A Texas frontier regiment post office was established in 1862 eleven miles southeast near the old U.S. Post Camp Verde as part of the Red River-Rio Grande line of posts spaced a day's horseback ride apart. The troops furnished their own guns and mounts but often lacked food, clothing, and supplies; still, scouting parties and patrols effectively curbed Indian raids until the war's end. Kerr County's population was 585, and in 1861 the county voted 76-57 for secession. Seventy-five men served in Confederate and state forces, with some sent to protect the Texas coast from Union invasion, some helping defend the frontier in this region, and others fighting on distant battlefields. Nineteen men from the county served in Texas Union forces. In February 1861, C.S.A. troops took the old U.S. Post Camp Verde and captured 80 camels, two Egyptian drivers, and other U.S. property. The camels were used to haul cotton, the South's lifeblood, to Mexico to swap for vital supplies, including salt from lakes north of Brownsville. During post dances, ladies rode a camel called "Old Major" around the parade grounds. Six hundred Union soldiers captured while leaving Texas early in the Civil War were confined in a prison canyon southwest of the camp. Three cliffs described as very difficult to ascend surrounded the prison area. Prisoners, held from August 1861 until sometime in 1862, were allowed to build shacks and get adequate exercise with little risk of escape. One Union prisoner performed as a ventriloquist at a post dance, scaring ladies with unseen pig sounds.

Photo: James Hulse

Photo: James Hulse

Center Point, Texas · USA