DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Site of Fort Griffin, out here in Jefferson County. Now settle in, because this story has all the ingredients of a tale people are still talking about more than a century later — an unfinished fort, a fleet of twenty-two ships, and a handful of Irishmen who apparently did not get the message that the odds were against them. It's September 8, 1863.
Sabine Pass, Texas. The Confederacy has something valuable moving through these waters — cotton going out, medicines and arms coming back in. Blockade-running was the lifeblood of a stretched-thin nation, and Sabine Pass was right in the middle of it.
That made it a place the Federal forces very much wanted to take. And they came prepared. Twenty-two ships.
Thousands of Federal soldiers ready to land. Standing between that fleet and the Texas coast was Fort Griffin — an earthwork reinforced with railroad iron and ship's timbers, designed by Colonel Valery Sulakowski, a man who'd formerly served in the Austrian Army. Here's the thing though: the fort wasn't even finished yet.
The Confederates learned those twenty-two ships were coming before the work was done. Commanding the fort was Lieutenant Richard W. Dowling, born in 1838, and in civilian life a Houston businessman.
His men were Company F, Texas Heavy Artillery — mostly Irishmen from Galveston and Houston, men who'd been comrades in arms since February of 1861. The fort itself had been named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel W. H.
Griffin, Confederate commander at Sabine City. Now here is where the story finds its nerve. When the Federal ships opened up with early shelling, Dowling ordered no response.
None. He watched. He waited.
You can imagine what that silence felt like inside those earthen walls, railroad iron at your back, ships on the horizon, shells already falling — and your commander saying, not yet. When the first ships finally came into range of Fort Griffin's guns, that patience broke like a dam. Dowling himself stepped up as one of the gunners.
What followed was a Confederate victory that would be called brilliant — and the numbers bear that word out. Fort Griffin sent one hundred and thirty-seven shells toward those targets. The fleet seeking to land thousands of Federal soldiers was repulsed.
That's the story the marker is here to tell. And if you want more detail on the victory itself, there's a Dowling monument near this very spot that carries the rest. Some stories earn their monuments.
This one did.
What the marker says
(1863-1865) Renowned for brilliant Civil War victory, Sept. 8, 1863. Confederates in this form repulsed a fleet seeking to land thousands of Federal soldiers. Lt. Richard W. Dowling (1838-1867), in civilian life a Houston businessman, commanded fort during enemy assault. His men, mostly Irishmen from Galveston and Houston, had been comrades in arms since Feb. 1861. Sabine Pass, where Dowling's men (Co. F, Texas Heavy Artillery) were assigned in 1863, was a center for the blockade-running whereby Confederacy exported cotton and obtained in exchange vital goods such as medicines and arms. Here Co. F built Fort Griffin, named in honor of Lt. Col. W. H. Griffin, Confederate commander at Sabine City. Fort was designed by Col. Valery Sulakowski, formerly of the Austrian Army. Fort Griffin was an earthwork strengthened with railroad iron and ship's timbers. It was unfinished when Confederates learned of approach of 22 ships. Dowling kept watch, but ordered no response to the early shelling by the Federals. When first ships entered range of Fort Griffin's guns, however, the battle began. Dowling himself served as one of the gunners. The fort sent 137 shells toward the targets. Dowling monument (near here) tells of the victory.