Camp Collier, CSA, Located 13 mi. southwest, this camp was one of a chain of Texas frontier posts a day's horseback ride apart from the Red River to the Rio Grande. Occupied by the Texas Frontier Regiment. Patrols and scouting parties frequently sent out kept Indian actions in check and rounded up draft evaders. Always needed were food, clothing, horses, ammunition. These men shared few of the glories of the war. Yet at the cost of the lives of not a few of them, these Confederate soldiers managed to bring a measure of protection to a vast frontier area. Texas Civil War Frontier Defense Texas made an all-out effort for the Confederacy after voting over 3 to 1 for secession. 90,000 troops, noted for mobility and heroic daring, fought on every battlefront. An important source of supply and gateway to foreign trade thru Mexico, Texas was the storehouse of the South. Camp Collier and other posts on this line were backed by patrols of State Rangers organized militia, and citizens' posses scouting from nearby "family forts." This was part of a 2000 mile frontier and coastline successfully defended by Texans. Historical Marker Text, 1963

Camp Collier, located at Vaughn's Springs on Clear Creek in southwestern Brown County, was one of sixteen military installations established by the Confederacy in Texas after the Union Army evacuated the desolate stretches of the Texas frontier. Read the Camp Collier History from the Handbook of Texas Online

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & USO, Brownwood

Armistice Day Parade, Brownwood click to enlarge

Huge World War II training base, Camp Bowie was a home of the "Texas" 36th Division and trained many other units, including the "Dixie" 31st, 4th, and 13th Armored; and 113th Cavalry. It was also Seventh Headquarters of Special Troops, Fourth Army. Here, too, Gen. Walter Krueger was Commander of the VIII Corps Area Troops. The camp had a capacity of 45,000. Commanders were Col. K.L. Berry, Gen. C.V. Birkhead, Col. F.E. Bonney, Col. A.G. Brown, and Col. K.F. Hanst. Camp operated Sept. 1940 to 1946, when 45th Div. was deactivated. It was named for James Bowie, hero of the Alamo siege, 1836. Historical Marker Text, 1968. Site of Camp Bowie, At entrance to 36th Division Memorial Park, Burnett Street near Morris Sheppard Road, Brownwood

Camp Bowie was established at Brownwood in September 1940 as an infantry and artillery training center for the Thirty-sixth Infantry Division, Texas National Guard, and was named in honor of the Texas patriot James Bowie. It was the first major defense construction project in Texas in World War II.  Camp Bowie was declared surplus by a War Department order, effective August 31, 1946.  Read the Camp Bowie History from the handbook of Texas Online

Camp Bowie