Betrayal in Texas
From the editor: When seventy-one year old David Twiggs was sent to San Antonio, Texas, last December to replace Robert E. Lee as the commander of the Department of Texas, it was one of the last acts of Secretary of War John B. Floyd’s tenure before he was forced to resign amid a flurry of allegations that he had sent money and arms south in preparation for the impending war. In his short time commanding the district, Twiggs is unequivocally honest about his loyalties—which are to the South. When Colonel Carlos A. Waite, a New Yorker, and the next senior officer in the department, is ordered to replace Twiggs, it sets off chain reaction that ends when former Texas Ranger Benjamin McCulloch demands the surrender of Twiggs’ 165-man garrison in San Antonio. Rather than wait for Colonel Waite, who is only 65 miles away, Twiggs negotiates the surrender of the entire state, which includes over $2 million in Federal property and twenty military installations. In a span of only 67 days, Twiggs, who had been awarded the Sword of Congress for his actions at Monterrey during the Mexican War, delivers the state of Texas to the Confederacy. He will be dishonorably dismissed from the Army on March 1st.
February 17 1861 (Sunday)
With attention diverted to the convention occurring at Montgomery, Alabama, things have quieted down a great deal at Fort Sumter. Major Robert Anderson, First U.S. Artillery, reports: “We could not see any work prosecuted yesterday except that by small gangs of negroes, who were shoveling sand at the western end of the bomb-proof battery on Cummings Point.”
FORT SUMTER, S.C., February 17, 1861.
General [Joseph] G. TOTTEN, Chief Engineer U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.: Everything is quiet, and there are no evidences of the presence of many troops around us, nor of military preparation. The assumption of all questions relating to forts, arsenals, &c., by the Congress of the Southern Confederacy appears to have placed a sudden check upon the military enterprise of the South Carolinians…. I cannot yet determine what is being done at Fort Moultrie. In addition to the sand bags, which raises the sole of the exterior about two feet, the whole embrasure is filled with a large bag of wool or cotton. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
[John] G. FOSTER, Captain of Engineers.
After yesterday’s occupation of San Antonio, Texas, by Colonel Benjamin McCulloch’s Texas State Militia, Department of Texas commander David Twiggs agrees to surrender all “positions held by…Federal troops” to “authorized agents of the State of Texas.” The one sticking point is the route they are to take out of the state, with the Confederate Commissioners demanding that a coastal route be taken. Twiggs reports, “I objected to this strongly until I found that, unless I yielded that point, there would be immediate collision, and deeming it probable that by yielding this I could save the guns of the light batteries, I reluctantly did so.”
SAN ANTONIO, February 17, 1861.
Bvt. Maj. Gen. DAVID E. TWIGGS, U.S. Army, Commanding Department of Texas: In reply to your communication of this date, we have to say that we accept the terms therein set forth, with the conditions stated in our note of the 14th instant, viz, that the troops shall leave Texas by the way of the coast, and, upon arriving at the point or points of embarkation, will deliver up to the authorized agents, appointed for that purpose, all means of transportation of every kind used by them, as likewise the artillery, if any be taken. Respectfully, &c.,
THOS. J. DEVINE, [Samuel] A. MAVERICK, [Phillip] N. LUCKETT, Commissioners on behalf of the Committee of Public Safety.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. Lt. Julian McAllister, Ordnance Corps, commanding Benicia Arsenal in San Francisco, California, is ordered to send 10,000 rifled muskets and150,000 cartridges “with elongated balls” to Alcatraz Island, the only completed fort in the bay.
February 18 1861 (Monday)
In a secret session of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, newly nominated President Jefferson Davis gives his inaugural address.
MONDAY, February 18, 1861.
SECRET SESSION. At 1 p.m. the President elect of the Confederate States of America, escorted by the Vice-President and the committee of arrangements, appeared within the hall of Congress, and was escorted to the chair, supported on his right by the Vice-President and on his left by the president of Congress....Congress then repaired, in company with the President elect, to the front of the Capitol for the purpose of inaugurating the President. The president of the Congress presented the President elect to the Congress....The President elect then delivered his inaugural address, after which the oath of office was administered to him by the president of the Congress....And then the Congress adjourned.
