UNT Press

About Moneyhon's Texas and the Civil War

When considering Texas in the Civil War, the traditional consensus among historians has been that the conflict had relatively little effect on the people at home. With no major military operations in the state, slavery remained untouched, food remained plentiful, towns stood undestroyed, and lives proceeded as they had before the war for most people. The development of social history in Texas studies over the last two decades has shown, however, that the war produced disruptions beyond the obvious end of slavery in the state. Carl H. Moneyhon tests the generalization that Texans emerged from the Civil War relatively unscathed. There is no question that Texas never saw large armies march across the landscape destroying farms, plantations, and towns in their path. Does that mean, however, that Texans paid no price for going to war?

With deep reliance on primary sources, Moneyhon first examines the set of ideas about the North, enslaved people, and slavery that developed in Texas during the 1850s that provided the framework for secession, war, and military mobilization. He explores who joined the Confederate armies, why they continued to fight despite desperate conditions, and how their experiences affected them. Largely overlooked questions of finance and supply provide the focus of two chapters. Another considers the question of frontiers, bearing in mind the existence of multiple frontiers rather than simply that of the state’s western and northwestern boundaries. Moneyhon investigates the breakdown of Confederate consensus and the development of anti-Confederate sentiment and movements. How the war affected family and class are topics that have received considerable recent attention and are also explored herein. Finally, he examines military history and Union activities in Texas, considering both the effect these actions had on the people of the state and the impact of defeat on soldiers and civilians.