Today, April 9th, marks the 150th Anniversary of the Confederate surrender at Appomattox court house. Although the Confederacy had surrendered, many Texans refused to, and instead just picked up their arms and headed back home to Texas.
A brief history of the end of the war for the Texas troops:
At the end of March, 1865 Grant’s forces cut the last of Lee’s railroad supply lines with the Carolinas at the Battle of Five Forks. On April 2, a massive Union attack breached the Rebel lines southwest of Petersburg. Elements of Longstreet’s Corps – including the Texas Brigade – raced south of the James River to man Petersburg’s inner defenses, but this could not redeem the disaster. That night the Rebels evacuated Richmond and Petersburg. Lee’s army fled west along the Appomattox River. Broken down by 10 months of trench warfare and poor diet, the Confederates were not able to outrun Grant’s pursuit. Rations ordered from Richmond before its capture failed to reach Lee and on April 6, Ewell’s corps was cut off and destroyed at the battle of Sailor’s Creek. Three days later at Appomattox Courthouse, Grant army surrounded Lee. Vastly outnumbered, without food, and unable to break through Grant’s lines, Lee was forced to capitulate on April 9. Learning of Lee’s surrender, Johnston agreed to an armistice with Sherman and on April 26 surrendered the Army of Tennessee.The last major campaign east of the Mississippi was the Federal effort to capture heavily fortified Mobile, Alabama, where 9,000 Confederates faced 45,000 Union troops. Ector’s Brigade helped hold one of the city’s key defenses – Spanish Fort on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay – while Douglas’ Texas Battery manned artillery in Fort Sidney Johnston. On March 27 the enemy began a siege of Spanish Fort, keeping up a continual bombardment by 80 guns as Yankee soldiers dug saps and parallels to get within striking distance. The Rebels resisted skillfully, holding Spanish Fort until the last possible moment before evacuating the position through a swamp over tread ways leading to waiting steamboats which took the garrison to the west bank of Mobile Bay. On April 9, Union forces overran Fort Blakeley, forcing the city to be abandoned. Ector’s Brigade, along with Douglas’ Battery and the other defenders withdrew into the interior of Alabama. On May 4, Lieutenant General Richard Taylor surrendered most of the remaining Rebel forces in the western theatre to Major General Edward Canby. Many Texas troops – refusing to admit they had been beaten – simply headed for home rather than surrender