Confederate Commissary
Bonham, Fannin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Army supply headquarters for Northern Sub-district of Texas. Dispensed uniforms, clothing, blankets, harness, bridles, gear, saddles, food rations. Beef, pork and wild game were cooked in an Army mess kitchen furnace on this site. At least 7 brigades defending the northeastern frontier of Texas drew supplies here. To keep the 1861 Confederate treaty with friendly tribes in Indian Territory, food rations were issued here to civilians of the Choctaw, Cherokee and other nations fighting for the South.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
During the Civil War this site served as the Confederate commissary for the Northern Sub-district of Texas, issuing uniforms, blankets, harness, saddles, and rations to soldiers guarding the state's northeastern frontier. At least seven brigades drew their supplies from here, and an army mess kitchen furnace cooked beef, pork, and wild game on the spot. To honor an 1861 treaty, the depot also distributed food to Choctaw, Cherokee, and other Indian Territory civilians allied with the South.
Why it matters
It shows the logistical machinery behind a distant Confederate frontier and the complicated wartime alliances between the South and Native nations.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Military Headquarters Northern Sub-District of Texas, C.S.A.
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During the Civil War, veteran frontier fighter General Henry E. McCulloch ran the Confederate defense of North Texas from this site, charged with holding some 600 miles of the Red River and western frontier with only a handful of cavalry and infantry units. He faced a bewildering array of threats—raiding Indians, armed deserters, Federal incursions, and disloyal citizens—while also supplying friendly Indian families with food and arms. The notorious guerrilla William C. Quantrill and his raiders, among them future members of the James and Younger gangs, attached themselves to the command in 1863–64 before Quantrill was arrested and escaped.
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