"CAPTAIN: On Monday morning, about 2 o'clock, the enemy were signaling and fearing an Attack, I ordered all the guns at the fort manned, and remained in that position until daylight when there were two steamers evidently sounding for the channel on the bar; a large frigate outside. During the evening they were reinforced to the number of twenty-two vessels of different classes.
"On the morning of the 8th, the U.S. gunboat Clifton anchored opposite the lighthouse and fired twenty-six shells at the fort, all in excellent range, one shell landing on the works and another striking the south angle of the fort without doing any material damage. The firing commenced at 6:30 o'clock and finished at 7:30 o'clock when the C. S. gunboat Uncle Ben steamed down near the fort. The U. S. gunboat Sachem opened on her with a 30-pounder Parrott gun. She fired three shots which passed over the fort and missed the Ben. The whole fleet then drew off and remained out of range until 3:40 o'clock, when the Sachem and Arizona steamed into the line up the Louisiana channel, the Clifton and one boat, name unknown, remaining at the junction of the two channels. I allowed the two former boats to approach within 1,200 yds, when I opened fire with the whole of my battery on the Sachem which, after the third or fourth round, hoisted the white flag, one of the shots passing through her steam drum. The Clifton in the meantime had attempted to pass up through Texas Channel but receiving a shot which carried away her tiller rope, she became unmanageable and grounded about 500 yds. below the fort which enabled me to concentrate all my guns on her, two 32-pounder smooth-bores; two 24-pounder smooth-bores, and two 32-pounder howitzers. She withstood our fire some 25 or 35 minutes when she also hoisted a white flag. During the time she was aground, she used grape, and her sharpshooters poured an incessant shower of Minie balls into the works. The fight lasted from the time I fired the first gun until the boats surrendered - about three-quarters of an hour. I immediately boarded the captured Clifton, to inspect her magazines, accompanied by one of the ship's officers, and discovered it safe and well stocked with ordnance stores. I did not visit the magazine of the Sachem, not having any small boat to board her with. The C. S. gunboat Uncle Ben steamed down to the Sachem and towed her into the wharf Her magazine was destroyed by the enemy flooding it.
"I was nobly and gallantly assisted by Lt. N. H. Smith, of the Engineer Corps, who by his coolness and bravery won the respect and admiration of the whole command. Ass't. Surg. George H. Bailey, having nothing to do in his own line, nobly pulled off his coat and assisted in administering Magruder pills to the enemy, behaving with great coolness. During the engagement, the works were visited by Capt. F. H. Odlum, commanding post; Maj. (Col. ) Leon Smith, commanding Marine Department of Texas. Capt. W. S. Good, ordnance officer, and Dr. Murray, acting ass't. surgeon, with great coolness and gallantry, enabled me to send reinforcements, as the men were becoming exhausted by the rapidity of our fire; but before they could accomplish their mission, the enemy surrendered. Thus, it will be seen we captured with 47 men two gunboats, mounting thirteen guns of the heaviest caliber, and about 350 prisoners. All my men behaved like heroes; not a man flinched from his post. Our motto was "victory or death." I beg leave to make particular mention of Private Michael McKernan, who, from his well-known capacity as a gunner, I assigned as gunner, and nobly did he do his duty. It was his shot that struck the Sachem in her steam drum. Too much praise cannot be awarded Maj. (Col.) Leon Smith for his activity and energy in saving and bringing the vessel into port.
"I have the honor, captain, to remain in your most obedient servant,
R. W. Dowling, 1st. Lt., Cook's Artillery."Sabine Pass Battleground mural
At the Siege of Charleston, S.C., the Federal Navy bombarded Fort Sumter to rubble and then landed and tried to storm the fort, but was summarily repulsed. The Federals suffered 125 casualties in killed, wounded, and missing.
Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 8.
Brigadier General Seth Maxwell Barton was born on this day in 1829 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. An 1849 graduate of West Point, he served in the U.S. Army on the frontier in New Mexico Territory and Texas and was in various campaigns against the Comanche Indians. At the time of his resignation from the army in 1861, he was a captain. Barton joined the Confederate Army as a lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Arkansas Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general in March 1862. His battles included Cheat Mountain, Greenbriar River, the Valley Campaign of 1862, the Battle of Champion Hill, the Siege of Vicksburg, and the Battle of Drewry's Bluff. He was captured at the end of the war at the Battle of Sayler's Creek, Va. April 6, 1865. After being released by the Yankees, he settled in Fredericksburg, Va. working as a chemist, becoming very prominent in that profession He died on April 11, 1900, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in the City Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Va.
 Brig. Gen. Seth M. Barton 👱
Brigadier General Lucius Bellinger Northrop was born on this day in 1811 in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from West Point in 1831 and service in the U.S. Army in the Second Seminole War, spent eight years of sick leave, was listed as permanently disabled, and dropped from the army roles in 1848. Northrop was returned to the army in 1853 by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis with the rank of captain. He resigned in January 1861 and in March 1861 was appointed Commissary General of the Confederate Army as a colonel. Despite being widely criticized for incompetence, President Davis promoted him on Nov. 26, 1864, to brigadier general. Following the war, he resided on his farm near Charlottesville, Va., and then the Confederate soldier's home in Pikeville, Md. He died there on Feb. 9, 1894, and was buried in the New Cathedral Catholic Cemetery in Baltimore, Md. Brig. Gen. Lucius B. Northrop 👋 |
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