Upon the U.S. surrender of Texas forts at the start of the Civil War, Fort Lancaster was made part of the Confederate far western frontier line. It was occupied by the 2nd Texas Cavalry on the supply line to and from the Arizona-New Mexico Campaign of 1861-62, which was intended to make the Confederacy an ocean to ocean nation. When regular patrols to guard supply trains and check Indian activities grew dull, life was spiced by a camp newspaper and the nightly sport of shooting pesky coyotes. It is also a memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy.