The Civil War on the Rio Grande frontier began in Zapata County 
only days after the first shots of the bloody conflict were fired at 
Fort Sumter, and the conflict ended at Palmito Hill more than a 
month after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Far from 
Washington and Richmond and the killing fields of the east, this 
dark corner of the Confederacy has a rich history of Civil War 
photography. One of the superbly talented photographic artists 
operating in Matamoros and Brownsville during this epic era was a 
Prussian named Louis De Planque. With his lens, De Planque 
skillfully captured the leading personalities of the era, including 
Servando Canales, Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, Mariano Escobedo, 
Tomás Mejía, Richard King, Mifflin Kenedy, and John S. "Rip" Ford.

    A richly illustrated history, Civil War and Revolution on the 
Rio Grande Frontier contains more than 125 of the best images 
taken by De Planque and other photographers, the vast majority 
having never been published. From numerous archives and private 
collections, these images include everything from the destruction 
following the killer hurricane of 1867 to gripping views of the 
heart-wrenching hanging of an American army deserter and three 
unfortunate followers of Cortina, who happened to get caught on 
the wrong side of the river. Also included are rare scenes of 
Brownsville, Matamoros, and vice-ridden Bagdad, as well as 
Juaristas, Imperialistas, Cortinistas, Confederates, Federals, 
Unionists, cotton traders, journalists, merchants, socialites, De 
Planque himself, and more than one bandit.

    Accompanying these striking images is a sweeping and 
comprehensive narrative that superbly chronicles the historic 
events that engulfed this raw and vast frontier during this 
tumultuous era. Representing a significant historical achievement, 
the book is prodigiously researched, wonderfully detailed, lively, 
and evocative. Written with insight, balance, and objectivity, 
Civil War and Revolution on the Rio Grande Frontier is certain to 
delight academic and general readers alike.
 
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JERRY THOMPSON is an authority on the Civil War in the Southwest 
and the history of the Rio Grande frontier. LAWRENCE T. JONES III is
a recognized expert on early Texas photography and the photography
of the American West.