A native of North Carolina, C. M. Winkler organized and led a company of 150 men to join the Confederate army in Virginia at the start of the Civil War. His unit became part of the 4th Texas Infantry of Hood's Brigade, and he rose to command the regiment as lieutenant colonel. He fought with that unit in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, distinguished himself at Second Manassas, was wounded at Gettysburg, and surrendered with General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. More broadly, Texas made an all-out effort for the Confederacy after a 3 to 1 vote for secession during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Its 90,000 troops, noted for daring and mobility, fought on every battlefront, while the state's 2000 mile frontier and coastline were successfully defended from Union troops and Indians. State and private industry produced war goods, cotton traded through Mexico brought medicine and military supplies, Texas served as the storehouse of the western Confederacy, and citizens made sacrifices to produce food and clothing for Texas fighting men.