One final item needs to be addressed before David Twiggs can officially surrender all Federal installations and property to the State of Texas. Twiggs explains: “The condition of surrendering the guns of the light batteries…would cast a lasting disgrace upon the arms of the United States, and under no circumstances can I believe that the State of Texas would demand such a sacrifice at my hands.” Pleased that the stalemate has ended so favorably, the Texas Commissioners (Devine, Maverick, and Luckett) accede to Twiggs’ request. “We have to say that we accept the terms therein stated, viz, that the two batteries of light artillery, with the arms for the infantry and cavalry, shall be retained by the troops under your command.” All other public property is to be “delivered up to agents authorized to receive it.”
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 5.
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF TEXAS, San Antonio, February 18, 1861.
The State of Texas having demanded, through its commissioners, the delivery of the military posts and public property within the limits of this command, and the commanding general desiring to avoid even the possibility of a collision between the Federal and State troops, the posts will be evacuated by their garrisons, and these will take up, as soon as the necessary preparations can be made, the line of march out of Texas by way of the coast, marching out with their arms (the light batteries with their guns), clothing, camp and garrison equipage, quartermaster's stores, subsistence, medical, hospital stores, and such means of transportation of every kind as may be necessary for an efficient and orderly movement of the troops, prepared for attack or defense against aggressions from any source. The troops will carry with them provisions as far as the coast. By order of Brevet Major General Twiggs:
[William] A. NICHOLS, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1.President-elect Lincoln arrives in Albany, the midway point of his trip through eighty-three cities to Washington, D.C., and delivers a speech before the N.Y. legislature.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. Missouri begins electing delegates for a convention to consider secession.
February 19 1861 (Tuesday)
Colonel Carlos A. Waite, First U.S. Infantry, arrives in San Antonio, Texas, to take command of the Department of Texas from Daniel Twiggs only to find that Twiggs has already surrendered the entire state. He reports: “Under these circumstances, I felt it my duty to comply with the agreement entered into by General Twiggs [and] remove the troops from the country as early as possible…. Arrangements are being made to bring the troops to the coast in time to meet the transports, if possible…. I have made the necessary requisition for transports, and have indicated the points of embarkation and the number of the troops.”
Report of Col. C.A. Waite, First U.S. Infantry.
COLONEL: On my arrival in San Antonio, I found the city filled with armed men. The public property, including the funds in the hands of Captain [Alexander W.] Reynolds, assistant-quartermaster--some ten thousand dollars--had been seized by an armed force…who was acting under the authority of the commissioners on behalf of the Convention of the People of Texas, and that General Twiggs had already entered into an agreement with said commissioners, in which he stipulated that all the posts should be evacuated, the public property surrendered to the State authorities, and that the troops should leave Texas by way of the coast. An order for the evacuation of the posts was immediately issued by General Twiggs…. The troops in this department are stationed at different camps or posts in small garrisons, and spread over a very large extent of country. To concentrate a sufficient number to make a successful resistance, after the Texans had taken the field, was not practicable…. An attempt to bring them together under these circumstances would have, no doubt, resulted in their being cut up in detail before they could get out of the country…. I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
C.A. WAITE, Colonel, U.S. Army, Commanding Department.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. President-elect Lincoln gives a speech in New York City, New York.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. The members of Jefferson Davis’ cabinet are chosen at the convention in Montgomery, Alabama: J.P. Benjamin (Louisiana) for Attorney-General, S.R. Mallory (Florida) for Secretary of the Navy, C.G. Memminger (South Carolina) for Secretary of the Treasury, J.H. Reagan (Texas) for Postmaster-General, R.A. Toombs (Georgia) for Secretary of State, and L.P. Walker (Alabama) is named Secretary of War.
