There is no evidence Smithwick ever took military action against the Confederacy, he did stay out of the state thereafter so as to avoid righteous violence against those who had murdered his friends.
More likely, he knew what his former neighbors and friends would think of his actions and that they had long memories.
There wasn't much Reconstruction in Texas. Most Freedman's Bureau agents were killed or run off, so there wouldn't have been anyone to protect him from the righteous anger of his betrayed countrymen.
