DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Cedar Lake Salt Works is what I'm going on here, so let me tell it straight from that record. Now, if you wanted to cripple a fighting army and starve out the folks back home all in one stroke, you'd go after the salt. And somebody in the Union Navy figured that out.
Out here in Confederate Texas, the Cedar Lake Salt Works went up in 1861 and 1862 — right in the thick of the war — and what it produced was about as precious as gunpowder: salt, furnished to the army and to civilians alike. Without it, you couldn't cure meat, couldn't keep a wound from festering, couldn't hold civilization together for long. So this place mattered.
Then came November the twenty-seventh, 1862. Landing parties from Federal ships out in the Gulf came ashore and hit the works hard. When they left, the buildings were gone, twenty-two kettles destroyed, four large boilers lost.
Ten tons of salt packed in hide bags — partly ruined. Just like that. But here's where the story gets interesting.
The very next day, those same raiders went after a nearby plant. And this time, Texas cavalry was waiting. They defended that plant, and it escaped destruction entirely.
Then the Federals pushed further — down below the San Bernard — and raided Winson's Works. Seemed like nothing was going to stop them. Until Moseley's Battery stepped up.
The Seventh Texas Artillery Battalion. Those men repulsed the raiders, wounding or killing twenty-three of them as they scrambled back into their boats. Two days.
Two very different outcomes. The Cedar Lake Salt Works paid the price on day one — but by day two, the Gulf coast had answered back.
What the marker says
Built in Confederate Texas in 1861-1862. Furnished essential salt to army and civilians. Raided by landing parties of Federals from Gulf ships, Nov. 27, 1862, lost buildings, 22 kettles, 4 large boilers. 10 tons of salt in hide bags was partly ruined. A nearby plant, when attacked next day, was defended by Texas calvary and escaped destruction. Winson's Works, below the San Bernard, was raided. But Moseley's Battery, 7th Texas Artillery Battalion, repulsed the raiders, wounding or killing 23 men as they got into their boats. (1965)