USA > Texas > A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to A.D. 1879. Embracing the periods of missions, colonization, the revolution the republic, and the state; also, a topographical description of the country together with its Indian tribes and their wars, and biographical sketches of hundreds of its leading historical characters. Also, a list of the countries, with historical and topical notes, and descriptions of the public institutions of the state > Part 25
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397
THE CONSCRIPT LAW.
No other important engagement took place in Texas until September 6th, when a fleet of twenty-odd sail appeared off the coast at Sabine Pass. The fort erected to defend the Pass had only forty-one men, under Lieutenant Dowling. Three or four vessels entered the harbor and commenced bombarding the fort. When the vessels arrived within good range, the guns of the fort were opened upon them, and in a few minutes two of the ships were disabled; and the others left the harbor. The two disabled gunboats, the "Sachem " and "Clifton," with all their armaments and crews, were captured. This gallant achievement of a few men saved the Texas coast from a formidable threatened invasion.
During Governor Lubbock's administration, the conscript law was enacted and enforced in Texas. This, in its various provisions, placed every man liable to military duty in the ranks. In the Governor's message to the Legislature, in November, 1863, he says : "I again suggest the importance of declaring by law, that every male person, from sixteen years old and upwards, not totally unfit, be declared to be in the military service of the State; that no exemptions be allowed other than those recognized by the Constitution ; and that no one be permitted to furnish a substitute. I am clearly of the opinion that exemptions and the right to furnish substitutes is working great injury to the country, and should be abolished, both by the State and Confederate Government." The Governor states that about ninety thousand men had entered the Confederate service from Texas, besides "minute companies" not liable, under the present law, to military. duty. The highest vote the State had ever polled was 64,027.
April 28th, 1862, General Bee, in command at San An- tonio, proclaimed martial law over the western sub-military district, and on the 30th of May following, General Hebert proclaimed martial law over the whole State, in the follow- ing General Order :
398
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TEXAS, Houston, May 30, 1862.
[General Order No. 45.]
I. The following Proclamation is published for the information of all concerned :
PROCLAMATION.
II. I, P. O. Hebert, Brigadier General Provisional Army, Confederate States of America, do proclaim that Martial Law is extended over the State of Texas.
Every white male person above the age of sixteen years, being temporarily or otherwise; within the aforesaid limits, shall upon a summons issued by the Provost Marshal, promptly present himself before said Provost Marshal to have his name, residence, and occupation registered, and to furnish such information as may be required of him: And such as claim to be aliens shall be sworn to the effect that they will abide by and maintain the laws of this State and the Confederate States, so long as they are permitted to reside therein, and that they will not convey to our enemies any informa- tion whatever, or do any act injurious to the interest of the country.
All orders issued by the Provost Marshals in the execution of their duties, shall be promptly obeyed. Any disobedience of summons emanating from them shall be dealt with summarily. All officers commanding troops will promptly comply with any requisitions made upon them by Provost Marshals for aid or assistance.
Any attempt to depreciate the currency of the Confederate States is an act of hostility ; will be treated as such and visited with summary punish- ment.
No interference with the rights of loyal citizens, or with the usual routine of business, or with the usual civil administration of the law, will be per- mitted, except where necessary to enforce the provisions of this Proclamation. By order of BRIGADIER GENERAL P. O. HEBERT, Provisional Army C. S., Commanding Department of Texas. SAMUEL BOYER DAVIS,
Captain and Assistant Adjutant General.
On the 21st of November, 1862, General Hebert issued an order prohibiting the exportation of cotton, except by authorized agents of the Government. In February, 1863, General Magruder issued a new cotton order, imposing additional restrictions upon the exportation of cotton across the Rio Grande. The papers generally condemned this interference with trade, as preventing the people from pro- curing necessary supplies ; and in April the Commanding General issued another "order" revoking all previous
399
MURRAH ELECTED GOVERNOR.
" cotton orders," and permitting planters, who could procure teamsters not subject to conscription, to export any amount of cotton. But it was but a short time before other restric- tions were placed upon the Rio Grande trade.
