DUANE
Get the App
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight. From 1865 all the way to World War I, the men who had worn Confederate gray didn't just fade into memory; they ran Texas. Every locality had its United Confederate Veterans camp, and come reunion time, those camps filled up with men who had survived things most folks couldn't imagine.
The railroads even gave free passes to veterans and widows, which tells you something about the standing these men and women held in the life of the state. But here's where the story gets a little bitter at the edges. While the U.S.
Treasury was giving ample pensions to Federal veterans, Confederate veterans had to depend on state bounties. No federal dollar was coming their way. So Texas stepped up, in its own fashion and in its own time.
In 1881 through 1883, the state granted 1,280-acre parcels of land to widows of men who died in service and to disabled veterans and their servants. That's a lot of acres, and a lot of grief behind each deed. Pensions didn't come until 1899.
And here's a number worth sitting with: 91 percent of Texas pensioners had actually served in the war from other states, but they met the residential requirements, so Texas counted them as her own. That's the kind of detail that quietly stretches the map of this whole story. Now, somebody had to house the ones who had nowhere else to go.
Confederate homes for veterans, their wives, and widows were established in Austin. The John B. Hood Camp of the United Confederate Veterans founded the men's home in 1886, then handed it over to the state in 1891.
The Daughters of the Confederacy built the woman's home in 1907 and gave that one to the state in 1911. Two homes. Two acts of building, and then letting go.
The men's home kept its doors open a long, long time. The last veteran it sheltered was a man named Thomas Riddle, and when he died in 1954, the home lost its final one. Think about that: nearly ninety years after Appomattox, a man who had fought in that war was still living, still being cared for.
And the widows outlasted even that. In 1965, at least 47 Confederate widows were still alive. By that same year, Texas had spent $71,106,648 (that's seventy-one million dollars and change) maintaining those homes and paying out pension benefits.
The war ended in 1865. The last bill for it was still being counted a hundred years later. Texas has a long memory, and an even longer tab.
What the marker says
From 1865 until World War I, Civil War veterans were leaders in economic and public life in Texas. Every locality had its United Confederate Veterans camp, with yearly reunions. Texas railroads gave free passes to veterans and widows. But while the U.S. Treasury gave ample pensions to Federals, the Confederates depended on state bounties. Texas in 1881-1883 gave 1280-acre land grants to widows of men who died in service and to disabled veterans and their servants. Pensions were approved in 1899; 91% of Texas pensioners had served in the war from other states, but met residential requirements here. Confederate homes for veterans, their wives and widows were located in Austin. John B. Hood Camp, U.C.V., founded the men's home in 1886, gave it to the state in 1891. Daughters of the Confederacy built the woman's home in 1907 and gave it to the state in 1911. The men's home lost its last veteran in 1954 with the death of Thomas Riddle. In 1965 at least 47 Confederate widows survived. By 1965, Texas had spent $71,106,648 to maintain homes and pension benefits. (1965)