Confederate Training Camp
Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the Civil War this area along the road from Rusk to Crockett served as a training camp for Confederate soldiers. Located in a bare field with an available water supply from the nearby Pryor Branch, Camp Rusk was used for training new recruits as well as for reorganizing and equipping veteran units. Several units that spent time here went on to serve with distinction in such battles as Mansfield and Glorieta Pass. The training camp was occupied by Union soldiers after the war ended and was abandoned once the occupation period was over. (1984)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
During the Civil War, the open field along the road from Rusk to Crockett became Camp Rusk, a Confederate training ground chosen for its water supply from nearby Pryor Branch. Here new recruits drilled and veteran units were reorganized and re-equipped before heading to war; some went on to fight at Mansfield and Glorieta Pass. After the Confederacy fell, Union troops occupied the camp until the end of the occupation, when it was abandoned.
Why it matters
The camp marks how the Confederate war effort reached deep into rural East Texas, mustering and outfitting the soldiers who fought in the Trans-Mississippi campaigns.
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Related events
- · Battle of Mansfield
- · Battle of Glorieta Pass
Themes & tags
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