Vaqueros in Blue & Gray [Hardcover]

Dr. Jerry Thompson Ph.D. (Author), Leonel Garza Jr. (Illustrator), Felix D Almaraz (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

A saga of the brave Mexican-Texans during the Civil War, this edition contains a list of four thousand Confederate and Union Hispanics from Texas.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JERRY THOMPSON, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Texas A&M International University at Laredo, is among the foremost and most prolific historians of the Texas-Mexico border. He has been the recipient of many teacher awards, is a fellow of the Texas State Historical Association, member of the Texas Philosophical Society, and on the editorial advisory board of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Thompson is the author of numerous monographs and books, the most recent being A Wild and Vivid Land: An Illustrated History of the South Texas Border, and Fifty Miles and a Fight: Major Samuel Peter Heintzelman’s Journal of Texas and the Cortina War.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 194 pages
• Publisher: State House Press (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880510715
• ISBN-13: 978-1880510711
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #708,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contributions to the USA and CSA during the Civil War, February 25, 2003

By 

Mr. Calder (Redwood City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vaqueros in Blue & Gray (Hardcover)

The book Vaqueros in Blue and Gray provides an insightfully resource of the contributions made by Hispanics to both the United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA) during the American Civil War. From an Anglo standpoint, I feel that this book better helps Civil War researchers better understand the Civil War and the contributions made by Mexicans and others with surnames like Sanchez, Martinez, and Moreno to both the CSA and USA.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important, unique contribution to Civil War studies., July 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vaqueros in Blue & Gray (Paperback)

This history of Hispanic involvements in the Civil War includes the first comprehensive list compiled over Confederate and Union Hispanic participants who served, providing a history which will particularly appeal to students of Texas state history. Vaqueros in Blue & Gray originally appeared in 1976; this new edition provides a new introduction, foreword, and the list of participants.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to Trans-Nississippi Civil War, July 1, 2008

By 

Barrie W. Bracken "Researcher" (Daytona Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vaqueros in Blue & Gray (Hardcover)

Thompson's book will not interest the casual Civil War reader. The book is limited to the Mexican-American Texans who fought for the Union and the Confederacy, but it covers no major battles. Better writing would help immensely, but the author cannot be faulted on his research. As you read through it you are introduced or reintroduced to many characters with whom you may or may not be familiar, but you will find them interesting: Santos and Refugio Benavides, John "RIP" Ford, Jose A. Quintero (Confederate agent in Mexico), Adrian Vidal, and for me the most important figure, Edmund Jackson Davis. For those interested the book concludes with an appendix of 126 pages lists the Tejanos and Mexicans who fought for the Union and the Confederacy.

The book begins with the secession of Texas where in Corpus Christi John Ford and Edmund Davis are contesting for a seat in the state convention. Some historians contend when Davis lost the election to Ford he became a Unionist.
This turn of events laid the groundwork for one of the most interesting and decisive Civil War battles fought in Texas. In October 1862, a total of 72 Texas unionists landed in New Orleans under the command of Union Colonel Edmund Davis and later embarked for Galveston, Texas. The troopship was a part of the flotilla meant to capture Galveston and move in land but they were stopped and what has been called the Confederate Thermopylae, the battle of Sabine Pass. If any readers are unacquainted with this battle I strongly suggest you read some of the descriptions available to see how a small Confederate force destroyed some ships and turned back this Union armada. The book continues with stories of the skirmishes between the Mexican Texans and the Union forces.

One of the most interesting characters portrayed in this book, one pretty much ignored by many historians, is the Rio Grande nemesis of the Confederate forces, Judge Edmund Jackson Davis. Davis was born in St. Augustine Florida, a childhood companion of Edmund Kirby Smith, acquainted with William Loring. As best we can tell Ed as a young teen moved with his mother to the Texas coast. Davis went into politics, became a judge, and when he defeated by Rip Ford in the elections selecting representatives at the secession convention, he amazingly became a Union man. When the war broke out Davis went to Mexico to recruit volunteers for Union cavalry unit. He was captured by Confederate Texans in Mexico and brought back to Texas soil which he was supposed to fertilize following his execution. Intervention of his wife saved him and he was allowed to go to New Orleans from which he moved to Galveston harbor where he and the Navy failed miserably.

The exploits of the Texas Mexicans are covered in this small volume in a minor way, but you can get through it, it serves as an introduction to these characters. There is only 125 pages of actual text in the print shares leaves with numerous line drawings and photographs. Readers will not find any great depth in this book but hopefully it may act as an introduction to whet the appetite for the trans-Mississippi Civil War, an area far too neglected by most mainstream historians.

I would really like to give this book more than three stars I think I stretched the point with even that many. Suffice it to say that unless you are really interested in the book is not worth its price.