The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-06-18
A SINGULAR COMBAT.
A Singular Combat Mt Sabine Pass in 1868.

A Singular Combat Mt Sabine Pass in 1868
One of the most singular combats oi
the civil war was the affair at Sabine
Pass. In September, 1863, the govern.
ment determined to possess itself OF
Sabine City, situated on the river of that
name, about fifty miles from Galveston.
1t was considered a stragetic point of
great Importance to the Union forces, and
so carefully were all the plans laid and
matured that Gen. Franklin's Nineteenth
Corps, accompanied by four gunboats,
left New Orleans without half dozen
pefsons having the least Suspicion OF
their destination.
Information had been received by the
government that the Confederate defenses
were of little account, and it was conf.
dently expected to take them by surprise
and come into possession without much
of fight. The defenses consisted of a
single dirt fort, mounting six guns, with
riAe-pits on the fanks. The garrison
had at no time numbered over sixty men,
and when the advance of the Federals
was first sighted there were only forty
four men, including officers, in the works.
The officers numbered but two, and both
were lieutenants.
Gunboats and transports reached
Sabine Pass in good shape, and after
several shells had been fired into the fort
without provoking an answer arrange:
ments were entered into for disembarking
the troops. 1t was decided that while
this was occurring the four gunboats
should, move up and pound away at the
fort. II It Vas gatfisuhed the garrison
would be driven out. If it had been
abandoned, as some of the officers seem.
ed to believe, the heavy missiles of the
gunboats would knock it to pieces.
At o'clock in the afternoon the
Clifton, Sachem and Arizona steamed
forward to engage the fort at short range,
and they had only fired one shot each
when the Gonfederates returned an
answer. The Sachem had the lead, and
as she steamed on she Used every gth
which could be brought to bear, and her
protected sharpshooters kept up q con-
slant fire at the embrasures of the fort.
The fourth shot fired at the Sachem
struck her amid ships with terrible force,
tearing off her planting and crashing her
timbers into splinters. Her steam pipe
wis cut Or btoksn, and 10 ten seconds her
crew were fighting an enemy Mofe Cruel
than shot or shell. The escaping steam
blistered, burned, killed. Inside of two
minutes her flag was hauled down and
the Sachem lay wreck on the water.
The Arizona drew too much water to
run in close, but as it was seen that the
Sachem had been disabled the Clifton
steamed in to take her place. 1t was
believed that so long as she kept moving
any shot which struck her would be an
accident, but she had scarcely reached
close.rapge position when she grounded
on the bar and swung into such posi-.
tion that the Confederates could bring
four out of the six guns to bear on her.
For ten minutes it vas give and take.
Realizing that he was on the bar hard
and strong, the captain of the Clifton
turned all his attention to the fort,
changing his shell for grape and cannis.
tet WHENEVER Confederate sharpshooters
showed theft heads above the parapet.
The gunboat was frequently struck, but
had sustained no great damage UP to the
instant the great calamity befel her. a
ponderous iron bolt struck her almost
where the Sachem was hit, crashed
through her side in the same manner, and
again it was the hot steam from the boil
ers which furnished the work of wreck
and surrender. The Clifton hauled down
her flag, and the transports, which had
been following her in to disembark the
troops, lost no time in getting out of
range.
The gallant action of the captain of
the Clifton in steaming up within such
close range, and of giving battle while
hard and fast aground, was tarnished by
his later conduct. After white flag
had been run up and the Confederates
had ceased firing, he ordered all the guns
spiked, and with his own hands fired q
solid shot through the center of the craft,
rendering her machinery entirely useless.
Nearly the entire crews, together with
over 100 sharpshooters, were made pris-
oners by the Confederates, and most of
the guns were soon made available.
Either crew outnumbered the men in the
fort, but upon the return of the e1pedi.
ton the fowery correspondents wrote of
$4,000 rebels behind the works." and
added that "the loss of the enemy was
without precedent in war" As point
of fact that can be proved to day, not one
single man in the fort was even wounded.
For more than an hour and half the
forty.two men were under fire which
never entirely ceased, and were given
solid shot, monster shells and liberal
doses of grape and canister, and yet not
so much as drop of blood was drawn.
At no time could all the guns be worked,
aod the crew at such as were being used
were more or less targets for the sharp.
shooters abroad the guuboats. While
the parapet was dug full of holes deep
enoug to bury horse, not one of the
guns was dismounted.
After the loss of the two gunboats the
others maintained long.range fire for
half an hour or so and then drew of.
The force of infantry aboard the tran.
sports was large enough to have taken
possession of the entire district, and had
come fully supplied for permanent occu:
patton, but council of war determined
on the abandonment of the expedition
and return to New Orleans. 1t seemed
rank cowardice 10 retreat from fort
mounting but six old.fashioned cannon
and already knocked into dirt-heap, but
that was the result. The Arizona out.
matched the fort in the weight and range
of her guns, and could have taken such
position as would have kept the Confed.
crates under fire with no chance to return
it. But no such movement was made.
She could have prevented the Confeder-
ates from possessing themselves of the
two gunboats, but the idea was to get
back to New Orleans. She withdrew,
followed by the well-armed Granite
State, and 4 couple of Confederate steam
ers came down the river and took possess
ion of the surrendered crafts. They
secured $50 prisoners, sixteen fine cannon,
large quantity of stores and ammuni;
A.. I'll