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Battle on the Bay:
The Civil War Struggle for Galveston

Civil War history of Galveston is one of the last untold stories from America's bloodiest war, despite the fact that Galveston was a focal point of hostilities throughout the conflict. Galveston emerged as one of the Confederacy's only lifelines to the outside world.

Galveston Harbor
Galveston Bay
Civil War Texas


American Civil War
October 4, 1862

Confederacy Seventh Star
The Seventh Star of the Confederacy: Texas during the Civil War
On February 1, 1861, delegates at the Texas Secession Convention elected to leave the Union. The people of Texas supported the actions of the convention in a statewide referendum, paving the way for the state to secede and to officially become the seventh state in the Confederacy.

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, Commander 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.

Colonel 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 Colonel 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 Colonel 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

Location: Galveston County

Campaign: Operations to Blockade the Texas Coast (1862-63)

Date(s): October 4, 1862

Principal Commanders: Commander W.B. Renshaw, U.S.N. [US]; Colonel Joseph J. Cook and Colonel X.B. Debray [CS]

Forces Engaged: None

Estimated Casualties: None

Texas Map
Pre-Civil War 1860 Texas map 24 x 36
The period just prior to the Civil War . In this period Texas was in rapid development, trying to get railroad lines to the major cities and shipping points



Kindle Available

Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke: The First Texas Cavalry in the Civil War
Regimental history from the time the regiment was raised by Colonel McCulloch to defend against indian warriors tor the time the regiment was part of the Confederate Army under the Colonels Buchel and Yager until the end of the Civil War


Kindle Available
Civil War Firearms

Standard Catalog of
Civil War Firearms

Over 700 photographs and a rarity scale for each gun, this comprehensive guide to the thousands of weapons used by Billy Yank and Johnny Reb will be indispensable for historians and collectors.
Galveston Bay, Texas, c.1852
Galveston Bay, Texas, c.1852
34.25 in. x 40 in.
Buy at AllPosters.com
Framed

Civil War Replica Musket
Civil War Musket
Wood & Steel Frontier Rifle Designed After The Original Rifle,
This Civil War Musket replica has been designed after the original rifle of its era. Measures approximately 37 inches long. Each is constructed with a solid one-piece wood stock, painted steel barrel and die-cast parts.
Texas State Battle Map
Civil War Submarines
Ships and Naval Battles
Confederate Johhny Cakes Recipe
Civil War Picture Album
Kids Zone Gettysburg
State Battle Maps
American Civil War Exhibits
Civil War Summary
Women in the War
Reenactors Row Supplies

12 Inch Action Figures

Texas Civil War History Reading Titles


Only a Private: A Texan Remembers the Civil War : The Memoirs of William J. Oliphant
A first-hand account of the common soldier's point of view. No colonel or general, William Oliphant was, "only a private." His perspective provides a window into Texas during the first days of the Civil War, and first-hand descriptions of battles
Kindle Available
Civil War Texas

Civil War Texas
Describes Texas's role in the civil war and notes the location of historical markers, statues, monuments, battle sites, buildings, and museums in Texas that may be visited by those interested in learning more about the war.
Fate of Texas
The Fate of Texas: The Civil War and the Lone Star State
When Texas joined the Confederacy and fought in the war, its fate was uncertain. The war touched every portion of the population and all aspects of life in Texas.

Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, 1862
October 1, 1862, state militia arrested more than two hundred Unionists from five northern counties . At least forty-four prisoners were hanged, others were lynched in neighboring communities

Battle Flags of Texans in the Confederacy
Excellent Confederate Flag information resource

Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart
Shades of Blue and Gray

No scholar can fail to appreciate Allen's exhaustive research,, nor any layman fail to be amazed at her mass of fact and significant detail

Battle on the Bay:
The Civil War Struggle for Galveston

Civil War history of Galveston is one of the last untold stories from America's bloodiest war, despite the fact that Galveston was a focal point of hostilities throughout the conflict. Galveston emerged as one of the Confederacy's only lifelines to the outside world.

The Last Battle of the Civil War
Palmetto Ranch

May 12-13, the last battle of the Civil War had been fought at the southernmost tip of Texas—resulting in a Confederate victory. Although Palmetto Ranch did nothing to change the war's outcome, it added the final irony to a conflict replete with ironies
Southern Journey Henry Gusley
The Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine : The Illustrated Note-Book of Henry O. Gusley

On September 28, 1863, the Galveston Tri-Weekly News caught its readers' attention with an item headlined "A Yankee Note-Book." It was the first installment of a diary confiscated from U.S. Marine Henry O. Gusley, who had been captured at the Battle of Sabine Pass. Gusley's diary proved so popular with readers that they clamored for more, causing the newspaper to run each excerpt twice until the whole diary was published. For many in Gusley's Confederate readership, his diary provided a rare glimpse into the opinions and feelings of an ordinary Yankee--an enemy whom, they quickly discovered, it would be easy to regard as a friend. This book contains the complete text of Henry Gusley's Civil War diary
Walker Texas Division
Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)

Colorfully known as the "Greyhound Division" for its lean and speedy marches across thousands of miles in three states, Major General John G. Walker's infantry division in the Confederate army was the largest body of Texans—about 12,000 men at its formation—to serve in the American Civil War. From its creation in 1862 until its disbandment at the war's end, Walker's unit remained, uniquely for either side in the conflict, a stable group of soldiers from a single state. Richard Lowe's compelling saga shows how this collection of farm boys, store clerks, carpenters, and lawyers became the trans-Mississippi's most potent Confederate fighting unit
Bourland in North Texas
Bourland in North Texas and Indian Territory During the Civil War: Fort Cobb, Fort Arbuckle & the Wichita Mountains

The Indian conflicts during the period 1861 through 1865 on the Southern frontier - the frontier of the Confederate States of America. When the United States military forces withdrew in the face of the establishment of the new fledgling Southern republic, a partial defense vacuum was created in the areas contiguous to the Indian lands. This book deals with the Texas-Oklahoma border area, the Red River area. Texas had to contribute its sons not only to the struggle to maintain the nascent Confederate army in the War for Southern Independence but additionally to fill the need for border security with the many Indian tribes



Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.



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