Fayette County, C.S.A
La Grange, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Although voted 600 against to 580 for secession, began Confederate recruiting in June 1861. La Grange was headquarters for 22nd Brigade, Texas State Troops, Brig. Gen. Wm. G. Webb commanding, of which 18 companies (1,238 men ) and 72 officers were from Fayette. Special county war taxes provided relief for soldiers' families. Funds were also raised by the famous "Cow Order" for seizure of strays. Censors here banned exchanges of mail with the U.S. Confederate cotton gathered in and stored at La Grange and Round Top was freighted to Mexico by local men hauling 5 or more bales on each 3-months-long trip. In 1863 a dozen teamsters lost outfits and barely saved themselves when bandits struck near Roma, on the Mexican border. Gen. Webb and Cols. John C. and Wm.F. Upton were Fayette County men. Local C.S.A. units were commanded by Capts. Ira G. Killough and Ben Shropshire, who fought in the Arizona-New Mexico campaign. Gen. Tom Green, first county surveyor, and Indian fighter and hero of San Jacinto and the Mexican war, had a part in such Confederate victories as the recapture of Galveston and the Battle of Mansfield, La.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Though Fayette County voted narrowly against secession in 1861, it threw itself into the Confederate war effort once Texas left the Union, raising thousands of men and making La Grange the headquarters of the 22nd Brigade of Texas State Troops. Local citizens funded relief for soldiers' families and freighted stored cotton to Mexico on grueling months-long wagon hauls that ran the gauntlet of border bandits. County men like Gen. Tom Green—a hero of San Jacinto and the Mexican War—rose to prominence in Confederate campaigns from Galveston to Mansfield.
Why it matters
The marker captures how a divided community's dissenting vote gave way to total wartime mobilization, illustrating the Confederate home front and the vital, dangerous cotton trade through Mexico that sustained Texas during the blockade.
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Related people
- · Gen. Tom Green
- · Brig. Gen. Wm. G. Webb
Themes & tags
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