Camps Verde, C.S.A.

The county the outpost guarded was small and divided. In 1860 Kerr County had 634 people, among them 49 enslaved people; one planter held twenty-one, and the rest were scattered among thirteen owners. Many settlers had come from the upper South, especially Tennessee, while sizable numbers of Germans moved down from Fredericksburg and New Braunfels. Ranching already dominated, with more than 4,000 cattle and 1,100 sheep against only 2,201 acres in crops. Many of those Germans opposed secession, which most Anglo settlers favored.

What the plaque says

Camps Verde, C.S.A. Texas frontier regiment outpost was established 1862, 11 mi. southeast and near old U.S. post Camp Verde. Part of Red River-Rio Grande line of posts a day's horseback ride apart. The troops furnished own guns, mounts, but often lacked food, clothing, supplies. Still, scouting parties, patrols effectively curbed Indian raids until war's end. Kerr County population was 585. County voted 76-57 for secession 1861. 75 men served in Confederate and state forces. Some sent to protect Texas coast from Union invasion, some helped to defend frontier in this region, others fought on distant battlefields. 19 men from county served in Texas Union forces. Old U.S. post Camp Verde was taken by C.S.A. troops Feb. 1861. The Confederates captured 80 camels and two Egyptian drivers with other U.S. property. These camels were used to haul cotton - life's blood of South - to Mexico swap for vital supplies, including salt from lakes north of Brownsville. During post dances ladies rode a camel "Old Major" around the parade grounds. 600 Union soldiers captured leaving Texas early in Civil War were confined in prison canyon southwest of the camp. 3 cliffs, described as "very difficult to ascend" surrounded the prison area. Prisoners, held from Aug. 1861 until sometime in 1862, were allowed to build shacks and get adequate exercise with little risk of escape. One Union prisoner performed as ventriloquist at post dance, scaring ladies with unseen pig sounds. Erected by the State of Texas 1964

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Schreiner Mansion — 11 mi
  The 1879 downtown home of Charles Schreiner, the Alsatian-born merchant, banker and rancher whose store and mohair trade built Kerrville.
• Frontier Times Museum — 12 mi
  A museum built of fossils, petrified wood and cave formations in Bandera, holding a printer-historian's collection of frontier relics and oddities.
• Treue der Union Monument — 13 mi
  An 1866 German-language monument in Comfort over the graves of Hill Country Unionists killed at the Nueces in 1862, its flag of thirty-six stars kept at half-staff.
• Old Tunnel State Park — 22 mi
  A railroad tunnel abandoned in 1942 that now shelters up to three million Mexican free-tailed bats, who fly out each evening from May through October.

More markers nearby

• Penateka Comanches — steps away
• Site of Camp Verde — 0.9 mi
• Bandera Pass — 2.4 mi
• Center Point Cemetery — 4.9 mi