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David Upton
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Major-General BANKS,
Commanding Department of the Gulf:
MY DEAR GENERAL: At your request I have furnished the following brief and informal statement of the affair at Galveston, Tex., January 1, 1863:
I was on board the transport-propeller Mary A. Boardman, lying at anchor near the flag-ship Westfield, on the morning of the 1st instant. The first warning of an attack was the appearance of four rebel gunboats coming down the bay toward the city at about 3 a.m. At this time the moon was shining brightly and objects could be seen at considerable distance, but soon after the moon went down a land attack upon the city was signaled from the Harriet Lane, which lay at the extreme upper part of the city.
The Westfield, in endeavoring to run up to the assistance of the town, got aground on Pelican Island, near us, where she lay useless through the fight, and where she was finally blown up by Commander Renshaw. The gunboat Clifton came to her assistance, but was unable to get her off, and while she was there the attack commenced upon the Harriet Lane and upon the town. This was about 4 o'clock in the morning.
The only land force in Galveston consisted of Companies D, G, and I, of the Forty-second Massachusetts, under the command of Colonel Burrell. These men were located upon one of the wharves, and the attack upon them appeared to be with musketry and artillery in the streets and from the buildings, two pieces of artillery appearing to be located in the second story of a warehouse, controlling the wharf.
The attack made at the same time upon the Harriet Lane was by two rebel gunboats running directly on and closing with her, and by artillery from the shore and musketry from the buildings.
As the Clifton returned from the Westfield toward the wharf a battery of two guns, which had been placed on Fort Point during the night, opened upon her. These guns had been placed in the same fortifications from which the gunboats had driven the rebels when we first took possession of the city. The fortifications had not been leveled by our forces after securing possession of them.
The firing after securing possession of them.
The firing was continuous in the city and from the gunboats until daylight, the firing from the Harriet Lane slacking first. At this time two rebel gunboats, one partially burned and sunk, appeared close by the Harriet Lane, and two more, one a ram, covered with a roof plated with bars of iron resembling railroad iron, and another, a Mississippi steamboat, shielded by cotton to the height of 25 feet or more, the top covered thickly with sharpshooters, were lying directly opposite our vessel, heading toward the wharf, and one other Mississippi boat, some 2 miles farther up the bay, was coming down.
It proved that the Harriet Lane had been carried by boarding, her captain, Wainwright, killed, her first lieutenant, Lea, mortally wounded, and all her men and officers either killed or taken prisoners, some 130 in number. Soon the Owasco and Clifton, gunboats, raised white flags, and Captain Law started in his boat from the Clifton to the Westfield, and had an interview with Commander Renshaw. Our vessel, the Mary Boardman, was then alongside the Westfield, having endeavored to haul her-off. As soon as Captain Law left for his own vessel Commander Renshaw sent an officer to us saying that he was going to blow up the Westfield, and requesting us to assist in taking off her men and whatever could be saved. I remonstrated with this officer that it was unnecessary, and that the whole force could lie by and protect the Westfield until the tide turned [which was then running out], when she would float and we could save her, and as she was heavily armed and of light draught she was invaluable. I also requested the commander to come on board. This remonstrance was repeated to every officer that came to my vessel with men. We received on board the men and their baggage, with the property of the ship, until our decks would hold no more, and the rest was placed on the transport Saxon.
At about 10 a.m., while the commander's boat and crew and second cutter and crew were at the Westfield to receive the last men the commander, having poured turpentine over the forward magazine and just over where she was aground, set her on fire with his own hand. He stepped down into his boat, in which were First Lieutenant Zimmermann, Chief Engineer Greene, and two oarsmen. The magazine immediately exploded, tearing the bow of the vessel open and blowing her to pieces to the water's edge and back to the smoke-stack.
After the explosion no living thing could be seen. She did not sink, being aground; and her guns aft, which were double-shotted and run out, as the flames should reach them, threatened us, at the short distance we were from her, with destruction, which might have been foreseen when she was fired.
Acting Sailing-Master Smalley took charge of us as pilot and we started for the bar. It was evident that we could not get over with what we had on board, and we threw overboard everything on deck except what belonged to the men of the Westfield. We went over the bar, striking very heavily, followed by the Saxon, two small schooners, the Clifton, Owasco, and Sachem, bunboats, leaving the harriet Lane in the hands of the rebels, with two barks loaded with coal, and one small schooner.
All the men of the Forty-second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers who were on shore, except the adjutant, were killed or taken prisoners; he escaped in a small boat. No attempt was made by the officers of any of the gunboats to communicate with the city, and no effort to obtain the wounded or to learn who were killed or who wounded in any way. Captain Law, who was the senior officer, ordered the men on board our vessels to New Orleans. Before starting I informed him that the trans
port Cambria, from New Orleans, would be at Galveston with men within forty-eighty hours, and to warn her off.
