DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Point Isabel tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Point Isabel had already seen plenty of history by the time the Civil War came calling — but what happened here between 1861 and the end of that war? That is a story worth pulling over for.
After Texas seceded and joined the Confederacy, the Federal Navy moved fast. Late in 1861, the U.S. 'Santiago de Cuba' arrived and blockaded the port. Commerce dried up just like that.
The customs offices had to pack up and move inland to Brownsville. Some civilians, sensible folks with an eye for geography, slipped across the border to neutral Bagdad, Mexico. And the lighthouse — that tall, pale tower standing watch over Laguna Madre — the Confederates stopped using it for its intended purpose.
Instead, it became something else entirely: a watch tower for blockade runners. And Laguna Madre itself became their haven, that long shallow body of water offering cover where the deep-draft Union vessels couldn't easily follow. Then came May of 1863.
Boats from the U.S.S. 'Brooklyn' came in swinging — attacked vessels right there in port, and went after a Confederate unit positioned near the lighthouse. The Confederates, not willing to let that tower fall into useful Federal hands, tried to blow it up. A defense measure, the marker calls it.
But they only succeeded in damaging the fixtures. The lighthouse stood. Now here's where it gets tangled in a way only a war with this many moving pieces can manage.
The French — supporting a man named Maximilian over in Mexico — stepped in and prohibited the landing of war material at Bagdad. So you had Union naval patrols on one side and French restrictions on the other. Seemed like a wall on every front.
But in September of 1863, Mexican lighters out of the Rio Grande defied both. They came right up to Point Isabel with a large cargo of Confederate arms. Both the French and the U.S.
Naval patrols had been outfoxed. Then November of 1863 — Federal forces from General N.P. Banks' expedition occupied Point Isabel.
The blockade was lifted. The port came back to life. But the war wasn't finished with this place.
In August of 1864, the Confederates drove the Federal forces back across the bay to Brazos Island. And then — the next March — a man named Federal General Lew Wallace rode into Point Isabel. Wallace met with Confederate officers here to talk peace.
You might know that name from a different context entirely: Lew Wallace later wrote 'Ben Hur.' But before he put pen to that page, he stood right here on this Texas shore, talking to the other side about ending a war. Point Isabel had been blockaded, occupied, fought over, its lighthouse nearly destroyed, and run through by intrigue involving two nations and one empire. And in the end, a future novelist came to talk peace on its banks.
That's Point Isabel, C.S.A.
What the marker says
After Texas seceded and joined the Confederacy, the Federal Navy in late 1861 blockaded this port with the U.S. "Santiago de Cuba". Commerce stoppage caused removal of customs offices to Brownsville and some civilians to neutral Bagdad, Mexico. The Confederates ceased to use the lighthouse, and it became a watch tower for blockade runners, and thus Laguna Madre their haven. Boats from the U.S.S. "Brooklyn", in May 1863, attacked vessels in port and a Confederate unit near the lighthouse. The Confederates tried to blow up the tower--a defense measure--but only succeeded in damaging fixtures. The French, supporting Maximilian in Mexico, prohibited the landing of war material at Bagdad. Defying both the French and U.S. Naval patrols, Mexican lighters from the Rio Grande landed here in Sept. 1863 with a large cargo of C.S.A. arms. In Nov. 1863, U.S. forces from the expedition of Gen. N.P. Banks occupied Point Isabel. The blockade was lifted and the port reactivated. In Aug. 1864, the Confederates drove the Federals across the bay to Brazos Island. The next march, Federal Gen. Lew Wallace (later author of "Ben Hur") met Confederate officers here to talk peace.