Civil War and Fort Bend County, Texas.

1 February 1861 -- Texas seceded from the Federal Union following a 171 to 6 vote by the Secession Convention. Governor Sam Houston was one of a small minority opposed to secession.

22 October 1861 -- Advance units of the newly formed Brigade of General H. H. Sibley marched westward from San Antonio to claim New Mexico and the American southwest for the Confederacy.

1 January 1863 -- After several weeks of Federal occupation of Texas' most important seaport, the Battle of Galveston restored the island to Texas control for remainder of Civil War.

13 May 1865 -- The last land engagement of the Civil War was fought at the Battle of Palmito Ranch in far south Texas, more than a month after Gen. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, VA.

THE UNITED STATES EXPORTED THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF GOODS BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. AFTER THE CONFEDERATE STATES LEFT, THE UNITED STATES EXPORTED THREE MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF GOODS.

The majority of Fort Bend County's men, along with 50,000 other Texans, volunteered for the Confederate service. The City of Houston became the headquarters for the Confederate district of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

There was a Civil War Camp Richmond, Fort Bend County, 2nd Military Sub-District, enrolling officer W. E Herbert of Colorado County Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

There was a Civil War Camp Pittsville.The Pittsville Homeguard encamped at this Post in the summer of 1861, John L. Camp commanding. Bellville Countryman, June 26, 1861

                We have been requested by a committee at Pittsville, which is near the line of Austin and Fort Bend counties, to insert the following address, delivered recently by Miss M. J. Hedgpeth, to the Pittsville Home Guards.
                Gentlemen of the Pittsville Home Guards!—In behalf of the ladies of the neighborhood I stand here to present to you a banner, the emblem of your country's nationality. It is in no peaceful times that we make you the recipients of such an emblem, nor is it a mere display, an empty pageant, but the stern reality of an impending conflict, in which our dearest rights as freemen are involved, renders the occasion to us all, replete with the deepest interest and throws around it all the solemnity of feeling and of thought. We are, gentlemen, on the threshold of a new epoch which has been ushered in with storm and tempest. Already has the lightning flashed and the thunders of battle reverberated on the Southern breeze which hitherto was vocal only with the melody of peace. We see too plainly, in the dim distance, the coercive arm of power raised threateningly against us, not to believe that the future, which is but a step in advance, is fraught with responsibilities to startle and arouse. Then it behooves you to gird yourselves well for the contest, and meet them like men, intelligently and resolutely. The ladies in this vicinage are deeply sensible of the emergency at hand, and have delegated me to give expression to the interest felt, by the presentation of this banner. It is not the stars and stripes under which Southern hearts have so often braved death for honor. No, we stand today beneath the folds of a flag symbolical of a new covenant, one that lately has received a baptism with the spirit of perfect freedom, and one which, from the depths of our hearts, we believe consecrated by the great Jehovah to success. In placing this glorious emblem at the head of your column, we [illegible] for a moment, consider duty's debt discharged. We are fully sensible that there are hardships to be endured, dangers to be undergone, difficulties to be surmounted; but believe us, when we declare, that the emotions of patriotism which now swell your manly bosoms, find in our hearts emotions in perfect unison, which will give us strength to endure hardships, and firmness to surmount difficulties in this cause of truth and justice, and though we may not give evidence of the existence of such patriotism, by wielding in our weak hands the rough implements of war, yet we will be bounded only by a sphere in which it is our part to move, in our contributions to yours and your country's welfare. Ours is the task to fit you out for the distant expedition, to cheer your departure with words of hope and promises to pray hourly for your safety, to weep tears of sorrow for those who fall, to wait tenderly around the bed of suffering, and to crown with love and laurels the manly brows of those who return to us as victors. These duties, I solemnly pledge you, in behalf of the ladies I represent, shall be performed.
                Receive now, gentlemen of the Guard, this banner which we have prepared for you, from a sense of patriotic duty; carry it where the interest of our beloved country calls, be the ordeal through which it must pass one of fire and blood, but oh, remember when the God of battles shall have crowned your efforts with victory, it is the prayer of those who gave it, that its folds may wave above the heads of those who act responsive to the calls of mercy.

