Part 4 of 7
SECESSION
It was the election of Lincoln in November 1860, that finally pulled apart the over-stressed social fabric of the Southern culture. Texans especially believed themselves threatened in their local communities by his election. The KGC sprang into action, and shaped public opinion far beyond what would have been otherwise possible as individual Military Knights. The call for secession in Texas was coordinated to coincide with activities in other Southern states. Newspapers were influential, and most people trusted the local editor to tell the truth. The newspapers were the only contact people had with the world outside their local community. KGC secessionist editors convinced people that their Southern way of life was threatened. A Republican administration would bring abolitionist hordes from the North to set Negroes free to rape, murder, and pillage. Texans were convinced they were fleeing the hell of Armageddon when they voted to secede in February 1861.
While the newspaper Knights of the 2nd degree shaped public opinion, the KGC army of the 1st degree were called to action. They were considered “strong men” in time of crisis, who effectively took control of government and rustled Texas out of the Union. Already, news had arrived that federal forts and arsenals were being seized throughout the Cotton States by KGC men. In February 1861, it was a coup d'état, in which the commander of the Federal troops in Texas, General David E. Twiggs, a Southerner from Georgia, surrendered all forts, munitions, men, and supplies to Texas KGC Commander Col. Ben McCulloch and a group of Texas militia volunteers, most of whom were KGC. As many as 1,200 miles of frontier, twenty-one forts, and military resources, estimated to be worth from three to six million dollars, were inventoried and turned over to the Texas militia and KGC Knights under McCulloch. There was little resistance, as many of the US officers and men sympathies lay with the secessionist. Also, many commanders were enticed by a KGC “secret fund” to influence Southern men of the US Army to join them. By disarming and removing US troops, they prevented war from being fought in Texas.
Texas officially joined the Confederate States of America on 2 March 1861. (Texas Independence Day) The election of Lincoln triggered the most active phase of KGC recruitment. While twenty castles existed before the election, now there were an additional twenty-nine groups or castles that were formed or reorganized. Already armed and trained, local Texas castles became the basis for the first military units around which 24,438 Texans volunteered in 1861 for military service. KGC Grand Marshal Elkanah Greer of Marshall was the first Texan to receive a Confederate commission as colonel of the Third Texas Cavalry Regiment. Marshall would become the headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the C.S.A. and the state capitol of Missouri.
References and endnotes available upon request.
To be continued.
Established in 1896, the SCV is dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of Confederate veterans. As the direct heir of the United Confederate Veterans, it is the oldest hereditary organization for male descendants of Confederate soldiers. Today, the SCV remains committed to ensuring the true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved.