Texas Almanac, 1968-1969 Page: 65
[706] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS 65
The most important Texas engagements
were the capture and recapture of Galveston,
the principal port. The Texas coast was
blockaded from the beginning of the war,
and on Oct. 4, 1862, Galveston was captured
by U.S. forces. On Jan. 1, 1863, however,
Confederate forces under Gen. John B. Ma-
gruder recaptured Galveston, attacking
by land and sea simultaneously. The Confed-
erates held Galveston until the end of the war.
In September, 1863, Sabine Pass was at-
tacked by gunboats of the U.S. Navy convoy-
ing a force of 5,000 soldiers to invade South-
east Texas. A force at Sabine Pass under
Lieut. Dick Dowling hotly repulsed the fed-
eral attack, causing heavy losses. There was
also U.S. Army activity along the Mexican
border in the Rio Grande Valley where a
lucrative business had grown up in the ex-
port of cotton which was in great demand
ecause of the federal blockade of all Con-
federate ports.
The last major effort to invade Texas
was repulsed in the Battle of Mansfield about
40 miles south of Shreveport, La., where fed-
erals commanded by Gen. Nathaniel P.
Banks were defeated by Confederates under
Gen. Richard Taylor, April 8, 1864. The bat-
tle of Pleasant Hill, near Natchitoches, La.,
a few days later was Indecisive but ended in-
vasion attempts.
The last shot of the War Between theStates was at Palmito Ranch near Browns-
ville, May 13, 1865. A Confederate force un-
der Col. John S. Ford captured about 800
federal soldiers learning from their captives
that General Lee had surrendered on April 9.
Pendleton Murrah succeeded Lubbock and
served Nov. 5, 1863-June 17, 1865, when he
fled to Mexico with the fall of the Confed-
eracy. Gen. E. Kirby Smith, who commanded
the Confederate department including Texas,
surrendered May 30. After the departure of
Governor Murrah for Mexico, Lieut. Gov.
Fletcher S. Stockdale performed some acts
as governor, but Gen. Gordon Granger of the
United States Army had been placed in com-
mand of Texas and A. J. Hamilton was ap-
pointed governor by President Andrew John-
son.
There is a question as to whether Stock-
dale actually became governor before Gov-
ernor Hamilton was appointed. Some his-
torians think that he should not be included
among those who served in this office.
On landing at Galveston, June 19, 1865,
General Granger issued a general order that
"in accordance with a proclamation by the
executive of the United States all Negroes
are free." This date, June 19, has always
been celebrated by Texas Negroes as Eman-
cipation Day. It is popularly referred to by
them as Juneteenth.Reconstruction to End of Century
Military rule lasted only briefly. But even
after constitutional government was set up
the institution of the "ironclad oath" barred
from elections practically everyone who had
controlled state policies prior to the War Be-
tween the States. Texas was flooded with
fortune seekers and adventurers from the
North, known as Carpetbaggers because it
was said they came with all their possessions
In a single carpetbag. Southerners who joined
in the Reconstruction, as members of the
Republican Party, were called Scalawags.
During that disorderly time the State
Treasury was robbed, June 11, 1865, by a
band of about 40 outlaws. They obtained
$17,000 before being driven off by hastily-
organized Austin citizens. There was about
$100,000 In gold and silver in the Treasury.
Governor Hamilton served June 17, 1865-
Aug. 9, 1866. A Reconstruction convention, to
which Unionist citizens selected delegates,
met in Austin Feb. 10, 1866, and declared
acts of the secession convention void. A Con-
stitution was adopted harmonizing with the
Federal Constitution and an election ordered
in July, at which J. W. Throckmorton was
elected governor.
Pease Administration
Governor Throckmorton served Aug. 9,
1866-Aug. 8, 1867. After much conflict in the
U.S. Congress, however, Texas, with the re-
mainder of the South, was placed under mili-
tary rule. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan com-
manded the district which included Texas.
Throckmorton and Sheridan could not agree
on policy and the governor was removed.
Elisha M. Pease, who had been governor
from 1854 to 1857, was appointed governor
and served from Aug. 8, 1867, until Sept.
30, 1869.
Constitution of 1869
A constitutional convention was convened
in Austin June 1, 1868, but after much bitter
wrangling recessed, meeting again in Decem-
ber, 1868, and in February, 1869. The con-
vention, which had included only extreme
Unionist citizens and had been constantly un-
der military domination, did not finish its
work. The document was finished by the sec-
retary of state, under military orders, and
adopted by popular ballot (of those who could
vote) on Nov. 30, 1869.
Governor Pease, a Unionist but stanch
Texas patriot, had become discouraged andresigned Sept. 30. For several months there
was no head of the Texas civil government.
In the November election at which the Con-
stitution was ratified, Edmund J. Davis was
elected governor. Davis did not officially be-
come governor until Jan. 8, 1870. Governor
Davis is the only Republican governor ever
to serve Texas.
Two Republican Senators, Morgan C.
Hamilton and James W. Flanagan, were
elected in this era. They were the only Re-
publican Senators from Texas until John G.
Tower was elected in 1961. (See index, Sen-
atorial Succession.)
The Union Leagues had sprung up in
Texas during the two preceding years.
Dominated by white Unionists, they held pow-
er largely through the Negro vote. The se-
cret, oath-bound Ku Klux Klan was active
in Texas, and throughout the South, and
exerted an influence in opposition to the
Union Leagues until removal of requirement
of the "ironclad oath" permitted the former
dominant political element to regain control.
Bitter controversy marked the administra-
tion of Governor Davis (Jan. 8, 1870-Jan. 15,
1874). Davis' newly organized state police
force was unpopular. In his favor were his
efforts to improve the school system.
Texas Re-enters Union
Texas was readmitted to the Union, March
30, 1870, after ratifying the Thirteenth, Four-
teenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the fed-
eral Constitution. The "ironclad oath" was
removed and the radical, or Carpetbag, ele-
ment lost control of Legislature during the
second biennium of Davis' administration (a
4-year term under the Constitution of 1869).
Texas' civic and economic development
rapidly revived after Reconstruction.
Reconstruction and Carpetbag rule finally
ended in 1873, with the defeat of Davis, Re-
publican, by Richard Coke, Democrat, by a
vote of 85,549 to 42,633.
Davis contested the election and was sus-
tained by the courts, but the newly elected
Democratic Legislature went ahead with or-
ganization, canvassed the vote and declared
Coke elected. For a brief time, part of the
capitol was held by Coke and the Legislature
while part was held by Davis and an armed
guard. The clash ended when President Grant
refused to sustain Governor Davis' appeal for
assistance.
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Texas Almanac, 1968-1969, book, 1967; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113809/m1/67/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.