At the election held August 3d, 1863, Pendleton Murrah was elected Governor, and Fletcher S. Stockdale, Lieutenant Governor .*
* For Governor there were polled: For Murrah, 17,511; T. J. Chambers, 12,455; scattering, 1,070-total, 31,036. For Lieutenant Governor: F. S. Stockdale, 11,152; Stephen H. Darden, 8,083; A. M. Gentry, 4,400; P. W. Kittrell, 4,163; scattering, 3.
Executive Officers .- R. J. Towns, Secretary of State ; C. R. Johns, Comp- troller; C. M. Randolph, Treasurer; Stephen Crosby, Land Commissioner; J. Y. Dashiell, Adjutant General; N. C. Shelly, Attorney General.
During this administration a change gradually took place in the public mind. At its commencement, the great mass of the people cheerfully, even enthusiastically sustained the newly-formed Confederacy, and they promptly submitted to every law and every order deemed necessary to success. A great majority looked upon the establishment of the Confederacy as an accom- plished fact; and believed that its recognition by the governments of Europe, and the United States itself, was only a question of time. But the events of two years-the surrender of New Orleans and Memphis in 1862, and the fall of Vicksburg in 1863, began to beget doubts of final success. Again- at first the farmers obeyed, without a protest, the various " cotton orders" as they were issued from " Headquarters." But observation of the working of these changing " orders," created a suspicion that they operated to the injury of the planter, and inured more to the benefit of speculators than the Confederate government; and this without impugning the motives of the commanding generals. Again, the conscript law and the confiscation laws were enforced a little too vigorously. Some in feeble health were pushed into the army, who ought to have been at home under the care of a doctor, and with their friends and families. In some instances, persons who had spent a lifetime in Texas were accidentally in the North, and did not, or perhaps could not, return to their homes. Their property was seized by the receivers and confiscated.
But the subject of most dissatisfaction was the proclamation of martial law; and the manner of its enforcement. It was not intended, originally, to interfere with men in legitimate business. But under the rulings of young lieutenants, citizens were prohibited from going to a neighboring county seat without a passport. Venerable men, who had spent forty years in Texas, felt humiliated, when they had to travel a considerable distance to obtain from a young lieutenant permission to visit a relative, or transact some item of business in a neighborhood out of their county. While many complied even with the requirements of the "order" for the good of the
400
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Pendleton Murrah was inaugurated Governor November 5th, 1863. A large number of refugees from Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri had entered Texas with their slaves ; the season had been propitious, and overwhelming crops of corn and cotton had been produced ; the latter crop supposed to amount to three hundred thousand bales, the largest Texas had ever produced. Nearly every family had been fur- nished with wheels and looms, and an abundance of cloth was manufactured. The trade across the Rio Grande, and that carried on by running the blockade, kept the people tolerably well supplied with such necessaries as could not be produced in the State. But, while thus rejoicing in the exemption from calamities incident to the war in other States, the cheerful spirit which pervaded the people during the first years of the war was evidently on the wane.
cause, others thought it an intolerable infringement of the rights of freemen. One editor, for his severe strictures upon the measure, was threatened with arrest and imprisonment. From its first promulgation there were some who denounced this order. Among the foremost were A. HI. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy; W. S. Oldham, one of the Senators from Texas, and others of less note. A few weeks after martial law was pro- claimed in Texas, ex-Governor Houston, then in retirement, wrote an earnest protest against it to Governor Lubbock, exhorting the Governor to see that the laws of the State were properly enforced, and reminding him that he is the sworn Executive. Houston says: " A proclamation issued by General Hebert, in May last, and I presume not revoked, is the most extra- ordinary document I have ever seen, and I venture to say ever seen in any country, unless it was where despotic sway was the only rule of law. In that proclamation he abrogates all powers of your Excellency, as Governor of the State, ignores the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Laws, and arrogates to himself undefined and unlimited powers. By this proclamation of martial law, he has created provost marshals, who are authorized to remove citizens, upon suspicion, out of the State without trial; and call in the military to aid in the execution of the provost marshal's pleasure or will; and has established an inquisition to all male persons over the age of sixteen." More than six months elapsed before this letter was given to the public. It then appeared in the columns of the Houston Telegraph. The murmuring against the law had become so deep that it found utterance in the language of the old hero of San Jacinto. Houston was now in declining health, and died a few weeks later. It produced a profonnd impression, especially upon the old Texans, who looked upon this letter as the venerable patriarch's dying protest against military usurpations.