Civil War Fulsher [Fulshear] Camp. Located on Fulshear Farm near Brazos Headquarters at Xavier Debray's 26th Texas Calvery Regiment and Company B, Captain E. B. Millet's 32nd Texas Calvery. Galveston Weekly News 1865

Civil War Captain W. G. Nolan's [card #50437372] Co. Mtd. Vola,. Local Defense [Co. A, Fort Bend Rangers]. The Muster Roll list shows 33 names on May 27, 1863, Sugar Land, Fort Bend County. There is not a record that the Company received arms. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

Civil War Captain Patric Perry's [card #50741756] Co. Texas Local Defense 'Fort Bend Scouts' organized December 8, 1862 with 21 on the Muster Roll. [M861-Roll #61] Perry was 42 years old, a farmer with over 20 Negro hands. In this company was M A. Moore, 1st Lt., R. A. Smith 2nd Lt., J. V. McCloy 2nd Lt., Private J. W. Weston [card #50741777] 30 years of age, a farmer with over twenty hands.Weston was granted to leave the C. S. upon the Steamer 'Ike Davis' on November 21, 1864. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

Confederate Rugeley's First Company I was stationed at Camp Rogers, Fort Bend County, Texas September-October 1862. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

CONFEDERATE INDIGENT FAMILIES LISTS, FORT BEND COUNTY, JANUARY 10, 1865 Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

J A. Hall (died

inservice), 1

L. Hibbert, 1

Lucius HIibbert,

J-A. Newport, 2

A. W. Johnson, 5

A. M. Robinson, 5

Henry Christie, 2

H. Lee, 1

H. Walker, 1

F.T. Weeden, 5

T. Blalock, 1

C. C. Arnold, 6

Elijah Veasey, 3

W. G.Hendrick, 2

J. E.Dagnell

(died in Service),3

F. Baker, 3

J. M. Oliver, 8

C. F. Roberts, 1

E. Traylor, 2

C. Jarves, 2

S Burke, 4

Wm Cook, 4

W. M. Parrott, 6

W, M. Sherrard, 2

J. J. Weyneth, 2

J. L Burnett, 1

C. H. Weaver, 2

Wm Menter, 1

J. Young, 1

C. Rosen, 7

T. J. Staples, 3

L.F. Becker, 2

H. McGawd, 4

P. Werthington, 2

W. L. Hathaway, 2

J. C. Greer, 2

M. Hills, 1

G Rodarmell, 3

P. L West, 5

J. McGrath, 3

R. Hill, 5

F. Belchear, 1

J. H. Bohne, 1

Thos Sutherland, 6

M. L. Hazlewood, 2

W. H. Albertson, 3

J. Ulrick, 3

F. Voss, 4

A. Noark,2

G. Felder,1

M. Behler,3

J.C. Carr,3

Wm.Cook,2

H.Gaul, 5

J. Mardis,2

Pilgrim, 4

D. Masterson, 3

C. Latterner, 5

A. Brown, 1

J. H. Sandall, 3

W. K.Johnson,2

U. Head, 3

Wm Fitzgibbons,5

J. B. Hartgraves,4

E. Boone, 3

T. Shaffer, 6

D.H. Busby (died in

service),6

Henry Leach, 3

Jno Worman, 5

A. Wessendorff, 4

S. W. McMahan, 3

R. H. Werthington, 4

W B. Earnest, 1

G. W. McAuley, 2

W. A. Taylor, 2

J. M. Weiden, 4

F. Furlow, 1

G. M. Frazier (died in Sers)2

G. W. Davis, 3

J Terhune, 4

M. Foster, 1

C. A. A. Delshaw, 3

M. Stevenson, 4

V. Howard (died in service,4

W. W. Pentecast, 5

M. A. Schoolfield, 5

W. B. Dunlavy, 4

W. V Boyer, 3

W. C.Harvey, 5

L. P. Scott, 6

H. Detmer, 5

H. G. Little, 4

C. [or O.]Stratman, 5

Total 295

C. M. Tendall

Chief Justice of Ft B C

Gen. John Bankhead Magruder had a high regard for T. W. House's services in the Confederacy. His cotton wagons made their slow way to the Mexican border and returned with loads of vital supplies. From the cupola of his pillared home in Galveston, on stormy nights House would study with a glass the blockading United States fleet. Early the next morning he would survey the hostile vessels again. If any were missing from their stations, they were chasing his blockade runners.

