Download Battle of Galveston

Battle of Galveston in 1863
You have been assigned the Battle of Galveston. Read the information about the battle
below.
Background
As part of the Union blockade of the Texas coast, Union Navel Commander
William B. Renshaw led a fleet of eight ships into Galveston harbor to demand the
surrender of the Galveston, the most important Texas port, on October 4, 1862.
The Confederate forces arranged a four-day truce while they evacuated to the
mainland.
The Union assigned the Forty-Second Massachusetts Infantry, led by Colonel
Isaac S. Burrell, to occupy Galveston. Confederate Texas immediately began to organize
for the recapture of Galveston. The ensuing Battle in 1863 is the battle you are assigned.
Union Forces
The Union force consisted of 260 men from the Forty-Second Massachusetts
Infantry and seven warships in Galveston harbor. The USS Harriet Lane and USS
Westfield were the two largest ships in the Union fleet defending Galveston. The Union
Fleet Commander was William B. Renshaw whose flagship was Westfield.
Confederate Forces
The Confederate forces consisted of around 1000 men and two gunboats, the CS.
Bayou City and the CS. Neptune. The Commander of the Confederate Forces was Major
General John B. Magruder.
Objectives
Union object was to enforce the “Anaconda Plan” which had called for the
blockade and capture of Confederate ports to deny the South the ability to export and sell
cotton. Galveston was the largest port in Texas so it was an early target of the Union
Navy. After its capture in October, 1862 the Confederacy wanted to retake it.
The Battle
Confederate General John Magruder took command of Rebel forces in Texas on
November 29, 1862, and he was determined to force the Union forces from Galveston.
He had two river steamers, the Bayou City and the Neptune, converted to cotton-clad
gunboats by the addition of cotton bales stacked on their decks and a few cannon. He
planned a two-part attack to recapture the port; while he led infantry and artillery in an
attack on the city, his new gunboats would simultaneously engage the seven blockading
Union warships.
On New Year's Eve, Magruder's 1,000 man force moved across the 2.5 mile railroad
bridge to Galveston Island and took up a position in the town from which it would attack
at first light on New Year's Day 1863. The Union soldiers in the city braced for the
coming attack and barricaded their position.
As dawn broke on January 1, 1863, Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder opened fire with
his cannon on the 260 barricaded Union soldiers and on the closest of the Union warships
in Galveston Harbor.
The Union navy was prepared for a land attack but not for the two cottonclad
Confederate gunboats, the Bayou City and the Neptune, that came at them full steam
down the narrow channel. The USS Harriet Lane was the first of the seven Union
warships to receive the Rebel fire. About 1,000 sharpshooters on the cottonclads took a
devastating toll on the Union gunners before the C.S. Neptune rammed the USS Harriet
Lane. But the cotton-clad river steamer was not constructed for such use and was badly
damaged, while the Union warship was hardly hurt at all. The Neptune quickly filled with
water and settled on the bottom, but her decks were still out of the water and her men
continued firing on the Union ship. Then the CS. Bayou City crashed into the USS.
Harriet Lane causing the two vessels to be locked together. Sharpshooters on the Rebel
ship forced the Union gunners to take cover, and a boarding party quickly secured the
ship's surrender to the Confederates. The guns on the Harriet Lane were then added to
the Confederate fire that was turned on the remaining Union ships.
Union Fleet commander William B. Renshaw, on board the U.S. warship Westfield,
ordered his seven warships in Galveston Bay to use their firepower to aid the Union
soldiers on shore in repelling the Confederate land attack. The other ships did their job
well, but the Westfield became grounded on a sandbar and even when assisted by the USS
Clifton, could not be pulled free. Renshaw then received word that the Harriet Lane had
been captured. Possibly panic stricken, he ordered his remaining ships to escape
Galveston harbor. Meanwhile, he transferred the crew of the Westfield to another ship
and prepared to destroy the Westfield before she could be captured. Somehow the
Westfield's exploded prematurely, killing Renshaw and several members of his crew
before they were able to get clear.
Back on shore, the Union Massachusetts soldiers saw that Renshaw was pulling out the
Union ships and that they were to be abandoned. Feeling the situation was hopeless, the
Union soldiers surrendered.
Magruder had retaken Galveston with a loss of twenty-six killed and 117 wounded.
Union losses included the 260 men from the Forty-Second Massachusetts and the USS
Harriet Lane, with about 150 casualties on the naval ships, as well as the destruction of
the USS Westfield.
The port remained under Confederate control for the rest of the war.