Download Civil War Battles in Texas

Civil War Battles in Texas
All Civil War battles in Texas
They are in the order in which they occurred
Sabine Pass
Civil War battles in Texas
Other Names: None
Location: Jefferson County
Campaign: Operations to Blockade the Texas Coast (1862-63)
Date(s): September 24-25, 1862
Principal Commanders: Acting Master Frederick Crocker [US]; Maj. J.S. Irvine [CS]
Forces Engaged: Steamer Kensington, Schooner Rachel Seaman, and Mortar
Schooner Henry James [US]; Fort Griffith Garrison (30) and 25 mounted men 3 1/2
miles away [CS]
Estimated Casualties: Unknown
Description: On September 23, 1862, the Union Steamer Kensington, Schooner
Rachel Seaman, and Mortar Schooner Henry James appeared off the bar at Sabine
Pass. The next morning, the two schooners crossed the bar, took position, and
began firing on the Confederate shore battery. The shots from both land and shore
fell far short of the targets. The ships then moved nearer until their projectiles began
to fall amongst the Confederate guns.
The Confederate cannons, however, still could not hit the ships. After dark, the
Confederates evacuated, taking as much property as possible with them and spiking
the four guns left behind. On the morning of the 25th, the schooners moved up to
the battery and destroyed it while Acting Master Frederick Crocker, commander of
the expedition, received the surrender of the town. Union control of Sabine Pass
made later incursions into the interior possible.
Result(s): Union victory
Galveston I
Civil War battles in Texas
Other Names: None
Location: Galveston County
Campaign: Operations to Blockade the Texas Coast (1862-63)
Date(s): October 4, 1862
Principal Commanders: Cdr. W.B. Renshaw, U.S.N. [US]; Col. Joseph J. Cook and
Col. X.B. Debray [CS]
Forces Engaged: None
Estimated Casualties: None
Description: The U.S. Navy began a blockade of Galveston Harbor in July 1861, but
the town remained in Confederate hands for the next 14 months. At 6:00 am on
October 4, 1862, Cdr. W.B. Renshaw, commanding the blockading ships in the
Galveston Bay area, sent Harriet Lane into the harbor, flying a flag of truce. The
intention was to inform the military authorities in Galveston that if the town did not
surrender, the U.S. Navy ships would attack; a one-hour reply would be demanded.
Col. Joseph J. Cook, Confederate military commander in the area, would not come
out to the Union ship or send an officer to receive the communication, so Harriet
Lane weighed anchor and returned to the fleet.
Four Union steamers, with a mortar boat in tow, entered the harbor and moved to
the same area where Harriet Lane had anchored. Observing this activity,
Confederates at Fort Point fired one or more shots and the U.S. Navy ships
answered. Eventually, the Union ships disabled the one Confederate gun at Fort
Point and fired at other targets. Two Rebel guns from another location opened on
the Union ships. The boat that Col. Cook had dispatched now approached the
Union vessels and two Confederate officers boarded U.S.S. Westfield. Renshaw
demanded an unconditional surrender of Galveston or he would begin shelling.
Cook refused Renshaw’s terms, and conveyed to Renshaw that upon him rested the
responsibility of destroying the town and killing women, children, and aliens.
Renshaw threatened to resume the shelling and made preparations for towing the
mortar boat into position. One of the Confederate officers then asked if he could be
granted time to talk with Col. Cook again. This officer, a major, negotiated with
Renshaw for a four-day truce to evacuate the women, children, and aliens from the
city. Cook approved the truce but added a stipulation that if Renshaw would not
move troops closer to Galveston, Cook would not permit his men to come below
the city.
The agreement was finalized but never written down, which later caused problems.
The Confederates did evacuate, taking all of their weapons, ammunition, supplies,
and whatever they could carry with them. Renshaw did not think that the agreement
allowed for all this but, in the end, did nothing, due to the lack of a written
document. The fall of Galveston meant that one more important Confederate port
was closed to commerce. But the port of Galveston was not shut down for long.
Result(s): Union victory
Galveston II
Civil War battles in Texas
Other Names: None
Location: Galveston County
Campaign: Operations against Galveston (1862-1863)
Date(s): January 1, 1863
Principal Commanders: Col. Isaac S. Burrell and Cdr. W.B. Renshaw, U.S.N. [US];
Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder [CS]
Forces Engaged: Companies D, G and I, 42nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
Regiment and the Blockading ships [US]; four Confederate gunboats and district of
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona troops [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 650 total (US 600; CS 50)
Description: Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder, who became the Confederate
commander of military forces in Texas on November 29, 1862, gave the recapture
of Galveston top priority. At 3:00 am on New Year’s Day, 1863, four Confederate
gunboats appeared, coming down the bay toward Galveston. Soon afterward, the
Rebels commenced a land attack. The Union forces in Galveston were three
companies of the 42nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment under the
command of Col. Isaac S. Burrell. The Confederates captured or killed all of them
except for the regiment’s adjutant.
