. The history of the Civil War in the United States: its cause, origin, progress and conclusion . which by tens and hundreds ofthousands dotted her plains and prairies, had furnished a large part ofthe Rebel commissariat; and, on her western border, the Mexican port ofMatamoras formed the nominal, and Brownsville, Texas, the real, destina-tion of great numbers of blockade-runners, which brought thither thegreatly coveted products of European manufactories, and took in ex-change, at high prices, vast quantities of cotton, carted across the plainsfrom eastern Texas. To check this blockade-runuin
. The history of the Civil War in the United States: its cause, origin, progress and conclusion . which by tens and hundreds ofthousands dotted her plains and prairies, had furnished a large part ofthe Rebel commissariat; and, on her western border, the Mexican port ofMatamoras formed the nominal, and Brownsville, Texas, the real, destina-tion of great numbers of blockade-runners, which brought thither thegreatly coveted products of European manufactories, and took in ex-change, at high prices, vast quantities of cotton, carted across the plainsfrom eastern Texas. To check this blockade-runuing, and obtain forloyal use this contraband cotton, was surely desirable. The route to be selected was a question of great importance. To sendan expedition overland, through western Louisiana and eastern Texas,was difficult, and fraught with numerous dangers; there were bayous,lakes, and rivers to be crossed, requiring large pontoon trains; the roads,much of the way, were muddy and heavy, and where they were not, thecross limbers, or dense forest, so matted as to obstruct passage, and extend-. THE EXPEDITION TO TEXAS 015 ing for many miles, and the chapparal, a thick and impenetrable growthof the thorny cactus and the acacia, barred any rapid progress, especiallyof wagon trains; yet a large force, and one having an immense train,could alone force its way through, and the delay which the trains wouldnecessitate, would leave ample time for the concentration of the Rebelforces in front of the advancing army. The route by sea was perhaps equally perilous. The coast of Texaspresented bijt few even tolerable ports; sand-bars at the mouth of nearlyevery harbor, obstructed the entrance, and rendered the passage of vesselsdrawing over ten feet of water impossible; while norther, a fiercecold wind which sweeps down upon the gulf from the Rocky mountains,and often lasts for a week, renders the navigation exceedingly dangerous,and imperils the lives of the horses and cattle needed for
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsmuckers, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookyear1865
