DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Polk County, C.S.A. is the story I'm carrying for you right now — so let's ride into those piney woods together. Now, Polk County during the Civil War, 1861 to 1865, wasn't exactly what you'd call a booming metropolis. Piney woods, farms, thickets, and an Alabama-Coushatta Indian reservation — that was the lay of the land.
And when 1860 came around, the county could count only 600 voters on its rolls. Six hundred. Here's where you lean in a little closer.
Polk County sent 900 soldiers into the Confederate Army. Nine hundred. Out of a county with 600 voters.
You can sit with that arithmetic for a moment. The county reached deeper than its own voter rolls to fill the ranks, and fill them it did. Among those units, Polk County furnished four to Hood's Texas Brigade alone — Company B of the 1st Regiment, Company F of the 4th, and Companies H and K of the 5th Regiment.
The county also organized Company K of the 14th Texas Infantry in Randal's Brigade, Company E of the 20th Texas Infantry in Harrison's Brigade, and Company F of the 22nd Texas Infantry in Waul's Brigade. And then there were the Alabama-Coushattas — 21 of them joined Company A, Indian Cavalry. Twenty-one men from that reservation stepping into the current of a very long war.
Back home, the county wasn't sitting idle either. In 1861, the Commissioners Court gave $1,600 to clothe its soldiers. That's not a figure that fell out of the sky — somebody had to authorize it, somebody had to count it out.
Throughout the war, old men, women, children, and slaves produced food and cotton to support the war effort. The county's numerous ferries and rivers carried troops and supplies. Ports like Drew's Landing floated goods out on flatboats.
Moscow's sawmill, cotton gin, drugstore, and school — all operated throughout the war, the school kept running by the Masonic Lodge. The war ended, but the story didn't close quiet. Come 1867, Livingston became headquarters for the Federal Army of Occupation, 5th Military District.
They stayed through 1868 — Company A of the 15th Infantry and Company B of the 6th Cavalry, stationed right there in the county seat. A county of piney woods and 600 voters that sent 900 men to war, kept its mill turning and its school open, and then watched the Federal Army set up headquarters in its courthouse town. Polk County carried a heavy load from one end of that era to the other, and the marker doesn't let you forget a single ounce of it.
What the marker says
During Civil War, 1861-65, an area of piney woods, farms, thickets, with an Alabama-Coushatta Indian reservation. Had only 600 voters in 1860 but sent 900 soldiers into the Confederate Army. Furnished 4 units to Hood's Texas Brigade (Co. B, 1st Regiment; Co. F, 4th Regiment; Co. H and Co. K, 5th Regiment). Also organized Co. K, 14th Texas Infantry, Randal's Brigade; co. E, 20th Texas Infantry, Harrison's Brigade; Co. F, 22nd Texas Infantry, Waul's Brigade, 21 of the Alabama-Coushattas joined Co. A, Indian Cavalry. In 1861, gave through Commissioners Court $1,600 to clothe its soldiers. Throughout the war, old men, women, children and slaves produced food and cotton for support of the war effort. County's numerous ferries and rivers were used in transporting troops and supplies. Such ports as Drew's Landing floated out goods on flatboats. Industries and facilities of importance included Moscow's sawmill, cotton gin, drugstore and school operated throughout the war by the Masonic Lodge. Livingston was headquarters, 1867-68, for the Federal Army of Occupation, 5th Military District, with Co. A, 15th Infantry and Co. B, 6th Cavalry, stationed here.