"The Best Stuff Which the State Affords": a Portrait of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry in the Civil War (open access)

"The Best Stuff Which the State Affords": a Portrait of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry in the Civil War

This study examines the social and economic characteristics of the men who joined the Confederate Fourteenth Texas Infantry Regiment during the Civil War and provides a narrative history of the regiment's wartime service. The men of the Fourteenth Infantry enlisted in 1862 and helped to turn back the Federal Red River Campaign in April 1864. In creating a portrait of these men, the author used traditional historical sources (letters, diaries, medical records, secondary narratives) as well as statistical data from the 1860 United States census, military service records, and state tax rolls. The thesis places the heretofore unknown story of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry within the overall body of Civil War historiography.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Parker, Scott Dennis
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
War in the Pacific: A Chronology January 1, 1941 through September 30, 1945 (open access)

War in the Pacific: A Chronology January 1, 1941 through September 30, 1945

Text outlining major events in the Pacific Theater throughout World War II, organized by date. It also includes text for the Instrument of Surrender, appendices containing military and war data, a bibliography, and list of related Web sites.
Date: March 2014
Creator: Hyland, George O., III
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Their Faltering Footsteps: Hardships Suffered by the Confederate Civilians on the Homefront in the American Civil War of 1861-1865 (open access)

Their Faltering Footsteps: Hardships Suffered by the Confederate Civilians on the Homefront in the American Civil War of 1861-1865

It is the purpose of this study to reveal that the morale of the southern civilians was an important factor in determining the fall of the Confederacy. At the close of the Civil War, the South was exhausted and weak, with only limited supplies to continue their defense. The Confederacy might have been rallied by the determination of its people, but they lacked such determination, for the hardships and grief they endured had turned their cause into a meaningless struggle. Therefore, the South fell because its strength depended upon the will of its population. This study is based on accounts by contemporaries in diaries, memoirs, newspapers, and journals, and it reflects their reaction to the collapse of homefront morale.
Date: August 1977
Creator: Spencer, Judith Ann
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Service Honest and Faithful: The Thirty-Third Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Philippine War, 1899-1901 (open access)

Service Honest and Faithful: The Thirty-Third Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Philippine War, 1899-1901

This manuscript is a study of the Thirty-Third Infantry, United States Volunteers, a regiment that was recruited in Texas, the South, and the Midwest and was trained by officers experienced from the Indian Wars and the Spanish-American War. This regiment served as a front-line infantry unit and then as a constabulary force during the Philippine War from 1899 until 1901. While famous in the United States as a highly effective infantry regiment during the Philippine War, the unit's fame and the lessons that it offered American war planners faded in time and were overlooked in favor of conventional fighting. In addition, the experiences of the men of the regiment belie the argument that the Philippine War was a brutal and racist imperial conflict akin to later interventions such as the Vietnam War. An examination of the Thirty-Third Infantry thus provides valuable context into a war not often studied in the United States and serves as a successful example of a counterinsurgency.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Andersen, Jack David
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Proud Warriors: African American Combat Units in World War II

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
During World War II, tens of thousands of African Americans served in segregated combat units in U.S. armed forces. The majority of these units were found in the U.S. Army, and African Americans served in every one of the combat arms. They found opportunities for leadership unparalleled in the rest of American society at the time. Several reached the field grade officer ranks, and one officer reached the rank of brigadier general. Beyond the Army, the Marine Corps refused to enlist African Americans until ordered to do so by the president in June 1942, and two African American combat units were formed and did see service during the war. While the U.S. Navy initially resisted extending the role of African American sailors beyond kitchens, eventually the crew of two ships was composed exclusively of African Americans. The Coast Guard became the first service to integrate—initially with two shipboard experiments and then with the integration of most of their fleet. Finally, the famous Tuskegee airmen are covered in the chapter on air warfare. Proud Warriors makes the case that the wartime experiences of combat units such as the Tank Battalions and the Tuskegee Airmen ultimately convinced President Truman to desegregate the …
Date: October 2021
Creator: Bielakowski, Alexander M.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Houston Story: A Chronicle of the City of Houston and the Texas Frontier From the Battle of San Jacinto to the War Between the States, 1836--1865 (open access)

The Houston Story: A Chronicle of the City of Houston and the Texas Frontier From the Battle of San Jacinto to the War Between the States, 1836--1865

