After Texas seceded and joined the Confederacy, the Federal Navy blockaded Port Isabel in late 1861 with the U.S. "Santiago de Cuba." The stoppage of commerce led to the removal of customs offices to Brownsville and prompted some civilians to move to neutral Bagdad, Mexico. The Confederates stopped using the lighthouse as a lighthouse and turned it into a watch tower for blockade runners, making Laguna Madre their haven. In May 1863, boats from the U.S.S. "Brooklyn" attacked vessels in the port and a Confederate unit near the lighthouse. Confederates tried to blow up the tower as a defense measure, but damaged only its fixtures. The French, supporting Maximilian in Mexico, barred the landing of war material at Bagdad, but in September 1863 Mexican lighters from the Rio Grande, defying both French and U.S. naval patrols, landed a large cargo of Confederate arms here. In November 1863, U.S. forces from the expedition of Gen. N.P. Banks occupied Point Isabel, the blockade ended, and the port resumed operation. In August 1864, Confederates drove Federal forces across the bay to Brazos Island. The following March, Federal Gen. Lew Wallace, later the author of "Ben Hur," met Confederate officers here for peace talks.