The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1898-06-30
nc RATTLE OF SABINEPAS
j. the Most Remarkable in
History--42 Men Defeated
) Fleet of y Vessels.

oura By ths sue u
''.onss commonplace, and the hero
w.. u Napeleon's old guard is
- matter of moonshine and
bids play.
People are not eager to credit mir
..Ies unless they are scented with
ne dust of ages. Sabine Pass is
affair of yesterday; consequently
he chronicler Of events would hard
!, s.pect the world to credit the
no., brilliant story that history has
: tell. were it not that every fact is
.u.tained by brave, honorable and
truthful participants on both sides
One hesitates to ask posterity to
belieye that forty two men in little
and fort, with an armament of six
q noupders, defeated a fleet of "a
r.ssels, carrying a land army of
1000 men, and that after capturing 2
IRON clads, with all the crews and
officers, they drove the whole armada
n sea- Nevertheless, all of this
happened at Sabine Pass, on the
west of Texas, on the goth of Sep
tsmber, 1864
It is not difficult to write the facts
for it Is a plain, straightforward
story, we'll authenticated by the re
mort OF General Franklin, who CON
handed the land forces, and by
papers in the confederate archives
now in the war office at Washington.
Everything connected with the affair
Il 40 incredible that few historians
have dared to treat it in an impartial
spirit.
General Banks, whom the confed-
crates had saluted in the Red river
country as slate Quartermaster to
Stonewall Jackson" conceived the
idea of capturing Houston, Texas,
and, fearing to attack Galveston, he
sent a feet of "a vessels, carrying a
land army OF 1000 men, with orders
TO "pulverizs the ant hills and dis
mount the popguns at Sabine Pass. ;"
The fleet was ordered to hold and
fortify the place. while General
Franklin disembsrked and marched
across the country and reduced
Houston to submission.
The plan was no less brilliant on
paper than in the council OF war
This fleet, composed of ships of the
line, srmored gunboats and trans
ports, spread far out over the Gull
of Mexico, and was certainly an OBJ
ject of terror when it appeared IL
the citing beyond the bars of the
Sabine, but the AZ Irishmen were
there to hold the fort or die by the
side of their guns.
On the morning Of the 20th Of Sep
TENDER four irouclads cleared thel
decks for action almost within mus
ket shot of Fort Grigsby, which wa
the only fertilization of any kln(
that defended the pass.
The little garrison stood by tn
guns for two long hours, while sho
and she'll was rained on the mu'
walls, and the big guns of the flee
sent fhrieking balls inside OF tn
works. There was never quite sue
a hell on earth as in that little por
but not man asked the boy CON
msnder to lower the flag.
A brave woman at the hotel sen
the braYe fellows a gallon of whi'
ky, and told them that if they oil
not open fire pretty soon she woul
come TO them and man one of til
guns herself.
The first shot frcm the fort We
we'll aimed. The ball passe
through the steam boilers of one
the gunboats, and the escaping he
steam and scalding water forced til
crew to jump into the sea. Lieutel
ant Bowling sprang upon the par
pet and ordered the whole batter
to be trained upon the nearest iro'
clad. The irss volley disabled ht
and she struck her colors. Th
other two gunboats fastened to g
eat of her line of fire. The big tle'
xsssr pouring shot and shell into Il
fork for more than an hour tinsll
driftsd to sea with one ship di