getting together & building
blockhouses and stockade to live in. Four, five, or more families might
get together in this way, & thus insure the safety of the women &
children."[95] Buck Barry, an experienced Indian fighter, described an
ideal stockade as four houses fenced together with picket logs and
featuring two log bastions on opposite corners to allow sharpshooters to
cover all approaches.[96] Until well after the end of the great
sectional struggle, Texas frontier families relied on this passive
defensive means during frequent periods of Indian unrest.
With the arrival of spring, 1864, the Federals commenced an invasion up
the Red River that was expected to penetrate into Texas. Again General
Banks had charge of the expedition. This time his forces moved up the
Red River while another Union column pushed southward through Arkansas.
The objective of both Federal armies was Shreveport. By late March,
General Kirby Smith had received communications that convinced him of
the seriousness of these two enemy columns. In all, the enemy forces
were estimated to total 50,000 foot soldiers and 8,000 cavalry troops.
Major General Richard Taylor, in command of Confederate forces in
western Louisiana, and Major General Sterling Price, Confederate
commander in Arkansas, were both instructed to pull back cautiously
toward Shreveport before the Federal advances. The two commanders were
also warned to avoid heavy clashes with the invaders unless success was
sure to follow for the Southerners.[97] General Kirby Smith warned
Governor Murrah of the situation: "It is my duty to advise you that your
State, especially, in its Northern Section, is threatened with immediate
invasion, that the means at my disposal are comparatively small and
inadequate, and I urge upon you the necessity of putting immediately
every armed man in Texas into the field."[98]
In answer to this situation, drastic means were taken to force men into
uniform. Shirkers were arrested and forced into military service, and
troops detailed to non-combatant jobs were returned to active commands.
Confederate regiments at guard positions in Texas were shifted to
Louisiana, while defense of the Gulf ports was left to state
soldiers.[99] In the meanwhile, Major General F. Steele and the Union
forces in Arkansas pushed across the Little Missouri River to within two
hundred miles of Banks, who had now secured Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Then, on April 8, 1864, as Banks' invaders occupied Pleasant Hill,
Louisiana, and advanced to within three miles of Mansfield, Louisiana,
General Taylor committed his forces in a desperate attempt to throw back
the Federals. After a hard fought battle Banks' army was defeated and
compelled to retreat to Pleasant Hill. Taylor's men retained close
contact with the retreating Federals and after equally hard fighting on
the second day, the Confederate commander could report that the Union
troops were undertaking a night withdrawal to the Red River near
Natchitoches. Later Southern reports claimed a Union rout on the first
day and a definite check on enemy counter-attack on the second day.[100]
When Union prisoners captured in this fighting were asked what had
caused their retreat, some of them claimed that it was "them 'durned
Texans' hollerin' that scared them."[101] Texas troops especially
enjoyed the capturing of
A regiment of New York Zouaves all dressed in red flannel trousers,
looking somewhat like ladies' bloomers of later times. They wore
dainty red caps with tassels and made a sight for the Texans to look
at, and when they were marching by and were halted, the Texas troops
pretended to get mad, swore because they had been compelled to fight
women. Some of them threw down their guns and declared that if they
were to fight any more women they would go home. The Zouaves thought
the Texas boys were in earnest and protested loudly that they were not
women.[102]
Banks eventually withdrew to Alexandria, barely saving his fleet, which
was almost stranded upstream by a sudden fall in the Red River.[103]
Meanwhile, in late April, Price forced an enemy retreat in Arkansas. At
Poison Springs, Marks' Mill, and Jenkins' Ferry, General Steele was
repulsed and his command pressed northward. Thus, the overall Union plan
to converge on Shreveport was frustrated and Kirby Smith's men had
victoriously repulsed overwhelming numbers.
Although Richmond was delighted to hear this news, these successes in
the Trans-Mississippi West had a strange effect on the thinking of
Confederate leaders. President Jefferson Davis and the War Department
suddenly came to look on Kirby Smith's scattered, unpaid, and poorly
organized army of 30,000 men as a powerful source of reinforcements for
hard-pressed Confederate commands to the east of the Mississippi River.
Orders were issued for heavy portions of Kirby Smith's army to cross the
great river in August, 1864. At the last moment, however, these plans
were cancelled--partly because of the near impossibility of the river
crossing operation and partly because of heated protests from General
Kirby Smith. While the War Office was justified in seeking relief for
the divisions in the east, Kirby Smith made it clear that his regiments
were barely capable of securing the Southwest. The loss of any
appreciable number of men would spell sure doom for his department.[104]
While Texas now seemed temporarily safe from military advances, other
signs of weakness were to be observed. Confederate paper dollars came to
be worth only twenty cents or thirty cents in specie. Texas tried to
correct this condition by issuing state treasury warrants, but this
paper likewise suffered a drastic drop in real value as the war
continued.[105] The heavily indebted state pressed Richmond for payment
of defense claims; but unfortunately for Texas, these claims were never
honored.[106] As for cotton sales in Mexico, this one great source of
revenue for the Lone Star State was very poorly managed. Due to
conflicting rules set down by the Confederate government, by the
departmental commander, by the state military district commander, and by
the state civil government, the entire commerce was badly hampered.[107]
Added to this were the manipulations of dishonest state and Confederate
purchasing and marketing agents. About the only successful cotton
brokers were those men who flaunted the laws and smuggled bales across
the Rio Grande.
Other serious weaknesses in Texas were a continued scarcity of weapons,
a shortage of laborers that forced the Confederate authorities to
impress slaves, and refusals on the part of civilians to sell supplies
to the army that ultimately resulted in impressments.[108] As for the
citizens, they were oppressed by high taxes, inflation, and shortages of
basic necessities. By late 1864 shoes cost $30, watermelons sold at $5
each, coffee brought $10 per pound when it was available, and one woman
reportedly paid $90 for a yard and a half of denim material.[109] Salt
was so scarce that many people dug up the floors of their smoke-houses
and leached the soil to regain the saline drippings. Toothbrushes
consisted of the chewed ends of twigs. Whole dishes were scarce and were
handled with loving care. Paper, quinine, and tea were almost impossible
to find.[110] Finally, the overall unhealthy situation of the times was
aggravated by unconfirmed reports of Unionist uprisings in the state,
unwarranted speculation on future invasions of Texas, and dozens of
extremely wild rumors.[111]