DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Cherokee County's role in the Confederate war machine — and it is some story. Now, when most folks picture the Civil War in Texas, they picture cavalry riding off into the distance. And Cherokee County had plenty of that.
But before a single rider saddled up, somebody had to make the saddle. Somebody had to forge the gun. Somebody had to salt the meat.
And Cherokee County? Cherokee County did all of it. This place was a full Confederate manufacturing, supply, and military center.
Start with the Field Transportation Bureau shop — they were making and repairing wagons, saddles, and harnesses right here. Because an army that can't move is just a crowd, and Cherokee County was not about to let that happen. Then there was the gun factory.
And this wasn't some modest little operation — they were producing Mississippi rifles and pistols. Two separate iron works were casting plows, skillets, pots, and irons. Salt works were running to provide what the marker calls, plainly, a scarce item.
A Confederate commissary stored sugar and military supplies. And a Texas conscript district office was right here directing drafting activity — deciding who went and when. But it didn't stop at manufacturing.
Cherokee County was also holding Union prisoners. Two camps operated here, one of them a camp of instruction for raw recruits. So you had men arriving green and untested, and a whole infrastructure built to shape them into soldiers.
Now let's talk about the men themselves. Two thousand men from Cherokee County entered Confederate service. Two thousand.
And they organized into a list of companies that is, frankly, something to hear out loud. Company A, 2nd Texas Cavalry. Company C, 3rd Texas Cavalry.
Company K, 4th Texas Cavalry. Company F, 7th Texas Cavalry. Company I, 10th Texas Cavalry.
Company B, 17th Texas Cavalry. Companies F and I of the 35th Texas Cavalry. Company B, 28th Texas Cavalry, Dismounted.
Companies A and D of Border's Cavalry. Company K, 1st Texas Partisan Rangers. Company E, 7th Texas Infantry.
And Companies A, C, and K of the 18th Texas Infantry. That is a county that did not sit on the sidelines. Among those two thousand men was Brigadier General Joseph L.
Hogg — a Cherokee County man who rose to that rank and died in Mississippi in 1862. The marker gives him that one line, and sometimes one line carries the whole weight of a story. Cherokee County was a forge, in every sense of the word.
It made the weapons, moved the supplies, trained the recruits, and sent two thousand of its own sons into the fight. That is the marker's account, and it is not a small one.
What the marker says
Civil War manufacturing, supply and military center. Field Transportation Bureau shop made and repaired wagons, saddles, harnesses. Gun factory produced "Mississippi rifles" and pistols. Two iron works cast plows, skillets, pots, irons. Salt works provided a scarce item. Confederate commissary stored sugar and military supplies. Texas conscript district office directed drafting activity. Additional military activities included Union prisoner confine and two camps, one a camp of instruction for raw recruits. C.S.A. Men and Units Two thousand men from Cherokee County were in the Confederate Service, including Brigadier General Joseph L. Hogg who died in Mississippi in 1862. Companies organized were: Co. A, 2nd Texas Cavalry Co. C, 3rd Texas Cavalry Co. K, 4th Texas Cavalry Co. F, 7th Texas Cavalry Co. I, 10th Texas Cavalry Co. B, 17th Texas Cavalry Cos. F and I, 35th Texas Cavalry Co. B, 28th Texas Cavalry, Dismounted Cos. A and D, Border's Cavalry Co. K, 1st Texas Partisan Rangers Co. E, 7th Texas Infantry Cos. A, C,K 18th Texas Infantry