The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 52, July 1948 - April, 1949 Page: 402
512 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
At daylight on the eighth the Clifton entered the pass, anchored
after crossing the bar (see map), and fired twenty-six shells at
the fort, none of which did any material damage." The Con-
federates did not reply.
Crocker signaled for the entire fleet to cross the bar. Four
gunboats and seven of the transports then entered the pass but not
without some difficulty in crossing the bar.17
At eleven o'clock the Confederate steamer Uncle Ben, Captain
G. Hall commanding, one of the steamers ordered by Commodore
Leon Smith to Sabine from Beaumont and vicinity, "came down
the bay and advanced towards the fort. .. One boat [the
Sachem] fired three shells at her, not doing any damage.""18
While this engagement was taking place, Franklin in company
with Weitzel and Crocker made a reconnaissance of the Texas
shore. The small boat they were in did not reach land but
"grounded in mud within 125 feet of the shore."
Franklin reasoned that it was impossible to land in the mud as
his "soldiers loaded with muskets and rations would [sink] ...
to their middle."1
Franklin and his officers concluded that the best landing site
would be a sandy stretch i,ooo yards from the fort (see map), and
in order to land there, the fort had to be silenced or at least have
its fire attracted elsewhere.
At noon, Crocker, Acting Master Amos Johnson, commander
of the Sachem, and Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Charles W.
Lamson, commander of the Granite City, met with Franklin on
board the transport steamer Suffolk. In order to land troops at
the site decided upon, they adopted the following plan:
Three of the gunboats were to move up the channel to the point of
separation; there two of them, the Sachem and the Arizona, were to
take the channel to the right, and were to pass the fort by that chan-
nel, drawing its fire. The Clifton was to take the left-hand channel,
moving slowly up, and, when about half a mile distant, was to go
at full speed, within grape and canister range, and engage the fort
at close quarters. General Weitzel was to keep near the Clifton with
tolbid.
17The seven transports were the Suffolk, St. Charles, Landis, Exact, Thomas,
Laurel Hill, and Gen. Banks.
1sHouston Tri-Weekly Telegraph, September 16, 1863.
10Report of Franklin, Official Records . Armies, Series I, Vol. XXVI, Part I, 295.40o
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 52, July 1948 - April, 1949, periodical, 1949; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101121/m1/411/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.