Records show that A. J. Adams of the Smada Plantation served in the Confederate Army and returned toTexas at the end of the war.

Fort Bend County was settled in the 1820's as part of Austin's Colony, and developed along thefertile

bottomlands of the Brazos River. By I860, Fort Bend County was the second most prosperous county in

Texas behind Harris County. The population was2,016 whiteresidents and 4,127 slaves in the county. The

plantation culture was dominant throughout the area—more so than virtually any other area of Texas.

When other southern states felt compelled to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of

America in order to protect what they, felt were their rights, there was sufficient clamor among Texans for

similar action that a Secessionist Convention of representatives from all areas of Texas was called in early

1861.Citizens of Fort Bend County elected Benjamin Franklin Terry, who asactive in local political affairs and

owner of the Oakland sugar plantation (now the town of Sugar Land and the basis for the ImperialSugar

Company). During the February, 1861 election to ratify the Ordinance of Secession, Fort Bend County

In late February, 1861, Terry was selected to command a battalion of troops sent to reinforce Col.John S.

Ford in his efforts to capture the Federal forts and posts along the Rio Grande. These troopswere armed by

E. B. Nichols with 250 stands of U.S. muskets from the Louisiana arsenal at Baton Rouge and equipped

withcartridge boxes and belts from the same source. Among the 300 men that departed with Terry on the

steamer General Rusk were 75 men of the Fort Bend Rifles. Captain Daniel Conner commanded the Fort

Bend Rifles, who while on thisexpedition were mounted onlocally-purchased horses and posted to guard

Boca Chico Pass, while the mainforce besieged Fort Brown. Ford's command was equipped from the store of

ordnance and quartermasters' supplies captured in the Rio Grande expedition. Of particular note was a

large quantity of artillery pieces, limbers,caissons, a battery wagon, a forgeand related supplies captured

for use by the Texas state troops. The command,successful in its efforts, returned to Galvestonon the same

Terry joined Thomas S. Lubbock and Thomas J. Goree in a journey to the East coast to appeal for a commission to raise a cavalry regiment. These three Texans served as volunteer aides on the staff of James Longstreet at the Battle of Manassas in July, 1861. In recognition of their battlefield exploits, Terry and Lubbock received commissions to raise a cavalry regiment for service in Virginia. In early August the two leaders were back in Texas, and commissioned ten captains to each raise a company ofcavalry. Captain John Holt was to raise a company, called the Terry Guards—later Company H, from Fort Bend County.

The call to arms stipulated that each man should furnish his own gear, including rifle or shotgun, oneor more

revolvers, saddle, bridle, etc. Double-barrel shotguns composed 597 of the 773long arms with which the

regiment mustered, supplemented by 579 Navy Colt revolvers, 92 Army Colt revolvers, 65 "5-Shot" Colt

revolvers, 22horse pistols, and 11 Starr revolvers. Terry carried a sword used in theWar of 1812—and is listed as

One soldier commented: "The personnel was of the very highest. Sons of leading families,many of them

college graduates, professional men, merchants, stockmen, and farmers, served in the ranks as privates^ all

young, in their teens and earlytwenties. Rank was scarcely considered. The supreme desire was to get into the

war in a crackcavalry regiment." Terry and his officers hand-picked each memberof the regiment—it being early

in the war and membership in this unit so desirable that any man who did not meet the expectations of the

Once recruited,the companies elected their other officers and noncommissioned officers. Followingsend-offs

from the local areas, the companies assembled in Houston where they were mustered into Confederate service in

September, 1861. "A little incident happened at the time which showed the feelings and determination of the men.

They werelined upon three sides of a hollow square (as I now remember). The enrollingofficer in the center

asked this question, 'Do you men wish to be sworn into service for twelve months or for three years or for during

the war?' With aunanimity never surpassed, a shout unheard of before, that whole body of men shouted, 'For the

war,' 'For the warl' not one expecting or caring to return until the war was over,long or short, and the invaders had

John T. Holt, Captain, age 36 Tom S. Weston, 1stLieutenant, age 24 Robert Calder, 2nd

Lieutenant, age 22 William D. Adams,3rd Lieutenant, age 33 Gustave Cook, 1st Sergeant, age

