Military, defense center in Civil War. Cooke voted 231 to 137 anti-secession, yet nine military units served Confederacy from here. In constant danger of Federal or Indian attack. Col. Wm. C. Young of Cooke, with 1,000 men took Indian Territory forts from Federals April-May 1861. Commissioners set up regular patrols. Forted a home as refuge for dependents. Gave $4,000 for munitions and wool cards to make cloth. Cotton gin, grist mill, gunsmiths, blacksmiths made war goods. C.S.A. was furnished epsom salts from Indian creek. Corn, beef, pork, wheat, other produce fed the military, home front. County swapped 25 steers for salt for dependent families. People worked hard, sacrificed much, protected homes of fighting men of Confederacy. (Back of Cooke County, C.S.A.) Organized Oct. 1863 with Gainesville as headquarters, the Second Frontier Regiment, Texas Cavalry C.S.A. guarded counties along Red River, to keep down outlaws, Indians, deserters. Col. James Bourland (1803-1868) was appointed Commander and it became known as "Bourland's Border Regiment." Union invasion from north of Red River was constantly threatened. These mounted troops patrolled, maintained posts along river and in Indian Territory. Confederate Seminole troops served with the unit. Famous Confederate Indian Gen. Stand Watie and his Cherokee Brigade shared duty along perilous border. Bourland also worked with Frontier Regiment, state troops, that maintained line posts 100 mi. west, a day's horseback ride apart, from Red to Rio Grande rivers, and with a state militia line 30 mi. to the west. Erected by The State of Texas 1963.
Cooke County C.S.A. (2nd Frontier Regiment)
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Cooke County C.S.A. (2nd Frontier Regiment) is a historical marker in Gainesville, Cooke County, dedicated in 1963. It is one of 44 historical markers documented in Cooke County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 59 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 33.6245, -97.1544 near Gainesville. The nearest cataloged historic site is Moffett Park (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Cooke County, Gainesville Community Circus, and Booker T. Washington School.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5097001054. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
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