DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, friends — and it's quite a story. August of 1862. The Gulf Coast of Texas.
And three Confederate artillery pieces are about to hold off four Federal warships. Three guns. Four ships.
You do the math on who's supposed to win that fight. Now, Lieutenant J.W. Kittredge of the U.S.
Navy hadn't exactly arrived unannounced. His blockading squadron had been harassing southern coastal trade inside the offshore islands since February. By July, they'd gained control of Aransas Bay, halting water traffic in the shallow bays entirely.
And on August 12, they entered Corpus Christi Bay. The clock was ticking. What happened next says something about the people in that town.
A forty-eight hour truce was called, and during those two days, the women and children were evacuated. Every one of them. Then, on the night of August 15 — the night before all hell was scheduled to arrive — Confederate soldiers threw up breastworks for their artillery.
By hand. In the dark. By morning, they were ready.
August 16. Federal ships opened up. The Confederate shore battery answered.
Hundreds of shells exchanged hands across that bay before the Federal ships finally withdrew. Round one to the shore. But Kittredge came back.
August 18. And this time he had a plan. Federal sailors landed north of the Confederate battery, dragging a howitzer overland until it was within range.
They started firing. It looked like that battery's luck had run out. Then Major A.M.
Hobby led a Confederate infantry charge directly at the Federal position. And Captain James A. Ware's cavalry joined the assault.
Together they hit the Federals hard enough that the sailors withdrew again — howitzer and all. Two attempts. Two withdrawals.
Those three guns had done the impossible. About a month after that, Kittredge's luck ran out too. He was captured south of Corpus Christi at Flour Bluff, caught ashore with a detail.
The man who'd harassed this coast for months, taken right off the land he'd been threatening from the water. But the war was long, and the tide kept turning. On November 17, 1863, Federal troops under General Nathaniel P.
Banks captured Mustang Island to the east and held it seven months. By that point, Confederate troops had already been withdrawn from south Texas — which meant soldiers from the Federal garrison could visit Corpus Christi essentially at will. And they did.
They came back to camp loaded with lumber torn from frame buildings, other objects of plunder, and on occasion, they took Union sympathizers with them. Then came the winter of 1863 to 1864. Bitterly cold.
Food grew scarce. And between the depredations and the cold and the hunger, the people who remained began to leave. An exodus, the marker calls it.
Neighbors, families, anyone with somewhere else to go. When the war finally ended, there was little left in Corpus Christi. A town that had stood up to a naval bombardment, that had charged a howitzer on foot, that had endured a blockade stretching back to February of 1862 — by the end, it had been hollowed out.
Not by cannon fire. By occupation, by winter, and by want. This marker stands as a memorial to the Texans who served in the Confederacy.
And it stands near the very ground where three guns once faced four ships — and held.
What the marker says
Near here on August 16 and 18, 1862, three Confederate artillery pieces held off four attacking Federal ships during the Civil War bombardment of Corpus Christi. The blockading squadron of Lieutenant J.W. Kittredge, U.S.N., had harrassed the southern coastal trade inside the offshore islands since February. It had gained control of Aransas Bay in July, halting water traffic in the shallow bays, and entered Corpus Christi Bay August 12. Women and children were evacuated during a forty-eight hour truce and the Confederates threw up breastworks for the artillery on the night of August 15. On August 16, the Federal ships and Confederate shore battery exchanged hundreds of shells before the Federals withdrew. The Federal ships returned August 18, landing sailors and a howitzer north of the Confederate battery. The sailors dragged the howitzer within range of the battery and began firing. Confederate infantry, led by Major A.M. Hobby, charged the Federal position. Captain James A. Ware's cavalry joined the assault, forcing the Federals to withdraw. A month later Kittredge was captured south of here at Flour Bluff while ashore with a detail. On November 17, 1863, Federal troops under General Nathaniel P. Banks captured Mustang Island to the east and held it seven months. By this time Confederate troops had been withdrawn from south Texas, making it possible for soldiers from the Federal garrison to visit Corpus Christi at will. They frequently returned to camp loaded with lumber torn from frame buildings, other objects of plunder, and on occasion, Union sympathizers. These depredations, a bitterly cold winter in 1863-1864, and a scarcity of food resulted in an exodus of local people. There was little left in Corpus Christi when the war ended. A memorial to Texans who served in the Confederacy.