Sabine Pass

The Confederacy's Thermopylae

Edward T. Cotham

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780292705944
• eBook ISBN: 9780292797642
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

This " beautifully written... and meticulously researched" Civil War history vividly recounts one of the most decisive battles fought in Texas (Civil War News). Jefferson Davis once said the Battle of Sabine Pass was "more remarkable than the battle at Thermopylae." But unlike the Spartans, who succumbed to overwhelming Persian forces at Thermopylae more than two thousand years before, the Confederate underdogs triumphed in a battle that over time has become steeped in hyperbole. Providing a meticulously researched, scholarly account of this remarkable victory, Sabine Pass at last separates the legends from the evidence. In arresting prose, Edward T. Cotham, Jr., recounts the momentous hours of September 8, 1863, during which a handful of Texans—almost all of Irish descent—under the leadership of Houston saloonkeeper Richard W. Dowling, prevented a Union military force of more than 5, 000 men, twenty-two transport vessels, and four gunboats from occupying Sabine Pass, the starting place for a large invasion that would soon have given the Union control of Texas. Sabine Pass sheds new light on previously overlooked details, such as the design and construction of the fort that Dowling and his men defended, and includes the battle report prepared by Dowling himself. The result is a portrait of a mythic event that is even more provocative when stripped of embellishment.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER ONE SETTING THE SCENE
• CHAPTER TWO THE ADMIRAL AND THE FORTS
• CHAPTER THREE ATTACKING TEXAS
• CHAPTER FOUR FROM BAR TO BATTLE
• CHAPTER FIVE COTTONCLADS WITH CANNON
• CHAPTER SIX PLANNING A VICTORY
• CHAPTER SEVEN TEXAS IS THE TARGET
• CHAPTER EIGHT SABINE PASS AS A STEPPING-STONE
• CHAPTER NINE THE NAVY MAKES ITS PLANS
• CHAPTER TEN THE EXPEDITION DEPARTS
• CHAPTER ELEVEN REVISING THE PLAN
• CHAPTER TWELVE “HOLD THE FORT AT ALL HAZARDS”
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN ATTACK OF THE GUNBOATS
• CHAPTER FOURTEEN PRAISE AND BLAME
• CHAPTER FIFTEEN THE WAR ENDS FOR FORT GRIFFIN
• CONCLUSION
• APPENDIX ONE REPORT OF LIEUT. R.W. DOWLING, COMPANY “F,” COOK’S (TEXAS) ARTILLERY, CONCERNING THE BATTLE OF SABINE PASS
• APPENDIX TWO ANNOTATED LIST OF SABINE PASS BATTLE PARTICIPANTS
• APPENDIX THREE UNION CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF SABINE PASS
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX