DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, when Texas found itself staring down the barrel of the Civil War, the legislature did what legislatures do when they're worried — they created a new agency. Just one new agency, mind you.
One. They called it the State Military Board, and friend, they gave it a job that would have made lesser outfits fold up and go home. The original members were three men who already had their hands full: the Governor, the Comptroller, and the Treasurer.
Then in 1864, the Comptroller and Treasurer were replaced by appointees of the Governor. The roster changed, but the mission didn't. That mission was to establish industry, and to purchase the essential military and civilian supplies that a state at war simply could not do without.
Now here's the thing about Texas in those days — the state was largely dependent on imports for factory goods. Largely dependent. Which meant that when the Federal government threw a coastal blockade around Confederate ports, Texas had a serious problem on its hands.
Guns. Powder. Copper.
Lead. Hats, boots, shoes, clothing, cloth, rope, blankets, cotton cards, and the machinery to get local industry off the ground — all of it had to come from somewhere, and the front door was bolted shut. So the Board went around back.
Through neutral Mexico. And by use of swift blockade runners slipping through Federal lines. The Board sold and exchanged state bonds, U.S. indemnity bonds, and cotton — cotton, which carried a ready cash and exchange value abroad that almost nothing else could match — and they traded all of it for the supplies a state at war desperately needed.
Agents of the Board fanned out across Mexico and all the way into Europe to make those deals happen. Back home, a percussion cap factory was built. A state foundry for cannon was built.
And through contracts, land grants, and cold hard cash, private enterprise was aided and encouraged to manufacture rifles, pistols, and gunpowders. Now, I won't pretend it all ran smooth as river water. Lack of funds hit them hard.
Poor transportation slowed everything down. Competition for cotton gnawed at their margins. Other wartime difficulties piled on like they always do.
The Board's effectiveness was hampered — the marker's honest about that. But hampered is not the same as stopped. When the accounting was done, the State Military Board had done enough — enough that Texas earned itself a name that stuck: the Storehouse of the Confederacy.
One agency. Created for an emergency. And it held the line.
What the marker says
The only new agency created by legislature to deal with wartime emergencies. Original members were the Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer. The last two in 1864 were replaced by appointees of the Governor. Purpose was to establish industry and purchase essential military and civilian supplies. Texas was largely dependent on imports for factory goods, so the Board had to sustain foreign trade, despite a Federal coastal blockade. This was done through neutral Mexico and by use of swift blockade runners. The Board sold and exchanged state bonds, U.S. indemnity bonds and cotton--which had a ready cash and exchange value abroad--for guns, powder, copper, lead, hats, boots, shoes, clothing, cloth, rope, blankets, cotton cards and machinery to start local industry. Agents of the Board operated in Mexico and Europe. A percussion cap factory and a state foundry for cannon were built. By contracts, land grants and cash, private enterprise was aided and encouraged to manufacture rifles, pistols and gunpowders. Lack of funds, poor transportation, competition for cotton and other wartime difficulties hampered effectiveness, but the Board did much to make Texas "the Storehouse of the Confederacy". (1965)