Embracing the Executive and Staff, Heads of the Departments, United States senators and representatives, members of the XXth legislature.

When the Ninth Legislature convened in November, 1861, representatives gave little thought to the somber days that lay ahead, instead making exultant predictions of a quick victory over the enemy to the north. Houston's warning was forgotten. The Texas Senate, Volume II, picks up where the first volume left off, covering the story of this sometimes venerable, sometimes raucous, and sometimes unsavory body from the onset of the war until another eve, that of the period sometimes called the Era of Reform. Written by members of the Senate Engrossing and Enrolling Department and edited by Engrossing and Enrolling Clerk Patsy McDonald Spaw, this volume comprises the years of the war itself, Reconstruction and Republican dominance, Redeemer politics and the return of the Democrats, and the rise of agrarian reform. Sources for the history include the Senate journals, the letters and private papers of senators, newspapers of the era, committee reports, and other primary sources, as well as general and specialized histories of the topics. As in the previous volume, carefully selected illustrations and appendices listing members of the Senate for each of its sessions add significant details. The Texas Senate, Volume II, presents a narrative account of the issues fought; the legislation proposed, rejected, and accepted; and the actors who filled the stage of this period in Texas history. It offers both an account of the times and a guide to the sources for other historians to mine.

Texas was the South's frontier in the antebellum period. The vast new state represented the hope and future of many Southern cotton planters. As a result, Texas changed tremendously during the 1850s as increasing numbers of Southern planters moved westward to settle. Planters brought with them large numbers of slaves to plant, cultivate and pick the valuable cash crop; by 1860, slaves made up 30 percent of the total Texas population. No state in the South grew nearly as fast as Texas during this decade, and as the booming economy for cotton led the economic development, the state became increasingly embroiled in the national debate about whether slavery should exist within a democratic republic dedicated to the freedom and independence of man. This work is centered on the role played by the town of Chappell Hill during this portion of Texas history. It offers details about the area's pre-war prosperity as a center of wealth, influence and aristocracy and describes the angry fervor of the period leading up to the war. Men of this small town played a role in many of the major campaigns and battles of the war, and their motivations for enlisting and their tales of duty are included here. Through excerpts from their correspondence and journals, the book emphasizes personal experiences of the soldiers. Post-war adventures are also offered as the author explores Texas resistance to Federal occupation, the town's yellow fever epidemic and a period of reconciliation as aging veterans gather at Blue-Gray reunions to reunite the nation.

From 1861 to 1865, the Civil War raged along the great rivers of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. While various Civil War biographies exist, none have been devoted exclusively to participants in the Western river war as waged down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Red River, and up the Ohio, the Tennessee and the Cumberland. Based on the Official Records, county histories, newspapers and internet sources, this is the first work to profile personnel involved in the fighting on these great streams. Included in this biographical encyclopedia are Union and Confederate naval officers down to the rank of mate; enlisted sailors who won the Medal of Honor, or otherwise distinguished themselves or who wrote accounts of life on the gunboats; army officers and leaders who played a direct role in combat along Western waters; political officials who influenced river operations; civilian steamboat captains and pilots who participated in wartime logistics; and civilian contractors directly involved, including shipbuilders, dam builders, naval constructors and munitions experts. Each of the biographies includes (where known) birth, death and residence data; unit organization or ship; involvement in the river war; pre- and post-war careers; and source documentation. Hundreds of individuals are given their first historic recognition.

Representing Texas is a compendium of biographies of the men and women who have represented the state in the United States and Confederate Congresses. These biographies include information about the representative's birth, education, marriages, family, experiences, profession, elections, congressional record, and death records including burial site. In addition to the biographies there are lists of U.S. Senators by succession, U.S. Representatives by district, Representatives and Senators to the Confederate Congresses, Confederate Congressional Districts by county, Confederate Congress session dates, U.S. Congress session dates, and U.S. Congressional Districts by county. A complete set of U.S. Senator election returns and U.S. Representative election returns from Texas completes the work. Also included is a bibliography. The work was completed following interviews with living ex-members of Congress and current, sitting members of Congress from Texas. The work is the only one to address the topic specific to Texas and is a valuable reference for any Texas library and any history or political researcher.