Although the Union Army stationed more troops in Texas than in any other Confederate state, they were insufficient to cover all needs. Sheridan had to choose between applying force to protect citizens—freedpeople and Southern Unionists—or to conquer Indians who were resisting invasion from ex-Confederates. He preferred to protect freedpeople and white Unionists. He stated the issue in Texas succinctly: “If a white man is killed by the Indians on an extensive frontier, the greatest excitement will take place, but over the killing of many freedmen in the settlements, nothing is done.”
