The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964 Page: 41
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Notes and Documents
eral Banks at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill in Louisiana and the
repulse of General Steele's column at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry
in Arkansas, gave Confederate morale in the Trans-Mississippi a
tremendous boost.81
After the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, Captain O'Brien was at
different periods commander of the Post at Sabine Pass and at
Niblett's Bluff. Being a lawyer, much of his time was spent on
detached duty serving on general courts-martial. He and his
company were stationed at Sabine Pass when the Confederates
east of the Mississippi surrendered in April, 1865, and continued
to occupy the post until May 27. When Union troops occupied
Beaumont, Captain O'Brien took the amnesty oath and obtained
his parole on July 14."
O'Brien, like many other Confederates, accepted defeat with
fortitude and without recrimination. He set about the task of
adjusting to civilian life and supporting his family. Following the
end of the war it was impossible to earn a livelihood practicing
law, and for a brief period he operated a cypress shingle mill.
By the end of I865, conditions had become more settled and
O'Brien opened his law office. It was not long before he became
one of the leading lawyers of the state, a position at the bar
which he maintained for more than forty years.
Although O'Brien was not an office seeker following the
war, he did consent to serve as district attorney in 1874-1875.
Throughout his lifetime, however, he was a political leader in his
section of the state and his influence was extensive. In 1869 he
purchased the Liberty Gazette, a weekly newspaper published
by Thomas J. Chambers, nephew of T. J. Chambers, and moved
it to Beaumont where it became the organ of the Democrats in
Southeast Texas in their fight to wrest control of the state gov-
ernment from the Radicals during Reconstruction. Later O'Brien
bought and edited the Neches Valley News, acquiring at about the
same time the Sabine Pass News Beacon which he merged with
the News. At the National Democratic Convention of 1872 in
Baltimore, O'Brien was a delegate and actively opposed the nom-
81Alwyn Barr, "The Battle of Calcasieu Pass," Southwestern Historical Quarterly,
LXVI, 59-67.
8Amnesty Oath of George W. O'Bryan, July 14, 1865 (Original in possession of
Chilton O'Brien, Beaumont).
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964, periodical, 1964; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101197/m1/61/?q=%221777%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.