The evening times., 1899-09-20
THE BATTLE OF FORT BOWLING
A Remarkable Achievement of the
Civil War.
(From the Nashville Democracy

Where the Gulf of Mexico comes into
the Sabine Lake. on the coast of Texas.
near the Louisiana line, there is mar
row channel of water which is about 400
yards wide. On the north bank of this
little channel today one sees the smoke
stack, a few feet above the water, of a
sunken boat Just opposite to ii, on the
southern bank, there is dirt wall, square
in its shape. and about ten feet high. and
over this is painted sign that reads
Fort bowling" That is all that now
lives as evidence of a thrilling drama. the
equal of which the world has never SEEN
and that was played out at this place back
yonder in the closing days of our civil
war.
General Banks, with plenty Of men and
boats and plenty of ammunition and sup
plies, had gone up the Red River into
Louisiana and was hammering Kirby
Smith and Dick Taylor into destruction.
The Federal Government conceived the
idea that Smith and Taylor might be at
tackled in the rear by an expedition landed
on the shores of Sabine Lake, and consist
ing of some ten thousand men, who would
be transported to their landing by part
of the Federal fleet To reach the banks of
the lake, of course, it was necessary to go
through Sabine Pass-this narrow channel
of which l have spoken. Richard Bowling.
as scout for Smith and Taylor, and saw
the evidence of the coming of this fleet of
gunboatS and transports, and with his
forty men, took possession of a little mud
fort at the mouth of the pass, in which
there were three or four six-pounders and
perhaps a siege gun. There he waited with
guns loaded and Instructions given to his
men that they must not fire until the gun
boats came well abreast of him, only about
300 yards away. His plan of action was
not to shoot until they were Immediately
opposite. and then to discharge his whole
battery at the gunboat. This was done sue
ceSsfully; her boilers were exploded. and.
/; together with hundreds of soldiers she sank
to the spot where she now rests. Many
died from the steam that scalded them,
more from the water that engufed them
Loading his guns, he sank the next yes
sci with the same disastrous result to the
enemy, and loading yet again, he turned
his guns on the transport following, with
thous md men aboard her. She, in re-
sponse, ran up white flag. The rest of
the feet turned and sailed away, leaving
the dead bodies of the drowned soldiers
and the sunken vessels. Dowling in
dugout (this is followed log or canoe.
as it is variously called, padded himself
out to receive the surrender of this trans
port with a thousand men. The comman-
der of the, vessel expressed his surprise at
such reception of his white-flag token,
and asked why the commander of the fort
didn't come in person to receive his sur
render Dowling replied: Il am the COM
mander and have come in person." to
which the captain said: well, what do
you mean by coming this way, in a canoe
by YOURSELF" Bowling answered: "I have
no other way of getting here, and hence
came in my dugout.' He received the
surrender, paroled the prisoners, for he
could not take them in charge, and went
back to his comrades. OF these forty, only
| one had received wound at all, though
| the gunboats had shelled the little mud
earthwork diligently.
In the history of the world nothing SINH
| lar, unless 1t be the battle of New Orleans,
has ever happened, and yet such is the
| large earelessness of the Southern charac-
| ters in recording its wonderful and numer-
| Gus deeds of heroism that but little notice
| has ever been taken of this extraordinary
battle.