Federal forces in the Civil War failed in most of their early efforts to capture Texas. In the fall of 1863, after taking New Orleans and Vicksburg, they attacked Western Louisiana in a renewed effort, hoping to divert valuable stocks of cotton from Confederate to Federal uses and to cut off French troops who might come from Mexico to aid the Confederacy. General Nathaniel P. Banks, U.S.A., ordered 5,000 troops to go by sea, capture Sabine Pass, and establish a land base there so they could move up the Sabine River and later rendezvous with troops he was leading overland through Louisiana for a sweep into Texas. Federal ships carrying men and materiel gathered beyond the sandbars and on September 8, 1863, began to steam north through the pass. They saw Fort Griffin guarding the pass, but received no response when they opened fire. When they came within 1,200 yards of the fort, Confederate cannon fire was returned, disabling the gunboats U.S.S. Clifton and U.S.S. Sachem. Both gunboats surrendered and the rest of the fleet retreated. Captured Union troops were taken to Beaumont, then the next day to Camp Groce at Hempstead, northwest of Houston. From there, enlisted men were sent to Louisiana for exchange with Confederate prisoners, while commissioned Federal officers were sent to Camp Ford outside Tyler, where they were detained for the rest of the war. The lives of Confederate and Union prisoners of war across the North and South were grim, with limited food, clothing, bedding, and medical supplies. The decisive battle at Sabine Pass allowed the Confederacy to maintain control of the Texas coastline for the duration of the war.
