Battle of Galveston Harbor (1862)

Battle of Galveston Harbor

USRC Harriet Lane

Date	October 4, 1862
Location	Galveston Coordinates: 29°20′23″N 94°46′26″W / 29.3397°N 94.774°W / 29.3397; -94.774
Result	Union victory. City re-occupied, Blockade later broken.

Belligerents

United States (Union)

Confederate States (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

William B. Renshaw

Joseph J. Cook
Xavier Debray

Units involved

Western Gulf Blockading Squadron

Galveston garrison

Strength

cutter
1 gunboat
1 mortar boat

fort
1 shore battery

Casualties and losses

None

The Battle of Galveston Harbor was a naval engagement between forces from the Union Navy and the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. It was fought on October 4, 1862.

The Union had been trying to blockade the city of Galveston, Texas for over a year, but it was still in Confederate hands. After an exchange of fire, Commander William B. Renshaw of the cutter Harriet Lane agreed a truce while the Confederates evacuated the city. It would later be re-taken in the Second Battle of Galveston. (The Battle of Galveston Harbour is also known as the First Battle of Galveston.)

The United States Navy began a blockade of Galveston Harbor in July 1861, but the town remained in Confederate hands for the next fourteen months. At 6:00 am on October 4, 1862, Commander W.B. Renshaw, commanding the blockading ships in the Galveston Bay area, sent USRC Harriet Lane into the harbor flying a flag of truce. The intention was to inform the military authorities in Galveston that if the town did not surrender, the U.S. Navy ships would attack; a one-hour reply would be demanded.

Colonel Joseph J. Cook, Confederate military commander in the area, would not come out to the Union ship or send an officer to receive the communication, so Harriet Lane weighed anchor and returned to the fleet. Four Union steamers, with a mortar boat in tow, then entered the harbor and moved to the same area where Harriet Lane had anchored. Observing this activity, Confederates at Fort Point fired one or more shots and the U.S. Navy ships answered. Eventually, the Union ships disabled the one Confederate gun at Fort Point and fired at other targets.

Two rebel guns from Fort Bankhead also fired at the flotilla but did no damage and were ignored by the Navy. A boat that Colonel Cook had dispatched now approached the Union vessels and two Confederate officers boarded USS Westfield. Renshaw demanded an unconditional surrender of Galveston or he would begin bombarding the town again. Cook refused Renshaw's terms, and conveyed to Renshaw that upon him rested the responsibility of destroying the town and killing women, children, men, and immigrants.

...
Wikipedia