DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Smith County, C.S.A. is what's got my attention right now, and here's how I tell it. Now, Texas has more than its share of storied ground, but pull off near Tyler and you are standing on something that carried enormous weight during the Civil War — and most folks rolling past on the highway have no idea. Smith County was not a backwater of the Confederate war effort.
It was a major center of Confederate activity. And when I say major, I mean the kind of major that reshapes a place down to its bones. Start with this: the largest ordnance plant west of the Mississippi River was operating right near here.
That plant manufactured what became known as Tyler Rifles. Let that settle in a moment. West of the Mississippi — largest ordnance plant.
Not in Virginia, not in Georgia. Right here. Then head east of town and you find Camp Ford — the largest prisoner of war compound in the western Confederacy.
That is not a small claim. The western Confederacy was a vast stretch of territory, and the biggest compound holding Union prisoners sat right outside Tyler. But there was more still.
A quartermaster depot. Training camps. A transportation depot.
A foundry. A general hospital and medical laboratories. Tyler was humming with Confederate military function from multiple directions at once.
And then — the salt works. Two large salt works, producing daily thousands of pounds of this vital commodity. Salt in wartime is not a small thing.
Armies move on it. Meat is preserved with it. Thousands of pounds, every single day.
Now here's where the story turns quiet, and you ought to let it. While the men were gone, someone had to hold everything together at home. The marker tells us plainly who did that work: women, children, old men, and loyal slaves raised cotton and grain for the army.
Women made all their own clothes. They used parched okra and yams for coffee. They made hats out of shucks and straw.
That is not a footnote — that is the other half of how a county fights a war. And the men who left? They came from units recruited or organized right here in Tyler and Smith County.
Douglas' Battery. The 1st Texas Infantry. The 3rd Texas Cavalry.
The 11th Texas Infantry. The 15th Texas Infantry. The 22nd Texas Infantry.
Elements of all of them trace back to this ground. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1965 to make sure none of that gets forgotten. And now that you've heard it — well, I reckon it won't be.
What the marker says
[FRONT] Smith County C.S.A. Major center of Confederate activity during Civil War. Many distinguished men and military units served South. The largest ordnance plant west of the Mississippi River manufactured "Tyler Rifles" near here. Camp Ford located east of town was the largest prisoner of war compound in the western Confederacy. Other military activities here included a quartermaster depot, training camps, transportation depot, foundry, general hospital and medical laboratories. Two large salt works produced daily thousands of pounds of this vital commodity. At home, women, children, old men, loyal slaves raised cotton and grain for army. Women made all their own clothes, used parched okra and yams for coffee and made hats out of shucks and straw. [BACK] Tyler-Smith County C. S. A. Men and Units Elements of the following Confederate Texas military units were recruited from or organized in Tyler and Smith County: Douglas' Battery, 1st Texas Infantry, 3rd Texas Cavalry, 11th Texas Infantry, 15th Texas Infantry, 22nd Texas Infantry. Erected by the State of Texas 1965