TEXAS. 



hard and fast ashore, at high water, and made 

 a signal for assistance. When the Clifton was 

 in the act of rendering this assistance, the 

 flashes of the Confederate guns were first seen 

 in the town. Commander Renshaw then di- 

 rected Lieutenant Commander Law to leave 

 him and to return to the town. 



The moon had now gone down, and it be- 

 came quite dark, yet the Clifton, with some 

 difficulty, got around in the other channel, 

 opening her batteries upon Fort Point, which 

 the Confederates now had possession of, shell- 

 ing them out and driving them up the beach 

 as she neared the town. Here she anchored, 

 and continued the engagement, but did not 

 proceed up to the rescue of the Harriet Lane, 

 owing to the failure of the Owasco, the intri- 

 cacy of the channel, and the apprehension of 

 killing the crew of the Harriet Lane, who 

 were then exposed upon her upper deck. It 

 was now about half past seven A. M. A white 

 flag was hoisted on the Harriet Lane. A boat 

 bearing a flag of truce, with a Confederate 

 officer and an acting master of the Harriet 

 Lane, came down to the Clifton, informing her 

 commander of the capture of the Harriet Lane, 

 the death of her commander and first lieuten- 

 ant, and the killing and wounding of two 

 thirds of her crew. 



The proposition was made by the Confeder- 

 ate officer that all the Federal vessels should 

 surrender, and one be allowed, with the crews 

 of all, to leave the harbor, or they would pro- 

 ceed to capture them with the Harriet Lane 

 and all their steamers, three more of which 

 were in si^ht. These were neither armed nor 

 barricaded. Upon being informed of this prop- 

 osition, Commander Renshaw refused to con- 

 sent, and directed Lieutenant Law to return 

 and get all the vessels out of port as soon as 

 possible, and, as he could not get the Westfield 

 afloat, he should blow her up, and go on board 

 the army transports Saxon and M. A. Bard- 

 man, then near him. Lieut. Law returned to 

 execute these directions. Meanwhile, the 

 Confederates had hauled the Harriet Lane 

 alongside the wharf, and had made prisoners 

 of the troops on shore, although it had been 

 understood that all should remain in statu quo 

 until the answer was returned. "When the 

 Clifton was half way toward the bar, her com- 

 mander was informed by a boat from the 

 "Westfield, that, in the explosion of that vessel 

 (which they observed some half an hour be- 

 fore), Commander Renshaw, Lieutenant Zim- 

 merman, Engineer Green, and some ten or 

 fifteen of the crew, had perished, the explosion 

 being premature. Lieutenant Commander 

 Law, now being commanding officer, proceed- 

 ed to cross his vessel over the bar, and finally 

 concluded to abandon the blockade altogether, 

 considering the Owasco as his only efficient 

 vessel, and regarding her as not equal to resist 

 an attack from the Harriet Lane, should she 

 come out for that purpose. 



The vessels which were left in possession of 



TYLER, JOHN*. 





the Confederates were the Harriet Lane and 

 two coal barks, the Curalto and Elias Pike. 

 The only injury sustained by the Harriet Lane 

 appears to have been from a twelve-inch shell 

 under her counter, fired by the Owasco, and 

 the damage to her guard from the collision. 



TWIGGS, DAVID EMANUKL, a major-general 

 in the Confederate service, born in Georgia, in 

 1790, died in Augusta, Ga., Sept. 15, 1862. He 

 entered the army as a captain in the 8th in- 

 fantry in 1812, served throughout the war, and 

 was afterward retained in service as captain in 

 the Tth infantry, with the brevet rank of major. 

 In the Mexican war he held the rank of colonel 

 of the 2d dragoons, but acted as brigadier, com- 

 manding the right wing in the battles of Palo 

 Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and in the same 

 month was made brigadier-general. He was sub- 

 sequently brevetted major-general for gallant 

 and meritorious conduct at Monterey, and pre- 

 sented with a sword by Congress. In 1847 he 

 was in command of a division under Gen. Scott, 

 and the following year was military governor 

 of Yera Cruz. At the commencement of the 

 present war, he was in command of the Union 

 troops in Texas, and through complicity with 

 the Confederate leaders surrendered great quan- 

 tities of military stores and material into the 

 hands of the State authorities, and betrayed the 

 troops under his charge to the Confederate au- 

 thorities. For a short time he was in com- 

 mand at Xew Orleans, but very soon resigned, 

 and after a retirement of a few months upon 

 his estate in Mississippi, becoming alarmed at 

 the approach of the Union troops, he removed 

 to Augusta, Ga., where he died. 



TYLER, JOHX, Ex-President of the United 

 States, born in Charles City Co., Virginia, 

 March 29, 1790, died in Richmond, Ya,, Jan. 

 18, 1862. He graduated at "William and Mary 

 College in 1607, studied law and was admitted 

 to the bar in 1809 when but 19 years of age, 

 and soon obtained a large and lucrative prac- 

 tice. In 1811 he was elected by an almost 

 unanimous vote to the State Legislature, and 

 continued in that body 5 years where he vigor- 

 ously supported the war policy. He was elect- 

 ed to Congress in 1816 to fill a vacancy, and 

 reflected in 1817 and 1819. He resigned in 

 1820 on account of ill health. In 1823-1825, 

 he was again a member of the Legislature and 

 in 1825 was elected by that body governor by 

 a large majority over John B. Floyd. In 1826 

 he was again elected governor almost unani- 

 mously. He 1827 he was elected to the United 

 States Senate, his competitor being the famous 

 John Randolph, and both candidates avowing 

 the same principles. At the expiration of his 

 first term in the Senate in 1833 he was reelect- 

 ed. "While in the Senate he opposed the ad- 

 ministration of John Quincy Adams, though he 

 had voted for him for the Presidency. He at 

 first supported Gen. Jackson, but favored the 

 nullification movement in South Carolina, and 

 voted alone against the ."Force Bill." He 

 voted for the resolution of censure against Gen. 



