Wild West Photo Friday: The Chuck Wagon

Home on the range? When you're on a cattle drive and your bed is a blanket and your pillow is your saddle, then the closest thing to home is the chuck wagon. Even working on the rangeland of one of the big ranches you might be miles from home come lunchtime. This photo was taken by Erwin Smith on the J.A. Ranch, Texas, around 1907. It's titled "A J.A. cook inspecting his stew."

Below is a closeup of the wagon itself. Looks like they got themselves some tasty vittles!

Photo Courtesy Library of Congress.

Civil War Photo Friday: Private Simeon J. Crews, 7th Texas Cavalry

This fearsome fellow is Private Simeon J. Crews of Co. F, 7th Texas Cavalry Regiment. He's carrying a revolver and a cavalry saber that he's cut down for some reason, making it more of a stabbing than slashing weapon.

The 7th Cavalry saw plenty of action, going with General Sibley on his ill-fated expedition into New Mexico and later fighting in Texas and Louisiana.

I can't get over this guy's weapon! It reminds me of another Confederate Texan I've featured here and some of the medieval weapons used in the Civil War. I would definitely try to shoot this guy before he got in close.


Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Civil War Photo Friday: Prisoner Exchange

This image shows non-commissioned officers from the 19th Iowa Infantry. They were recently prisoners at Camp Ford, Texas, before being exchanged and arriving at Union-occupied New Orleans. This shot was taken at their arrival back on friendly territory and shows their mixture of relief and exhaustion.

For much of the war, prisoner exchanges were common. A group of prisoners would be traded for a like number of prisoners from the other side. Sometimes prisoners wouldn't even see the inside of a jail. They'd be "paroled" on the spot wherever they'd been captured if they took an oath not to fight until exchanged. They would then return home and await a notice from their commanding officer that they had been exchanged and should return to duty.

The exchange program mostly broke down a few times during the war due to mutual mistrust. General Grant was always wary of exchanges. He had launched a war of attrition against the South and every prisoner exchanged meant one more soldier for the rebellion, he decided against further exchanges. While this led to horrible overcrowding of southern prisons such as Andersonville, it did bleed the South of men.

Image courtesy Library of Congress.

A Famous Refugee from the American Civil War

War always creates refugees, and civil wars especially so. As North and South fought it out, large numbers of civilians fled the advancing armies and guerrilla raiders. To find safety, civilians often trailed along with the armies.

One such refugee was Roy Bean, the colorful self-appointed judge I mentioned in a previous post. Before he set up his own law practice in Texas, he had been knocking around the West and getting into gunfights, doing a spell in prison, and nearly getting lynched by angry Mexicans after killing one of their number. Basically all the things a Wild West judge was expected to do before starting a career upholding the law.

The start of the war found Roy and his brother running a store and saloon in New Mexico Territory. He had a cannon out front that he used to repel Apache raiders. The Confederate army invaded New Mexico from Texas in late 1861 but suffered a severe defeat at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in March 1862. They were forced to make a long retreat back to San Antonio.

Roy decided to go with them. Perhaps he feared more Apache raids since there wouldn't be an army around to protect the towns. He took the store's savings (which may or may not have included his brother's share) and joined the retreating column. Once he got to he made a good profit shipping cotton from San Antonio to British ships at Matamoros, Mexico, and returning with goods that the Confederacy needed. The Confederacy was under a blockade and the Mexican border was one of the few places where merchants could trade with the outside world.

As usual, this crazy Wild West character saw a good chance and took it.


Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Wild West Photo Friday: Judge Roy Bean's Combination Courthouse and Saloon

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Judge Roy Bean of Langtry, Texas, was the only law in a large area of western Texas. People liked to attend his trials not only to see justice done, but because his courthouse was also a saloon, where the judge himself tended bar. Bean selected the jury, which was made up of his best customers and who were expected to buy a drink every time the court went into recess.

This photo shows the courthouse/saloon in 1900 during the trial of a horse thief.

Photo courtesy National Archives.

Wild West Photo Friday: A Mexican Caballero in San Antonio

Now that the A to Z Challenge is over, I can get back to my regular Photo Friday series, whether it's Civil War, Wild West, or Military History. This week it's the Wild West, with this fine Mexican horseman photographed in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1870s.

