Texans and War: New Interpretations of the State's Military History (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University #116)

Description

Beginning with tribal wars among Native Americans before Europeans settled Texas and continuing through the Civil War, the soil of what would become the Lone Star State has frequently been stained by the blood of those contesting for control of its resources. In subsequent years and continuing to the present, its citizens have often taken up arms beyond its borders in pursuit of political values and national defense. 

Although historians have studied the role of the state and its people in war for well over a century, a wealth of topics remain that deserve greater attention: Tejanos in World War II, the common Texas soldier’s interaction with foreign enemies, the perception of Texas warriors throughout the world, the role of religion among Texans who fight or contemplate fighting, controversial paramilitary groups in Texas, the role and effects of Texans’ ethnicity, culture, and gender during wartime, to name a few. In Texans at War, fourteen scholars provide new studies, perspectives, and historiographies to extend the understanding of this important field. 

One of the largest collections of original scholarship on this topic to date, Texans and War will stimulate useful conversation and research among historians, students, and interested general readers. In addition, the breadth and originality of its contributions provide a solid overview of emerging perspectives on the military history and historiography of Texas and the region.

 CONTENTS List of Illustrations                                                                                                     ixAcknowledgments                                                                                                     xiIntroduction                                                                                                               1

Alexander Mendoza and Charles David Grear

PART  I. Texans Fighting through Time: Thematic Topics

1. The Indian Wars of Texas: A Lipan Apache Perspective                                    17
                 Thomas A Britten

2. Tejanos at War: A History of Mexican Texans in American Wars                      38
                Alexander Mendoza

3. Texas Women at War                                                                                         69
                Melanie A Kirkland

4. The Influence of War and Military Service on African Texans                           97
                Alwyn  Barr

5. The Patriot-Warrior Mystique: John S.  Brooks, Walter P. Lane,
Samuel H. Walker, and the Adventurous Quest for Renown                                113
                Jimmy L. Bryan  Jr.

6. "All Eyes of Texas Are on Comal County": German Texans' Loyalty
during the Civil War and World War I                                                                   133
                Charles David  Grear

PART II. Wars in Texas History: Chronological Conflicts

7. Between Imperial Warfare: Crossing of the Smuggling Frontierand Transatlantic Commerce on the Louisiana-Texas Borderlands,
1754-1785                                                                                                             157
                  Francis X. Galan 8. The Mexican-American War: Reflections on an Overlooked Conflict                178
                  Kendall Milton 9. The Prolonged War: Texans Struggle to Win the Civil War during Reconstruction                                                                                            196
                  Kenneth W. Howell                                                                            
10. The Texas lmmunes in the Spanish-American War                                         213
                 James M. McCaffrey
11. Surveillance on the Border: American Intelligence andthe Tejano Community during World War I                                                            227
                 Jose  A. Ramirez

12. Texan Prisoners of the Japanese: A Study in Survival                                    248
                  Kelly E. Crager

13. Lyndon B. Johnson's Bitch of a War: An Antiwar Essay                                  269
                  James M. Smallwood

14. Black Paradox in the Age of Terrorism: Military Patriotismor Higher Education?                                                                                              283
                  Ronald E. Goodwin

Contributors                                                                                                            297

Index                                                                                                                       301