Bagdad, Tamaulipas
Encyclopedia
Bagdad, Tamaulipas, Mexico was a town established in 1848 on the south bank of the mouth of the Río Grande
. Moreover, this town is also known as the Port of Bagdad or the Port of Matamoros, since it is inside the municipality
of Matamoros, Tamaulipas
. Officially declared non-existent in 1880, it is now invisible, covered by the shifting sands of time.
A major player in the American Civil War
, today few realize it even existed, nor its vital importance to the Confederacy in its struggle against the North. One of the first appearances of Bagdad was on a map entitled "Map of the Country Adjacent to the Left Bank of the Rio Grande Below Matamoros, 1847."
's proclamation that he would hold Jefferson Davis
' privateer
s "amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy
," the War commenced. Mexico was the only foreign country to share a border with the Confederacy. Being neutral, Mexico could not be cut off by Lincoln's Federal blockade. The US Supreme Court, in the Prize cases, had declared Lincoln's blockade
s legal. However, this legality did not extend to the Rio Grande, as this river was considered international water by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
signed in 1848 between the United States and Mexico.
Article VII of the Treaty read, "The river Gila, and the part of the Rio Bravo del Norte laying below the southern boundary of New Mexico, being, agreeably to the fifth article, divided in the middle between the two republics, the navigation of the Gila and of the Bravo below said boundary shall be free and common to the vessels and citizens of both countries; and neither shall, without the consent of the other, construct any work that may impede or interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise of this right; not even for the purpose of favoring new methods of navigation."
, owner of the famed King Ranch, along with several partners, was a major player in the cotton trade during this time period. The arid brush country was soon a bustle of activity as cotton carts from all parts of Texas, as well as neighboring states, labored on the rutted, dusty roads to transport the cotton first to Brownsville, Texas
, and then to Matamoros, Tamaulipas
. From there it was transported by cart to Bagdad, where it was placed on ships bound for various ports around the world.
There was immense pressure to keep the cotton moving. Ship masts stretched across the water as far as the eye could see. All of these were waiting for cotton. The cotton was slowed down on its journey when it reached Bagdad, as it could take up to three months to load one schooner. This process was hindered by the shortage of small steamboats, lighters [wide barges] and carts to move the bales downriver.
carrying six hundred pounds of salt from El Sal del Rey and Sal Vieja. The camels could carry twice the load of that of a mule. However, Brownsville citizens soon complained when some camels created havoc. The Brownsville Commission immediately enacted an ordinance prohibiting anyone from walking camels in the streets.
, Bagdad was but a recreational destination for the residents of Matamoros. When the Mexican-American War broke out, Matamoros was split into two cities. Those residents with loyalties to the United States moved north of the Rio Bravo - known in the United States as the Rio Grande
- and created Brownsville. However, Bagdad continued on as a destination for recreation for the people of both cities.
Ships occasionally dropped anchor off the coast of Bagdad, and there was stagecoach
service from Bagdad to Matamoros. However, Bagdad was a very poor port. The coastal shelf
to this day is some hundred meters distant of the beach, and ships dared not come close. The transfer of passengers and cargo required the use of small flat-bottom boats that could manage the shallows.
Had it not been for the American Civil War, Bagdad would not have developed into a significant port. But once it became the chief means of transporting cotton from the Confederate States - and this became even more critical after the fall of Vicksburg
- governing authorities in Mexico took great interest in the trade.
Mexico at this time was also in political turmoil. Benito Juárez
, the leader of the popular rebellion against the French intervention in Mexico
, wanted control of Bagdad in order to obtain much needed revenue, and possibly weapons. The revenue was to come from duties imposed on the cotton trade, as well as any other goods coming through the port.
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico also came to understand the strategic usefulness of Bagdad. Austrian troops were sent to Bagdad. In the northern state of Tamaulipas
, where Bagdad was located, there were also regional chieftains with ambitions of their own.
There were several battles involving these factions for control of Bagdad, and possession of the city shifted from one to the other. On at least one occasion, the fighting came so near the city that there was a panic and most of the residents evacuated for a short period.
Texan Confederate residents of Brownsville were aware that Union loyalists were hiding in Matamoros. These refugees were chased and were not safe in Matamoros. Texan Confederates were free to roam Matamoros, a city where they enjoyed long-established and friendly relations with many of the locals, and they actively hunted Union loyalists.