We brought to New Orleans between 70 and 80 men from the Westfield, arriving on the morning of January 4, and a few hours later I was astonished to learn that we were followed by all the gunboats and that Galveston Harbor had been left entirely unprotected.
The rebel land force, probably not less than 3,000 men, was commanded by General Magruder. The railroad and bridge from the mainland to Galveston, which had never been cut by us and which was in the full control and use of the rebels, furnished them an easy and rapid means of transportation and attack, and was undoubtedly one of the prime causes of the disaster.
Respectfully,
WM. L. BURT,
Major and Aide-de-Camp to Brigadier-General Hamilton.
Numbers 6. Report of Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Frederick Crocker, U. S. Navy.*
HOUSTON, TEX.,
September 12, 1863.
SIR: By permission of the provost-marshal-general of Texas, I have the honor to make a concise report concerning the capture of the Clifton and Sachem, and the failure of our attack on the fort at Sabine, passing the failure of the Granite City to anchor off the bar and show the concerted signal, whereby we lost the advantage of surprise, and other failures.
On the night of the 7th instant, the whole fleet anchored off the bar, and at daylight the next morning I crossed the barr in the Clifton to reconnoiter. I found a cotton-clad gunboat, and a very strong looking battery situated where i expected to find it, and, after attempting to draw their fire without success, fell back, and signalized for the whole fleet to cross the bar, which was done.
I then went on board General Franklin's ship to arrange for the attack, which was finally decided as follows: While the Clifton was shelling the battery with short-fuse shells, the Sachem and Arizona were to advance up the Louisiana channel, and thus compel the enemy to change the training of his guns, when the Clifton was to advance rapidly up the Texas channel, and endeavor to obtain a position near enough to the battery to enable the sharpshooters to pick off the enemy's gunners. The Granite City was to start with the Clifton, and, following her up the Texas channel, take up a position just above the Old Battery, and cover the landing of troops at that place from the transport General Banks, which troops were to advance rapidly up the bank toward the enemy, and support the Clifton, should she, as was expected, ground near the battery.
It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon before General Franklin was ready to co-operate, by which time the smoke of several steamers was discovered coming down the lake.
The arrangement of the army being at last completed, the Clifton took up her position in the Texas channel, and began to shell the enemy. The Sachem started up the Louisiana channel, followed by the Arizona, and, after grounding slightly, entered the channel fairly, and joined in the action as they moved up. The Granite City and the General Banks, with their anchors up, lay ready to follow. At the second discharge from the enemy's guns, the Clifton, with a full head of steam, steamed rapidly up the Texas channel toward the battery. When the Clifton was about half-way up to the battery, O noticed with great surprise that the Granite City and the General Banks wee still lying, drifting across the tide, making no attempt to follow. At the same time a shot, from the enemy struck the Sachem's boiler, disabling her instantly and silencing her fire; but, depending upon the support of all the others, the Clifton, kept on her course. In a short time, however, her wheel rope was shot away, and she grounded sooner than was expected, and in such a position that only there of her guns cloud bear on the battery; and with three we kept up the fight, making every effort to get the vessel afloat; but before we succeeded, a shot passed though her boiler and machinery, disabling her completely.
Until this time every man stood to his post, and the fight was progressing favorably; but the steam drove all the sharpshooters off the upper deck. Many, thinking the vessel was about to blow up, jumped overboard. At the same time the enemy got our range, and their fire began to tel severely. The vessel twice caught fire, and the men were falling fast. My executive officer (Acting Master Robert Rhodes) fell, mortally wounded. Two other officers received wounds, and the men noticing that no support was near, many of them became unsteady. Enough of them remained, however, to keep up a very effectual fire, which was being done with the faint hope that we might yet be supported, when I was met by two of my officers, and informed by one of them that he had hauled down the flag, and that we could not fight any more. With great indignation, I ordered it hoisted again, and all to stand to their guns; but the example had become contagious; with few exceptions, the men had left their guns and were taking to the water. At the same time a shot from the enemy disabled one of my three guns, and the lock of another broke, the remnant of the crew firing it with a hammer.
Under these circumstances, and seeing that the Arizona failed to push on; the Granite City and General Banks to make the slightest attempt to support me; the enemy's fire becoming more and more deadly; deserted by all but a few brilliant exceptions, I deemed it my duty to stop the slaughter by showing the white flag, which was done, and we fell into the hands of the enemy.
While the fight was thus progressing, the commander of the Sachem sent to the Arizona an order to advance and take him in tow; but it was not obeyed. The Arizona lay astern nearly silent until the termination of the fight, when she turned and fled.
The conduct of the commanders of the Arizona and Granite City, or of my officer who hauled down the flag, I am not now called upon to characterize; nor that of General Franklin in failing so utterly to co-operate; but I trust my Government will soon place me in a position to ask an inquiry into the facts.
I cannot conclude without bearing testimony to the gallant manner in which the commanding officer of the Sachem carried out, so far as he could, his part of the programme.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
FREDERICK CROCKER,
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant, Commanding Expedition.