Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War
1861-1865
Sarah Emma Edmonds Detached Tent #4, Houston, Texas
Welcome to the Sarah Emma Edmonds Detached Tent #4 of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865. The DUVCW was first organized in May of 1885 and was incorporated in December of 1885. The objectives of the DUV is to perpetuate the memories of our Fathers, their loyalty to the Union and their unselfish sacrifices for the preservation of the same, and to keep alive the history of those who participated in that heroic struggle for the maintenance of our free government.
Eligible for membership are all ladies who are lineal descendents of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines who served in the Union Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Revenue Cutter Service during the years of April 12, 1861-April 9, 1865, and can provide documented proof of their ancestors services. Minimum age for membership is eight (8) years.
For information about becoming a member or attending a meeeting, please contact Bonnie Parks, our Junior Vice President/Registrar, or Martha Class, our Senior Vice President/Membership Chairman.
Civil War History in Texas
Liendo Plantation
If you are looking for evidence of the Civil War in Texas, you only need to head west on Highway 290 about fifty miles to Liendo Plantation that is located in Waller County, just southeast of Hempstead, Texas. Liendo Plantation was named after the first owner of the land, Justo Liendo, who received the 67,000 acres in a Spanish land grant. Leonard Waller Groce, a subsequent owner of the land was responsible for building the plantation around 1853. Prior to the Civil War, Liendo Plantation was a typical southern plantation that has often considered Texas' first cotton plantation. During the Civil War in 1862, on the grounds of Liendo Plantation the Confederate Army had constructed two 200-foot long barracks along with some additional smaller buildings on the eastern shore of Clear Creek, which was joined with Pond Creek to the north. The Confederate Army used these barracks for training their new recruits. This command post was subsequently abandoned due to the illnesses caused from all of the mosquitoes in the area.Sources: Liendo Plantation website, http://www.liendo.org, Lisarelli, Danial Francis, The Last Prison: The Untold Story of Camp Groce, CSA, pp. 14-15, Universal Publishers/uPUBLISH.com, 1999, www.upublish.com/books/lisarelli.htm
Click on photo to see full-size
Liendo is recognized as a Texas historic landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was the home of world-renowned sculptor Elizabeth Ney
-Liendo Plantation, near Hempstead, Waller County, Texas; [Photo and description of photo is courtesy of the photographer William Bozic, Houston, Texas and was taken in the afternoon on November 18, 2006, http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc5/liendo_plantation1.htm]
If you would like to know more about Liendo Plantation, please take a look at the following website: http://www.liendo.org
Camp Groce
Between May 1863 and December 1864, the Confederate Army used the previously abandoned command post at Liendo Plantation for a prisoner of war camp for the Union prisoners they captured during the Battles of Galveston, Sabine Pass, and Rancho Las Rucias, Texas and the Battle of Calcasieu, Louisiana. This prisoner of war camp was named Camp Groce
after Leonard W. Groce who owned Liendo Plantation and who at that time was currently serving as an officer in the Confederate Army. Camp Groce was a large camp that began on the east side of Clear Creek and ended on the western side of the road that served as an entrance to the Liendo Plantation house from the railroad. The railroad line came out of Houston from the southeast and continued northwest into Hempstead. The railroad served as the southern border of Camp Groce, while the northern border was Pond's Creek, which joined to form the northwest corner of camp,
[Lisarelli, Danial Francis, The Last Prison: The Untold Story of Camp Groce, CSA, p. 15]
Click on illustration to see full size
Illustrated map of Camp Groce in 1863 is from The Last Prison: The Untold Story of Camp Groce, CSA, by Danial Francis Lisarelli, and is used by author's permission
According to the research done by Danial Francis Lisarelli in the course of writing his book, The Last Prison: The Untold Story of Camp Groce, CSA, 1105 Union prisoners of war were held at Camp Groce between 1863 to 1864. Of those 1105, 221 died or are still missing. The prisoners of Camp Groce,came from every state in the Union and many were foreigners. Many suffered terribly long after the war from their confinement at Camp Groce and Camp Ford, [In August 1864, 506 prisoners from Camp Ford, another prisoner of war camp in Texas, were transferred to Camp Groce]. Their suffering should never be minimized or forgotten. They became a living testimony to the worst part of any war, that of a prisoner who is at the mercy of their captors.
