County Named for Texas Confederate Captain Gustav Schleicher

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the man this county was named for. Gustav Schleicher. Born in 1823, died in 1879.

A Texas Confederate captain, and the marker makes plain he was no ordinary one. Now, the county bearing his name sits right out here in this stretch of Texas, and the story of how he earned that honor runs straight through one of the hardest stretches in Confederate history. Schleicher served as chief purchasing agent for the army engineer department of the Southern armies west of the Mississippi.

Think about what that job meant. The Confederacy was being squeezed from every direction, blockades cutting off supply lines, the whole war machine running on desperation and improvisation. And here was Schleicher, tasked with finding what the armies needed just to dig in and hold on.

Intrenching tools. Iron. Steel.

Lead. Turpentine. The basic, unglamorous stuff that keeps an army functioning.

He bought it, tracked it down, wrangled it from wherever he could. And when the usual channels dried up, he went further. He imported material from Europe, moving it through Mexico, and the currency he used for those exchanges was cotton.

The marker calls cotton the life blood of the Confederacy, and that phrase lands hard when you picture Schleicher threading supplies through a closing net. He established two engineer depots right here in Texas, designed fortifications, designed ponton trains. And when U.S. frontier forts surrendered, he repaired the tools left behind, turning what was yielded into what was needed.

The marker calls this site a memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas in 1963. Gustav Schleicher, 1823 to 1879.

The county carries his name, and now you know a little more about why.

What the marker says

1823-1879 Chief purchasing agent, army engineer department for Southern armies West Mississippi. Bought desperately needed intrenching tools, iron, steel, lead and turpentine. Imported much material from Europe through Mexico by the exchange of cotton, "life blood of Confederacy." Established two engineer depots in Texas, designed fortifications and ponton trains. Repaired tools from surrendered U.S. frontier forts. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963