Before there were cowboys, there were vaqueros. The Spanish made it to the Southwest first and set up extensive ranches. The process continued after Mexican independence from Spain. When white settlers started streaming in, they learned the trade from the Mexicans. Sadly, most Western films and books forget the vaqueros, just like they forget the black cowboys.

Photo courtesy New York Public Library.

The Last Casualty of the Civil War

An estimated 700,000 men died in the Civil War. Historians have often asked the question: who was the last?

Generally the answer has been this unfortunate fellow, Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana Infantry, who was killed at the Battle of Palmito Ranch in Texas on May 13, 1865.

It was Williams' first battle and a completely unnecessary one. Both sides had heard the news of Lee's surrender and Johnston discussing terms with Sherman. Already there were mass desertions in the Texas units.

Maj.-General Kirby Smith, commander of all Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi theater, wanted to fight on. Rebel troops were still active in southeastern Texas, where they headed across the Mexican border to trade for much-needed supplies. There was a Union garrison just off the coast on Brazos Island and the commander sent some troops to take Brownsville, the border town through which the rebel supplies came.

The resulting battle saw the Union pushing back the rebels in the morning until rebel reinforcements arrived. Then the tables were turned and it was the bluecoats' turn to retreat. Casualties were low and only one man was reported killed, Private Williams on the Union side. So Williams got the unfortunate distinction of being the last man killed in the Civil War.

Other historians disagree, and point to the Skirmish at Hobdy's Bridge six days later.  On May 19, a group of men from the First Florida Cavalry (Union) rendezvoused at the bridge just over the border in Alabama to rejoin their unit after being on furlough. Unknown to them, their comrades had already set out after some Confederate bushwhackers.

The bushwhackers, however, were actually hiding near the bridge and opened fire on the latecomers. Three men from the First Florida were wounded and a fourth, Corporal John W. Skinner, was killed. After the war, the three men applied for an extra pension for being wounded in action, but army red tape told them since they were on furlough, they weren't qualified. It took three decades of wrangling before the army ruled they had returned to active duty when they arrived at the bridge as ordered, and therefore got an extra pension. Since the court ruled they were on active duty, Corporal Skinner was the last man to be killed in the Civil War.

Or maybe not. Further research of skirmishes in the waning days of the Civil War would probably uncover more such "last casualties." Dying in war is always tragic, but to die when the war was pretty much over must have been a doubly hard blow for these men's families.

Photo of Private Williams courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Reader News for February 3, 2013

Two interesting books are the subject of today's reader news. Sharon Bayliss has just published her first novel The Charge, an alternative history set in the Texas Empire. I'm curious as to how Texas became an empire. Did it never join the U.S.? Went its own way after the Civil War? I might have to check this one out.

Yesterday I finished doing a beta read on COMMANDO: Operation Bedlam, the sequel to COMMANDO: Operation Arrowhead, which I reviewed here. It's not coming out until later this year, so I won't steal any of Jack's thunder by going into detail. I'll just say that it was as much of a kickass action adventure as his last World War Two novel. British Commandos fighting Nazis? I'm there.

Do you have any news to share? Drop me a line at the email address on the left-hand column of this blog.

T is for Texans in the Civil War

"Don't mess with Texas!"

I'm not sure when this saying got started, but it may have been during the Civil War. Texan units fought in every theater of the war and were some of the best troops the Confederacy had. As Robert E. Lee once said, "Texans always move 'em!" Texans were involved in many of the battles in Missouri and even pushed as far west as Tucson, Arizona, briefly claiming that dusty frontier town for the South.

Texas was also the site of the last battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Palmito Ranch, fought on May 12-13, 1865, well after most Confederate armies had surrendered. This pointless engagement was a smashing Confederate victory!

As I've mentioned frequently on this blog, history is rarely clear cut. Parts of Texas had a strong Unionist sentiment. Some counties were dominated by German immigrants who had immigrated into one country only to find they were suddenly citizens of another. The Texas government had to strike a deal with these folks--don't rebel against the rebellion, keep farming, and pay your taxes, and you won't be conscripted into the Confederate army.

Some Unionist Texans took a more active part in the war. Like every other Confederate state, Texas had some regiments in the Union army. Hmmm. . .sounds like a good setting for a story.


Photo of Private Thomas F. Bates of D Company, 6th Texas Infantry Regiment, with D guard Bowie knife and John Walch pocket revolver courtesy Library of Congress. Don't mess with Texas!