On our last day in Texas we went wanted to do a little sight seeing and got tickets for the Texas Civil War Museum in Dallas.
Stonewall looks upon the gift shop
There was a short film we watched before going in to the galleries that discussed Texas’ contribution to the War Between the States.
The Union items were in the left display cases and the Confederates were in the right…
…that can be taken more than one way!
“It is well that war is so terrible, else men would learn to love it too much.”
–Robert E. Lee
Throughout the museum they had these little “Was the South Ready for War?” informational boards that showed the great disparity of resources between the north and south.
Infantry Firearms Production
North: 1,449,369
South: 62,326
Population
North: 19,021,927
South (Total): 12,128,078
South (White): 8,177,547
South (Slave): 3,950,531
Union Infantry Rifles Bullets used by a Whitworth Rifle
I never realized just how large the calibers (size of the bullet) were on these rifles; it makes the frequency of amputations a little more understandable. I think that the most common caliber was a .58 which is humongous compared to our modern military cartridge which is a .223. Thank goodness they were still (for the most part) single-shot rifles. The casualties of this war were still enormous, but machine guns and artillery would do their damage in the bloody battles of the Great War.
On this sword handle is the name of John W. Tucker from Guilford County, North Carolina. Found this interesting because Tucker is my mother’s maiden name and genealogy work has shown that we have a lot of family roots in Rowan County, North Carolina (less than 60 miles away from Guilford).
Shows the various corps badges used by the Union Army. I thought that this photo would be a great reference.
1st Edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin More great weapons!
Field gear used by Union troops
“SAY CHEESE!” Definition: A phrase used to request that the subject of a photo pose with their hand in their coat. Be sure not to smile.
Battle flags
A gorgeous and very costly sword give to General U.S. Grant from the State of Kentucky.
Special display on General JEB Stuart – featuring a lock of his hair that his wife clipped on the day he died.
The Artillery Room Rifled Projectiles
I think we all got (at least) a few goose bumps when we looked at the medical display
Yes, this is an “Amputation Set”
“Was the South Ready for War?”
US Navy: 132,000
CS Navy: 6,000
Active Commissioned Warships, Jan 1 1865
US Navy: 618
CS Navy: 47
The USS Constitution “Old Ironsides”
I guess you could say we have a bit of a connection with this ship 
It was good to know that the USS Constitution wasn’t directly involved against the South or in the naval blockade, but it was used as a training ship for Union sailors.
Learning about the history of the USS Constitution from David Botkin in 2009
This fantastic diorama depicts the Battle of Palmito Ranch in Texas and it was the last battle fought in the War Between the States on May 13, 1865.
At this point we entered the Victorian Dresses Gallery which featured amazing original dresses from 1860 to 1890.
The cases were placed in chronological order, so it was interesting to see how the fashions changed decade to decade. Still, the amount of change was very small compared to today’s here today, gone tomorrow (and back again in 25 years) fashions.
Just HAD to take a picture of this swimsuit!
Overall, the amount of original items-especially clothing-was extraordinary, and the history was balanced between the North/South-with a special emphasis on Texas. This museum was started by a husband and wife (the Richeys) who became interested in collecting items and clothing from the Civil War and were eventually able to open their own museum.
8/3/12
2 comments:
This is a very interesting post, very detailed & descriptive! Thanks for sharing!
We hope to see your family at the St Charles dance on Friday! :)
Be blessed!
What a great museum! Our family just loves visiting historic (and even nature) museums...this one looks like a really well-done one.
I think I would have skipped the medical part.
I love the naval history of wars: we really enjoyed the Mariner's Museum in Virginia, which we visited last September! (I would share pictures but they are temporarily unavailable since they are locked in our crashed computer!)
I'm glad you got to do some ''sight-seeing'' and history stuff while in Texas!
Have a great remainder of summer.
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