b'o u rh i s t o r ykilling him with own weapon, the Captain scaredwere made in their plan for action during the Civil the attacker into the brush, not to be seen again. War. But as they say, every fighter goes into battle ThegreatestdangerthattheKingswouldface,with a planthat is, until they take the first punch. however, would stem from the friendship the Cap- Then the plan is survival.tain forged with Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. LeeTheUnionNavystartedblockadingConfederate of the U.S. Armys Second Cavalry, whom he firstseaportssoonafterwarbrokeout,andbylate acquainted at the Fort Ringgold Barracks up the1861, the blockade had reached the southernmost river in Rio Grande City, in the fall of 1856. Thoughport at the mouth of the Rio Grande, Brazos San-Lee had served on the Rio Grande nine years earli- tiago Harbor. Cotton crops destined for European er in the War with Mexico, he eagerly sought Cap- markets had been stopped from leaving the ports tain Kings vast knowledge of the border region.of Mobile, New Orleans and Galveston, so King and King, in turn, developed great respect for RobertKenedy devised a plan with the C.S.A. Army, led by E. Lee, the Virginian with the deepest roots in theCaptain Kings old friend, Robert E. Lee, to trans-founding and fabric of the United Statesa heri- port the cotton to Santa Gertrudis, where it would tagethatRichardquietlybutknowinglylacked.be received, stored and shipped to M. Kenedy & Co. Lee visited the Kings on more than one occasion atsteamboats in Brownsville. The boats, now flying Santa Gertrudis, famously offering him the advice,the Mexican flag, would sail past the Union ships Buy land, and never sell. Wisdom to which Rich- to the awaiting merchants moored offshore. Kene-ard King almost always adhered. dy and Kings fee was one-in-ten bales, for which By1860,businessontheSantaGertrudisthey accepted payment only in gold.Ranchhad stabilized, with the Kineos and theirWith the cotton trade added to the sale of horses families fully settled in; Mifflin Kenedy joined as aand mules to the C.S.A. Army, plus riverboat profits partner in the Santa Gertrudis after his own ranchfrom transporting war material and men up and was destroyed by Mexican raiders; water resourc- down the Rio Grande, plus the brisk sale of cattle es were under management with the constructionto the Confederacy for food, hides and tallowthe of numerous land dams, and; the cattle herd wasCivil War was proving enormously profitable for growing and selling at market. The national politi- King and Kenedy. But you cant take it with you cal atmosphere, in stark contrast, had never stoodwhen youre deada prospect that would become in a greater state of peril over the countrys 84- very real for them before the end of the war.year history. With Abraham Lincoln running forIt was well known to President Lincoln and President of the United States on a platform of end- Union commandersthat tons of cotton were be-ing slavery, the founding principle of the then-re- ing smuggled through Mexico and on to European cently-organized Republican Party, Southern statesmerchants via the Rio Grande, by the fall of 1863. including Texas vowed to move toward secession,Millions of dollars in gold for cotton was funding should he be elected that November. the tenacious Confederate war effort, which had At the very least, cattle sales to the Midwest andto be stopped if Lincoln was to finally put down Northeast, the biggest markets by far, would bethe rebellion. The option of intercepting ships fly-severelydisruptedifnotcompletelyclosed.Ating under the Mexican flag, including those of M. worstand the scenario King and Kenedy figuredKenedy & Co.s proxy owners in Matamoros, was Top: Elevated view of a cattle round-up on the Santa Gertrudis,was most likelywas all-out war, in which case,deemed too risky. Mexico had fallen under con-1920. Above: Bob Kleberg, who brought national attention tocattle markets would collapse and immediate newtrol of the French, who were sympathetic to the the King Ranch in the 1940s and 50s, with a Quarter Horse.markets would open up for horses, mules and theConfederacy and resistant to the further westward Below: King Ranch managers on Australian property in 1951. serviceoftransportingmen,warsuppliesandexpansion of the United States. Lincoln had no de-arms over water. sire to draw France into the Civil War, but stopping While King and Kenedy were unapologetic Confed- the Southern cotton trade through Mexico was de-erates, neither were willing to abandon their prop- manded of his mission to win the war.erty, businesses and families to fight the Union,The Battle of Brownsville ensued on November 6, themselves. Perhaps it was because of their North- 1863, when an overwhelming Union force of about ern roots and growing up in non-slave states. May- 6,000men,commandedbyGeneralNathaniel be it was because their businesses were not partic- Banks, landed at the mouth of the Rio Grande and ularly slave-dependentalthough slaves would bebegan moving west toward the city. While most found on the ranch, none elected to leave. Or, may- Confederate troops were deployed to the successful be it was in the interests of their personal survivalBattle of Sabine Pass, Fort Brown was left with just and financial prosperity, as was the case more than150 men under the command of General Hamilton a decade earlier during the Spanish-American War.P. Bee (Beeville, Bee County), who wisely ordered Undoubtedly, some or all of these considerationsthe evacuation of the city. General Bees scorched 82THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'