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Battle on the Bay: The Civil War Struggle for Galveston
written by Jr. Edward T. Cotham
Studio : University of Texas Press
by University of Texas Press
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Released : 1998
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780292712058
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 6 reviews)
List Price : $18.95
Our Price : $13.96
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Product Description |
"Devotees of American Civil War literature should find their horizons broadened and their understanding of the war enhanced by this book." —Donald S. Frazier, author of Cottonclads! The Battle of Galveston and the Defense of the Texas Coast The Civil War history of Galveston is one of the last untold stories from America's bloodiest war, despite the fact that Galveston was a focal point of hostilities throughout the conflict. As other Southern ports fell to the Union, Galveston emerged as one of the Confederacy's only lifelines to the outside world. When the war ended in 1865, Galveston was the only major port still in Confederate hands. In this beautifully written narrative history, Ed Cotham draws upon years of archival and on-site research, as well as rare historical photographs, drawings, and maps, to chronicle the Civil War years in Galveston. His story encompasses all the military engagements that took place in the city and on Galveston Bay, including the dramatic Battle of Galveston, in which Confederate forces retook the city on New Year's Day, 1863. Cotham sets the events in Galveston within the overall conduct of the war, revealing how the city's loss was a great strategic impediment to the North. Through his pages pass major figures of the era, as well as ordinary soldiers, sailors, and citizens of Galveston, whose courage in the face of privation and danger adds an inspiring dimension to the story. |
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Entertaining and informative study of Galveston's part in the Civil War |
Don't let the title mislead you, "Battle on the Bay" is much more than a battle monograph. It is a thorough retelling of the actions of the important gulf port city of Galveston, Texas throughout the war. Author Edward Cotham reviews the politics and early war action. He then takes the reader through the 1862 Federal seizure of the port and the brilliant cottonclad attack that recovered the city for the Confederacy. He also reviews the naval and blockade running activity through the end of the war.
Cotham's narrative is very entertaining and easy to read while at the same time providing the reader a wider understanding of Galveston's place in the war. Despite his obvious enthusiasm for the subject, the author maintains a balanced tone. I especially enjoyed the amusing anecdotes about "Prince John" Magruder's colorful and at times brilliant actions. Cotham does a great job of reviewing anecdotes and events from Galveston's wartime history that provide good sense of the problems facing a city under friendly and enemy occupation.
The book is well illustrated and has some useful maps of the outlines of fortifications by Don Frazier. Frazier's map of the fight at Kuhn's wharf is helpful and critical to understanding the unique battlefield, but it might have been more so if it had some unit labels on the CSA side as well as a wider view of the surroundings as well as a scale. Lacking in the text itself is a detailed order of battle for the CSA units engaged, commanders, and a breakdown of each unit's substantial casualties.
I recommend this book to those interested in understanding the Civil War in Texas and particularly to anyone trying to understand the very important strategic coastal war. As a detailed military study, I found Cotham's work about Sabine Pass more compact and focused, while this text about Galveston will appeal to those interested in a wider overview of the war along the Texas coast.
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Union forces had captured Galveston which was the key to Texas! |
"Gen. Magruder will attack the Yankees at Galveston by water and land tommorrow night...If the Yankees fight well it will be a desperate affair & our loss maybe terrible, but if we succeed entirely of which I think there are reasonable hopes it will be a brilliant affair. Galveston will certainly suffer great injury, and may be entirely destroyed. I don't care for this if the enemey can be capture. "
William Pitt Ballinger, December 30, 1862
I bought this book last August (2005) while on vacation to Galveston. A shop (on the Strand) in one of the buildings that survived. I walked the down town area and there are few marks that a battle was fought there. Some bullet holes and marks on walls can be found. There are Historical markers but I wish there was more. Like maybe the smoke in the air from cannons and Men rushing the docks with bayonet musktes :) Galveston does have awesome beaches and this is a very fun book. I could not put the book down once I started reading! Included are good maps and photo's of what happen.
What would you do as Gen. Magruder as you face a superior enemy fortified on Kuhn's Wharf (and with control of the city/island) with the USS Navy backing him up in the bay? The outcome of Texas is in your hands! |
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Battle on the Bay |
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A very detail oriented and illuminating book. I have no trouble recommending this book to any serious student of american history. |
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Amusing. |
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This is a true, factual account of how a handful of Texans recaptured the Port of Galveston during the Civil War. But it is a book intended, or at least should be intended, for local consumption only. Ya gotta love Texans. I do and I am very proud to be one. But to understand us, like any other race, creed or culture, you have to understand our language. We love bombast, tall tales and, well, whoppers! We revel in them, enjoy them immensely. The bigger they are, the more outrageous they are, the better they are. No one will pull your leg quicker than a Texan. Why tell a wimpy whopper? There is no earthly reason for that kind of behavior. It is certainly nothing a true Texan would do. If you are going to swing, go for the fences. And that is what the author has done here. Only a Texan could take a minor firefight and turn it into liberation! Men did fight and die here, ships were captured and some prisoners were taken. I do not want to denigrate the heroic bravery of the Northern and Southern soldiers who fought and died in this engagement. But really, to subtitle this book The Civil War Struggle for Galveston is silly. This wasn't Shiloh, Chickamauga, Vicksburg or Gettysburg. Four Union ships stopped by, landed a hundred or so soldiers and got gobbled up due to inadequate support. This happened thousands of times to both sides during the four years of the war. Sorry guys, nothing of significance happened in Texas during the war. It was just too far from the scene of the contest to have an overland impact and the Federal Navy and capture of New Orleans and Vicksburg rendered Texas completely unnecessary as a theater of operations. |
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Battle on the Bay |
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I have found Edward T. Gorham's book "Battle ON The Bay" a very thoughtful read. He not only gave the history of the battle of Galveston, he also informed you on the accounts of all the events leading up to Siege of Galveston. But also thoroughly developed the Commanding Officers of both the Union and Confederacy, in this battle, which occurred New Years day, 1863. "BATTLE ON THE BAY" also informs the reader of the accounts from the Confederatec victory to the end of the war. This book had humor as well as excitement. I could not put this book down. Every page held my attention, and I wondered what the next page contained. This book did a good job on informing me about the history of the area where I live. |
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