This book gives an overview of the history of Houston, Texas told in narrative form. The history discusses the creation of the city of Houston as well as major events in Texas history between 1836 and 1865.
Date: 1951
Creator: Bartholomew, Ed Ellsworth
Object Type: Book
System: The Portal to Texas History
Establishing the American Way of Death: World War I and the Foundation of the United States’ Policy Toward the Repatriation and Burial of Its Battlefield Dead (open access)

Establishing the American Way of Death: World War I and the Foundation of the United States’ Policy Toward the Repatriation and Burial of Its Battlefield Dead

This thesis examines the policies and procedures created during and after the First World War that provided the foundation for how the United States commemorated its war dead for the next century. Many of the techniques used in modern times date back to the Great War. However, one hundred years earlier, America possessed very few methods or even ideas about how to locate, identify, repatriate, and honor its military personnel that died during foreign conflicts. These ideas were not conceived in the halls of government buildings. On the contrary, concerned citizens originated many of the concepts later codified by the American government. This paper draws extensively upon archival documents, newspapers, and published primary sources to trace the history of America’s burial and repatriation policies, the Army Graves Registration Services, and how American dead came to permanently rest in military cemeteries on the continent of Europe. The unprecedented dilemma of over 80,000 American soldiers buried in France and surrounding countries at the conclusion of the First World War in 1918 propelled the United States to solve many social, political, and military problems that arose over the final disposition of those remains. The solutions to those problems became the foundation for how …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Hatzinger, Kyle J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 8. Road to Revolution captions transcript

World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 8. Road to Revolution

Video of Dr. Torget's lecture on the factors leading to revolution in Texas, covering: (1) A Ridiculous Rebellion in East Texas, (2) Constitution of 1827, (2) Decree 56, Thwarting Mexican Law, (4) Law of April 6, 1830.
Date: 2018-08-24T16:03:53/2018-08-24T16:56:53
Creator: Torget, Andrew J.
Object Type: Video
System: The Portal to Texas History
World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 8. Road to Revolution (ASL Interpretation) captions transcript

World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 8. Road to Revolution (ASL Interpretation)

American Sign Language interpretation of Dr. Torget's lecture on the factors leading to revolution in Texas, covering: (1) A Ridiculous Rebellion in East Texas, (2) Constitution of 1827, (2) Decree 56, Thwarting Mexican Law, (4) Law of April 6, 1830. Video contains picture-in-picture rendering of slides and original narration.
Date: 2018-08-24T16:03:53/2018-08-24T16:56:53
Creator: Torget, Andrew J.
Object Type: Video
System: The Portal to Texas History
World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 7. Mexican Texas captions transcript

World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 7. Mexican Texas

Video of Dr. Torget's lecture on Mexican governance of Texas, covering: (1) Establishing the Austin Colony (2) Mexico City, Centralism Vs. Federalism, (3) The Problem of Slavery, (4) The Constitution of 1824, (5) A Rebellion in East Texas.
Date: 2018-08-24T14:42:30/2018-08-24T16:03:43
Creator: Torget, Andrew J.
Object Type: Video
System: The Portal to Texas History
World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 7. Mexican Texas (ASL Interpretation) captions transcript

World's Longest History Lesson: Unit 7. Mexican Texas (ASL Interpretation)

American Sign Language interpretation of Dr. Torget's lecture on Mexican governance of Texas, covering: (1) Establishing the Austin Colony (2) Mexico City, Centralism Vs. Federalism, (3) The Problem of Slavery, (4) The Constitution of 1824, (5) A Rebellion in East Texas. Video contains picture-in-picture rendering of slides and original narration.
Date: 2018-08-24T14:42:30/2018-08-24T16:03:43
Creator: Torget, Andrew J.
Object Type: Video
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Role of Texas in the Confederacy (open access)

The Role of Texas in the Confederacy

From its early days as a slave state, to its secession from the Union, to finally admitting that the south had failed, Texas played a major role in the Confederacy and the Civil War.
Date: January 1951
Creator: Whitworth, Bonnye Ruth
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Frontier Defense in Texas: 1861-1865 (open access)

