THE TRANS MISSISSIPPI THEATRE, the unknown Civil War
In a vast area west of the Mississippi River, the war took on a differnt form with a different cast of characters. by Mark Vogl
(conservative)
Sunday, October 30, 2011
The American Civil War, or War for Southern Independence is experiencing its Sesquicentennial (150th) Remembrance between the years 2010 – 2015. This era of American history may be the most read about, and the most interesting to Americans of all generations. The struggle between the advocates of the original Constitution and those seeking to reshape the role of the federal government is the beginning point for the America of today. Thousands of books have been written about the causes of secession, Lincoln’s commitment to preserve the union, the actual war years and reconstruction. Millions of Americans annually visit the hundreds of battlefields and historic locations connected to the war.
But despite all of this activity and interest, there are areas of study within the Civil War which receive relatively minor attention, whose stories rest undisturbed beneath layers of dust.. Two of these areas are the Confederate Navy, and the Trans Mississippi theatre. The size, scope, and success of the Confederate Navy is a story equal in excitement and daring to General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Confederate naval commanders equaled Stuart, Forrest, Morgan and Mosby in personal bravery, tactical brilliance, and commitment. The C.S.N. sheds a light on the Confederacy which opens the struggle to a global scale, while highlighting the ingenuity and strategic genius of the South’s maritime leadership. It is an area you should consider visiting if you are a student of the era. It will change your appreciation of the South!
However, another area seldom studied, and poorly understood is the Trans Mississippi theatre. This is the vast area west of the Mississippi River which runs to the Pacific Ocean. It is a completely different civil war, with untold stories of heroism and sacrifice. It is a war reliant on horses for mobility, where distance and geography is very different from the eastern and western (central) theatres.
The Trans Mississippi theatre adds aspects to the war seldom considered east of the Mississippi. Through this brief essay I would like to introduce you to some of unique aspects of the story of the Trans Mississippi. These aspects include:
Pre-war theatre of political confrontation and terrorism of John Brown
Texas, and the secession referendum
St. Louis, an unnoticed early strategic victory
Oklahoma and the Indian nations
The role of Mexico and Europe in the Trans Mississippi
The first invasion of the north
Naval battles in the Gulf
Missouri and Arkansas
The Battle of Galveston
Dick Dowling and Irish Catholic heroism at Sabine Pass
The Red River Campaign
The Southern exodus to Mexico and South America
Each of these aspects provides a unique and little understood aspect of the events which comprise the division of a nation and war. And in some of these aspects rests an undigested historical event which could have had strategic implications on the war and its final outcome.
As an example, the pre-war days in St. Louis were vital to the first eighteen months of the war. Missouri was a state as likely to secede as to remain in the union. And had Missouri successfully seceded, the city of St. Louis would have provided a base of operations for Confederate forces to operate against Illinois. Were this reality to be the case in 1861 all the early planning of the war in the west would have been focused on securing the western flank instead of occupying Kentucky. It didn’t happen. But, the story of why it did not happen demonstrates just how important a relatively minor US Army officer can be in the earliest stages of a political – military event.
The Civil War provides historical events which can be studied in some detail for lessons. The incident in St. Louis is one of those events. However, to my knowledge, it is rarely developed by those who teach this era of American history.
A second element of massive import seldom studied is Mexico and its border with Texas. Col. “RIP” Ford of Texas, write in his memoirs about the concerns both South and North had of Mexico as the nation divided. Mexico could have been a mortal threat to Texas, or, if properly seduced by President Davis and the Confederacy could have been a means of bringing Europe into war against the North! Again, this is not a possibility discussed in the routine study of the Civil War.
There are many stories like these about the Trans Mississippi. Stories which would require a student to think, to ponder, to consider.
And there are other stories, ones which excite the imagination and paint a picture of legend and mystic. One of those stories is the Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas in September, 1863. In this battle a mere forty – eight Irish – Catholic Texans under the command of Lt. Richard ‘Dick” Dowling defeated a union invading force of 5,000 Yankees in more than twenty ships! It was an astounding victory, one much need by the South after defeats at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Sabine Pass is the untold story of an Alamo like battle where the South defeated all odds driving off the Yankee invaders. There is no comparable battle to this east of the Mississippi River.
The Trans Mississippi provides a theatre of war fresh with new stories, new adventures, new problems for the Civil War student. It is a new place to find the effects of terrorism on the pre-war South. It provides an opportunity to study the political events which led to a public referendum on secession in Texas! (No other state in the South conducted a referendum on secession.)
So as you proceed through the Sesquicentennial, and spend weekends visiting Civil War battlefields and historic locations consider planning a trip west. What you will find will enhance your understanding of the causes of the war, and open your eyes to a different mode of fighting the civil war.
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The views expressed
in this article are those of Mark Vogl only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
Mark Vogl is solely responsible for the contents
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