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Civil War Letters Recording Confederate Texas Troop Movements, with Union Assault of the Texas Coast Content. ...
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Description
"They landed between three and five thousand men on the lower end of Mustang Island... Against these odds the engagement with the small arms lasted about two hours and 25 minutes..."
Civil War Letters Recording Confederate Texas Troop Movements,
with Union Assault of the Texas Coast Content. Seven letters
war dated October 26, to November 23, 1863; one autograph note
signed by John Bankhead Magruder dated May 24, 1864; and one
special order dated November 7, 1863. Documents are written in ink
and measure, on average, 7.75" x 10".This group consists of copy letters to and from Confederate Headquarters in the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Major General John B. Magruder led the district's forces from Houston, issuing a number of orders to commanding officers in Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, and other coastal forts. Magruder had been well-regarded within the Rebel Army during the first two years of the war and commanded the Army of the Peninsula during McClellan's failed campaign in the region. However, after reports suggested that Magruder had been drunk while leading soldiers in the Seven Days Battles, President Jefferson Davis reassigned the general to Texas. Although he successfully recaptured Galveston in January 1863, Magruder was forced to concede much of the Texas coast to Union forces in the fall of that year.
The letters in this lot concern Magruder's numerous land concessions to Union Major General Nathaniel P. Banks during his assault on the Texas coast in October and November 1863. In a circular marked confidential dated October 26, 1863, Edward P. Turner issues orders on behalf of Magruder to prepare his men for the incoming assault. The circular reads: "Information deemed authentic have been received at these Headqrs that an invasion by the enemy under Genl Banks may be expected daily, officers in Carmera along the coast will prepare for a rigorous defense of their positions, and those in command at...Saluria, and Aransas and Corpus Christi passes, and Corpus Christi will prepare the means to remane [sic], should after the most strenuous efforts, the conflict be unfavorable...For this purpose they are authorized to impress wagons teams and whatever else may be necessary to accomplish it, spiking the cannon and knocking off the trumpets if possible with sledge hammers, & harm whatever they may not be able to remove, destroying in their retreat all cotton public or private that may be within their reach. The comdg officer at Corpus Christi will made [sic] special arrangements to burn the cotton at that place and also at Flower Bluff if any at that place, and the comdg officer will do the same with reference to the cotton at Malagorda & Texana."
After the fall of Vicksburg, Union commanders turned their gaze south. Authorized by President Lincoln, Banks assembled twenty vessels with 5,000 soldiers and aimed to invade Texas via Sabine Pass in September 1863. Although he was repulsed by the Confederate battery, Banks quickly regrouped and launched another transport on October 23 aimed for the Rio Grande. On November 2, Banks's forces landed on Brazos Santiago Island with no resistance. The Confederate intelligence featured here referenced this invasion.
On November 7, 1863, Major General Magruder issued special orders number 303 to quash rumors that rebels planned to abandon Port Saluria in anticipation of Banks' march north. The order reads: "The Major General commanding having learned that there is a report in circulation that he intended to abandon & give up the defence [sic] of Saluria & its vicinity, he hereby announces it to be untrue, & that it is his intention to defend this, as every other point in the most determined manner, and to the last extremity. He takes this opportunity of cautioning the public against the many rumors that may sometimes arise from the changes in location of the troops but which generally give their origin to the invention of lukewarm and designing individuals."
On November 11, 1863, Magruder issued instructions to Colonel William R. Bradfute via Captain S.D. Yancey. Yancey advised him on the worst-case scenario of a Union assault, warning him to "be ready to burn all cotton whether public or private on the approach of the enemy to any point where it may be stored. This will of course only be done in the last emergency..."
Union interest in Texas largely stemmed from two cotton-related motivations. First, northern textile mills desperately needed the raw material. Second, Federal commanders hoped to end the cotton trade from Texas to New Mexico to further destroy the Confederate economy. By burning the cotton in anticipation of a Union invasion, rebel troops prevented them from appropriating the valuable resource.
A second letter to Bradfute on November 11, 1863 informed him of Banks' movements: "The enemy landed at Brazos Santiago on the 3d and forced the evacuation of Brownesville by Genl Bee's forces on the 4th which place was destroyed by Genl Bee. The enemy supposed to be 5 or 6000 strong. An attack the Genl thinks will be made on your front in short time by sea, and it will be probably carried unless you are vigilant. You will therefore keep a keen lookout - instructions have been previously given."
On November 18, 1863, Bradfute wrote to A.A.G. Edmund Turner to report that Aransas and Corpus Christi had fallen to Union soldiers. He wrote, "I have just returned from Corpus Christy [sic], the enemy have captured the passes at Aransas and Corpus Christie [sic], with Capt. Maltby's Company of Artillery, parts of two companies of Texas State Troops, one 18 pdr siege gun, one 24 pdr & one 12 pdr siege Howitzer. They landed between three and five thousand men on the lower end of Mustang Island, while five steamers made an attack on our troops by sea; there were five transports (sailing vessels) with the fleet. Against these odds the engagement with the small arms lasted about two hours and 25 minutes, our artillery not being able to get their guns to bear on the attacking land forces. Our strength was not exceeding one hundred men; the loss on either side in killed and wounded is not known. While at Corpus Christie [sic], I was enabled to get some information from Capt. Nelson in regard to probable movements of the enemy to the effort that the enemy's plan of capturing Texas is to get strongholds all along the coast, attacking both by land and sea. Capt. Nelson is a Cuban and says that he has been at General Banks' Head Quarters, and heard it stated by his officers that this was his plan; he also reports that Captain Semmes is at Cuba with six war steamers, and from the nature of the enemy's war vessels, there being no ironclads amongst them, Captain Semmes would be invaluable in operating with us."
Despite its formally neutral position in the Civil War, Cuba was an epicenter for both Union and Confederate spies. In particular, rebel commanders relied on the Caribbean island for supply operations and functioned as a key method by which the Confederacy circumvented Southern port blockades.
Though Banks continued his invasion of Texas throughout November 1863, commanding Union General Ulysses S. Grant recalled the forces back to New Orleans in February 1864. Banks had been mostly successful, but Grant viewed Texas as a peripheral region that would not end the war. As a result, Texas was left alone for the remainder of the Civil War. This group offers a rare glimpse into the Confederate strategies along the Gulf Coast at a time in which Union forces slowly regained control of the region. The lot also includes an autograph note signed by Magruder dissolving a court of inquiry dated May 24, 1864.
Condition: All documents creased along folds. Several documents have irregular margins. Special order number 303 has paper loss and multiple tears to the right and left margins, affecting the text.
Auction Info
2023 September 21 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6272 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
September, 2023
21st
Thursday
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