In Company with Devils

Tracing the Footsteps of a Texas Conscript During the Civil War

In 1862, the first Conscription Act in American History was enacted by the Confederacy. In Texas, it was met with immediate loathing and resentment. It placed the burden of military service on the small farmers, and exempted rich plantation owners and overseers, among others. Among those conscripted was A.B. Forbes of Ellis County, who had immigrated to the State in 1854.

This book describes the Texas Troubles that led to secession and conscription, and traces the footsteps of Forbes as a conscript with the Second Texas Infantry under the command of eccentric physician and diplomat turned soldier Ashbel Smith, from Camp Ford in Texas to Fort Pemberton and Vicksburg in Mississippi, where the regiment was captured and paroled, and his subsequent walk home.

Reorganized upon being exchanged, Forbes rejoined the unit on the Texas Gulf Coast at Velasco, and remained with the regiment during its subsequent assignment at Caney Creek, and finally Galveston, where disbandment occurred in 1865.

©2024 David Brannon (P)2024 David Brannon