This situation greatly concerned the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, and he sent dispatches on behalf of the refugees, via ship, to Washington. There were numerous pleas imploring Washington to send a military naval vessel to Bagdad to provide safe passage. The consulate gave assurances that were this to occur these men would make loyal soldiers in the service of the Union.
The Naval Blockade of Southern ports took priority, however, and response was slow. A U.S. naval ship did eventually make its way to just north of Bagdad and a party of long-suffering German-American refugees were at last rescued.
The Consulate also complained bitterly in his dispatches about the cotton trade and implored Washington to find some way to stop it. But as Mexico was a neutral party, there was little Washington could do.
Today all that remains is a beautiful, isolated beach where many go "to get away from it all". Few of those visitors realize what a bustling port once lay under their feet.
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. Moreover, this town is also known as the Port of Bagdad or the Port of Matamoros, since it is inside the municipality
Matamoros municipality, Tamaulipas
Matamoros is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.-Towns and villages:The largest localities are:-Adjacent municipalities and counties:* San Fernando Municipality - south...
of Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
. Officially declared non-existent in 1880, it is now invisible, covered by the shifting sands of time.
A major player in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, today few realize it even existed, nor its vital importance to the Confederacy in its struggle against the North. One of the first appearances of Bagdad was on a map entitled "Map of the Country Adjacent to the Left Bank of the Rio Grande Below Matamoros, 1847."
Civil War
The Civil War began in 1861 when the Southern states seceded from the Union. With Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's proclamation that he would hold Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
' privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s "amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
," the War commenced. Mexico was the only foreign country to share a border with the Confederacy. Being neutral, Mexico could not be cut off by Lincoln's Federal blockade. The US Supreme Court, in the Prize cases, had declared Lincoln's blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
s legal. However, this legality did not extend to the Rio Grande, as this river was considered international water by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
signed in 1848 between the United States and Mexico.
Article VII of the Treaty read, "The river Gila, and the part of the Rio Bravo del Norte laying below the southern boundary of New Mexico, being, agreeably to the fifth article, divided in the middle between the two republics, the navigation of the Gila and of the Bravo below said boundary shall be free and common to the vessels and citizens of both countries; and neither shall, without the consent of the other, construct any work that may impede or interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise of this right; not even for the purpose of favoring new methods of navigation."
Importance of cotton to the Southern cause
Cotton was the "white gold" that would sustain the Confederacy during the Civil War, and cotton was literally "King" in south Texas. Richard KingRichard King
Richard King may refer to:*Richard King , founder of the King Ranch in South Texas*Sir Richard King, 1st Baronet , British admiral, Commodore Governor for Newfoundland and Labrador...
, owner of the famed King Ranch, along with several partners, was a major player in the cotton trade during this time period. The arid brush country was soon a bustle of activity as cotton carts from all parts of Texas, as well as neighboring states, labored on the rutted, dusty roads to transport the cotton first to Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
, and then to Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
. From there it was transported by cart to Bagdad, where it was placed on ships bound for various ports around the world.
Frontier boomtown
So great was the trade that Bagdad's population soon reached 15,000 inhabitants. From a miserable shanty town, Bagdad exploded into a frontier boom town, complete with saloons, gambling houses, and brothels. The Brownsville Ranchero described Bagdad as a town in which "…fandangos were held every night and women as beautiful as houris exhibit their charms, without the least reserve." The New York Herald described Bagdad as "an excrescence of the war. Here congregated . . . blockade runners, desperadoes, the vile of both sexes; adventurers . . . numberless groggeries and houses of worse fame. [Where the] decencies of civilized life were forgotten, and vice in its worst form held high carnival . . . while in the low, dirty looking buildings . . . were amassed millions [in] gold and silver." A blockade runner once described Bagdad as a place where everyone was trying to grab what he could by using whatever scheme possible to make money out of crisis.There was immense pressure to keep the cotton moving. Ship masts stretched across the water as far as the eye could see. All of these were waiting for cotton. The cotton was slowed down on its journey when it reached Bagdad, as it could take up to three months to load one schooner. This process was hindered by the shortage of small steamboats, lighters [wide barges] and carts to move the bales downriver.
