Camp Wood

[joe817]

CAMP WOOD. Camp Wood was on the Nueces River near the site of the present-day town of Camp Wood in far southwestern Real County. It was established as a United States military outpost on May 20, 1857, when it was occupied by Lt. E. D. Philips and a company of the First Infantry assigned to protect the San Antonio-El Paso route and the Rio Grande valley from Indian raids.

The camp was located near the ruins of San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz Mission; its water was supplied by the same spring that had earlier served the mission and that later provided water for the town of Camp Wood. The installation was named for Bvt. Maj. George W. F. Wood.

The camp was temporarily abandoned on October 29, 1857. Lt. John Bell Hood, later commander of Hood's Texas Brigade, reestablished the post in 1858 with a company of the Second Cavalry and remained until November 1860. The post was abandoned by Union troops in the spring of 1861 and was afterward occupied by Confederate forces.

Walter Paye Lane's rangers arrived on June 14, 1861, and W. W. Heartsill, a member of this detachment, described its stay in his journals, later published as Fourteen Hundred and 91 Days in the Confederate Army (1876). Edward Dixon Westfall, an early settler of Southwest Texas, also lived at Camp Wood during this period, raising cattle and acting as a guide for the Confederates.

After the Civil War the site was periodically used by United States troops and Texas Rangers, and the influx of settlers began. Jim Hill, who served as a scout for Gen. John Bullis, moved to the area with his mother and brothers in 1873. According to local residents, buildings and the camp cemetery, the latter of which continued to be used after the post was abandoned, were still extant at the site in the early twentieth century.

The buildings have since disappeared, however, and the headstones from the cemetery were eventually taken up and used to line a flower bed.

[joe817]

My friends, I'm saddened to say this will be the last post on "Texas Forts" and Texas Camps". I have exhausted all of my resources to locate forts and camps which are of significance and interest in Texas History.

I trust you all found these humble posts as interesting as I have as they all contributed to the growth, culture, and historical significance into shaping our great State to what it is today.

As always, I invite all of you to contribute and post what you find, as it is entirely possible I've missed a LOT. Thank you for looking.

[Daddio-on-patio]

Wonderful history bits you have shared. I hope in inspired some to search for information on things they have seen and are curious about. The internet brings a wealth of credible sources.

Sir, thank you for post. I for have enjoyed them.

[The Annoyed Man]

My friends, I'm saddened to say this will be the last post on "Texas Forts" and Texas Camps". I have exhausted all of my resources to locate forts and camps which are of significance and interest in Texas History.

I trust you all found these humble posts as interesting as I have as they all contributed to the growth, culture, and historical significance into shaping our great State to what it is today.

As always, I invite all of you to contribute and post what you find, as it is entirely possible I've missed a LOT. Thank you for looking.

Thank you for posting all of these. I've learned a great deal about my adoptive state from reading them. Now .... to get out and actually explore these places....

[joe817]

The Texas Forts Trail is a great resource for visiting these places:

https://texasfortstrail.com/

And thanks for the kind words everybody.

[anygunanywhere]

Been to Camp Wood many times. NIce little place. When I'm staying at the hunting place I go to meetings in Camp Wood. The locals are...interesting individuals. Down to earth, honest, and fun.