Texas Civil War

  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?”

Wartime Navy Enlistments

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 . We’ve been on its decks in Boston Harbor and one of my favorite dances, “Hull’s Victory,” was a commemorative dance for one of the USS Constitution’s victories.

  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