[Lisarelli, Danial Francis, The Last Prison, p. 15]
Research is still being done to identify all of the soldiers who died while they were prisoners of Camp Groce during the Civil War, in an effort to eventually honor their memories.
If you would like to read the book written by Danial Francis Lisarelli, please click on the link, The Last Prison: The Untold Story of Camp Groce CSA
Additional Resources for information about Camp Groce
Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War; by Lonnie R. Speer
The Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine: The Illustrated Note-Book of Henry O. Gusley; edited and annotated by Edward T. Cotham, Jr.
Read, John, 1840-1915, Papers: Guide; Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
The Experiences of Lt. John W. Dana at Camp Ford; contributed by his great-grandson, Dana Peckwith of Wilmington, N.C.
Service Records of Co. K, 2nd Texas Partisan Rangers; by Justin Sanders; The Kaufman County, TXGenWeb Project Site
Sabine Pass Battleground, Sabine Pass, Texas
If you go east from Houston towards Beaumont, and the Texas - Louisiana border on Highway 87 you will find the Sabine Pass Battleground State Park and Historic site in Jefferson County, Texas. This state park was established in 1974 to commemorate the Battles of Sabine Pass that took place on January 21, 1863 and September 8, 1863. The Confederate forces lead by First Lieutenant Richard W.Dick
Dowling was successful in protecting the ports of Houston and Beaumont during those Battles.
Click on the photo to see full-size[Photo is courtesy of Carolyn Dowden Jamail]
Historical marker for the United States forces at the Battle of Sabine Pass
Click on photo to see full-size[Photo and text for description of marker is courtesy of William Bozic, Houston, Texas, www.civilwaralbum.com/misc2/sabinepass4.htm]
Texas Historical Marker for Spaight's 11th Battalion, the marker is located inside the Sabine Pass Battleground, which is currently closed due to damage from Hurricane Rita which came ashore in this area
As a result of the damage from Hurricane Rita in September 2005, the park has been closed, but it was opened temporarily for the Dedication Ceremony of the Monument to the Union Troops that lost their lives during the Battle of Sabine Pass that took place on September 8, 1863. On that day, this, (Union), fleet was composed of four light gunboats, the USS Granite City, Sachem, Arizona, and Clifton, and eighteen transports carrying 5,000 Union soldiers, mules and artillery,
[Sabine Pass Battleground State Park and Historic Site, Texas Parks and Wildlife, http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/], of which about 400 soldiers were taken prisoner, or they died or were missing. Monuments to Union troops are not common in Texas. This monument is the only monument to Union troops at the Sabine Pass Battleground and was erected through the efforts of citizens rather than any state or government entity
,[William Bozic, September 8, 2007 Sabine Pass Monument Dedication, http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc2/sabinepass4.htm]
Click on the photo to see full-szie
Monument to the Union Dead-this new monument was dedicated and photographed on September 8, 2007
[The Union Monument is located very close to the monument to 1st Lieutenant Richard Dick
Dowling]
Click on the photo to see full-size
Capture of the USS Morning Light and the USS Velocity-This marker was dedicated on Sept 8, 2007 although the inscription reads 2006 because Hurricane Rita made it impossible to place or dedicate
Click on the photo to see full-size
Commodore Leon Smith-This marker was dedicated on Sept 8, 2007 at Sabine Pass Battleground. It is located very close to the Union Casualities Monument
The photos of the Union Casualities Monument, and the 2 new Historical Markers that were dedicated om September 8, 2007 at the Sabine Pass Battleground plus the descriptions are courtesy of William Bozic, Houston, Texas, http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc2/sabinepass4.htm
For more additional photos and story on the Sabine Pass Union Monument Dedication Ceremony please go to our, Activities around Texas, page
Tent History | Sarah Emma Edmonds | Sarah Emma Edmonds page 2 | Tent Officers | Tent Meetings | Membership | Our Civil War Ancestors | Our Civil War Ancestors 2 | Activities | National | Activities of Our Texas Sisters | Links | Activities around Texas | Educational Activities
I would like to thank Susan Salm, our Tent President
for the contribution of the story of our Tent and for the story about our Tent Chartering Ceremony
that can be found on the Tent History page
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This page was last modified: Monday, 26-May-2008 15:30:18 MDT
©by Martha Class for Sarah Emma Edmonds Detached Tent #4 in 2007