DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says happened right off this stretch of Brazoria County coastline. Now settle in, because this story's got fog, artillery, cavalry, and a Canadian steamboat that refused to go quietly. The sidewheel steamer Acadia — owned by Canadians, mind you — set out on her maiden voyage in December of 1864.
Her maiden voyage. First trip she ever took. And what a trip to pick.
Her destination was Nassau, Havana, and Vera Cruz, and she was loaded down with food, hardware, and clothing — goods meant for suffering Texans caught in the grip of war. To deliver those goods, she had to run the Federal blockade. So she did.
Now, you'd think a ship brave enough to run a Federal blockade would get some kind of reward for the effort. What she got instead was fog. Heavy fog.
Early on February 6th, 1865, the Acadia grounded in sticky clay — sticky clay — three hundred yards off this very beach. Three hundred yards. Close enough to see shore, close enough to feel the heartbreak of it.
But here's the thing that separates a disaster from a story worth tellin': the crew and the cargo came safely ashore. Every last bit of it. Then the fog lifted.
And when the fog lifted, the foe sighted her — that crippled, clay-stuck steamboat sitting helpless in the shallows — and they opened fire. Shelled her right there where she sat. Now, you might expect that to be the end of the Acadia.
But the Federals couldn't board her, and they couldn't burn her, because Confederate Cavalry had taken up position on the shore and defended her. A sidewheel steamer, stuck in the mud on her maiden voyage, being guarded by cavalry on a Texas beach. If you tried to write that, somebody'd tell you it was too much.
And yet there she was. The Acadia never finished her voyage. But she didn't disappear either.
That grounded, shelled, unburned ship became a coastal landmark. The ocean kept her secret for a good long while after that — and this marker is how the story finally made it back to dry land.
What the marker says
The sidewheel steamer "Acadia", owned by Canadians, set out on her maiden voyage in Dec. 1864 for Nassau, Havana, and vera Cruz. Loaded with food, hardware, and clothing, she braved the Federal blockade to bring the goods to suffering Texans. Early on feb. 6, 1865, in heavy fog she grounded in sticky clay 300 yards off this beach. Her crew and cargo came safely ashore. When the fog lifted, the foe sighted and shelled her, but could not board and burn the crippled ship, as Confederate Cavalry defended her from the shore. The "Acadia" then became a coastal landmark.