Texas During The Civil War Essay

There were 3 battles in Texas during the Civil War: Battle Of Sabine Pass, Battle of Galveston, and the Battle of Palmito Ranch. The Battle of Sabine Pass took place near the Sabine River, The Battle Of Galveston took place on Galveston Harbor, and The Battle Of Palmito Ranch took place near the Rio Grande river.

Battle of Galveston:

William B. Renshaw led his 8 ships into Galveston Harbor.

During this time, General Paul O. Hebert commanded the Confederates District Of Texas to remove most of the artillery from Galveston Island.

The Fort Point Garrison fired on Renshaw's ships, which got fired back by using the Confederates cannon.

Colonel Joseph Cook arranged a four day truce while he took his men back to mainland.

General John Magruder

replaced Hebert with a new district commander. That commander was planning an attack on Galveston.
Thomas Green had two ships called the Bayou City and Neptune.
William Scurry had 20 light and heavy cannons, and he crossed the railroad bridge to get to Galveston Island to capture federal forces.
Renshaw also had 6 ships that carried 29 pieces of artillery
The Confederates entered Galveston on January, 1 1863 and started firing before dawn.

Cook failed to seize the wharf of the ship because of the short ladders provided for his men.

The Confederate's "Cotton clad" fired on the rear of the Union ship.

The Neptune sank when it tried to collide with the Union ship, but men from the Bayou City seized the federal ship.

The other Union ships sailed out to sea ignoring when the Confederates surrendered. Magruder had retaken Galveston with a loss of 26 killed and 117 wounded.Union losses included captured infantry and The Harriet Lane their ship The port remained under the Confederate's control for the rest of the war.

The Battle of the Sabine Pass:

The Union attempted to occupy and invade Texas which led to the Battle Of Sabine Pass. The U.S. Navy blockaded Texas Coast while the Confederates captured major ports. Union was interested in the land west of the Mississippi River because of the cotton. Dick Dowling, a Confederates barkeeper, was under command for General John Magruder. He was key to the battle of the Sabine Pass because other people in the Union, attempted to invade Texas. So, with the command from Dick Dowling to 5,000 troops he stopped the Union from invading Texas. He not only stopped them from coming, but he strengthened the fort in Houston, and was a hero in the Civil

war.

The Red River Campaign:

The Red River Campaign, happened in April, 1864, which included the largest combined army-navy operation of the war, and had the biggest martial law.
The Red River Campaign was the last Confederates victory of the Civil War.
The target of the campaign was Shreveport, the capital of Confederates Louisiana, and the headquarters for the Army of the Trans-Mississippi.
Admiral David Dixon Porter, had committed to the campaign under the assumption that Sherman would lead it.
Sherman loaned Porter 10,000 of his best veterans to protect the fleet from the Confederates.
Sherman frankly told Porter that the men were there in case, Banks abandoned the fleet, which Banks had implied he would do if his force got into trouble.
They brought in 20,000 troops across southern Louisiana from the bases near New Orleans.
After the two southern forces were on their way, Steele and 10,000 men,mostly cavalry, would leave Little Rock, cut across Rebel-held territory and approach Shreveport from the north or east.
At the beginning of the campaign, the distance from Banks to Steele was 400 miles. Banks' greatest problem was that he had no regard for his Confederates forces openly said that they would not fight him before he arrived in Shreveport, ifthen.
The Confederates had been planning a warm reception for him for more than a year.
The Confederates army was West of the Mississippi river and was commanded by General Edmund Kirby Smith.
His commander for the Western District of Louisiana was Richard Taylor, the son of Mexican War hero, and former President of the United States Zachary Taylor.
Richard Taylor had served under Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, and had attacked Nathaniel Banks in that area.
So in the end the Confederate, surrendered, and they won the Red River Campaign.

The Battle Of Palmito Ranch:
Someone made an agreement that precluded fighting between Union and Confederates forces on the Rio Grande.
In spite of this agreement, Colonel Theodore Barrett commanded forces at Brazos Santiago.
Under the command of David Branson, he wanted Texas to dispatch an expedition of men to go to mainland and attack rebel outposts and camps.
Due to the poor weather from crossing Point Isabel, the expedition crossed to Boca Chica.
Branson told his men to sleep along the banks of Rio Grande in the grass.
People on the Mexican side of the river informed the location of the Rebel's of the Federals'.
Branson strictly told his men to attack a Confederates camp at Palmito Ranch.
After a few skirmishing on the way to Palmito Ranch the Federals attacked the camp and scattered the Confederates.
Branson and his men stayed at the site to feed themselves and their horses, but a Confederates force appeared.
The strongest force, commanded by Barrett started heading out to PalmitoRanch mostly skirmishing along the way.
At Palmito Ranch they destroyed most of the supplies.
A large Confederates cavalry force, commanded by John "Rip" Ford went to the Federals and started a battle fight.
The Rebels started attacking the Union with artillery.
Barrett wanted to prevent the enemy getting stronger so, he and his men retreated.

The Union freed the slaves and they got victory. Texas seceded from the Union, and joined the Confederacy. Even though Texas left the Union and lost, they fought for their independence. The Civil War was the bloodiest American War. Battles that took place in Texas during the Civil War were the Battle of Galveston, the Battle of the Sabine Pass, The Red River Campaign, and the Battle of Palmito Ranch. The cause of the Civil War and these battles were slavery disagreements between the Union and the Confederate. Many things go into getting independence and one way to gain this, is to fight for it.