27 Robert J. Hodges, 2nd Sergeant, age 25 Jesse Thompson, 3rd Sergeant, age 42 Johnson

C.Williams, 4th Sergeant, age 23 James Edmondson, 5th Sergeant, age 28 Eugene Griffin,1st

Coporal, age 24 Edward A. Bolines/Bolmes, 2nd Corporal, age 24 Thomas D.Barrington, 3rd

Rangers, came to Texas with his mother and three brothers in the early 1850s. After returning from the California

gold fields, Terry and his bus/ness partner, William J.Kyle, bought a plantation and named it Sugar Land in

1853. This large sugar and cotton plantation became one of the most successful in the country. Colonel Terry

The Eighth Texas Cavalry — or, as it was frequently known, the First Texas Rangers or Terry's Texas

Rangers — was mustered into Confederate service at Houston, Texas, September 9, 1861. Almost all of the

officers and many of the enlisted men of the command had seen prior service in the Texas Rangers. Although

the unit had been mustered into service in September, 1861, the numerical designation was not given until

Similar to almost all Civil War units, the Eight Texas Cavalry was often known by an alternate designation

derived from the name of the unit's commanding officer. Unofficial, alternate names of this type identified as

The Eighth Texas Cavalry was one of the most frequently engaged of all Confederate

cavalry units in the Civil War.Records have been found locating the unit at well

When an urgent call for military volunteers was issued before the Battle of Shiloh, Dr Moore, of the Moore Plantation, along with numerous other men in the county, enlisted in the Confederate Army for ninty days and hurried east.

As early as September 30, 1861, there were ten regiments of Texas Confederate troops. Daniel R. Perry enlisted in Richmond, Texas, on March 26, 1862, as a corporal. His cousin William M. Perry, enlisted at the same time, and both were enlisted in Captain Thomas W. Mitchell's Company 2nd Regiment Carter's Brigade Texas Mounted Volunteers. William Perry was 27 years old when he enlisted. The Rolls of Prisoners of War, Camp Butler, Springfield, Illinois shows he was captured at Arkansas Post, Fort Hindeman, Arkansas, on January 11, 1863. He died at Camp Butler on February 26, 1863.

In 1842 John Rutherford Fenn served in William Ryon's company under Alexander Somervell but did not continue on the Mier expedition. He served as a second lieutenant in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Official information has been received at these Headquarters that [JamesGillpatrick] Blunt, with an army of

10,000 men, is marching from Missouri and Arkansas on northern Texas. This movement is doubtless apart of

the programme of [Nathaniel Prentiss] Banks, the advance upon northern Texas, acting as a diversion infavor

of operations in Louisiana. This army is bent on ravaging the wheat fields of northern Texas, and will turn loose

upon the homes of our people the horde of robbers and murderers, who have disgraced civilizationlnMissouri,

and made the fairest portion of that state a scene of desolation. The enemy, knowing that a large portion of the

troops whohave defeated him in Louisiana, are fresh from this district may suppose the invasion of Texas easy,

and endeavor to secure suchsuccess, at least to this part of the programme. It behooves us, therefore, to adopt

the most active and energetic measures to throw an army in his front, capable of securing the same brilliant

Troops are needed at once in every part of Texas, but the present danger particularly requires them onthe

northern frontier. Every patriotic man, between the age of seventeen andfifty years, I will consider thathis

services are not only due the country but that duty requires him to respond to her call at once. Every man

transferred from the state troops to the Reserve Corps,who respectsthe authority of the state, will hasten to

the battalion camps and aid in forming companies to march at once to the general rendezvous. Those who delay to gain a

fewdays of grace at home risk not only the safety of their country but certain conscription and add to the perils

and hardships of thecampaign, which they are to share. Wait not, therefore, for the coming of the conscript

officer, who, supported by detachments from old regiments, will execute the laws afterthat time. Duty, honor

and patriotism demand your presence in the field now, and as you valuethe respect of the men who are to

Glorious as have been our successes in Louisiana, and disastrous as have been the results to the enemy, he

is stillin posses- sion of a force capable of conducting defensive operations until reinforcements reachhim.

