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DICK
DOWLING by
Archie P. McDonald | |
When
I was in the sixth grade in Beaumont,
I attended the Dick Dowling Junior High School. We young scholars knew only vaguely
that Dowling was some kind of hero and that other public schools in town bore
the names of VIPs of Texas and local history. As an aside, all the Catholic schools
were named for saints. There is not much chance of confusion between the two sources
of names.
Dowling is primarily known for commanding Fort Griffin,
the location of the artillery battery that defended Sabine
Pass, when Union Army and Navy forces attempted to sail through the pass into
Sabine Lake on September 8, 1863. They planned to disembark near a rail line that
connected Houston and New Orleans, a route had been completed after the beginning
of the Civil War. |
| The
statue and pedestal inscribed with the names of Dowling's command. TE photo 2003 |
Dowling
was born in Galway County, Ireland, in 1838. His family left Erin for America
in 1846. They arrived in New Orleans, but Dowling moved west to Houston early
in the 1850s following the death of both parents. Though only twenty-three years
of age when the War began, Dowling was already a seasoned and successful businessman
who had operated three saloons, the Shades, the Bank of Baccus, and the Hudgpeth
Bathing Saloon. He also operated a liquor import business in Galveston.
Dowling joined the Jefferson Guards, commanded by Captain Frederick H. Odlum.
They fought for former Federal posts along the border with Mexico until they were
secured, then participated in reclaiming control of Galveston
on January 1, 1863.
The remainder of Dowling's year was spent guarding
the upper Texas coast in command of Fort Griffin. And there he and his forty-seven
artillerymen became Confederate heroes. |
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The
Federals attempted to run seventeen ships carrying approximately 5,000 solders
past the fort so they could travel by water rather than march overland to their
objective in their guns on the channel previously, so they did not even have to
aim.
Salvos disabled the Sachem and the Clifton, which blocked the channel,
and somewhat surprisingly, the other vessels put back to sea. Confederate President
Jefferson Davis, hungry for any kind of victory after the losses of Gettysburg
and Vicksburg only two months previously, hailed the Battle
of Sabine Pass as one of the greatest military victories in history. That
was surely an exaggeration, but then they did name a school after Sabine Pass'
commander, Lieutenant Richard William Dowling. |
All
Things Historical
>
Sept.
21-27, 2003 column
A syndicated column in over 40 East Texas newspapers
Published with permission
This column is provided as a public service by the
East Texas Historical Association. Archie P. McDonald is director of the Association
and author of more than 20 books on Texas. |
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