Camels
To speed up this process, the Confederacy decided to utilize camels, first brought to Texas at the recommendation of secretary of war, Jefferson Davis, in 1857. Each carried two bales of cotton to Matamoros where it was then unloaded and shipped on to Bagdad. The camel caravans would return to Camp VerdeOld Camp Verde
Camp Verde was a United States Army facility established on July 8, 1856 in Kerr County, Texas along the road from San Antonio to El Paso.The camp was the headquarters for U.S. Camel Corps, which experimented with using dromedaries as pack animals in the southwestern United States...
carrying six hundred pounds of salt from El Sal del Rey and Sal Vieja. The camels could carry twice the load of that of a mule. However, Brownsville citizens soon complained when some camels created havoc. The Brownsville Commission immediately enacted an ordinance prohibiting anyone from walking camels in the streets.
Mexican power struggles over the area
Prior to the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Bagdad was but a recreational destination for the residents of Matamoros. When the Mexican-American War broke out, Matamoros was split into two cities. Those residents with loyalties to the United States moved north of the Rio Bravo - known in the United States as the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
- and created Brownsville. However, Bagdad continued on as a destination for recreation for the people of both cities.
Ships occasionally dropped anchor off the coast of Bagdad, and there was stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
service from Bagdad to Matamoros. However, Bagdad was a very poor port. The coastal shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
to this day is some hundred meters distant of the beach, and ships dared not come close. The transfer of passengers and cargo required the use of small flat-bottom boats that could manage the shallows.
Had it not been for the American Civil War, Bagdad would not have developed into a significant port. But once it became the chief means of transporting cotton from the Confederate States - and this became even more critical after the fall of Vicksburg
Battle of Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C...
- governing authorities in Mexico took great interest in the trade.
Mexico at this time was also in political turmoil. Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
, the leader of the popular rebellion against the French intervention in Mexico
French intervention in Mexico
The French intervention in Mexico , also known as The Maximilian Affair, War of the French Intervention, and The Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of Mexico by an expeditionary force sent by the Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain...
, wanted control of Bagdad in order to obtain much needed revenue, and possibly weapons. The revenue was to come from duties imposed on the cotton trade, as well as any other goods coming through the port.
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico also came to understand the strategic usefulness of Bagdad. Austrian troops were sent to Bagdad. In the northern state of Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
, where Bagdad was located, there were also regional chieftains with ambitions of their own.
There were several battles involving these factions for control of Bagdad, and possession of the city shifted from one to the other. On at least one occasion, the fighting came so near the city that there was a panic and most of the residents evacuated for a short period.
Union sympathizers and the refugee problem
When Texas aligned itself with the Confederacy, Union loyalists were persecuted. Many German-American residents of the Hill Country, in particular, and other Union loyalists found it necessary to flee for their lives. Many of these Union loyalists made harrowing journeys through territory strange to them in the South Texas country. Matamoros was their destination, but their hope was to eventually make their way by sea, through Bagdad, back to the Northern States.Texan Confederate residents of Brownsville were aware that Union loyalists were hiding in Matamoros. These refugees were chased and were not safe in Matamoros. Texan Confederates were free to roam Matamoros, a city where they enjoyed long-established and friendly relations with many of the locals, and they actively hunted Union loyalists.
This situation greatly concerned the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, and he sent dispatches on behalf of the refugees, via ship, to Washington. There were numerous pleas imploring Washington to send a military naval vessel to Bagdad to provide safe passage. The consulate gave assurances that were this to occur these men would make loyal soldiers in the service of the Union.
The Naval Blockade of Southern ports took priority, however, and response was slow. A U.S. naval ship did eventually make its way to just north of Bagdad and a party of long-suffering German-American refugees were at last rescued.
The Consulate also complained bitterly in his dispatches about the cotton trade and implored Washington to find some way to stop it. But as Mexico was a neutral party, there was little Washington could do.
Decline
This frontier boom town was important to the Confederacy which depended upon this town and its trade in order to survive. As the Confederacy cause died, so died Bagdad. The town itself was officially declared non-existent in 1880. The surrounding area sustained several hurricanes during the late 1860s through the 1880s. The 1889 hurricane closed the port of Bagdad forever to merchant ships. Due to the danger of the sandbar, only very small boats ventured to put in there.Today all that remains is a beautiful, isolated beach where many go "to get away from it all". Few of those visitors realize what a bustling port once lay under their feet.