On December 23, 1863, Capt. Jas. Speed of Gen. Napoleon J. T. Dana's Brownsville-based Federal army force raided unguarded King Ranch. Objectives were to capture or kill Capt. Richard King and destroy the Confederate cotton trade. King, forewarned, evaded the enemy. At King Ranch, the raiders killed Francisco Alvarado; captured C.S.A. Captains John Brown, Alvin Dix, W. S. Gregory and Jas. McClearly and Chaplain Hiram Chamberlain; rifled all buildings; dispersed ranch employees; declared the slaves free; confiscated all horses and mules; impounded Confederate government cotton, promising that if it were moved or burned, King's life would be the forfeit; and threatened further raids from Boveda by Col. E. J. Davis, former South Texas attorney turned Federal officer. Mrs. King and children moved to San Antonio for the war's duration; soon Col. J. S. "RIP" Ford's Confederate cavalry came to protect the cotton road and ranch. At Camp (Rancho) Boveda, near a ford on Los Olmos Creek, were seven cypress-walled water wells, possibly used by Gen. Zachary Taylor in 1846. Campsite is 2-1/2 miles east of this point, on lot 2, block 15, Koch subdivision number one, present Poteet Ranch.
Camp Boveda
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Camp Boveda is a historical marker in Riviera, Kleberg County, dedicated in 1965. It is one of 29 historical markers documented in Kleberg County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 34 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 27.2997, -97.8151 near Riviera. The nearest cataloged historic site is Indian Burial Ground (Dietz Archeological Site) (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Riviera Cemetery, Riviera United Methodist Church, and Riviera Cemetery.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5273001584. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
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