Fort Ringgold, C.S.A.

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Fort Ringgold, C.S.A., Starr County, Texas. Now, before we get into it, understand something about the scale of what was at stake.

Two thousand miles. Two thousand miles of Texas frontier, coastline, and border, all of it needing to be held, all of it threatened; from Indians, from bandits, and from Federal troops pressing in from every angle. That's not a defense.

That's a prayer with guns. And Fort Ringgold sat right in the middle of that long, anxious line. Early in the Civil War, Texas Confederates moved in under Colonel John S.

Ford. From here, troops fanned out to scout the river, defend ranches, and guard the wagons: wagons hauling cotton across into neutral Mexico, trading it for war supplies. That cotton road was a lifeline, and Fort Ringgold was one of the posts keeping it open.

Cols. Ford, August Buchel, and Santos Benavides each had troops here from time to time, rotating through, keeping watch on that restless stretch of border. But November of 1863, that's when things turned.

The 1st Texas Union Cavalry took the fort. Just like that, it changed hands. You'd think that might be the end of the story.

It wasn't. Come May of 1864, Ford came back. He retook Fort Ringgold and used it as a base to go after something bigger: Brownsville itself.

One fort lost. One fort reclaimed. And a two-thousand-mile line that never stopped needing somebody willing to hold it.

What the marker says

Occupied early in Civil War by Texas Confederates under Col. John S. Ford. Vital in chain of posts used to defend the 2,000 mile Texas frontier, coastline and border always threatened by attacks from Indians, bandits and Federal troops. Cols. Ford, August Buchel and Santos Benavides had troops here from time to time to scout the river, defend ranches and guard wagons trading cotton for war supplies in neutral Mexico. Taken in November 1863 by 1st Texas Union Cavalry. Retaken May 1864 by Ford and used as base to recapture Brownsville. (1964)