Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae
Confederate president Jefferson Davis made the claim: "That battle at Sabine Pass was more remarkable than the battle at Thermopylae." Sabine Pass was the site of one of the most decisive Civil War battles

Sabine Pass
Civil War Texas

American Civil War
September 24-25, 1862

On September 23, 1862, the Union Navy Steamer Kensington, Schooner Rachel Seaman, and Mortar Schooner Henry James appeared off the bar at Sabine Pass.
Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, 1862
October 1, 1862, state militia arrested more than two hundred Unionists from five northern counties . At least forty-four prisoners were hanged, others were lynched in neighboring communities

The next morning, the two schooners crossed the bar, took position, and began firing on the Confederate shore battery. The shots from both land and shore fell far short of the targets. The ships then moved nearer until their projectiles began to fall amongst the Confederate guns. 

The Confederate cannons, however, still could not hit the ships.  After dark, the Confederates evacuated, taking as much property as possible with them and spiking the four guns left behind.

On the morning of the 25th, the schooners moved up to the battery and destroyed it while Acting Master Frederick Crocker, commander of the expedition, received the surrender of the town.

Union control of Sabine Pass made later incursions into the interior possible.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Jefferson County

Campaign: Operations to Blockade the Texas Coast (1862-63)

Date(s): September 24-25, 1862

Principal Commanders: Acting Master Frederick Crocker [US]; Major J.S. Irvine [CS]

Forces Engaged: Steamer Kensington, Schooner Rachel Seaman, and Mortar Schooner Henry James [US]; Fort Griffith Garrison (30) and 25 mounted men 3 1/2 miles away [CS]

Estimated Casualties: Unknown


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Texans in the Confederate Cavalry
Often outnumbered Texas Cavalry, through Bravado or sheer madness, frequently helped turn the tide of battle. From Colonel Parsons' assault on the Federal Navy during the Red River Campaign of 1864 to Terry's Texas Rangers with General Wheeler's horsemen badgering Sherman on his "March to the Sea,"
Only a Private: A Texan Remembers the Civil War : The Memoirs of William J. Oliphant
A first-hand account of the common soldier's point of view. No colonel or general, William Oliphant was, "only a private." His perspective provides a window into Texas during the first days of the Civil War, and first-hand descriptions of battles
Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke: The First Texas Cavalry in the Civil War
Regimental history from the time the regiment was raised by Colonel McCulloch to defend against indian warriors tor the time the regiment was part of the Confederate Army under the Colonels Buchel and Yager until the end of the Civil War
A Rebel Wife in Texas: The Diary and Letters of Elizabeth Scott Neblett, 1852-1864
Elizabeth Neblett's observations on slave and class relations, regional politics, lynching, farm management, medical practices, mental illness, and the Civil War in Texas.

Battle Flags of Texans in the Confederacy
Excellent Confederate Flag information resource
Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart
Shades of Blue and Gray
No scholar can fail to appreciate Allen's exhaustive research,, nor any layman fail to be amazed at her mass of fact and significant detail
Battle on the Bay:
The Civil War Struggle for Galveston
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. Galveston emerged as one of the Confederacy's only lifelines to the outside world.
The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch
May 12-13, the last battle of the Civil War had been fought at the southernmost tip of Texas—resulting in a Confederate victory. Although Palmetto Ranch did nothing to change the war's outcome, it added the final irony to a conflict replete with ironies

 
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Civil War History Book Club Recommended Reading Titles


The Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine : The Illustrated Note-Book of Henry O. Gusley
On September 28, 1863, the Galveston Tri-Weekly News caught its readers' attention with an item headlined "A Yankee Note-Book." It was the first installment of a diary confiscated from U.S. Marine Henry O. Gusley, who had been captured at the Battle of Sabine Pass. Gusley's diary proved so popular with readers that they clamored for more, causing the newspaper to run each excerpt twice until the whole diary was published. For many in Gusley's Confederate readership, his diary provided a rare glimpse into the opinions and feelings of an ordinary Yankee--an enemy whom, they quickly discovered, it would be easy to regard as a friend. This book contains the complete text of Henry Gusley's Civil War diary
Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
Colorfully known as the "Greyhound Division" for its lean and speedy marches across thousands of miles in three states, Major General John G. Walker's infantry division in the Confederate army was the largest body of Texans—about 12,000 men at its formation—to serve in the American Civil War. From its creation in 1862 until its disbandment at the war's end, Walker's unit remained, uniquely for either side in the conflict, a stable group of soldiers from a single state. Richard Lowe's compelling saga shows how this collection of farm boys, store clerks, carpenters, and lawyers became the trans-Mississippi's most potent Confederate fighting unit
Bourland in North Texas and Indian Territory During the Civil War: Fort Cobb, Fort Arbuckle & the Wichita Mountains
The Indian conflicts during the period 1861 through 1865 on the Southern frontier - the frontier of the Confederate States of America. When the United States military forces withdrew in the face of the establishment of the new fledgling Southern republic, a partial defense vacuum was created in the areas contiguous to the Indian lands. This book deals with the Texas-Oklahoma border area, the Red River area. Texas had to contribute its sons not only to the struggle to maintain the nascent Confederate army in the War for Southern Independence but additionally to fill the need for border security with the many Indian tribes

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.