Links to Some Texas History Primary Source Documents on the Internet
8. Texas in the Civil War: Part K (October 1, 1864-June 2, 1865)
(Back to Civil War Table of Contents)
Important Notes
1. These links, almost without exception, are to documents having to do with events and movements (mostly of a military character) which occurred (or at least meant to occur) within the boundaries of the state of Texas. Persons interested in documents having to do with the participation of Texans in various battles and campaigns beyond Texas can consult works found in the first Civil War list at this site, especially The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (plus the same for the navies) and Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.
2. The summary descriptions of the military correspondence do not always make clear which addressors and addressees were in Confederate military service and which were in the Union service. Persons not familiar with the names of all or most of the relevant military personnel may find the following useful.
Confederate officers: (last names): Bee, Bell, Boggs, Carrington, Debray, Dickinson, Ford, Gorgas, Magruder, McCulloch, Mills, Pendleton, Scurry, Slaughter, Smith, Taylor, Turner, Walker, Yancey.
Union officers (last names): Banks, Bell, Dana, Halleck, McPherson, Pierce, Stone, Washburn.
3. How to cite most of the documents in this list.
Most of the documents in this list are from the two multi-volume collections listed just below this paragraph. Those collections are at Cornell University's "Making of America" website. At a specific document page, most browsers will display the phrases "Cornell University Library" and "Cornell Making of America" near the top of the page. (If not, use the scroll bar to the right of the "next page" icon to reveal these phrases.) To determine the exact location of a document in either of the War Department or Navy Department series (i.e., series, volume, and part), go to the drop-down "Go To:" menu on the right and choose "Title Page." Please cite both the data having to do with the War Department or the Navy Department series and Cornell University's "Making of America" website. Please do not cite "Lone Star History Links."
United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 70 vols. in 128. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
United States. Navy Department. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. 30 vols. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894-1922.
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Suggestion: One might also find it useful to consult the list of documents and collections of documents at List 2, "Texas in the Nineteenth Century: General."
Edward Arall Pye. Letters from a Texas physician in the Confederate
service to his family, December 27, 1863-March 7, 1865. Author was a
resident of Waller County. The letters cover the service of Pye in an
infantry regiment of the State Troops for a brief time and then in the
Confederate Medical Corp (most of the time as surgeon in a Confederate
hospital in Beaumont. Much of the content has to do with family
matters. The link takes one to the the first letter pertaining to this list of documents. Link to documents
Texas Legislature. Resolutions of the State of Texas Concerning Peace, Reconstruction, and Independence. Approved, November 12, 1864. The import of the eight resolutions is that they are a negative response to the urging by some persons in the United States that the several seceded states hold a convention and accept reincorporation into the Union on the basis of a guarantee that slavery will be retained permanently in the nation. Link to document
Andrew J. Hamilton to Abraham Lincoln, December 9, 1864. The Union military governor of Texas notes that the president had in the previous August granted Hamilton authority for military reasons to bring out goods from the ports of Galveston and Sabine Pass. Yet government policy has not allowed this to happen. Details. Link to document
Samuel Pearson Newcomb. Diary entries, January 1-February 2, 1865. At the time of these entries, the author and 119 other persons were living within a small area of land in Stephens County on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. The author referred to the area as "Fort Davis," although there were no actual fortifications. Newcomb comments upon the danger of Indian raids, the responsibility of the local male settlers to serve in the state frontier militia, and aspects of the daily lives of the people in the community. Link to document
Lew Wallace to J. E. Slaughter and J. S. Ford, March 12, 1865. Union General Wallace, who had spoken with General Slaughter, Confederate commander of the West District of Texas, and with Col. Ford, commanding a regiment in that district, send them written proposals that might serve as the basis for "securing a speedy peace" in the Trans-Mississippi West. Details. [See Wallace to Grant, March 14, 1865, for more details.] [Scroll down to the document, which continues onto the third page.] Link to document
