DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's quite a tale. Galveston, Texas. The Civil War.
And a port city that refused to go quietly. When the war came, Galveston was the most important seaport in all of Texas. England, France, and Spain all kept consulates there.
The world knew it as a cotton exporter, and that reputation was about to be tested in ways nobody could have imagined. The Confederates weren't naive about what they had. They set up defenses — ten mud forts, gun batteries on the beaches, at the railroad depot, out on Pelican Spit.
They dug in. And then, in July of 1861, the Federal blockade began. Now, you might think a blockade would stop the cotton.
You would be wrong. Blockade runners — fast ships, shallow draft, built for speed and stealth — kept right on hauling cotton out to Nassau, Havana, and Europe, and bringing back guns, medicines, and goods the Confederacy desperately needed. Speed, wit, and courage.
That was the recipe. But by October of 1862, the math was turning ugly. The guns defending Galveston weren't large enough to stop a Federal bombardment.
Governor F. R. Lubbock called for the evacuation of civilians.
And on December 25th — Christmas Day — the 42nd Massachusetts regiment walked into the city and occupied it. Now here's where the story takes a turn. Because a week later — one week — on January 1st, 1863, the Confederates came back.
General John B. Magruder led the recapture, alongside Colonel Tom Green and Captains Leon Smith and Henry Lubbock. And the forces they brought with them had names that deserve to be said out loud.
The Horse Marines — mounted Rangers who fought on water. The Cotton Clads — ships with walls of cotton bales, gun embrasures cut right through them. They took Galveston back on New Year's Day.
The city held on from there, all the way to the very end of the war — and then some. The Trans-Mississippi Department, the last Confederate force to surrender, signed its terms right there in Galveston on June 2nd, 1865. Last to lay down arms.
And then, on June 19th, Federal occupation forces proclaimed Emancipation. The news reached the people who had been waiting longest to hear it. And the formerly enslaved marked that day — June 19th — and kept on marking it, year after year, in a celebration that came to be called Juneteenth.
That's what this marker holds. A city blockaded, bombarded, evacuated, recaptured, and finally — on a June day in 1865 — transformed.
What the marker says
Most important Texas seaport during the Civil War. Had consulates of England, France and Spain and worldwide recognition as a cotton exporter. Set up defenses including 10 mud forts and gun batteries on beaches, at railroad depot and on Pelican Spit. Continued shipping cotton in spite of Federal blockade which began in July 1861. Blockade runners used speed, shallow draft ships, wit and courage to escape the Federal ships and haul cotton to Nassau, Havana or Europe and return with guns, medicines and other goods essential to the Confederacy. In Oct. 1862, lack of guns large enough to stop a Federal bombardment caused Gov. F. R. Lubbock to call for evacuation of civilians. The 42nd Massachusetts regiment occupied the city Dec. 25. A week later, Jan. 1, 1863, Confederates recaptured it with forces led by Gen. John B. Magruder, Col. Tom Green and Capts. Leon Smith and Henry Lubbock with "Horse Marines" (mounted Rangers) and "Cotton Clads" (ships walled in cotton bales with gun embrasures). The Trans-Miss. Dept., last Confederate force to surrender, signed terms here June 2, 1865. Federal occupation on June 19 proclaimed Emancipation, and ex-slaves afterwards celebrated "Juneteenth."