Gustav Schleicher, who lived from 1823 to 1879, was a Texas Confederate captain who served as chief purchasing agent and army engineer for the Department for Southern Armies west of the Mississippi. He bought desperately needed intrenching tools, iron, steel, lead, and turpentine, and imported much material from Europe through Mexico by exchanging cotton, called the life blood of the Confederacy. He established two engineer depots in Texas, designed fortifications and pontoon trains, and repaired tools from surrendered U.S. frontier forts. Schleicher was associated with Texans who served the Confederacy.