Texas, therefore, must rely upon the . troops now in her limits and upon those yet to come into the field for

her defense. I appeal to the people,both those embracing the Reserve Corps and those whose duty it is

made to jointhe old regiments, to yield to the patriotic impulses which fill the breast of Texans at a moment of

suchperil to their state. In appealing to the people to respond to this call, I feel that I have a right to expect a

prompt compliance on the part of every patriotic citizen. It has been my endeavor in organizing the Reserve

Corps under the recent act of Congress, to carry out the spirit of the law, so far as providing for the

subsistence of the army in the field and the soldiers' families are concerned. The liberal system of details

adopted, based upon the idea that the man who remainsat home must devote himself to the publicservice, is

a guarantee to the soldier that while he is toiling to win our liberties in the field, his neighboris at home, who

alike owes service to the country, shall not [be] permitted to speculate upon the necessities of his family or

refusethem subsistence, except at exorbitant prices. This act of justice to thesoldiers shows that his

government appreciates his devotion and will protect his wife and little ones against the greedyaims of those

who are not willing to share his toils. None need, therefore, to hesitate to come to the field, for I pledge the

country that the energy and power at my commandshall be put forth to secure to theirfamilies the benefits of

I therefore urge the Reserve Corps from the following counties to assemble immediately at their battalion camps and after organizing into companies, march immediately to the points named, viz.: Companies organized in the following named counties will rendezvous for regimental organization at Hempstead, viz.: Galveston, Chambers, Liberty, Polk, Tyler, Harden, Jasper, Newton, Jefferson, Orange, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery, Grimes, Walker, Madison, Leon, Brazos, Burleson, Robertson, Matagorda, Wharton, Colorado, Fayette, Austin, Washington, Bastrop, Travis, Hays, Milam, Williamson, Bell, Falls, and McClellan.

Recruiting parties are now en route to every county in the state. Men betweenthe ages of eighteen and forty

five have thus presented to them the opportunityto choose their own commands. Companies formed from men of

Orders just received from General Smith state that the organization of the Reserve Corps must becompleted

by May 11, in accordance with General Orders No. 1, Headquarters, Reserve Corps.All men between

seventeen and eighteen and forty-five and fifty years of age, who desire toperform service within their state in

organizations of their own selection, have therefore the privilege of doing so.After that day, the entire conscript

element of the state, between the ages ofseventeen and fifty years of age,will be subject alone to the action and order

During the Civil War soldiers homes were established at some 60 different towns and cities throughout Texas. The troopers received meals and lodging for extremely reasonable prices and many homes offered free meals and lodging. Such a place was Bertwick's Hotel in Richmond, Texas. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

During the Civil War a private manufacture that contracted with the Confederate States Government was Fort Bend Manufacturing Company. They produced cloth fabric, wood and iron products. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

During the Civil War years, education in Fort Bend went through difficult times. The schools had to be closed and the people were financially pressed during the Reconstruction to get them back up and running again. They could not afford payments for schooling as well as the additional taxation. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

The war was lost, and all fighting ceased in 1865.On June 19, 1865 General Gordon arrived in Galveston and acting for the President ordered all slaves freed. This was the beginning of five years from 1865 to 1870, when policies of the state government were dictated from Washington. Most of the Texans who returned home found they were broke. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

The Walnut Grove Plantation decayed after the Civil War. Crops of corn and cotton that had been planted when the war ended were lost when the freed slaves rode through the cotton fields on horseback trampling the standing crop.

Deaths occurred and in the footsteps of sorrow came ruin. Grandmother not only lost her slaves but all her

crops. Before the Civil War, the Walnut Plantation was a popular place for the elite of Houston to leisurely visit

for extended periods. The interior oft he home was lavishly decorated, but after the Civil War, Union soldiers

occupied the home and, according to records, "spat on the Brussels carpet." Mrs. Nibbs lost her plantation after

During the reconstruction era after the Civil War the courthouse was moved to several locations until a three-story building was purchased from C. H. Kendall for $7,500. In 1866 there was only one white man employed by Fort Bend County. Mr. Huff was the county clerk. Anybody that supported the confederacy was not eligible to work for the county.

James Ashley Davis was a handsome, happy-go-lucky, man from Pittsville who was kind to both men and animals. When he was still a young man, he joined the Confederacy and engaged in the Civil War. Accompanied by a man servant, he rode off too battle mounted on a grey horse.

When his friends suggested that he made a good target on a grey horse, he said he did not think the Yankee soldiers were marksmen. He was mistaken, however, as he was wounded several times. One of his wounds was through the mouth and would appear as dimples on both cheeks for the rest of his life.