Frontier Defense in Texas: 1861-1865

The Texas Ranger tradition of over twenty-five years of frontier defense influenced the methods by which Texans provided for frontier defense, 1861-1865. The elements that guarded the Texas frontier during the war combined organizational policies that characterized previous Texas military experience and held the frontier together in marked contrast to its rapid collapse at the Confederacy's end. The first attempt to guard the Indian frontier during the Civil War was by the Texas Mounted Rifles, a regiment patterned after the Rangers, who replaced the United States troops forced out of the state by the Confederates. By the spring of 1862 the Frontier Regiment, a unit funded at state expense, replaced the Texas Mounted Rifles and assumed responsibility for frontier defense during 1862 and 1863. By mid-1863 the question of frontier defense for Texas was not so clearly defined as in the war's early days. Then, the Indian threat was the only responsibility, but the magnitude of Civil War widened the scope of frontier protection. From late 1863 until the war's end, frontier defense went hand in hand with protecting frontier Texans from a foe as deadly as Indians—themselves. The massed bands of deserters, Union sympathizers, and criminals that accumulated on …
Date: December 1987
Creator: Smith, David Paul, 1949-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Confederate Military Operations in Arkansas, 1861-1865 (open access)

Confederate Military Operations in Arkansas, 1861-1865

Arkansas occupied a key position in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department. It offered a gateway for Confederate troops to move north and secure Missouri for the Confederacy, or for Union troops to move south towards Texas and Louisiana. During the war, Union and Confederate armies moved back and forth across the state engaging in numerous encounters. This paper is a year by year study of those encounters and engagements occurring in Arkansas between 1861 and 1865. Emphasis is necessarily placed on the significant campaigns and engagements. Actions which occurred in adjacent states but which militarily affected Arkansas are also discussed. The majority of the material was compiled from the Official Records.
Date: December 1978
Creator: Fortin, Maurice G.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Atlanta Campaign (open access)

The Atlanta Campaign

This thesis describes the events leading up to the capture of Atlanta by the Union army during the Civil War.
Date: January 1961
Creator: Swanson, Donald Lee
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reminiscences of the Terry Rangers (open access)

Reminiscences of the Terry Rangers

This book gives a description of the Civil War from the point of view of the Terry Rangers (8th Texas Cavalry Regiment). It is written in first-person, describing specific incidences, including the Woodsonville Skirmish, the Battle of Shiloh, the Battle of Bentonville, as well as other events and anecdotes. Index starts on page 77.
Date: 1919
Creator: Blackburn, J. K. P.
Object Type: Book
System: The Portal to Texas History
Daniel's Battery: A Narrative History and Socio-Economic Study of the Ninth Texas Field Battery (open access)

Daniel's Battery: A Narrative History and Socio-Economic Study of the Ninth Texas Field Battery

This thesis combines a traditional narrative history of a Confederate artillery battery with a socio-economic study of its members. A database was constructed using the Compiled Service Records, 1860 census, and county tax rolls. The information revealed similarities between the unit's members and their home area. Captain James M. Daniel organized the battery in Paris, Texas and it entered Confederate service in January 1862. The battery served in Walker's Texas Division. It was part of a reserve force at the Battle of Milliken's Bend and was involved in the battles of Bayou Bourbeau, Mansfield, and Pleasant Hill. The battery also shelled Union ships on the Mississippi River. Daniel's Battery officially surrendered at Natchitoches, Louisiana, in May 1865.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Perkins, John Drummond
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Confederate Military Operations in Texas, 1861-1865 (open access)

Confederate Military Operations in Texas, 1861-1865

This study examines several of the Confederate military operations in Texas from the years 1861 to 1865, including early defensive moves, the Battle of Galveston and the Battle of Sabine Pass.
Date: August 1957
Creator: Crow, James Burchell
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Administration of the Atlantic Blockade 1861-1865 (open access)

Administration of the Atlantic Blockade 1861-1865

The purpose of this paper is to show in detail the role of only a portion of the Federal Navy, the Atlantic Blockading Squadrons, during the Civil War.
Date: January 1967
Creator: Delafield ,Charles Henry
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Confederate Texas: A Political Study, 1861-1865 (open access)

