On February 1, 1861, delegates at the Texas Secession Convention elected to leave the Union. The people of Texas supported the actions of the convention in a statewide referendum, paving the way for the state to secede and to officially become the seventh state in the Confederacy. Soon the Texans found themselves engaged in a bloody and prolonged civil war against their northern brethren. During the curse of this war, the lives of thousands of Texans, both young and old, were changed forever. This new anthology, edited by Kenneth W. Howell, incorporates the latest scholarly research on how Texans experienced the war. Eighteen contributors take us from the battlefront to the home front, ranging from inside the walls of a Confederate prison to inside the homes of women and children left to fend for themselves while their husbands and fathers were away on distant battlefields, and from the halls of the governor's mansion to the halls of the county commissioner's court in Colorado County. Also explored are well-known battles that took place in or near Texas, such as the Battle of Galveston, the Battle of Nueces, the Battle of Sabine Pass, and the Red River Campaign. Finally, the social and cultural aspects of the war receive new analysis, including the experiences of women, African Americans, Union prisoners of war, and noncombatants.
Kenneth W. Howell is an assistant professor at Prairie View A&M University. He received his Ph.D. in history form Texas A&M University and also taught there as a visiting assistant professor. He is the author of Texas Confederate, Reconstruction Governor: James Webb Throckmorton and coauthor of The Devil's Triangle: Ben Bickerstaff, Northeast Texans, and the War of Reconstruction in Texas and Beyond Myths and Legends: A Narrative History of Texas.
"Among the strongest essays in the collection are James Smallwood's piece on Texas's role in the secession crisis, Gary Joiner's work on the role of Texas cavalry in the Red River Campaign, and Vicki Bett's discussion of the role played by families of Texas soldiers."--New Mexico Historical Review "Howell has managed to gather eighteen of the very best Texas Civil War historians for this fine publication that is certain to attract considerable attention. It surpasses similar edited versions of the war in Texas and may well be one of the very best books on the subject." --Jerry Thompson, professor of history, Texas A&M International University "The essays covering military topics are particularly strong. . . . Overall, this is a first-rate essay compilation and Editor Howell should be applauded. The essays are tied together smoothly with hardly any overlap. . . . Seventh Star of the Confederacy is an important collection for any historian of the Civil War period in Texas and would serve as an excellent book for undergraduates."--Southwestern Historical Quarterly "The volume opens with a historiographical essay by Alwyn Barr that covers the research on Civil War Texas published since 1990. The highlight of the collection, Barr's essay does a fantastic job of detailing the state of this particular field."--Journal of Southern History "This book is a significant addition to the Texas Confederate experience and will be read with great interest by students of Texas history for generations to come. . . . All aspects of the war are covered in what may well be the definitive work on the subject."--Blue & Gray Magazine "This book is an important addition to works pertaining to Texas 1861-1865 as a Confederate state. The survey chapter by Alwyn Barr on historiography is exemplary. Particular chapters that stand out include James Smallwood on the causes of the Civil War and Vicki Betts on the families of Confederate soldiers."--Joseph G. "Chip" Dawson, professor of history, Texas A&M University "With its sweeping coverage of military, political, economic, and social issues and subjects, there's something new for scholars and interested readers of all stripes. This is the best Texas Civil War essay compilation I've encountered. Highly recommended."--Civil War Books and Authors "In sum, Howell does a fine job of bringing a somewhat disparate group of articles together into a very cogent whole. . . . [T]he work is well crafted and worthy of an interested scholar's time and effort."--Louisiana History