Davis fought at Shiloh and Murfreesboro, Tennessee, before returning to home to recover from his wounds. Once healed, he rejoined the fighting until the war ended.

It's told he was a sober Christian man who was trusted by local ranchers to drive their cattle to market. He made several trips over the trails with Texas Longhornes to the railhead at Abeline, Kansas. While living in a ranch house at Foster, Davis died in 1906. The Museum of Southern History

During the Cvil War Richmond remained fairly isolated from conflict. After it was over and area slaves had received their emancipation, many made Richmond their home. Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

I amrather low spirited today; having heard of our great loss east of the Mississippi river—When heard of the fall of

Charleston, Wilmington, Fort F isher and finally of the fall of Richmond I stillhad hopes - I knew that our great

General Lee was there and directing: the movement of our armies. But now alas; he is lost to cur cause. In hiscapture

we lost one of our greatest if not the greatest Genl. It has had chilling effect .on the majority of our men. Every one

looks as though some near anddear one had gone to that above home. I have not heard the particularsin regard to

Lee's surrender - Some say that he surrendered only ten thousandmen while others place it as high as forty eight

thousand. If the last be the correct figures, and I believe true, it will have a disastrous effect on cur cause.

If foreign intervention does not come soon and that very soon our cause will behopeless - I dislike very much to

write that word but it is ray firm belief. When I last wrote you I expressed the opinion that with Lee at the

helm, he would bring our shipto a safe harbor. But now he is gone, and there is no one in whom I

have the least confidence - Johnson is a favorite with a great many butin him I have no

confidence. Beauregard I admire. But he is not the man for the emergency. And there is no

oneto look to for help in this our dark dark day Except the good being, and I have almost

come to theconclusion that he has left us to our fate - It may be that we do not deserve to be

favored by him, for our many sins and transgressions. Yet I know that our enemies have

committed sins that would causeour most wicked man to blush and I don’t think a just God

would favor such people. But our fate is his hands. Thegood book says .that he chastens

those he loves - and it may still be well with us ;.- Should we be defeated andsubdued we will

leave this God forsaken country ;and seek a home in some favored spot where insult will not

We will seek a home in some far off clime amid strangers who will neverknow our sorrows, and there we will walk

gently down the slope of life, and rest together a the foot. I am sad today dear one and it is a relief to me. towrite

you in this way. I am selfish I know to burden you with my sorrows but I have no one to whom I will unbosommy

thoughts except you -and if I make you sad by the perusal of this letter, don’t think the less of me for it. But pity the

sorrows of your unhappy husbandand bear with him - Things may not be as I think and should providencefavor us

and we ultimately gain our freedom we may refer to this my dark day and smile at mywant of

But when I think of those loved ones at our old home to know that they will have to submit to the insults and

indignities that will be Heaped upon them my blood boils at the very thought and if it were not for you I would

rather die, than to knowthat those I love so well, should be subjected to such treatment- If it were not for

But when I think of you - you to be left alone with no one to care for you- life is sweet to me, for you and you alone .

. . Oh that I could be with you so that you_: might drive this cloud away from that I could be myselfonce more -I feel old

Irene. I may not look old but my feelings are those of an old man who has tried to attend some cherishedobject and

failed - But enough of this. I am afraid I will make you as wretched as I am and God knows that I do not wish to make

you unhappy - Happiness for you is what I crave. May you be happy .is .my wish – and your happiness is

We have a rumor in camp that we will go west - to be stationed at San Antonio - Whether we will go ornot is

uncertain - Orders are changed so often that I can hardly keep up with them - I would like to go west, as I

have never been further west than Austin, would like to look at the country-

I wrote to Paul the other day but whether the letter will reach him or not I cantsay if he was captured with Lee it

will not reach him, and if he is with Johnson it may reach him if it crosses the Miss. I understand it is very

difficult for one tocross going east but coming west there is no difficulty - The Yankees in some instances have set

Remember me in kindness to Mr. and Mrs. B. also to Mrs. Mc and Mrs. T. Tell Sue I have not forgotten her

promise -So good bye my ever remembered and dear one and believe me as ever yours

Fort Bend County Texas Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum

LIST OF CAMPS, FORTS AND POSTS IN TEXAS 1861-1865