Links to Some Texas History Primary Source Documents on the Internet
8. Texas in the Civil War: Part J (April 1, 1864-September 30, 1864)
(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, 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 Please do not cite "Lone Star History Links."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."
Harvey C. Medford. Diary, January 9-February 15, 1864, March 10-April 14, 1864. Author was a private in Lane's Texas Cavalry, CSA. Valuable for descriptions of the unit's march from that area to Mansfield, Louisiana. Recounts events of the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. [Scroll to the bottom of the page for the relevant material for this lists. Link to document
Anthony M. Dignowity to Abraham Lincoln, April 8, 1864. Texas Unionist writes from Washington. Says Union military governor A. J. Hamilton has stated that over 3,000 Unionists have been put to death in Texas since the beginning of the war. Wants German emigrants to be recruited to help establish a free state in the western part of the state. [To access this document, click on "Link to document." Then type "Anthony M. Dignowity" in the search field. Then click on the "Search" button. Then select the document.] Link to documentJefferson Davis to P. Murrah, April 26, 1864. Has learned that the governor wants the men in certain frontier counties exempted from conscription [so that they can repel Indian attacks on their communities]. The law of February 17, 1864, does not allow for that. However, General Smith will be ordered to have conscripted troops from those counties detailed to the defense of the area included in those counties. Link to document
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. Link to documents
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Note: This list will have more links added later.