The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1911-10-14
mo, ma'am," he answered blandly.
did you want them with worms?"
REMARKABLE BATTLE
That Of Sabine Pass, Fought on Sop
tember 9th, 1868.

s"~s W SAD'ue TaSSy Fou9ne on oeP.
tember 9th, 1868.
Not all the battles of the War of the
Rebellion are as famed as they should
be.
The Rev. Thomas B. Gregory is writ
ing for New York paper a series of
stories of remarkable engagements
during the war.
Here is his history of the little
known but truly remarkable Battle of
Sabine Pass, fought September Sth,
1868:
Forty-eght years ago today, Sep
TENDER 8, 1863, was fought the battle
Of Sabine Pass. down in the extreme
southeastern corner of the State of
Texas. A great many of the histories
Of the late unpleasantness" fail to
make even so much as a mention of
this fight, Notwithstanding the fact
that it was perhaps the most remark
able of all the twenty-five hundred
fights. big and little, that came off
during the war.
The military authorities of the I'm
ion, perceiving the strategic import
ance of the possession of the Sabine
Pass, leading up, as it did, into the
Sabine Lake, and thence into the in
terror of the Lone Star State" sent
against it a large expedition of land
and naval forces consisting, altogeth-
er, of some ten or twelve thousand
men and nineteen gunboats.
No adequate provision had been
such force, and the only defense of
the Pass consisted of small earth
work which was garrisoned at the
time by forty-two men and two lieu
tenants, with an armament of six
guns. The officers and men were all
lrishmen. the company being known
as the Davis Guards"
Beginning the attack little after
noon, the Union forces rained shot and
shell upon the fort for more than two
hours without a moments let up. The
officers in the fort coolly held their fire
until the attacking fleet was within
good range, and then opened on it
with all of their pieces. About 5 o'clock
the Union fleet ceased firing and drew
off into the Gulf.
The result of the battle was the
capture by the little garrison of two
gunboats, the Clifton and the Sachem,
with eighteen heavy guns and one
hundred and fifty prisoners, inflicting
upon the attacking force, in the mean
wounded The garrison did not lose a
man. Not one of them was even so
much as hurt.
The capture of so many men by such
a small force made it necessary that
the garrison should add to their valor
with no little stratagem, and this is
how they did it. A few men were
placed on the parapet as sentinels,
while the rest marched out as a guard
to receive the prisoners and their
arms. Thus was concealed the fact
that the fort was empty.
All things considered, it was GER
tainly a wonderful piece of work, that
defense of the Sabine Pass. 1t is
doubtful if its like can be found any
where in the annals of war. Certainly
there is nothing that even approxi-
mates it in the story of the Civil War
Were it not so we'll attested, it would
be next to impossible to believe that
forty-two men and couple of officers
in a rude earthen fort, did actually
without the loss of a man, success
fully resist and finally drive off fleet
OF nineteen warships, capturing two
of them, with eighteen great guns and
a hundred and fifty prisoners, besides
killing and wounding over fifty of the
enemy.