A union spys report in the O.R's in April 1865 spoke of a plan by the Confederates in the Trans-Mississippi attempting to reform the Confederate Government in Texas. They were hoping that this government could be headed by Jefferson Davis if he could make it into the department. The object of this reformed government was to apply to Maximillian government for the Trans-Mississippi confederacy to become a part of Mexico and thereby fall under the protections of France.

The US supported the Juareistas because of the French support of the Confederacy and Lincoln had even enlisted the help of Santa Anna of Alamo infamy in exile in Cube to lead a rebellion against Maximillian. This is one of the reasons that so many of the Trans-Mississippi Confederates felt that going to Mexico was a safe haven and a possibility of continuing the fight.