Hempstead, C.S.A.
Hempstead, Waller County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Major Civil War center in Texas with railroad, troop training, manufacturing, and supply activity. Training camps Groce and Hebert kept troops in readiness to move by rail to Houston and thence to the coast of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas to prevent invasion of state. Camp Groce became second largest prisoner of War camp in state receiving first Union prisoners in 1863. Textile mill, foundry, grist mill products supplied to Confederate Army. Field transportation bureau shop made and repaired wagons, saddles, harness. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963 [back] Breakup at War's End In the spring of 1865 Texas troops returning from Louisiana and coastal defenses gathered at Camp Groce. Rumor reached them of General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Some doubted, but soon the news was confirmed. Confederate generals Kirby Smith, John B. Magruder, and John H. Forney were there and bade their troops farewell. Comrades-in-arms of the recent conflict left to walk their weary way home in one of the last sad scenes of the southern Confederacy.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
During the Civil War, Hempstead was one of Texas's busiest Confederate hubs, its railroad feeding troops, manufactured goods, and supplies toward Houston and the coast. Camps Groce and Hebert trained soldiers, and Camp Groce grew into the state's second-largest prisoner-of-war camp, taking its first Union captives in 1863; nearby mills and shops turned out textiles, wagons, and harness for the army. In the spring of 1865, troops gathered here learned of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and Confederate generals bade their men farewell in one of the war's last scenes.
Why it matters
Hempstead shows the industrial and logistical machinery behind the Confederate war effort in Texas, and its 1865 breakup marks one of the quiet, final endings of the Southern Confederacy.
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Related people
- · Edmund Kirby Smith
- · John B. Magruder
Related events
- · Surrender at Appomattox
Themes & tags
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