Lew Wallace to [U. S. Grant], March 14, 1865. On March 11, General Wallace had met with Confederate General J. E. Slaughter, commander of the West District of Texas, and with Col. J. S. Ford, commanding a regiment in that district, under a flag of truce at Port Isabel. The Confederate officers expressed interest in finding a way to bring hostilities to a close in the Trans-Mississippi West, as further fighting would lead to invasion and ruin of the state. Discussion led to specific proposals by Wallace. Details. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Lew Wallace to J. E. Slaughter, March 17, 1865. Hopes that Col. Ford can meet with him at Galveston to follow up on the proposals he has made to end hostilities [in the Trans-Mississippi West]. "The speculators who are making money out of precious Texan blood may decry him [Ford], but the people will not." Has sent to New Orleans for General [E. J.] Davis, with the hope that he and Ford can "go hand in hand" to confer with General Smith. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
John S. Ford to Lew Wallace, March 19, 1865. In General Slaughter's absence, Ford states that he cannot meet Wallace at Galveston without an order from the Confederate commander in Texas [J. G. Walker], but assures him that he is "willing to make any sacrifice short of honor to restore peace." [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
J. G. Walker to Lew Wallace, March 25, 1865. Confederate commander in Texas rejects proposals from Union General Wallace for securing the end of hostilities in the Trans-Mississippi West. Explains why in detail. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Lew Wallace to J. G. Walker, March 30, 1865. States that it was at the instance of General Slaughter and Col. Ford at a meeting at Port Isabel that he made certain proposals to might lead to the end of hostilities west of the Mississippi. They agreed to forward the proposals to General Smith through General Walker. It was also agreed that Wallace would go to Galveston "to receive communications, and await action." Details. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Guy M. Bryan to Pendleton Murrah, April 19, 1865. Bryan sends this telegram urging the Texas governor to attend a meeting in Marshall on May 10 of governors of Confederate states west of the Mississippi River. Meeting called by General Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces in the area. Link to document
J. Pope to E. Kirby Smith, April 19, 1865. Offers same surrender terms for the Confederate Department of the Trans Mississippi West as Grant had offered Lee in the east. Details. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
John Pope to J. T. Sprague, April 19, 1865. Instructs him to deliver Pope's communication about surrender terms to General Smith, stating that the terms are much more favorable than will be the case if there is resistance, forcing the U.S. "to concentrate large forces and complete preparations necessary for a decisive campaign into Texas." Details. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Frederick Crocker to Gideon Welles, April 21, 1865. Very detailed report, by the Union naval commander, of the Battle of Sabine Pass, September 8, 1863. [Continues for four more pages.] Link to document
Pendleton Murrah to "My Countrymen," April 27, 1865. Governor Murrah calls on Texans to continue to resist the Union forces in spite of General Robert E. Lee's surrender in Virginia. Link to document
J.B. Magruder to W. R. Boggs, April 29, 1865. Writes from Houston. "We must have unity. The men are deserting by tens and twenties a night." [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
W. T. Sherman to John A. Rawlins, May 9, 1865. Lengthy report includes an account of Sherman's meeting with Confederate General Joseph Johnston on April 17 and 18 to discuss possible terms upon which the former would surrender his army in North Carolina. Johnston proposed certain terns and suggested that they be extended to all Confederate troops still in the field, including those in Texas. He claimed to have the authority to disband the troops in Texas. Sherman endorsed Johnston's proposals but was overruled by Grant later. Details. Link to document
E. Kirby Smith to John Pope, May 9, 1865. Refuses to accept the terms Pope had offered for surrender of the troops of the Trans Mississippi West. Explains why. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
E. Kirby Smith to Henry W. Allen, Pendleton Murrah, H. Flanagin, and Thomas. C. Reynolds, May 9, 1865. Writes to the governors of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri [Confederate], that his army remains strong and may be able to resist the enemy successfully. Plans to defend the Trans Mississippi West vigorously. To facilitate his effort, asks that the governors confer with him. [No date or place specified.] [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Henry W. Allen. Memorandum advising General Smith to accept specified surrender terms of the troops of the Trans Mississippi West, May 13, 1865. [Evidently agreed to at Marshall by the governors of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Guy M. Bryan (representing the absent governor of Texas.] Specifies terms to which they have agreed. Details. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
E. Kirby Smith to J. T. Sprague, May 15, 1865. States that his conference with governors of the states of the Trans Mississippi West had been for the purpose of conferring about matters belonging more to "the civil than the military authorities." He and the governors have agreed on surrender terms to propose to the U.S. military authorities. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