They also took Harriet Lane, by boarding her, and two barks and a schooner. Cdr.
W.B. Renshaw’s flagship, U.S.S. Westfield, ran aground when trying to help Harriet
Lane and, at 10:00 am, she was blown up to prevent her capture by the
Confederates. Galveston was in Confederate hands again although the Union
blockade would limit commerce in and out of the harbor.
Result(s): Confederate victory
Sabine Pass II
Civil War battles in Texas
Other Names: None
Location: Jefferson County
Campaign: Operations to Blockade the Texas Coast (1863)
Date(s): September 8, 1863
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin and Capt. Frederick
Crocker, U.S.N. [US]; Lt. Richard W. Dowling [CS]
Forces Engaged: 4 gunboats and 7 transports loaded with troops [US]; Texan Davis
Guards (44 men) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: (US 230; CS unknown)
Description: About 6:00 am on the morning of September 8, 1863, a Union flotilla
of four gunboats and seven troop transports steamed into Sabine Pass and up the
Sabine River with the intention of reducing Fort Griffin and landing troops to begin
occupying Texas. As the gunboats approached Fort Griffin, they came under
accurate fire from six cannons. The Confederate gunners at Fort Griffin had been
sent there as a punishment. To break the day-to-day monotony, the gunners
practiced firing artillery at range markers placed in the river. Their practice paid off.
Fort Griffin’s small force of 44 men, under command of Lt. Richard W. Dowling,
forced the Union flotilla to retire and captured the gunboat Clifton and about 200
prisoners. Further Union operations in the area ceased for about a month. The
heroics at Fort Griffin 44 men stopping a Union expedition inspired other
Confederate soldiers.
Result(s): Confederate victory
Palmito Ranch
Civil War battles in Texas
Other Names: Palmito Hill
Location: Cameron County
Campaign: Expedition from Brazos Santiago (1865)
Date(s): May 12-13, 1865
Principal Commanders: Col. Theodore H. Barrett [US]; Col. John S. “Rip” Ford
[CS]
Forces Engaged: Detachments from the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment, 2nd
Texas Cavalry Regiment, and 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry [US]; Detachments
from Gidding’s Regiment, Anderson’s Battalion of Cavalry, and numerous other
Confederate units and southern sympathizers [CS]
Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 118; CS unknown)
Description: Since March 1865, a gentleman’s agreement precluded fighting
between Union and Confederate forces on the Rio Grande. In spite of this
agreement, Col. Theodore H. Barrett, commanding forces at Brazos Santiago,
Texas, dispatched an expedition, composed of 250 men of the 62nd U.S. Colored
Infantry Regiment and 50 men of the 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment under the
command of Lt. Col. David Branson, to the mainland, on May 11, 1865, to attack
reported Rebel outposts and camps. Prohibited by foul weather from crossing to
Point Isabel as instructed, the expedition crossed to Boca Chica much later. At 2:00
am, on May 12, the expeditionary force surrounded the Rebel outpost at White’s
Ranch, but found no one there.
Exhausted, having been up most of the night, Branson secreted his command in a
thicket and among weeds on the banks of the Rio Grande and allowed his men to
sleep. Around 8:30 am, people on the Mexican side of the river informed the Rebels
of the Federals whereabouts. Branson promptly led his men off to attack a
Confederate camp at Palmito Ranch. After much skirmishing along the way, the
Federals attacked the camp and scattered the Confederates. Branson and his men
remained at the site to feed themselves and their horses but, at 3:00 pm, a sizable
Confederate force appeared, influencing the Federals to retire to White’s Ranch. He
sent word of his predicament to Barrett, who reinforced Branson at daybreak, on the
13th, with 200 men of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
The augmented force, now commanded by Barrett, started out towards Palmito
Ranch, skirmishing most of the way. At Palmito Ranch, they destroyed the rest of
the supplies not torched the day before and continued on. A few miles forward, they
became involved in a sharp firefight. After the fighting stopped, Barrett led his force
back to a bluff at Tulosa on the river where the men could prepare dinner and camp
for the night. At 4:00 pm, a large Confederate cavalry force, commanded by Col.
John S. Rip Ford, approached, and the Federals formed a battle line.
The Rebels hammered the Union line with artillery. To preclude an enemy flanking
movement, Barrett ordered a retreat. The retreat was orderly and skirmishers held
the Rebels at a respectable distance. Returning to Boca Chica at 8:00 pm, the men
embarked at 4:00 am, on the 14th. This was the last battle in the Civil War. Native,
African, and Hispanic Americans were all involved in the fighting. Many combatants
reported that firing came from the Mexican shore and that some Imperial Mexican
forces crossed the Rio Grande but did not take part in the battle. These reports are
unproven.
Result(s): Confederate victory