Captain James W. Magoffin, Major Simeon Hart
El Paso, El Paso County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Capt. James W. Magoffin Born Kentucky. Trader in Mexico, special U.S. Army agent in Mexican War 1846 - 47. Established trading post at Magoffinsville about 1850. Named state agent with Simeon Hart to receive U.S. property surrendered at Ft. Bliss Mar. 1861 prior to outbreak Civil War. This and other military stores obtained thru his long standing contacts in Mexico supplied the Confederate forces in the Arizona - New Mexico campaign 1861 - 62; made State Brig. Gen., 1861. Left here with Confederate evacuation, 1862, as Capt., C.S.A., business ability utilized to obtain military supplies in Texas, Mexico. State senator, 1863 - 65; buried in San Antonio. Maj. Simeon Hart Born New York. Moved to El Paso 1851. Founded Hart's Mill that ground out 100 barrels of flour per day and sold to buyers from Arizona to San Antonio. When Civil War came, he was the main source for securing military supplies for the Arizona - New Mexico campaign. In 1862 Hart joined the C.S.A. Army and was made general purchasing agent for the War Department West of the Mississippi. His extensive contacts in Mexico and Europe and his knowledge of markets made him able to render great service to the Confederacy which could only exist by trading valuable cotton for war goods through foreign countries. Through his arrangements for supplies, a Union plot to invade Texas across the Rio Grande was thwarted early in 1863; buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Erected by the State of Texas 1963
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Kentucky-born trader James Magoffin and New York-born miller Simeon Hart both built fortunes in the El Paso borderlands—Magoffin from a trading post at Magoffinsville and his deep contacts in Mexico, Hart from a mill grinding a hundred barrels of flour a day. When the Civil War came, both threw their commercial networks behind the Confederacy, funneling supplies to the 1861–62 Arizona–New Mexico campaign and trading Southern cotton for war goods through Mexico and Europe. Hart's arrangements even helped thwart a planned Union thrust across the Rio Grande in 1863.
Why it matters
It reveals how far-flung border merchants became vital lifelines for a Confederacy desperate to move cotton and secure war supplies through Mexico.
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Related people
- · James W. Magoffin
- · Simeon Hart
Themes & tags
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