E. Kirby Smith to [J. T.] Sprague, [May 15, 1865?]. Memorandum [probably enclosed with letter of the same date], setting forth the terms under which he is willing to surrender his forces in the Trans-Mississippi West. Proposed terms preceded by a long introduction. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
D, H. Cooper to W. P. Adair, May 16, 1865. Reports that the governors of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, plus General Smith and other high-ranking officers are conferring at Marshall to examine proposals from General Grant for the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi Department. Smith has refused to accede to them and is preparing to defend the department. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
J. B. Magruder to E. Kirby Smith, May 16, 1865. Writes from Houston of efforts by troops to desert and assertions by others that they will not continue to fight. He has tried to instill a spirit of resistance but to no avail. There is nothing left to do but let the soldiers go home. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
U. S. Grant to P. H. Sheridan, May 16, 1865. As part of Sheridan's duties as commander of U.S. forces west of the Mississippi, Grant orders him "to restore Texas . . . to the Union in the shortest practicable time," etc. Details. Link to document
David Branson to I. B. Rush, May 18, 1865. Report by the commander of the Sixty-second U.S. Colored Troops about the immediate background and the fighting of the last battle of the Civil War, fought at Palmetto Ranch, near Brownsville, on May 13. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Theodore H. Barrett to L. Thomas, August 10, 1865. [Placed here because it deals with events that took place May 11-13, 1865.] Report by an officer of the Sixty-second U.S. Colored Troops about the immediate background and the fighting of the last battle of the Civil War, fought at Palmetto Ranch, near Brownsville. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
James E. Slaughter to Major-General [J. B.] Magruder, May 19, 1865. Writes from Brownsville that half of the troops there have deserted or will do so, as they see no reason to fight on. Details. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Surrender terms for the Department of the Trans Mississippi West agreed to by representatives of Confederate General E. Kirby Smith and U.S. General E. R. S. Canby at New Orleans, May 26, 1865. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
J. T. Sprague to John Pope, May 27, 1865. Reports meeting with Confederate General Smith in late April, delivering the same surrender terms for the Trans-Mississippi Department as those accepted by Lee earlier. Smith asked for more liberal terms. Explains why. Sprague refused. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
E. R. S. Canby to E. Kirby Smith, May 27, 1865. Union general is sending Brigadier-General E. J. Davis to Smith, then in Houston, to confer about the details of the terms of surrender of the troops of the Trans-Mississippi West, recently agreed upon in New Orleans. Details. Is sending paroled prisoners to Galveston rather than to the mouth of the Red River. Explain why. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
U. S. Grant to Major-General [Philip] Sheridan, May 28, 1865. Has ordered General Canby to "push troops to the Rio Grande" and to garrison Galveston. Strongly suggests that Sheridan, then in St. Louis, should proceed south at once and garrison Texas and Louisiana. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
P. H. Sheridan. General Orders, No. 1, May 29, 1865. Announces he has taken command of U.S. forces west of the Mississippi and south of the Arkansas, with headquarters in New Orleans. Link to document
Ashbel Smith and W. P. Ballinger to Major-General [E. R. S.] Canby, May 29, 1865. Writes from a ship at New Orleans that they have been appointed by General Magruder to negotiate "for the cessation of hostilities between the United States and Texas." They are possession of the views of the civil authorities of the state. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
E. R. S. Canby to Ashbel Smith and W. P. Ballinger, May 29, 1865. Agrees to meet with them but states that he does not have the authority to "entertain any questions of a civil or political character." [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
E. Kirby Smith to John T. Sprague, May 30, 1865. Writes from Houston. When he had proposed terms to Sprague earlier he still had an army of 50,000 and rich resources. Now he has neither. Explains. States that citizens and soldiers alike are ready to submit to the U.S. government. Details. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Edwin M. Stanton to William H. Seward, June 23, 1865. Relays news that U.S. forces occupied Fort Brown on June 1. On June 2, Confederate generals Smith and Magruder met with Brigadier-General E. J. Davis in Galveston harbor. Smith signed the surrender terms for the troops of the Trans-Mississippi West, as previously agreed to. The president's proclamation lifting the blockade will be issued immediately. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
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Note: This list will have more links added later.