Booknotes: Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War

New Arrival:

• Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War by William Nelson Fox (Arcadia Pub and The Hist Press, 2024).

Through both central government edict and an earnest desire to participate in the biggest battles on the most active fronts, Texans fought in all three major theaters of war. Doing so, however, stretched the state's manpower and materiel resources so thin that countering threats closer to home proved extremely challenging. And those threats were numerous.

On the vast and sparsely settled western frontier, Texans suddenly became responsible for their own protection against Comanche and Kiowa raids (the frequency and ferocity of which increased after the departure of the Regular Army). One of the most pressing reasons behind inking alliance treaties with the tribes inhabiting Indian Territory was the creation of a buffer between Texas and aggressive Union forces operating out of Kansas. The long international boundary with Mexico also had to be guarded against cross-border raids. Even with all of those weighty home front concerns to worry about, the greatest vulnerability lay in Texas's hundreds of miles of coast line that could not possibly be defended everywhere against Union naval superiority and its ability to sustain large-scale amphibious operations.

Existing coverage of the war along Texas's Gulf coast is quite good, with numerous quality book-length studies of operations at Galveston, the mouth of the Rio Grande (and some distance inland), Sabine Pass, and other places. In addition to that, a number of excellent journal articles cover Union amphibious attacks along the state's extensive stretch of barrier islands. Adopting a popular-style, bird's-eye approach to the topic is William Nelson Fox's new book Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War.

From the description: Fox's book focuses on the Texas defenders who "resolutely weathered naval bombardments and repulsed invasion attempts. It was only at the end of the conflict that Federal troops were able to make their way into South Texas, as the Confederacy prepared its last stand at Caney Creek and the Brazos River. From famous battles to obscure skirmishes, William Nelson Fox provides an account of the Lone Star State's defensive strategies during the Civil War."