Texans showed their full courage and devotion to the Civil War. In forty years, Texas sent more than seventy thousand men to fight for the Confederacy. Thirty-eight Confederate generals were from Texas. The heroic actions of the Texas soldiers won promotions for their officers.

Texas contributed a large amount of military supplies and provisions for the armies of the South. All of the state’s resources were used to the limit.

During the war, Francis R. Lubbock was elected state governor on a platform declaring full support of the Confederacy. He urged every healthy man to enlist. Lubbock placed the whole strength of Texas behind the Confederacy.

The Confederate government placed Brig.-Gen. P. O. Hebert in command of the military department of Texas. Hebert put the state under martial law and then prohibited the exportation of cotton, except by authorized government agents. Mexico was the only outlet for Texas cotton. The people objected to these actions.

With so many men away in the army, women became responsible for providing the necessities of life. With the help of the slaves, the women produced both food and clothing from the raw material to the finished products. “Many a wife or daughter of a soldier went out on the farm and bravely did the work with plow and hoe to make provisions for herself and little children.”

Dick Dowling’s defense of Sabine Pass was one of the brilliant fights of the war. He won against overwhelming odds, undoubtedly saving Texas from an invasion that might have made the state the scene of a long battle.

Source: Texas During The Civil War
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