Camp San Fernando

Duane's take

This one comes straight off the official marker for Camp San Fernando out in Kleberg County, and I'm gonna give it to you just the way the record tells it. Now, if you wanted to strangle the Confederacy, you went after its cotton road. That was the lifeline, the export-import route that stretched all the way from the Sabine River in East Texas down to the Rio Grande, and whoever held that road held something worth fighting over.

Camp San Fernando, sitting right there on San Fernando Creek, was one of the posts set to make sure nobody messed with it. In 1862, the 32nd Texas Cavalry was manning the place, flying the Bonnie Blue flag. Then 1863 rolled around, and they raised a new banner.

Lettered right on it, plain as you please: "We fight for our rights." Not a lot of ambiguity in that outfit's intentions. November of 1863, General H. P.

Bee moved through and temporarily occupied the camp. But the real weight arrived in February of 1864, when a strong complement came in under Colonel J. S.

Ford, known to history by the nickname Rip Ford. And things started happening fast after that. Colonel Matt Nolan brought Ford a report of a Confederate victory over Federal forces under Captain C.

Balerio, about fifty miles southwest at Banquete. The winning troops were under Captains Thomas Cater, Wm. Tate, Taylor, and A.

J. Ware, with the home guard under Captain Santiago Richardson riding alongside. And the marker makes a point of telling us that Captain Richard King, of King Ranch, also served in that home guard.

Worth knowing. Ford's outfit, styled the Cavalry of the West, was no ragtag assembly. Major Felix A.

Von Blucher served as chief of staff. Captains H. C.

Merritt and J. Littleton handled commissary duties. Colonel Albert Walthersdorff was the technician.

Captain W. G. M.

Samuels held the ordnance. This was an operation with structure. Then on March 30, 1864, the Arizona companies of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Showalter reached Camp San Fernando, adding more weight to what was already gathering there.

And in April, Colonel Ford and Colonel Santos Benavides took the fight directly to the Federals down in the Rio Grande Valley. That left Colonels Nolan and B. F.

Fry with the steady, unglamorous work: watching over the cotton road and, as the marker puts it, keeping an eye on Corpus Christi. Some stories end with a grand charge. This one ends with two colonels standing watch on a road that mattered, making sure the lifeline held.

That was the job, and they did it.

What the marker says

Military post on San Fernando Creek, near this site. Guarded the lifeline of the Confederacy, the cotton road, export-import route that ran from the Sabine River in East Texas to the Rio Grande. Manned 1862 by 32nd Texas Calvary flying Bonnie Blue flag; in 1863, a banner lettered: "We fight for our rights". Temporarily occupied, November 1863, by Gen. H. P. Bee. In February 1864 a strong complement arrived under Col. J. S. (RIP) Ford. Col. Matt Nolan reported to Ford a victory over Federals under Capt. C. Balerio 50 miles southwest on Banquete. Winning troops were under Capt. Thomas Cater, Wm. Tate, Taylor, and A. J. Ware, plus home guard under Capt. Santiago Richardson. (Capt. Richard King, of King Ranch, also served in the home guard.) Col. Ford's "Cavalry of the West" included Maj. Felix A. Von Blucher, chief of staff; capts. H. C. Merritt and J. Littleton, commissaries; Col. Albert Walthersdorff, technician; Capt. W. G. M. Samuels, ordnance. On March 30, 1864, the Arizona companies of Lt. Col. Daniel Showalter reached Camp San Fernando. In April Col. Ford and Col. Santos Benavides attacked the Federals in the Rio Grande Valley. Cols. Nolan and B. F. Fry continued to watch over the cotton road and "keep an eye" on Corpus Christi.