DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Aransas Pass — three miles east of where you're standin' right now — is a natural inlet cutting between San Jose and Mustang Islands, two links in a long chain of barrier islands that runs the entire length of Texas' coastal mainland. Sounds peaceful enough.
But during the Civil War, that narrow gap of water became one of the most contested stretches of coastline in the whole theater. Before the shooting really got going, countless small vessels were hauling Confederate supplies up and down the Texas coast and the northern Mexican coast — virtually undisturbed. Cotton bound for foreign markets moved freely right through Aransas Pass.
Nobody was stopping much of anything. Then came early 1861, and a Union blockade changed the calculation. Federal naval forces had effectively shut down Confederate vessel traffic beyond the barrier islands.
Beyond them. That's the key word. Because inside that chain of islands?
Supplies kept moving. The barrier chain itself became a corridor, and inlets like Aransas Pass became something more than geography — they became strategic military prizes worth fighting over. Federal Captain J.W.
Kittredge's naval forces took control of the Aransas Pass area, and held it — right up until Kittredge himself was captured in September of 1862. Then November of 1863 brought a massive Federal force sweeping across south Texas, gaining control of the coast all the way from the Rio Grande up to Matagorda Bay. That is a lot of coastline.
Looked for a moment like the Union had it locked down tight. But here's where the story turns. Federal forces lost control of the mainland behind Aransas Pass, and in June of 1864, they withdrew from the area altogether.
Once they were gone, Confederate ships got back to work — slipping past the blockade, delivering vital supplies to the Confederacy by way of Aransas Pass. That little inlet between two barrier islands had outlasted every attempt to hold it for good. Three miles east of here, the water still moves like it always has — unhurried, indifferent to who thought they owned it.
What the marker says
Aransas Pass, the natural inlet (3 miles east) to Aransas Bay, separates San Jose and Mustang Islands. These islands are part of a chain of barrier islands which extend along the entire length of Texas' Coastal Mainland. At the beginning of the civil war countless small vessels transported confederate supplies up and down the Texas and northern Mexican Coast virtually undisturbed by federal naval forces. Cotton destined for foreign markets moved freely through Aransas Pass. By early 1861 a union blockade had halted trafficking by confederate vessels beyond the barrier islands. However, confederate supplies inside the barrier chain continued and inlets such as Aransas Pass became sites of increasingly strategic military value. The Aransas Pass area came under the control of Federal Captain J.W. Kittredge's Naval Forces until his capture in September 1862. In November 1863 a massive federal force gained control of the south Texas Coast from the Rio Grande to Matagorda Bay. Eventually, Federal Forces lost control of the mainland behind Aransas Pass and in June 1864 withdrew from the area. Afterward, confederate ships successfully eluded the federal blockade and delivered vital supplies to the confederacy by way of Aransas Pass. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995.