

ARMY OPERATIONS. 



143 



the pass were supposed to consist of two 32- 

 pounders, en barbette, and a battery of field 

 pieces, and two boats used on the bay, which 

 had been converted into rams. .The plan was 

 that the squadron should make the attack alone, 

 assisted by about one hundred and eighty 

 sharpshooters divided among the four vessels, 

 and, having driven the enemy from his defences 

 and destroyed or driven off the rams, the 

 transports were then to advance and land their 

 troops. 



Sabine Pass is the name of the outlet from 

 Sabine Lake into the Gulf of Mexico. Sabine 

 Lake is an 'expansion of the Sabine river about 

 five miles from its entrance into the Gulf of 

 Mexico, at the southwest extremity of Louisi- 

 ana. Its length is 18 miles and its breadth 9 

 miles. Sabine river rises in Hunt county, Texas, 

 and flows in a direction east of southeast until 

 it strikes the eastern boundary of the State. 

 From this point it pursues a southerly course, 

 forming the boundary between Texas and Lou- 

 isiana. It is very shallow at its mouth. The 

 whole length of the river is estimated at 500 

 miles. 



Early on the morning of Sept. 8th, the Clif- 

 ton stood in the bay and opened on the fort, to 

 which no reply was made. At 9 A. M. the Sa- 

 chem, Arizona, and Granite City, followed by 

 the transports, stood over the bar, and, with 

 much difficulty, owing to the low water, reach- 

 ed an anchorage about two miles from the fort 

 at 11 A. M. About the middle of the afternoon 

 the Sachem, followed by the Arizona, advanced 

 up the eastern channel to draw the fire of the 

 forts while the Clifton advanced up the western 

 channel. The Granite City remained to cover 

 the landing of a division of troops under Gen. 

 Weitzel. No reply was made to the fire of the 

 gunboats until they were abreast of the forts, 

 when eight guns opened fire upon them. Three 

 of these were rifled. Almost at the same mo- 

 ment the Clifton and Sachem were struck in 

 their boilers and both vessels enveloped in 

 steam. The Arizona, not having room to pass 

 the Sachem, then backed down the channel 

 until she grounded by the stern, when the ebb- 

 ;ide caught her bows and swung her across the 



annel. White flags were raised on the Clif- 

 ton and Sachem, and within twenty minutes 

 they were taken in tow by the enemy. The 

 naval force of the expedition being thus disa- 

 bled, the transports moved out of the bay. 

 The Arizona was got afloat during the night 

 and followed. The expedition then returned 

 to Brashear City. The officers and crews of 

 the Clifton and Sachem and about ninety sharp- 

 shooters who were on board were captured, 

 and the loss in killed and wounded was about 

 thirty. After remaining at Brashear City some 

 time, the military force moved to Franklin and 

 Vermillionville. 



On the 27th of October an expedition under 

 Gen. Banks put to sea from New Orleans. It 

 consisted of about twenty vessels accompanied 

 by the gunboats Owasco, Virginia, and Monon- 



gahela, and was destined to the mouth of the 

 Rio Grande river, which is the boundary line 

 between Texas and Mexico. During the first 

 three days out the weather was pleasant. On 

 the fourth a "norther" prevailed, and one light 

 draft steamer and two schooners were lost, but 

 no lives. On the 31st the expedition anchored 

 off the mouth of the river and on the next 

 day a force was landed on Brazos Island. By 

 the 4th the troops were all landed, and on the 

 next day, Gen. Banks, preceded by a small body 

 of infantry and artillery, entered Brownsville 

 on the Rio Grande river. A small body of 

 the enemy under Gen. Bee attempted to de- 

 stroy the public property, and retired on the 

 approach of the Federal force. Subsequently 

 Corpus Christi and the coast of Texas to within 

 one hundred miles of Galveston were occupied. 

 Gen. Banks successfully prosecuted the cam- 

 paign thus begun in Texas, the extent and 

 results of which more properly belong to the 

 records of 1864. 



In Missouri and the Department of the Fron- 

 tier, those portions of the Confederate army 

 of the Trans-Mississippi Department, which 

 was under command of Gens. Hindman, Ster- 

 ling Price, and Marmaduke, maintained a rest- 

 less activity. 



Early in January, 1863, a force of five or six 

 thousand men, under Gen. Marmaduke's com- 

 mand, comprising a portion of the" troops which 

 had been so signally defeated at Crawford's 

 Prairie (see ANJOJAL CYCLOPAEDIA, 1862, p. 60) 

 a month before, proceeded down the Arkansas 

 river to Spadry's Bluff, near Clarksville, Ark., 

 and thence marched rapidly north toward 

 Springfield, Mo., with the intention of seizing 

 and destroying the large amount of Federal 

 commissary and quartermaster stores accumu- 

 lated there for the supply of the Army of the 

 Frontier. The design of Gen. Marmaduke in 

 proceeding so far eastward before making a 

 movement northward into Missouri was to avoid 

 all chance of collision or interference with his 

 plans by Gens. Blunt and Herron. He hoped 

 to reach Springfield and accomplish his purpose 

 before they could obtain intelligence of his ap- 

 proach, and this once accomplished, those Fed- 

 eral generals and their army, deprived of all 

 supplies, would, almost of necessity, be com- 

 pelled either to surrender to Gen. Hindman or 

 fly from North-western Arkansas. The scheme 

 was well planned and circumstances indicated 

 that it would be successful. Springfield had 

 some defensive works, but they were not com- 

 pleted, and the Federal troops which were 

 necessary to its adequate defence, were scat- 

 tered widely over the qntire region of South- 

 western Missouri, two or three companies in a 

 place. When, on the afternoon of the 7th of 

 January, it was ascertained that the Confeder- 

 ate force had burned Lawrence Mills, and were 

 then marching on Ozark, and would certainly 

 appear before Springfield the next day, Brig.- 

 Gens. Brown and Holland, who were in com- 

 mand there, the one of the Missouri State 



