Heritage, Volume 9, Number 4, Fall 1991 Page: 20

and several 18- and 24- pounder cannons
were emplaced. Post Galveston remained
active between 1838 and 1840. Then, on
April 11, 1841, the 32 men on duty at Post
Galveston were discharged, and the Island
was left without a defense force.
The inactivity that had typified events
at Post Galveston through 1841 changed
abruptly in early 1842 when Mexican troops
marched into Texas, capturing San Antonio.
Plans were drawn for placing the Island
in a state of defense, and Colonel George
W. Hockley was named commander of the
forces. On January 14, 1843, the Texas
Congress passed the Act for the Protection
of the Sea Coast, appropriating $7,000, to
be used for the erection and manning of
fortifications to protect Galveston Harbor
and for the raising of a squad of 10 men to
take charge of the guns and munitions.
Six weeks later, three commissioners
were appointed to oversee the construction
of the Galveston fort. The land was
surveyed and "it was determined that the
point nearest the Present Battery on the
East end of the Island be selected as the
most eligible position for the Fortifications
contemplated by Congress." Records indicate
that the emplacement erected in 18431844
probably included a gun platform
constructed of live oak, cedar logs, cement,
and lime. Gun carriages appear to have
been fabricated in Galveston or on-site, for

disbursements were made for iron, iron
hooks and bolts, and oak. Finally, quarters
were erected, some of which consisted of
new construction and some of which may
have been houses moved to the fort from
town.
But disaster, in the form of another
devastating storm, hit again. This time the
Secretary of War and Marine not only
reported that there was no money for rebuilding,
but he also recommended delaying
reconstruction until enough money
was available to build a facility that could
withstand the area's frequent storms. The
issue became moot, however, when a joint
resolution of the U.S. Congress, signed on
December 29, 1845, made Texas, a state,
ceding to the United States "...all property
and means pertaining to the public defense. "
Realizing that the addition of Texas to
the Union had brought with it several
hundred miles of unprotected seacoast, a
board of engineers was appointed and that
group visited the port of Galveston in
January 1846. The board reported that the
city was of first importance in the rank of
defensible points on the Texas coast, that it
afforded facilities for a good defense, and
that surveys should be made to identify
potential locations for defensive works.
The engineers also noted that the port of
Galveston provided the best harbor on the
coast and that good foundations for con

struction probably could be obtained on
the east point of the Island where a fortification
might cost at least $250,000. However,
13 years were to elapse before Congress
appropriated a small amount of money
for the construction of temporary buildings
and quarters.
The Civil War: Fortifications at Fort
Point
The decision by Congress not too fully
fund the construction of coastal fortifications
in Texas must have appeared farsighted,
for on February 23, 1861, the
Texas electorate voted to secede from the
Union, and Confederate artillery fired on
Fort Sumter on April 12. As a result, such
building projects fell to the newly formed
Confederate government in Richmond,
Virginia, that was lobbied by a citizens'
committee from Galveston. Confederate
officers Sidney Sherman and John H. Moore
worked to construct fortifications on the
Island, put cannons in place, and raise a
company of troops. However, a decision by
Brigadier General P.O. Hebert to move
coastal armaments to the interior in 1862
left only one 10-inch gun at the fort at the
end of Galveston Island, then named Fort
Point. The removal of weapons from
Galveston left the Island relatively defenseless,
and on October 4, 1862, the
Union gunboat Harriet Lane entered

Fort Point, 1865 (McGregory 1865a). McGregory's 1865 drawing depicts the battery constructed by Rebel forces at Fort Point. Like many other Civil War-period
batteries, Fort Point was polygonal and the land side was truncated. McGregory drawing courtesy of Cartographic and Architectural Branch, National Archives
Alexandria, Virginia.

20 HERITAGE * FALL 1991