Galveston, C. S. A.

Galveston was the most important Texas seaport during the Civil War, with the consulates of England, France, and Spain and worldwide recognition as a cotton exporter. It set up defenses including 10 mud forts and gun batteries on beaches, at the railroad depot, and on Pelican Spit. It continued shipping cotton despite the Federal blockade that began in July 1861, as blockade runners used speed, shallow-draft ships, wit, and courage to evade Federal vessels, carry cotton to Nassau, Havana, or Europe, and return with guns, medicines, and other goods essential to the Confederacy. In Oct. 1862, the lack of guns large enough to stop a Federal bombardment caused Gov. F. R. Lubbock to call for the evacuation of civilians. The 42nd Massachusetts regiment occupied the city on Dec. 25. A week later, on Jan. 1, 1863, Confederates recaptured it with forces led by Gen. John B. Magruder, Col. Tom Green, and Capts. Leon Smith and Henry Lubbock, using Horse Marines, mounted Rangers, and Cotton Clads, ships walled in cotton bales with gun embrasures. The Trans-Miss. Dept., the last Confederate force to surrender, signed terms there on June 2, 1865. Federal occupation on June 19 proclaimed Emancipation, and formerly enslaved people afterward celebrated Juneteenth.

Galveston, Texas · United States