Although there were few serious battles fought inland in Texas, there were hundreds of coastal skirmishes and naval battles along the Gulf coast, as Texans strove to maintain exports and imports of important commodities. The Texas economy was significantly constrained by naval and border blockades imposed by the Union forces. The State’s and the citizens’ new mission was to serve the Confederate cause. Military forts and encampments were established across the State, as well as hundreds of supply depots. Austin was one of twenty-one designated depots for collecting and shipping cloth and clothing donated for troops in the field. The agent appointed for that depot was W.H.D. Carrington, a leading attorney, preacher, and entrepreneur who will be mentioned several times in the foregoing chapters.[i]

[i] Winsor, Bill, Texas in the Confederacy: Military Installations, Economy, and People, (citing the Dallas Herald, September 18, 1861), Hill Jr. College Press, Hillsboro, Texas, 1987, p. 45.