401
THE FINANCIAL QUESTION.
The financial question was becoming more and more per- plexing. The Legislature authorized the collectors to receive Confederate money at par for taxes, and to pay all officers of the Government in the same currency, and that when in the market it was worth only about three or four cents on the dollar. People paid their taxes promptly, but the salary of the Governor or any other State officer would hardly buy his cigars, if he indulged in smoking. To con- sider this, and other questions, he convened an extra session of the Legislature, on the 11th of May, 1864. But that body could devise no plan of relief which did not recognize the depreciation of Confederate currency, and that they were still unwilling to do. They did, however, provide for exchanging the old for the new issue of Confederate bills.
The Federals having failed to effect a landing on the eastern coast of Texas, next directed their attention to breaking up the trade carried on through Brownsville and Matamoras. On the day of Murrah's inauguration, Gen- eral Banks took possession of Brownsville, General Bee retiring towards the interior of the State. Banks did not attempt to penetrate the interior, but advanced along the coast, in conjunction with a fleet of gun-boats. But few Confederates had been left in the West, and these were more for picket duty than fighting, and retired as the Federals· advanced. The Federals took possession of Corpus Christi November 15th, Aransas Pass on the 17th, Mustang Island on the 18th, and Pass Cavallo and St. Joseph Island on the 30th. Indianola was occupied by them on the 13th of December, and Lavaca on the 26th. A small party of Federals crossed over to the Matagorda peninsula. A company of Confederates, under Captain Rugely, of Matagorda, in attempting to cut off this party, were caught in open boats by a fierce norther, and fourteen of his men perished. It was expected that Banks would advance up the coast and attempt the capture of Galveston ; but after a few weeks, his army retired from Indianola,
402
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
and, with the exception of a small garrison at Brownsville and Brazos St. Jago, evacuated Texas.
No sooner was the West relieved from the presence of an invading army, than the East was threatened. Mata- gorda Bay was evacuated on the 13th of March, and on the 23d of the same month, Banks took possession of Alexan- dria, near our eastern line. General J. Kirby Smith, who, since January, 1864, had been in command of the Trans- Mississippi Department, ordered a rapid concentration of troops to intercept the new advance of the Federals. A number of battles were soon fought; that of Mansfield, April 8th, and Pleasant Hill on the 9th. The battle of Blair's Landing was fought April 14th. The Federals had been effectually checked, and on the 26th of April General Steele retreated to Little Rock, and Banks to Alex- andria. After the retreat began the battle of Yellow Bayou was fought, May 18th.
On the 12th of March, 1864, General Grant was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces. He at once began to concentrate the troops into two grand armies ; one in the West, under Sherman, for the capture of Atlanta, and a march to the sea ; and the other under his own imme- diate command for the capture of Richmond. The Trans- Mississippi Department was thus relieved from active participation in the ensuing campaign. General J. C. . Walker was appointed to the command in Texas, and General Magruder was assigned to duty under General Smith, in Arkansas.
Though Texas was free from the presence of an invading army, the people were not relieved of the burdens and inconveniences of war. Cotton continued to be in great demand. The Confederate officers wanted it; the State Military Board wanted it; county courts were authorized to export cotton to procure necessaries for soldiers' families ; and parties engaged in importing machinery for factories, were authorized to take out cotton. So many demands,
Richardson
STERLING C. ROBERTSON.
405
COMPLAINT AGAINST THE MILITARY.
some of them made imperatively, upon the planter, pro- duced exasperation. Further than that, it brought on a conflict of jurisdiction. Governor Murrah, in his message to the extra session of the Legislature, refers to this sub- ject as follows : "Subordinate officers on the Rio Grande, claiming to act under instructions from officers higher in rank in the Confederate States' service, have interfered with cotton transported under the authority of the State, and have delayed and prevented its exportation. I am informed by Colonel E. B. Nichols, agent of the State, that they have prevented cotton, belonging to the Military Board, from being exported They have thus interposed themselves between the State and the execution of her laws, the provid- ing of means for her defense and to clothe her people."
