DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker for Fort Casa Blanca, C.S.A. has to say — and friend, this one's worth slowing down for. About two and a half miles northwest of where you're sitting right now, something stood that most folks have completely forgotten. The first building erected in what is now Jim Wells County went up as early as 1855.
Just a structure out on the brush country, near the Nueces. But when the Civil War came calling, that building found itself at the very center of something remarkable. See, the Confederacy needed a supply line.
And they built one — a long, looping route that started in Corpus Christi, followed the Nueces River right through here, pushed on to Laredo, curved down to Brownsville, and swung back around to Corpus Christi. A whole circle of survival, and Casa Blanca sat right on it. When Federal forces took Corpus Christi, a man named Thomas Wright — the sutler, the supply keeper — didn't sit still.
He drove from Casa Blanca out to other points, keeping the goods moving, keeping the line alive. But the real audacity? That belonged to the small boats.
Small boats that outmaneuvered Federal vessels on Nueces Bay. Slipped into the Nueces River. Came up Penitos Creek.
Hauled guns, ammunition, medicine, and other wartime goods. And on the return trip, they took out cotton — what the marker calls, plain and simple, the currency of the Confederate. Now, the fort itself.
Let's talk about what they built here, because this was no rough lean-to. The walls ran twenty-eight to thirty-six inches thick. Cypress shutters covered the few small windows — small by design, mind you.
Corner parapets rose at the edges, and portholes had been cut at three different heights, giving defenders emplacements to cover just about any angle of approach. The one entryway was wide enough for a two-wheel cart or two horses riding abreast, and it was sealed with a heavy cypress door. And then there's the detail that'll stick with you.
From the fort's well, an escape tunnel ran all the way out to the creek. Someone planned for the worst, and they planned carefully. But Casa Blanca wasn't only a military post.
Out on the Cotton Road — the long haul from San Antonio down to Matamoros — wagon drivers knew this place. They stopped here. The fort warehoused goods, yes, but it also provided shelter and water for drivers passing through with their loads.
For those cotton wagons, it meant safety from bandit chases. It meant survival from what the marker calls, with a quiet devastation, killing thirsts. All of that — the thick walls, the cypress door, the tunnel, the boats sliding past Federal patrols in the dark — gone.
The marker notes it plainly: in the twentieth century, the fort has disappeared. Some places carry a whole war in their bones, and then the land just takes them back.
What the marker says
(About 2 1/2 mi. NW) First building erected in area that is now Jim Wells County early as 1855. During the Civil War was on Confederate supply line that started in Corpus Christi, followed the Nueces here, went to Laredo, to Brownsville and back to Corpus Christi. When Federals were in Corpus Christi, Thomas Wright, the sutler, drove from here to other points. Casa Blanca was supplied by small boats that outmaneuvered Federals on Nueces Bay, slipped into the Nueces River, and came up Penitos Creek. They hauled guns, ammunition, medicine, and other wartime goods and took out cotton, "Currency of the Confederate." The fort had walls 28" to 36" thick. An escape tunnel from its well led to the creek. It's one entryway, wide enough for a 2-wheel cart or 2 horses abreast, was closed with a heavy cypress door. Cypress shutters covered its few small windows. Corner parapets and portholes at 3 heights gave it emplacements for defense. It not only warehoused goods, but also provided shelter and water for drivers passing with wagons along the Cotton Road from San Antonio to Matamoros. For cotton wagons it meant safety from bandit chases and from killing thirsts. In the 20th century the fort has disappeared. (1965)