page_title: Texas in the American Civil War
section_title: Texas occupation
hierarchical_section_title: Texas in the American Civil War / Texas occupation
caption_attribution_description: Scott's great snake. Cartoon map illustrating Gen. Winfield Scott's plan to crush the Confederacy, economically. It is sometimes called the "Anaconda plan." The tail of the snake is wrapped around the flagpole at Washington D.C., with U.S. flag and liberty cap. New York has winged cap of "FREE TRADE" and a colorful soldier from one of its Zouave regiments; ships are entering the port of New York (unlike the blockaded southern ports). New Jersey has "Trenton 76 + 61" written. Delaware has "Union Peaches" written. Maryland has "We give in MD" written. Virginia has beehive with Stars and Bars flag (representing Richmond) and burning railroad bridge. West Virginia (separated from Virginia by dotted line) has man flying U.S. flag and waving sword. North Carolina has sketch of a man eating from a barrel labeled "Rosin" with the caption "POOR EATING". South Carolina has "CONTRABANDS" (runaway slaves) fleeing for Tennessee. Georgia has dilapidated "COTTON FACTORY" building falling apart. Alabama is complaining "DAM OLD VIRGINIA TOOK OUR CAPITOL" (the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery to Richmond). Mississippi has sketch of "BURNING MASSA OUT". Louisiana shows idle men lying on barrels saying "Can't ship now" and a lynched "UNION MAN" hanging from gallows. Texas has sketch of "COSTLY SHOOTING $1000.00 A HEAD" (a Confederate man firing at fleeing slaves). Indian Territory shows Indian smoking pipe in front of teepees, cradleboard hanging from tree in background. The head of the snake is in Missouri, driving "Jackson &amp; Co." into Arkansas. "Kanzas"[sic] shows "Union Music" (sketch of advancing troops under U.S. flag). Iowa similarly shows "HAWK-EYE MARKSMEN" advancing. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio show corn, pork and wheat being speeded eastward by railroad. A cannon in southern Illinois (next to flagpole with U.S. flag) is pointed southwestward. Kentucky shows soldier with coonskin hat sitting on fence in name of "ARMED NUTRALITY"[sic]. Eastern Tennessee (separated by a dotted line from the rest of the state) shows "KNOCKSVILLE WHIG" in pugilistic attitude, next to flagpole flying U.S. flag. There are several engraving errors (due to fact that the plate had to be engraved in mirror-image form): the dollar sign and the "S" of "South Carolina" are backwards.
context_page_description: Texas declared its secession from the Union on February 1, 1861, and joined the Confederate States on March 2, 1861, after it had replaced its governor, Sam Houston, who had refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. As with those of other states, the Declaration of Secession was not recognized by the US government at Washington, DC. Some Texan military units fought in the Civil War east of the Mississippi River, but Texas was more useful for supplying soldiers and horses for the Confederate Army. Texas's supply role lasted until mid-1863, when Union gunboats started to control the Mississippi River, which prevented large transfers of men, horses, or cattle. Some cotton was sold in Mexico, but most of the crop became useless because of the Union's naval blockade of Galveston, Houston, and other ports.
context_section_description: Under the Anaconda Plan, the Union Navy blockaded the principal seaport, Galveston and the entire Gulf and Southern borders, for four years, and federal troops occupied the city for three months in late 1862. Confederate troops under Gen. John B. Magruder recaptured the city on January 1, 1863 and it remained in Confederate hands until the end of the war. A few days later the Confederate raider CSS Alabama attacked and sank the USS Hatteras in a naval engagement off the coast of Galveston. 
  Civilian Blockade Runners largely evaded the Union blockades, bandits, and Union-sympathetic Mexicans in order to smuggle cotton out of The Port of Bagdad, Mexico at a premium in exchange for goods on European and black markets, as Texas offered an unparalleled and significant opportunity to export Southern cotton out of the Confederacy. President Lincoln referred to the strategic importance of this economic movement through the Rio Grande to the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton in 1863 stating, "no local object is now more desirable." The Rio Grande Expedition, led by General Nathaniel P. Banks, was then sent forth to secure the ports near Brownsville and pushed 100 miles in-land, in order to impede the flow of cotton and deny freedom of movement.
  A few other cities also fell to Union troops at times during the war, including Port Lavaca, Indianola, and Brownsville. Federal attempts to seize control of Laredo, Corpus Christi, and Sabine Pass failed. By the end of the war no territory but Brazos Island and El Paso was in Union hands.  The California Column occupied the region around El Paso from 1862 to the end of the war.
  The most notable military battle in Texas during the war happened on September 8, 1863. At the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, a small garrison of 46 Confederates from the mostly-Irish Davis Guards under Lt. Richard W. Dowling, 1ˢᵗ Texas Heavy Artillery, defeated a much larger Union force from New Orleans under Gen. William B. Franklin. Skilled gunnery by Dowling's troops disabled the lead ships in Franklin's flotilla, prompting the remainder—4,000 men on 27 ships—to retreat back to New Orleans. This victory against such overwhelming odds resulted in the Confederate Congress passing a special resolution of recognition, and the only contemporary military decoration of the South, the Davis Guards Medal. CSA President Jefferson Davis stated, "Sabine Pass will stand, perhaps for all time, as the greatest military victory in the history of the world."
  In 1864, many Texas forces, including a division under Camille de Polignac, a French prince and Confederate general, moved into Northwestern Louisiana to stall Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks' Red River Campaign, which was intended to advance into Texas from its eastern border. Confederate forces halted the expedition at the Battle of Mansfield, just east of the Texas border.
  Union forces from Brazos Island launched the Brazos Santiago Expedition, leading to the last battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Palmito Ranch, fought in Texas on May 12, 1865, well after Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865, at Old Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
caption: Anaconda Plan, Civil War
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