Two Union ships Captured off Galveston

After recapturing Galveston, Texas at the beginning of the month, the Confederates scored another success in Texas 150 years ago today. The port was still blockaded by part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, specifically the USS Morning Light, an 8 gun sailing ship and the USS Velocity, a captured British blockade runner that had been converted into a blocker. They were attacked by two cottonclad steamers, the Uncle Ben and Bell, covered in bales of cotton and filled with Texas soldiers.

The Confederate steamers came out of the harbor early on the morning of the 21st. The wind was very light, so the steamers were able to quickly gain ground on the Union vessels. When the steamers came within range they opened fire, and the Union vessels answered with broadsides. The conflict continued this way for two hours, until the Confederate ships were able to draw up close enough that the infantry on the decks could open fire. Assistant Surgeon J. W. Sherfy of the Morning Light wrote:

It was impossible for the men to remain at the guns under the galling fire from the enemy's sharpshooters. They had come within close range upon our port and starboard quarters, and from their elevated position completely swept our decks. An effort was now made to train the two aft guns upon the enemy and fire through the cabin, but as it was impossible to get such a bearing as would offer a reasonable chance of inflicting any damage, and the men were now all driven from the other guns, the commander, deeming further resistance useless, reluctantly determined to surrender, and our flag was hauled down.

Both ships were captured, with a handful of men having fallen on both sides. Although this action temporarily cleared the blockade off of Galveston, it did not last long, as the Union navy soon sent stronger ships to take up the blockade.

Battle of Galveston

Magruder

In the fall of 1862, Union ships under Commodore William Rensaw sailed into the harbor of Galveston, Texas. Without any forces to defend the city, the Confederates were forced to surrender. Around the same time, Major General John B. Magruder was appointed Confederate commander of the District of Texas. Known as “Prince John” in the old army for his showy looks, he had performed some good service in Virginia, especially when he tricked the Union army into inaction by convincing them his forces were much greater than they actually were. Magruder determined that Galveston had to be retaken. He planned to do this with two river steamers, the Bayou City and Neptune. He turned them into cottonclads by piling bales of cotton on board to protect them from Union shot.

Harriet Lane captured

At dawn on January 1, 1863, these two strange ships entered Galveston harbor, and set their sights on the Harriet Lane, a Union steamer. The battle quickly turned bad for the Confederate warships. They were outgunned by the Federals, and the Neptune was soon sent to the bottom. The Bayou City did not retreat after this misfortune, she continued to face the six Union ships. In a desperate attempt to avoid the Union guns, the captain ran his ship directly into the Harriet Lane. He hit her straight on, and his crew rushed aboard and were able to secure the vessel.

Harriet Lane captured

Meanwhile, Renshaw's flagship, the Westfield, had run aground in shallow water. The crew being unable to get her off, a truce was called for both sides to consider what to do. Realizing that he could not get the Westfield off, Renshaw decided to destroy her and get off while he could. Lighting a fuse to the magazine, he and his crew rowed away from the doomed ship. However, as the time passed by and nothing happened, Renshaw realized that the fuse had failed. Returning to the ship, he relit the fuse, but before he and his men could clear the ship, she exploded. Renshaw was killed along with thirteen of his men.

Renshaw

Their captain dead, the flagship destroyed and another ship captured, the surviving ships made their way out of the harbor as quickly as possible, still under the flag of truce. Although the Confederates were unable to pursue, they had still gained a glorious victory. At the loss of 150 casualties they had inflicted twice that many, and had captured one ship intact with 400 prisoners. They had also recaptured Galveston, and would retain control of the town for the rest of the war.

Harriet Lane

The Confederate Congress said this of this glorious feat of southern arms:

The bold, intrepid, and gallant conduct of Maj. Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder, Col. Thomas Green, Maj. Leon Smith and other officers, and of the Texan Rangers and soldiers engaged in the attack on, and victory achieved over, the land and naval forces of the enemy at Galveston, on the 1st of January, 1863, eminently entitle them to the thanks of Congress and the country... This brilliant achievement, resulting, under the providence of God, in the capture of the war steamer Harriet Lane and the defeat and ignominious flight of the hostile fleet from the harbor, the recapture of the city and the raising of the blockade of the port of Galveston, signally evinces that superior force may be overcome by skillful conception and daring courage.

Beauregard Appointed, Texas Joins the Confederacy

P. G. T. Beauregard

On March 1st, 1861, the Confederate Congress appointed P. G. T. Beauregard Brigadier-General in the new Confederate army and sent him to Charleston, South Carolina. The governor of South Carolina turned the situation in Charleston over to the new Confederate government. He was a military engineer from the United States army and a veteran of the Mexican-American War. He was the first general to be appointed by the new government.

In Charleston the Northern troops in Fort Sumter were in good spirits, but on the same day Major Anderson, their commander, said that they must be relieved or they would be forced to capitulate. This would be disadvantageous for Lincoln, who wished to force the Confederates into firing the first shot.

Also on March 1st Texas joined the Confederacy. The commander of the Union forts in Texas, General David Twiggs, surrendered the federal property to the state troops. He was dismissed for treason and became a Confederate general, but died during the war.

Gen. David Twiggs

Texas Leaves the Union

150 years ago today Texas voted to leave the Union, Sam Houston, the governor and one of the founders of Texas opposed secession and it had one of the lowest populations of slaves in the south. You can read their declaration of the causes of their secession here. They pointed back to 1845 when they were the Republic of Texas and they had freely voted to join the United States. They believed that since they had joined the Union freely as a sovereign republic, they retained the right to freely leave and resume their status among the nations of the world.

Sam Houston

Grievances

The Federal government under Lincoln denied slaveholders the right to settle in the territories which reached to the Pacific Ocean, and the Texans also pointed to the conflict that had resulted in Kansas. The Texans also said that the Federal government had failed to protect them from the Indians and Mexicans on the border and instead the state government had to spend its money to defend themselves.

Slavery

They sighted many grievances related to slavery. They protested against the North's ignoring the fugitive slave law, and their campaign to overthrow their institutions. The following is an excerpt from the Texas declaration of secession (actual title, if so capitalize and italicize):

For years past this abolition organization has been actively sowing the seeds of discord through the Union, and has rendered the federal congress the arena for spreading firebrands and hatred between the slave-holding and non-slave-holding States.
By consolidating their strength, they hare placed the slave-holding States in a hopeless minority in the federal congress, and rendered representation of no avail in protecting Southern rights against their exactions and encroachments. ...
And, finally, by the combined sectional vote of the seventeen non-slave-holding States, they have elected as president and vice-president of the whole confederacy two men whose chief claims to such high positions are their approval of these long continued wrongs, and their pledges to continue them to the final consummation of these schemes for the ruin of the slave-holding States.

One of the problems with this document is that they did not believe that the African race was equal to the whites. I would disagree with this, and you can read more about this in my post on slavery.

Secession

After Texas left the Union there was a gap in secession. No more states seceded for several months. You can read more about that here.

The Coming War

Samuel Houston refused to take the an oath to join the Confederacy and therefore resigned as governor. In a speech he said this:

Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it. I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South