Second Battle of Sabine Pass

The Second Battle of Sabine Pass (September 8, 1863) was a failed Union Army attempt to invade the Confederate state of Texas during the American Civil War.^[2] The Union Navy supported the effort and lost three gunboats during the battle, two captured and one destroyed.

It has often been credited as the war's most one-sided Confederate victory. Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote in 1876 that he "considered the [second] battle of Sabine pass the most remarkable in military history."^[3]

Background

France was openly sympathetic to the

, the Confederates hoped to establish a formal route between Texas and Mexico by way of which the Confederacy could obtain much-needed supplies.

United States

from operating effectively, and the anticipated overland Union invasion of Texas was further delayed.

Consequently, General Banks ordered his subordinate Major General

Sabine City

, a tiny town with some wharfs on the east side of its main street.

The U.S. Army battle plan was that after the U.S. Navy gunboats silenced the guns of Fort Sabine, the

blockade runners

.

Considering the dominant size of the Union expeditionary force, taking control of Sabine Pass and environs was not expected to be a great challenge to the U.S. forces. To prevent intervention from Confederate forces in Louisiana that consisted of Brigadier General Thomas Green's First Cavalry Brigade and Brigadier General Alfred Mouton’s infantry division, the Union division of Major General Francis J. Herron moved to Morganza as a diversion, which precipitated the Battle of Stirling's Plantation.

Fort Sabine had been renamed "Fort Griffin" in honor of an earlier commander, Confederate Lt. Colonel W. H. Griffin, although this was not shown on Union maps since the

.

Battle

On the afternoon of September 8, 1863,

on enemy territory in the history of the U.S. military up to that date.

Leon Smith, who was at Beaumont, Texas, immediately ordered all Confederate troops in Beaumont, some eighty men, aboard the steamer Roebuck and sent them down the river to reinforce Fort Griffin. Smith and a Captain Good rode to the fort on horseback, reaching the fort some three hours before the steamer, arriving just as the Union gunboats USS Clifton and Sachem came within range, and assisted in the defense of the fort.^{[9][1][10][11][12]}

Dowling's well practiced Irish-Texan artillerymen, whose chosen and officially approved unit name was "Jefferson Davis Guards", had placed range-stakes in the two narrow and shallow (5-to-7 feet or 1.5-to-2.1 m) river channels. These were the "Texas channel" near the southwest shore and the "Louisiana channel" against the Louisiana shore. The white-painted stakes were for determining accurate range of the fort's guns: six old smooth-bore cannon. Each "Davis Guards" gun crew during gunnery practice thereby worked to predetermine the approximate charge (amount of gunpowder) needed for each type projectile available for their specific gun (ball, canister, or grapeshot); and which specific guns, charges, and loads had the best potential to hit each range-stake.

Crocker's squadron had no local river pilots, but only general knowledge of the river's channels, and no assurance of locations of the constantly varying depths especially of large oyster-shell "reefs" or "banks" between the river's two channels. Regarding this battle no mention is found in official U.S. Navy reports of whether Union sailors were making observations and taking

from the gunboats' now dangerous top decks, while the Confederate cannon shots pounded and shook their ships. The few maps to which they had access were old and outdated or could not account for recent changes in river-bottom conditions. On Captain Crocker's signal the Sachem, followed by Arizona, advanced up the right channel (Louisiana side) as fast as they dared, firing their port-side guns at the fort. Clifton approached in the lead, ascending the Texas channel at full speed. Granite City hovered out of range behind Clifton, having orders not to risk debarking the 500 assault troops until the fort surrendered or its guns were silenced. As Sachem entered among the range-stakes, the Confederates opened fire. Then Clifton came into range, followed by Arizona. Despite their old smoothbore cannon, one of which had just become inoperable, after only a few rounds it was obvious the Confederate artillerymen's months of training and target practice was an astounding success as their aim was deadly accurate.

The Confederates captured Clifton and Sachem with a total of 13 heavy cannon, including at least two new potent

. The Confederates had no casualties.

Aftermath

In recognition of the victory, the Confederate Congress passed a resolution of special thanks to the officers and men of the Davis Guard. In addition, Houston residents raised funds to provide medals to the Guard; the Davis Guards Medals were made from silver Mexican pesos by smoothing off the coins, then hand-stamping and hand-engraving on one side, the battle name and date and on the other side the initials "D G" and a cross pattée. The medals were hung on green ribbons, and presented to the members of the Davis Guard.^[13][14] The official Confederate silver medals were presented in a public ceremony a year later.

The Battle of Sabine Pass was of moderate tactical or strategic significance to the Civil War. It was successful in ensuring that the anticipated overland Union invasion of Texas was delayed indefinitely. A Confederate supply line from Mexico to Texas had existed out of the

The Confederacy was therefore forced to continue its reliance on blockade running to import valuable materials and resources.

See also

• List of conflicts involving the Texas Military
• Texas Military Department
• Texas Military Forces
• Awards and decorations of the Texas Military

Notes

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae, Edward T. Cotham, Jr.
2. ^ "Battle Summary". National Park Service. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
3. OCLC 1124457723
   .
4. ^ ^{a b} Map: Battle of Mouth of Sabine River, September 8th, 1863. War Department. Office of the Chief of Engineers.
5. ^ Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Park, Archeological Report #8, Antiquities Permit #21 by T. Holtzapple and Wayne Roberson. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Historic Sites and Restoration Branch, Austin, Texas, Sept. 1976
6. ^ Crocker's Report, in Official Records of the Union and Confederate navies, Series 1, part 20, page 546. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1921.
7. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate navies, Series 2, part 1, pages 39, 59, 97, 195.
8. ^ ^{a b} Banks' Report, in The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate armies, Series 1, 26(1), pages 286-290. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1901
9. ^ ^{a b} Day, James M. (1965) "Leon Smith: Confederate Mariner," East Texas Historical Journal: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 7.
10. ^ The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (Complete), Jefferson Davis
11. ^ Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States, Volume 11, Clement A. Evans, pages 109-110
12. ^ Lubbock. Six decades in Texas; or, Memoirs of Francis Richard Lubbock, governor of Texas in war time, 1861-63. A personal experience in business, war, and politics. p. 505.
13. ^ Cotham, p. 170
14. ^ Richard Dowling, The Battle of Sabine Pass, and The Davis Guards Medal
15. ^ Kearney, Milo; Knopp, Anthony (1991). Boom and Bust: The Historical Cycles of Matamoros and Brownsville (1 ed.). Austin, Texas: Eakin Press.

Works cited

• Cotham, Edward T. Jr., Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae, University of Texas Press, Austin, 2004.

External links

• National Park Service battle description
• History Under Siege: Sabine Pass battlefield designated by CWPT as one of the top 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields of 2009
• CWSAC Report Update
• Banks, Raymond H. The King of Louisiana, 1862-1865, and Other Government Work: A Biography of Major General Nathaniel Prentice Banks. Las Vegas, NV: R. H. Banks, 2005. Chapter 44.
  OCLC 63270945
  .

29°43′13.85″N 93°52′14.69″W / 29.7205139°N 93.8707472°W / 29.7205139; -93.8707472