Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-10

uordful Of Slen Defeated a Great
" ccdera, 4rmy at sabine Pass

handful OF Nlen Defeated Great
q .,a,Joral trny at Saline Pass.
-. ,5> yeso orleans P5cay7sac.
...,ro Pass is invested with an historl-
oo Importance Of which even many
,,,orners are ignoTaot. EX'Presldeht
SOU !, the Rise aud Fall Of the Con-
p1,..4o Governments" says that the Cir
r,s,ances are so remarkable as proper
,~.o he considered marvellous.
sanfember. 1868, the strategic i'm
nrc. Ia the Union forces ot the pos
p'I.'''r ~ sabine river caused the or%anl-
sep If a large expedition OF land and
zS..oi" forcas to enter and ascend the river,
neal.'"''.,oas.tul it gave them short lines for
n5rotion against the interior OF 1eAas.
oie1I""oiisyad Inem OF the discontinue re-
a"Iu,ir,r from their expulsion from Cal
eU.,m@ h.rhor. The fleet Of the enemy
f',,LnrDd % vessels. Tne forces were
TWISTED 10 be 10000 men, under MAJ
1 S'n William b. Franklin and Brig.
u r. Emory, Godfrey Weltzel ana
-VicLers0n. No adequate provision
had been made TO resist such lorce' ana
A @G fhe circumstances none might
En ", heeu promptly made on which
n"To,ca could have been reasonably
lTaT 4 few miles above the entrance
I|o tho sabine river small earthWorS
~ NOE, constructed, garrls0ned at the
Una If the action by AZ men and two
iia,,tprar:s. with an armament OF six
's TbA officers and men were all Irish
I'm ana the company was called the
Guards. The Captain, f. Il. Cd
lam yeas temporarily absent, so tbat the
n,n,mard deYoived on Lieut.. Il. W. Dow
I.ng Like Mouitre in the revolutionary
y al Dt,h fI1 ~ 10
lava the fort. Commodore Leon smith,
nnmendIng the Marine Department OF
r'yas saws in his Official report OF Sept
9, 1853: 1.oa
+Aoonrmy of and inside he bar with 10
CInboats and steam ships and other Ships
sI.Wsr carving. as well as | could Judge,
T-N0 men. ! proceeded with Capt. Cd
INN 10 the fort and found Lieut.. n. Ii.
smih of the Engineer Corps, with AZ
n'4r defending the fort. Until p. M.
onrmen did not open fire on the enemy, as
,Ea range was too distant. The officers of
The Tort coolly held their f1reuntIl the en-.
emv had approached near enough to
r-acb them. But when the enemy ar
Nod within good range our batteries
we're opened and CALAMITY replied to a
calling and most terrific fire from the en-.
emv. AZ entered the fort the gunboats
C,iiion. Arizona. Sachem and Granite
Ctate. with several others, came boldly
,uto wltolu 1.O00 yards aud opened their
batteries. which were calamity and effect
jyev reulied to by the Davis Guards. For
on. DOuT and so minutes most terrific
bombardment OF grape, canister and
shell was directed against our heroic and
devoted little band within the fort. The
slot struck in every direction, but,
thanks be to God, not one OF the noble
DAVIS Guards was hurt. Every
man stood at his post, regardless of the
nurderous ire that was poured upon
them from every direction. The result of
the battle, which lasted from $3.50 TO d.
H.. WAS the capturing of the Clifton and
S4cnem, IS heavy guns, $50 prisoners,
aad the killing and wOunding of 90 men
and driving outside the bar OF % vessels
in ALL
tine inquiry may naturally arise how
this small number OF men could take
charge OF so large a body of prisoners.
This required mat to their valor they
should add stratagem. A few men were
placed on the parapets as sentlnels, the
rest were marched out as a guard TO re-
Ceye the prisoners and their arms. Thus
was concealed the fact that the fort was
empty. The report of the guns bonn
harding the fort had been heard, and soon
ments arrived, which relieved the little
garrison from its embarr assment.
"A few days after the battle each man
that participated in the fight was pre-
sented with a silver medal, inscribed as
follows: On one side ID. g. for the
Davis Guards, and on the reverse side
Sabine Pass Sent g. 1Sk3'c