DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the name E. Kirby Smith carries a lot of weight in these Texas Hill Country roads, and if you've ever passed through Fredericksburg, there's a reason his story echoes in the limestone and cedar of this country.
Let me lay it out for you. Edmund Kirby Smith was born in Florida in 1824, and if you're thinkin' that's a long way from Texas, well — he had a way of finding himself at the center of big, difficult things, no matter the geography. He graduated from West Point, fought in the Mexican War, and by the 1850s he was out here on the Texas frontier, commanding Camps Belknap, Cooper, and Colorado.
Three camps. This was not a man who stood still. And somewhere in the middle of all that, in 1860, he became a partner with a man named J.
M. Hunter of Fredericksburg in a Texas ranch. That partnership would last many years.
Then 1861 arrived — and you know what 1861 brought. Smith resigned from the United States Army to serve the Confederacy. That's the marker's word: resigned.
And in 1863, he was appointed to command all the area west of the Mississippi River. Now, let's sit with that for just a moment, because the situation he inherited was something. The Federals held the river itself.
They held all of Missouri, much of Arkansas, much of Louisiana, much of Indian Territory, and they were pushing hard to take Texas — her food, her cotton, her horses. Meanwhile, down south, the French under Maximilian were approaching from Mexico. And on every frontier, Indians and bandits were raiding constantly.
Smith's Trans-Mississippi Department had what the marker calls, with considerable understatement, many problems. So what do you do when your supply lines are strangled and the river is held against you? You run cotton.
Freighters and blockade runners, employed to get that cotton out, trading it for guns, ammunition, and goods — because cotton was the only product the South had left for trading. And Texas was the chief source of the cotton General Smith used to finance his army. Texas was also where he sent his wife and children for safety.
Texas gave him ovations when he passed through on his way to Mexico after the war ended. This place meant something to him, and he meant something to it. The story doesn't close there, though.
It travels east, to Sewanee, Tennessee, to the University of the South, where from 1875 to 1893, young Texans sat in Edmund Kirby Smith's mathematics classes. The man who once commanded a department the size of a continent spent those years teaching. He died in 1893.
The frontier commander, the cotton financier, the ranching partner of J. M. Hunter of Fredericksburg — he ended his days at a chalkboard.
Sometimes the biggest stories finish in the quietest rooms.
What the marker says
(1824-1893) Born in Florida. Graduated from West Point. Fought in Mexican War. On the Texas frontier in the 1850s, commanded Camps Belknap, Cooper and Colorado. In 1860 and many years afterwards was a partner of J. M. Hunter of Fredericksburg in a Texas ranch. Resigned from U. S. Army, 1861, to serve Confederacy. Was appointed 1863, to command all the area west of the Mississippi. At that time Federals held the river, all of Missouri, much of Arkansas, Louisiana and Indian Territory, and were trying to take Texas and her supplies of food, cotton and horses. The Trans-Mississippi Dept. had many problems. The French under Maximilian were approaching from Mexico. Indians and bandits constantly raided frontiers. Freighters and blockade runners had to be employed for exporting cotton-- the only product the South had for trading to get guns, ammunition and goods. Texas was chief source of the cotton Gen. Smith used for financing his army. It was place of safety to which he sent his wife and children. It gave him ovations as he went to Mexico after the war ended. Young Texans studied, 1875-1893, in his mathematics classes at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.