Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's ThermopylaeThis “beautifully written . . . and meticulously researched” Civil War history vividly recounts one of the most decisive battles fought in Texas (Civil War News). Jefferson Davis once said the Battle of Sabine Pass was “more remarkable than the battle at Thermopylae.” But unlike the Spartans, who succumbed to overwhelming Persian forces at Thermopylae more than two thousand years before, the Confederate underdogs triumphed in a battle that over time has become steeped in hyperbole. Providing a meticulously researched, scholarly account of this remarkable victory, Sabine Pass at last separates the legends from the evidence. In arresting prose, Edward T. Cotham, Jr., recounts the momentous hours of September 8, 1863, during which a handful of Texans—almost all of Irish descent—under the leadership of Houston saloonkeeper Richard W. Dowling, prevented a Union military force of more than 5,000 men, twenty-two transport vessels, and four gunboats from occupying Sabine Pass, the starting place for a large invasion that would soon have given the Union control of Texas. Sabine Pass sheds new light on previously overlooked details, such as the design and construction of the fort that Dowling and his men defended, and includes the battle report prepared by Dowling himself. The result is a portrait of a mythic event that is even more provocative when stripped of embellishment. |
Contents
| 9 | |
| 17 | |
ATTACKING TEXAS | 25 |
FROM BAR TO BATTLE | 36 |
COTTONCLADS WITH CANNON | 46 |
PLANNING A VICTORY | 64 |
TEXAS IS THE TARGET | 83 |
SABINE PASS AS A STEPPINGSTONE | 92 |
ATTACK OF THE GUNBOATS | 125 |
PRAISE AND BLAME | 159 |
THE WAR ENDS FOR FORT GRIFFIN | 174 |
CONCLUSION | 184 |
REPORT OF LIEUT R W DOWLING COMPANY F COOKS TEXAS ARTILLERY CONCERNING THE BATTLE OF SABINE PASS | 203 |
ANNOTATED LIST OF SABINE PASS BATTLE PARTICIPANTS | 205 |
UNION CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF SABINE PASS | 208 |
NOTES | 211 |
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Common terms and phrases
Admiral aground Arizona army artillery attack Austin battery Battle of Galveston Battle of Sabine Beaumont boats Calcasieu Pass Captain Crocker Captain Odlum captured Civil Clifton command Confederate Veteran cottonclads D. G. Farragut David Glasgow Farragut Davis Guard defenses Dick Dowling Dowling's enemy enemy's engineer eventually expedition F. H. Odlum Federal fight Figure fire fleet force Fort Griffin fortifications forts Frederick Crocker Galveston Granite City Griffin Gulf gunboats gunners guns H. H. Bell Halleck History Houston invasion Irishmen January John Kellersberg land later Library Lieutenant Louisiana channel military Morning Light N. P. Banks Nathaniel Banks naval navy officer orders Orleans R. W. Dowling Regiment river Sabine City Sabine Lake Sabine Pass Sachem Second Crocker Report September 9 Seventy-fifth New York sharpshooters shot steam steamer Sulakowski Texans Texas channel Texas coast Thermopylae troops Union blockaders Union gunboats Union ships Unit Roster vessels Washington Weitzel William
Popular passages
Page 11 - Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north along the western bank of that river.
Page 2 - was so just, so sacred, that had I known all that has come to pass, had I known what was to be inflicted upon me, all that my country was to suffer, all that our posterity was to endure, I would do it all over again.
Page 22 - the forts can be passed and we have done it, and can do it again as often as may be required of us.