Pat McCormick was this evening's keynote speaker and talked about the Union's ill-fated Red River Campaign, summing it up as a textbook example of how not to conduct a campaign and one that was really not necessary.
Overall, it took place because of Texas, even though it took place in Louisiana. It was hoped that it would get the cotton-raising non-slave-owning Germans there as well as many pro-Unionists to break away from the Confederacy.
And, another big reason was for cotton and cotton speculation.. Politicians in New England were putting pressure on Lincoln to get Texas because of the cotton needed for their textile factories.
Another reason to worry about Texas was because of the increasing French presence in Mexico as well as Confederate supplies coming across the Rio Grande River between Matamoras and Brownsville, Texas.
An earlier attempt to invade Texas had been stopped by Dick Dowling and his force at Fort Griffin at the Battle of Sabine Pass.
--Old Secesh
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