Members of Confederate Congresses
Clarksville, Red River County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Texas in the Civil War) During the 4 years, 4 months after secession, Texas sent 18 lawmakers to the Confederate capitols. Her delegates to the Provisional Congress, Feb. 1861 to Feb. 1862, were John R. Gregg, Freestone County; John Hemphill, Travis County; Wm. B. Ochiltree, Nacogdoches County; Williamson S. Oldham, Washington County; John H. Reagan, Anderson County; Thomas N. Waul, Gonzales County; and Louis T. Wigfall, Harrison County. Texans in the first Confederate States Congress, Feb. 1862-Feb. 1864, were B. H. Epperson of Red River County; M. D. Graham, Rusk County; Peter W. Gray, Harris County; Claiborne C. Herbert, Colorado County; Frank B. Sexton, San Augustine County; John A. Wilcox, Bexar County; and Wm. B. Wright, Lamar County. Oldham and Wigfall served as senators, 1862-1865. Herbert and Sexton were re-elected to the Second Confederate Congress, in 1864. Their colleagues were Gen. John R. Baylor, Parker County; Anthony M. Branch, Walker County; Stephen H. Darden, Gonzales County; and Simpson H. Morgan, Red River County. Several congressmen left the legislative branch of the government for the battlefield, two becoming generals. Others left for presidential assignments-- one, Reagan, to be postmaster-general in the cabinet.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Texas seceded in 1861, it sent eighteen men to represent it in the Confederate government at Richmond over the war's four years. This marker names the state's delegates to the Provisional Congress and the two Confederate Congresses—figures like John H. Reagan, who left to become the Confederacy's postmaster-general, and Louis T. Wigfall, who served as a senator. Several traded the legislature for the battlefield, and two became generals.
Why it matters
It documents how a frontier state plugged itself into the Confederate national government, a reminder that the Civil War was fought in legislative chambers as well as on battlefields.
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Related people
- · John H. Reagan
- · Louis T. Wigfall
- · Williamson S. Oldham
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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