DK - The American Civil War

OPERATIONS IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY AND TEXAS

Most of Texas remained in Confederate

hands to the end of the war. The valuable

eastern districts produced cotton and grains

and maintained slavery well into 1865.

RED RIVER CAMPAIGN

Frustrated by the failure at Sabine Pass and

determined to win east Texas and subdue the

rest of Louisiana, the Lincoln administration

authorized an incursion into northwestern

Louisiana in the spring of 1864. Two Union

armies converged on Shreveport from

Arkansas and New Orleans. Both were plagued

by poor leadership and, meeting determined

Confederate resistance, were forced to retreat.

MISSOURI AND THE INDIAN TERRITORY

Both regions were, in effect, occupied by Union

forces until the end of the war, though General

Sterling Price’s 1864 raid into Missouri briefly

drove Union forces out. In both places, however,

a vicious guerrilla war erupted that pitted

neighbors and relatives against each other.

targets, the Confederate commander

suddenly ordered his six guns to open

fire. The Union ships were pummeled

with direct hits that put the first two

gunboats out of action and blocked

the channel.

Instead of landing the infantry at an

alternate location, the Yankees were

overawed by the fierce defense, and

turned their remaining boats around,

sailing back to New Orleans. Jefferson

Davis and the Confederate Congress

acclaimed Sabine Pass as a glorious

victory and pumped up its significance

to help restore lagging Southern

morale. Special medals for each of the

47 gunners were struck to commemorate

the heroic defense, and Galveston

eventually remained the only major

Southern port still under Confederate

control at the end of the war.

AFTER

Delaware scouts

The Delaware overwhelmingly backed the Union during

the war, and acted as scouts for the army. Although

originally from the East, by 1860 most of the Delaware

people had been moved to the Indian Territory..

“They fought like veterans ...

their line unbroken ... Their

coolness and bravery I have

never seen surpassed.”

MAJOR GENERAL JAMES G. BLUNT, ON THE 1ST KANSAS COLORED INFANTRY

The Second Battle of Galveston

During the battle, the USS Westfield ran aground

and was blown up to prevent its capture. The charge

detonated too soon, and Captain Renshaw and his

crew, escaping in lifeboats, were killed in the blast.