Not only were cotton and teams impressed for the use of the army, but officers were sent to the leading planters in the best portions of the State, to measure their corn-cribs. A census was then taken of the number of whites and slaves, and mules and horses on the plantation. A liberal amount was left to supply the persons and animals, and the overplus was taken for the army.
Governor Murrah had other grounds of complaint against the military authorities. At the regular session of the Legislature in 1863-64, a law had been passed for organ- izing a reserve corps, under the authority of the State, of all under fifty years of age. Many of this class of men were already in the field when a new conscript act was passed, including those between forty-five and fifty years. The law authorized them to organize into companies, &c., before being formally transferred to the Confederate ser- vice. The Governor, after consulting General Magruder, fixed a day for these troops to organize; but after the law of the Confederate Congress reached the Trans-Mississippi Department, Magruder proceeded to act independently of the State authority. We again quote from the Governor's message :
406
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
"Major General Magruder, so soon as the recent Act of Conscription, passed by Congress, was published in the Trans-Mississippi Department, declined receiving the State troops, as State troops, in any form of organi- zation, although tendered to him, and expressed his determination to rely alone upon the law of Congress for troops. This law was published in Houston, according to my recollection, about the 20th of March, and the troops in the four districts already named were then assembling in their brigade encampments, to be organized as the law of the State required, and in conformity with General Orders No. 13, issued by himself, with my con- sent, after they had been continued in service, as State troops, by my orders already referred to. The position assumed by Gen. Magruder virtually in- volved the assumption that the law of Congress annulled the laws the Leg- islature enacted, and that the Confederate military officers were thereby authorized to break up a military organization, formed under the authority of the State as a reserve auxiliary corps, embracing men never before em- braced by any legislation of the Confederate Government, and designed to perform nearly the same service, and to accomplish the same ends, as those proposed by the law of Congress. Of course, I need not state that my opinions did not at all accord with his, on this subject, and that I so repre- sented to him. I preferred that the State organization should be completed and that the troops should go to the field as State troops, at least until the Legislature should ineet and dispose of the embarrassing question, by transferring them regularly to the Confederate service, in a body; or to be organized in conformity with, and for the purposes indicated by the Con- script Act, and by adjusting the legislation of the State to that of Congress, if that body should deem it proper so to do. I insisted upon this, as the only proper and legitimate course to be pursued-but Gen. Magruder did not accede to my views."
The Governor ventured still further ; and severely criti- cised some of the provisions of the new Conscript Law :
"The recent Act of Conscription, passed by Congress, exempts from mil- itary service 'the Vice-President of the Confederate States, the members and officers of Congress, of the several Legislatures, and such other Confed- erate and State officers as the President or the Executives of the respective States may certify to be necessary, for the proper administration of the Confederate and State Governments, as the case may be.' Has Congress the power to invest by law, the President of the Confederate States with authority to strip the general government of these States of the officers pro- vided for their administration by the Constitution and laws? Has the Confederate Government the power to vest the Executive of a sovereign State, or any other officer, with authority to displace the officers pro. vided for its administration by the Constitution and Laws of that State?
"I will not argue these questions, and thereby leave the implication of doubt on my mind as to them. There can be but one answer given to them -that answer must be in the negative.
407
THE CIVIL WAR NEARLY ENDED.
"The Constitution and laws of Texas have not only provided, but have determined, the officers necessary to the administration of the Government -and they are, in their respective offices, discharging the duties imposed upon them by the authority referred to.
"It is the duty of the Executive of the State to respect and execute its laws, and to see that its Constitution is not violated. These obligations are imposed on him by a solemn oath. He is nowhere empowered to veto or nullify laws already in force, nor to set aside provisions of the Constitu- tion."
The civil war was rapidly approaching the end. General Lee surrendered the main army at Spottsylvania Court House on the 9th of April, 1865; Johnston surrendered the army under his command, April 26th; and General Taylor, May 6th. The last battle of the war was fought in Western Texas, at the old Palo Alto battle-ground, on the 13th of May.
May 25th Governor Murrah issued three proclamations : one commanding civil officers to preserve public property ; another convening an extra session of the Legislature; and a third ordering an election for delegates to a convention. The last two were set aside by the Federal Commander. Without formal orders, the soldiers disbanded by common consent, and returned to their homes, taking such public property as they could carry with them. As might have been expected, a scene of confusion and disorder ensued, in which, in some instances, private property was taken by irresponsible parties.
