DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one bringin' it down the road to you. Seventeen miles south of where you're rollin' right now, there's a piece of ground that saw some of the hardest, loneliest soldiering of the Civil War era — and most folks have never heard a word about it. This was Camp Cooper, C.S.A.
When the Civil War broke out, the United States surrendered the post. Just like that — handed over. And the Confederacy put it back to work, threading it into a defense line that stretched all the way from the Red River down to the Rio Grande.
Think about the sheer length of that line for a moment. The whole raw western edge of Texas, held together by men on horseback. Those men were Texas Cavalry, mounted riflemen, and Rangers.
And their assignment was not a glamorous one. Constant patrol. Constant scouting.
Out there in the brush and the heat and the wind, keeping watch against threats coming from every direction — Indian raids, Union invasion, marauding deserters, and the ones the marker calls Jayhawkers. Every point of the compass had something on it that could kill you. Now here's where the story gets its teeth.
These troops were always short. Always. Short on food, short on supplies, short on ammunition, short on horses.
You read that list and you feel it — men defending a frontier with not quite enough of anything to do the job, and doing it anyway. And the Comanches were not idle. These soldiers fought them in numerous engagements — not one skirmish, not a notable clash, but numerous — while at the same time keeping the supply trains moving and protecting the pioneer families pushing along the edge of settlement.
That's the full weight of it. Hungry, undersupplied, undermanned, and fighting on multiple fronts, these Texans held a line across the wildest stretch of the state. The State of Texas erected this memorial in 1963 — to the Texans who served the Confederacy here.
Seventeen miles south. Easy to miss from the road. Not so easy to forget once you know what happened there.
What the marker says
Located 17 miles south. Surrendered by U.S. at outbreak Civil War. Used as Confederate frontier outpost on the defense line from Red River to the Rio Grande. Manned by Texas Cavalry, mounted riflemen, Rangers. Constant patrol and scouting maintained guard against Indian raids, Union invasion, marauding deserters, "Jayhawkers". Always short on food, supplies, ammunition, and horses these troops fought the Comanches in numerous engagements while effectively protecting supply train and pioneer families along edge of settlement. A Memorial to Texans Who Served the Confederacy Erected by the State of Texas 1963