2. The Secession Convention in Maryland ends with no vote being taken.
February 20 1861 (Wednesday)
Braxton Bragg, who has been appointed commander-in-chief of the State forces in Louisiana, reports on his efforts in bolster the defenses of New Orleans. “We are getting on well in our organization, and strengthening our defenses rapidly; still we are not in condition for a war; but neither are our enemies.” Bragg has also heard from “an old classmate in Texas,” that “a large portion of the troops in Texas” are interested in joining the Confederate Army. He writes: “Their great fear is an attempt on the part of Texas to disarm them. Wound a soldier's honor in this way, and he will fight for it against his friends. Might they not be invited into our service?” The Provisional Confederate Congress responds immediately by advising the Committee on Military Affairs to “appoint at the earliest practicable period a competent officer to proceed to the State of Texas and receive and accept the services of such volunteers as may be desirous of entering the Army of this Confederacy.” Congress also passes an Act authorizing President Davis begin equipping the Army of the Confederacy.
AN ACT to provide for munitions of war, and for other purposes.
SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Confederate States of America in Congress assembled, That the President, or the Secretary of War under his direction, is hereby authorized and empowered to make contracts for the purchase and manufacture of heavy ordnance and small arms; and of machinery for the manufacture or alteration of small-arms and munitions of war, and to employ the necessary agents and artisans for these purposes; and to make contracts for the establishment of powder mills and the manufacture of powder; and the President is authorized to make contracts provided for in this act, in such manner and on such terms as in his judgment the public exigencies may require.
Approved February 20, 1861.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. President-elect Lincoln meets with New York City Mayor Fernando Wood.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. An Act establishing the C.S. Navy is passed by the Provisional Congress in Montgomery, Alabama.
2. Former Superintendent of West Point, Major P. Gustave Toutant Beauregard resigns his position in the U.S. Army.
February 21 1861 (Thursday)
Major Peter Hagner, Ordnance Corps, reports on the conditions of the arsenal in Saint Louis, Missouri. With the closing of many military installations in the seceding states, Hagner has seen his garrison swell to 488 men. He reports: “Notwithstanding the large force and…, I think they are well cared for.”
SAINT LOUIS ARSENAL, February 21, 1861.
Col. [Henry] K. CRAIG, Chief of Ordnance, Washington: I have thrown up field works on all sides of our main cluster of buildings, and provided them with guns commanding the interior faces of our inclosing wall and all approaches to the main square. We are perfectly secure, therefore, against any infantry attack and watchful against surprise. I am sorry to say that the small-pox and measles have appeared within the last forty-eight hours, and a few cases have developed; but I have opened a separate hospital in the laboratory buildings for such cases, and have authority from the general commanding the department to send patients to Jefferson Barracks as often as may be necessary. The cases were brought here…. Very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,
P.V. HAGNER, Brevet Major, Commanding.
The Provisional C.S. Congress approves an Act establishing a War Department, which will be led by the Secretary of War Leroy P. Walker. In addition, Rafael Semmes is authorized to travel to the Northern states with instructions to “make purchases and contracts for machinery and munitions.” Specifically, Semmes is to try to procure a “cap-making machine” and “machinery for the manufacture of rifles, intended for the Harper's Ferry Arsenal.”
AN ACT to establish the War Department.
The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That an executive department be, and the same is hereby, established, under the name of the War Department, the chief officer of which shall be called the Secretary of War.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said Secretary shall, under the direction and control of the President, have charge of all matters and things connected with the Army, and with the Indian tribes within the limits of the Confederacy, and shall perform such duties appertaining to the Army, and to said Indian tribes, as may from time to time be assigned to him by the President.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of said Department is hereby authorized to appoint a chief clerk thereof, and as many inferior clerks as may be found necessary and may be authorized by law.
Approved February 21, 1861.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. Texas State Militia commanded by Colonel J.S. Ford seizes the Brazos Island Depot, commanded by Lt. James Thompson, 2nd U.S. Artillery, on Brazos Island, Texas.
2. Three vessels “belonging to citizens of New York” are seized and “held in the port of Savannah as reprisals” for property seized by police in New York City.