On the 30th of May, Generals Smith and Magruder went on board a Federal vessel, in the harbor at Galveston, and formally surrendered the Trans-Mississippi Depart- ment. General Granger, of the United States army, landed on the 19th of June, and assumed command. He an- nounced the emancipation of the slaves, and the suspension of all legislative enactments inconsistent with the laws of the United States .*
*Executive officers : R. J. Towns, Secretary of State ; C. R. Johns, Comp- troller; C. M. Randolph, Treasurer; Stephen Crosby, Land Commissioner; D. B. Culbertson, Adjutant-General; William Stedman, Attorney-General.
408
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Judicial Officers: R. T. Wheeler, Chief Justice; George F. Moore and James H. Bell, Associates. There were twenty judicial districts in the State, and two Confederate District Courts, presided over by Wm. Pinckney Hill, and Thomas J. Devine.
Confederate Officers: John H. Reagan was Postmaster-General. The Convention in 1861, sent the following delegates to the Convention at Montgomery, Alabama: John H. Reagan, Lewis T. Wigfall, John Hemp- hill, William S. Oldham, John Gregg, and William B. Ochiltree. Lewis T. Wigfall and William S. Oldham represented Texas in the Senate: and during the Confederacy, the following gentlemen represented Texas in the House : John A. Wilcox, C. C. Herbert, Peter W. Gray, B. F. Sexton, M. D. Graham, William B. Wright, A. M. Branch, John R. Baylor, S. H. Morgan, Stephen H. Darden, and A. P. Wiley.
Mr. Murrah was a native of South Carolina. Educated in the political school of Mr. Calhoun, he believed in State Rights and State Sovereignty. With his positive convictions and determined will, he could not adjust him- self to the actual situation when he became Governor of the State. Military "orders" set aside State laws and denuded the Executive Office of its authority. We believe that under more favorable auspices Pendleton Mur- rah would have made a good Governor. As it was, his administration was unsatisfactory to himself, offensive to the military commanders, and of little benefit to the State. His fate excites our commisseration. When the armies surrendered, he left the State and his country. Sincerely attached to a cause now "lost," he lost hope and soon afterward died in Mexico.
CHAPTER IV.
FIRST RECONSTRUCTION-HAMILTON'S ADMINISTRATION-REGISTRATION OF LOYAL VOTERS-ELECTION-CONVENTION-HAMILTON'S MESSAGE-THROCKMORTON'S AD- MINISTRATION-GOVERNMENTS IN THE SOUTHERN STATES DECLARED PROVISIONAL, ONLY-SHERIDAN'S ORDER ON ASSUMING COMMAND-NEW REGISTRATION-IRON CLAD OATH-THROCKMORTON REMOVED-SECOND RECONSTRUCTION-PEASE'S AD- MINISTRATION-HANCOCK IN COMMAND-SECOND RECONSTRUCTION CONVENTION- AB INITIO CONTROVERSY-SUFFRAGE BILL-PROTEST OF THE AB INITIOS-CONVEN_ TION DISSOLVES-ELECTION.
0 N the 29th of May, 1865, President Johnson issued his Amnesty Proclamation, and on the 17th of June ap- pointed Andrew J. Hamilton, Provisional Governor of Texas. Mr. Hamilton arrived in Galveston July 21st, and on the 25th issued a proclamation, announcing his appoint- ment, and assuming the duties of his office. This was a period of transition in which the laws of Congress and the instructions of President Johnson shaped the course both of the officers and people of the State. In due time Gov- ernor Hamilton appointed boards of registration in each county, authorized to administer the amnesty oath and register such as were, under the reconstruction acts, allowed to vote,-those "loyal to the United States, and none others." By proclamation of the Governor, an election was held January 8th, 1866, for delegates to a Convention to form a new Constitution. Very little interest was mani- fested in the election. In his message to the Convention, Governor Hamilton said : " I would be wanting in candor if I did not declare that the apathy manifested by the people, in the recent election, fills me with deep concern. From the returns made to the Department of State, and the reports that have reached me from various portions of the State, there is reason to believe that less than half the voters participated in the election."
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