Battle of Brownsville
| Battle of Brownsville, Texas | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | ||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
 United States (Union) |
 Confederate States (Confederacy)
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 Mexican patriots |
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| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
| Nathaniel P. Banks | Hamilton P. Bee | José Maria Cobos | ||||||
| Units involved | ||||||||
| 3 brigades from XIII Corps (6,000) |
4 companies, 33rd Texas Cavalry (150) 2 companies of 3 month volunteers |
local citizens | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||
| unknown | 1 killed 1 wounded 1 company deserted |
unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Brownsville took place on November 2-6, 1863 during the American Civil War. It was a successful effort on behalf of the Union Army to disrupt Confederate blockade runners along the Gulf Coast in Texas. The Union assault precipitated the capture of Matamoros by a force of Mexican patriots, led by exiled officers living in Brownsville.
During the first half of the war, the Union Navy had successfully blockaded many Southern ports along the Gulf Coast. Cotton trade was a major economic asset for Texas and the whole Confederacy. Initially cotton was transported to Brazos Santiago Pass at the delta of the Rio Grande and exported from Port Isabel. Union forces captured this port and trade was moved inland to Brownsville, Texas. From Brownsville goods were transported across the border to Matamoros and from there to neutral ports along the Mexican coast.
The U.S. government was also anxious to show Union presence along the Mexican border since the French army had just invaded Mexico and installed Maximillian as emperor. Following the Union debacle at the second Battle of Sabine Pass, the U.S. government demanded General Nathaniel P. Banks, commanding the Department of the Gulf, to make another attempt at invading Texas.
Nathaniel Banks assembled 6,000 soldiers from three brigades in Napoleon J. T. Dana's XIII Corps. The Confederate forces in the area were commanded by General Hamilton P. Bee. Bee's forces consisted of a mere 4 companies from the 33rd Texas Cavalry under Colonel James Duff and another 2 companies of 3 month volunteers. All other Confederates along the coast had been called elsewhere in the wake of the Union attack at Sabine Pass. The total Confederate force amounted to roughly 150 men stationed at Fort Brown. One company of volunteers under Captain Adrian I. Vidal defected, killing a private and wounding another from the 33rd Texas.
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