Go Where the Fighting Was Fiercest ― The Guide to the Texas Civil War Monuments

When a Chickamauga Battlefield ranger was asked where to find the Texas monument, his quick reply was “Go to where the fighting was fiercest.” While that spontaneous response accurately underscored the legendary battlefield zeal of the Texas forces in virtually every major Civil War battle, it likely did little to answer the visitor’s question.

In this book, the authors will inform visitors to many Civil War battlefields about the heroic role played by the Texans at key sites and why the State of Texas has, over the years, seen fit to officially commemorate the valor of the hard-fighting men of Texas with impressive monuments.

With the sesquicentennial observance of America’s Civil War already underway, however, Texas has chosen to pay little attention to Texans’ contribution to the Confederate cause. Regardless of the scant official recognition being afforded this seminal event, the facts remain that there was a Civil War and that Texans were very often at the hot center of its battles—“Where the fighting was the fiercest.”

Students of American history, as well as visitors and those planning to visit the eighteen battlefield monuments described in this book, will learn how Texas forces fared in the fighting. Time must never be allowed to erase the memories of those sacrifices and those battle-bloodied accomplishments on the field of honor. This book will ensure that present and future generations will always remember the monumental significance of the story of Texas in the Civil War.

THOMAS E. ALEXANDER is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BA in political science and holds a masters degree in military studies from the American Military University in West Virginia, with honors in Civil War studies. DAN K. UTLEY holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Sam Houston State University. He serves as an adjunct lecturer at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.