DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The name on this marker is Major Richard William — Dick — Dowling, C.S.A., and if you've never heard of him, well, buckle up, because this is one of those stories that sounds made up right up until it isn't. Born in 1837, near Tuam, County Galway, Ireland.
Nine years old when his family joined the tide of the Irish potato famine and emigrated to New Orleans in 1846. That's a long way to travel, and Houston was still a ways off from there — but by 1857, Dick Dowling was in Houston, and he married Elizabeth Anne Odlum that very year. He was building something.
By 1860, he had owned three bars, installed the first gas lighting in Houston in his home and his business, and was a charter member of Houston Hook and Ladder Company No. 1. The man liked light, liked fire, and liked being ready. Then the war came.
Dick served as first lieutenant, Company F, Cook's Regiment, First Texas Heavy Artillery. And in 1863, he was in command at Fort Griffin. Now here's where the story takes a turn that even a campfire crowd might not believe.
Rumors of a Federal invasion were already circulating. Orders had come down — orders to retreat. Twenty-seven ships were sailing into Sabine Pass, carrying Major General William B.
Franklin and five thousand Union troops. Five thousand. Against Dick Dowling, six cannon, and forty-seven men inside that fort.
He held fast. He and the Irish Davis Guards did not retreat. They shot — and they shot with a kind of accuracy that defies easy explanation.
In forty-five minutes, Franklin's forces surrendered. The Confederate Congress weighed in on what happened at the Battle of Sabine Pass and called it, quote, one of the most brilliant achievements of this war. Forty-seven men.
Six cannon. Forty-five minutes. Discharged as a major in 1865, Dick came home and reopened his most famous bar — he called it The Bank of Bacchus, which tells you something about the man's sense of humor.
In 1866, he formed the first oil company in Houston. By 1867, he owned more than twenty-two square blocks of downtown Houston and vast lands across Texas. The future looked like it stretched out as far as those Texas plains.
And then yellow fever came for him. Dick Dowling died at age thirty and is buried in Houston's St. Vincent's Cemetery.
Forty-seven men held a pass against five thousand. And the man who led them didn't live to see thirty-one. Some stories don't end where you expect them to — they just end.
What the marker says
(January 14, 1837 - September 23, 1867) Born in 1837 near Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, Richard Dowling emigrated to New Orleans in 1846 during the Irish potato famine. In 1857, Dick married Elizabeth Anne Odlum in Houston. By 1860 he had owned 3 bars, installed Houston's first gas lighting in his home and business, and was a charter member of Houston Hook and Ladder company No. 1. During the Civil War, Dick was first lieutenant, Company F, Cook's Regiment, First Texas Heavy Artillery. He was in command at Fort Griffin in 1863. On September 8 he held fast with only 6 cannon and 47 men inside the fort despite reumors of a Federal invasion and orders to retreat. Twenty-seven ships carrying Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin and 5,000 Union troops sailed into Sabine Pass; Dowling and "the Irish Davis Guards" shot so accurately that Franklin's forces surrendered in 45 minutes. The Confederate Congress called the Battle of Sabine Pass "one of the most brilliant ... achievements ... of this war." Discharged as a major in 1865, Dick reopened his most famous bar, "The Bank of Bacchus." In 1866 he formed the first oil company in Houston. By 1867, he owned more than 22 square blocks of downtown Houston and vast lands across Texas. Dick Dowling died of yellow fever at age 30 and is buried in Houston's St. Vincent's Cemetery. (1998) Incise on back: