Texas in the Civil War - Adjutants General

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Texas in the Civil War and the men who kept it running from the inside. Now, when most folks think about Texas in the Civil War, they picture her sons riding east to glory. And ride they did.

Ninety thousand men fighting for the South, many of them in units east of the Mississippi. But here's what the tall tale never quite gets around to telling: somebody had to hold the home place together. And holding Texas together was not a small job.

Not even close. Two thousand miles. Say that slow.

Two thousand miles of coastline and frontier, under constant threat from federals, Indians, and outlaws, all at the same time, all from 1861 to 1865. The man standing in the middle of all that was the state Adjutant General. Now, that title sounds like a desk job, and brother, you have never been more wrong.

This one man filled Confederate troop requisitions. He organized, posted, and supplied the Texas Frontier Regiment, stringing forts a day's horseback ride apart in a line running all the way from the Rio Grande to the Red River. That's the whole length of Texas, anchored at both ends, held together by one office.

But wait. The marker's not done with him yet. He was also assigned the duties of State Inspector General, Commissary General, Ordnance Officer, and Quartermaster.

He handled state correspondence on military affairs, distributed orders and forms, kept records of the state troops, assembled registers of Texans in Confederate service, had general charge of all military property, collected and repaired arms, inspected arsenals and magazines, and received and distributed munitions. You want to know what they paid a man to carry all of that? In 1861, five hundred dollars a year.

Five. Hundred. Dollars.

By 1865 they'd raised it to two thousand, and honestly, even that feels like they got off cheap. Five men held this office in succession: N. H.

Darnell of Dallas, William Byrd of Austin, J. Y. Dashiell of San Antonio, D.

B. Culberson of Jefferson, and John Burke of Marshall. Five men, one punishing office, and two thousand miles of Texas daring anyone to blink.

The marker calls it, simply, a difficult office. I'd say that's the understatement carved in stone.

What the marker says

Texas in the Civil War ADJUTANTS GENERAL Texas in 1861-1865 had 90,000 men fighting for the South - many in units east of the Mississippi. Yet at home she had to defend 2000 miles of coastline and frontier from constant threats made by federals, Indians, and outlaws. The state Adjutant General filled the necessary Confederate troop requisitions. At the same time he organized, posted and supplied the Texas frontier Regiment in a string of forts a day's horseback ride apart, from the Rio Grande to the Red River. He was also assigned the duties of State Inspector General, Commissary General, Ordnance Officer, and Quartermaster. He handles state correspondence on military affairs, disturbing orders and forms, kept records of the state troops, and assembled registers of Texans in Confederate service; had general charge of all military property; collected and repaired arms; inspected arsenals and magazines, received and distributed munitions. From an 1861 salary of $500, pay for this office was increased by 1865 to $2,000 a year. N. H. Darnell, Dallas; Wm. Byrd, Austin; J. Y. Dashiell, San Antonio; D. B. Culberson, Jefferson; and John Burke of Marshall successively held this difficult office. (1965)