Sabine Pass, TX II

[The Attack on Sabine Pas, Harper's Weekly, October 10, 1863
- Courtesy of Son-of-the-South ]

Date(s): September 8, 1863

Location:

Campaign(s): Operations to Blockade the Texas Coast (1863)

Battles in Campaign:

Situation:

Commanders:

• Union: Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin and Capt. Frederick Crocker, U.S.N.

• Confederate: Lt. Richard W. Dowling

Principal Forces:

• Union: 4 gunboats and 7 transports loaded with troops

• Confederate: Texan Davis Guards

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.

Slide Presentation: None

Classification¹: B

Casualties²:

• Union: 230

• Confederate: Unknown

Results: Confederate Victory

Battlefield Websites: 

• The Second Battle of Sabine Pass - Wikipedia

• The Second Battle of Sabine Pass - The Handbook of Texas Online

• Sabine Pass Battleground - Texas Parks and Wildlife

Recommended Resources:

¹ Classification:

• A - having a decisive influence on a campaign and a direct impact on the course of the war

• B - having a direct and decisive influence on their campaign

• C - having observable influence on the outcome of a campaign

• D - having a limited influence on the outcome of their campaign or operation but achieving or affecting important local objectives

² Casualties are someone killed, injured, wounded, captured or missing.

Revised 09/03/2008