Confederate Texas: A Political Study, 1861-1865

"No adequate history of the activities of the Texas state government during the Civil War has been written. Instead this phase of state history has been treated only in a limited manner in general state and Civil War histories. A history of the state government's functions and role during this period is essential to understanding Texas' development as a state and its place in the Confederacy. This work is an attempt to provide such a history. A study of the internal political affairs of Texas during the war years, this work begins with the movement toward secession and ends with the collapse of the state government and the establishment of military rule in Texas. Emphasis has been placed on revealing how the state government attempted to cope with the numerous problems which the war engendered and the futility of these attempts." -- p.iii
Date: August 1969
Creator: Ledbetter, Billy D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Making a Good Soldier: a Historical and Quantitative Study of the 15th Texas Infantry, C. S. A. (open access)

Making a Good Soldier: a Historical and Quantitative Study of the 15th Texas Infantry, C. S. A.

In late 1861, the Confederate Texas government commissioned Joseph W. Speight to raise an infantry battalion. Speight's Battalion became the Fifteenth Texas Infantry in April 1862, and saw almost no action for the next year as it marched throughout Texas, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory. In May 1863 the regiment was ordered to Louisiana and for the next seven months took an active role against Federal troops in the bayou country. From March to May 1864 the unit helped turn away the Union Red River Campaign. The regiment remained in the trans-Mississippi region until it disbanded in May 1865. The final chapter quantifies age, family status, wealthholdings, and casualties among the regiment's members.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Hamaker, Blake Richard
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Fire Eater in the Borderlands: The Political Life of Guy Morrison Bryan, 1847-1891

From 1847 to 1891, Guy Morrison Bryan was a prominent Texas politician who influenced many of the policies and events that shaped the state. Raised in his Uncle Stephen F. Austin's shadow, he was a Texas nationalist who felt responsible for promoting the interests of his state, its earliest settlers, and his family. During his nineteen years in the Texas Legislature and two years in the United States House of Representatives, he safeguarded land grants, supported internal improvements and education, and challenged northern hostility towards slavery. Convinced that abolitionists would stop at nothing to destroy the institution and Texas, he led his state's walkout of the National Democratic Convention in 1860 and became a leading proponet of secession. During the Civil War, he served as a staff officer, and his ability to mediate conflicts between local and national leaders propped up the isolated Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department. Finally as Speaker of the House, he helped oust Governor Edmund J. Davis in 1874 and "redeem" the state from Republican rule before convincing President Rutherford B. Hayes to adopt a conciliatory policy towards Texas and the South. Despite the tremendous influence Bryan wielded, scholars have largely ignored his contributions. This dissertation establishes his …
Date: August 2020
Creator: Kelley, Ariel Leticia
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The United States and Irish Neutrality, 1939-1945 (open access)

The United States and Irish Neutrality, 1939-1945

During the second world war relations between the United States and Ireland deteriorated to the point that many Irishmen feared that an American invasion of Ireland was imminent. At the same time many people in the United States came to believe that the Irish government of Eamon de Valera was pro-Nazi, This study examines the causes for the deterioration of relations between the two countries and the actual attitudes of David Gray, the United States minister to Ireland, and other American officials toward Irish neutrality. Since there are few secondary works on the subject, the research was undertaken almost entirely among primary sources, personal and diplomatic papers, various American newspapers, and memoirs. Of particular importance were David Gray's personal papers, especially his frequent letters to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.. Copies of some letters, not available among Gray's personal papers at the University of Wyoming, were furnished by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York. The study has also made extensive use of the diplomatic papers published by the Department of $tate in the various volumes of the Foreign Relations of the United States. Finally, the author corresponded with more than a dozen of those still living who were …
Date: August 1973
Creator: Dwyer, Thomas Ryle, 1944-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Americans who did not wait: the American Legion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1917 (open access)

Americans who did not wait: the American Legion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1917

This study examines the five American Legion battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force formed in 1915 specifically to recruit American volunteers for the Canadian overseas contingent of the First World War. This study reviews the organization of Canada's militia and Anglo-American relations before examining the formation of the American Legion, the background of its men, and the diplomatic repercussions it sparked. This study is based largely on material in the Public Archives of Canada including war records and the personal papers of several participants. During its brief existence, the American Legion precipitated constitutional, diplomatic, and political problems. The issues the American Legion raised were mostly solved by America's entry in the war. The episode hastened the maturity of Canada as a nation.
Date: May 1996
Creator: Smylie, Eric
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library