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Confederates attack Union forces in Galveston
On this day in 1863, Confederate forces under Gen. J. B. Magruder began
their assault on Union forces that had held Galveston since October.
Magruder placed artillery and dismounted cavalry aboard two river
steamers, the Bayou City and the Neptune. He also gathered
infantry and cavalry, supported by artillery, to cross the railroad
bridge onto the island. The Confederates entered Galveston on New Year's
night, January 1, 1863, and opened fire before dawn. The Union ship
Harriet Lane sank the Neptune, but the Bayou City's
crew seized the Federal vessel. Union commander William B. Renshaw's
flagship, the Westfield, ran aground, and the commander died
trying to blow it up rather than surrender it. The other Union ships
sailed out to sea, ignoring Confederate surrender demands, while their
infantry comrades in town surrendered. Magruder had retaken Galveston
with a moderate loss. Although the port remained under Confederate
control for the rest of the war, only a week elapsed before it was again
blockaded.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- GALVESTON, BATTLE OF
- MAGRUDER, JOHN BANKHEAD
- HARRIET LANE
- BAYOU CITY
- CIVIL WAR
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Texas governor shocks nation, appoints all-woman court (1925)
- Farmer sows tent colony (1906)
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