February 22 1861 (Friday)
Washington’s Birthday
President Jefferson Davis writes to Florida Governor Madison S. Perry about the resolution, passed in a secret session a week ago, that states that, “immediate steps should be taken to obtain possession of Forts Sumter and Pickens…either by negotiations or force, as early as practicable.” Davis writes: “As soon as a skillful engineer is available he will be sent to make an examination of the fort within your State and to aid in the works needful to the execution of the resolution of Congress, should force be the means to which we must resort.”
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Montgomery, Ala., February 22, 1861.
His Excellency Governor PERRY: The subjoined resolution was passed by Congress, in secret session, and the injunction of secrecy…has been removed only so far as to authorize me to communicate in the manner deemed expedient, and I must, therefore, ask that you consider it as confidentially done. The resolution suggests two methods by which possession of the forts may be had. It was not intended, however, that the progress of the one should retard or affect the preparations for the other; while, therefore, steps are being taken for negotiation, earnest efforts have been made to procure men of military science and experience, and to seek for munitions and machinery suitable to remedy the supposed or known deficiencies in the existing supplies....Very respectfully and truly, yours,
JEFF'N DAVIS.
A “mass meeting” is held in Sebastian County, Arkansas, in an effort to prevent the evacuation of the Fort Smith, and a petition is sent to Secretary of War Joseph Holt. General-in-Chief Winfield Scott sends the reply to Department of the West commander William Harney: “Stop the march of the troops from Fort Smith.”
FEBRUARY 22, 1861.
To the SECRETARY OF WAR, City of Washington, D.C.: We, the undersigned, citizens of Arkansas, learn with deep regret that the post of Fort Smith is to be abandoned by the General Government. It is fair to suppose that this order has been determined upon in consequence of the actions of a mob in Little Rock and the unfortunate course of the governor in demanding from the United States officer the arsenal. The late decision of the people at the ballot-box has proved beyond question the almost unanimous voice in the counties adjoining Fort Smith for Union as against violence, mob law, and secession. We, therefore, in the name of the people, the whole people, ask a suspension of this movement until the decision of the State by its convention is known.
GEO. RUDDY et al.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. After attending a celebration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, President-elect Lincoln heads to Harrisburg, where threats emanating from Baltimore, Maryland, delay his departure for Washington, D.C., until after dark.
February 23 1861 (Saturday)
The people of Texas flock to the polls to vote on the issue of secession. When all the votes are counted, the final tally is 46,153 in favor of secession and 14,747 against. In addition, of the 122 counties in the state, only 18 cast a majority against secession. As a result of the vote, Texas will officially secede on March 2nd. While this is occurring, Texas Commissioner Ebenezer Nichols confers with Captain Bennett H. Hill, First U.S. Artillery, commanding at Fort Brown, Texas. Nichols writes: “Texas is virtually out of the Union already…and no one who knows anything of the sentiment of this people can doubt for a moment that this is now a sovereign and independent republic. As such the United States troops placed here for our protection…are upon foreign soil.” Nichols concludes: “The property now under their charge at this place, placed here for the use of the State of Texas, becomes the property of the republic of Texas upon the separation from the Federal Government, and ought to be delivered to the properly constituted authorities of Texas.”
HEADQUARTERS FORT BROWN, February 23, 1861.
General E.B. NICHOLS: It would be impossible, without instructions from my Government, to accede to your request to deliver into your possession the public property, or any portion thereof, at this post....You have raised a question upon which my Government will doubtless take action in due season, but which meanwhile cannot affect my military duties or responsibilities. I take pleasure in reciprocating personally the courtesy and good will implied in your assurance that "no act of the Texas troops in this vicinity shall justify a hostile collision with the Federal troops." Further than this, that assurance has no official weight or application, inasmuch as the said Texas troops, numbering several hundred, have already committed an act of hostility against the United States in seizing the public property at Brazos Santiago…. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
B.H. HILL, Captain, First Artillery, Commanding.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. President-elect Lincoln safely arrives in Washington, D.C., and checks in at Willard’s Hotel, prior to his inauguration on March 4th.