A Little Silly History

Captain Renshaw Blows Himself Up

In the Battle of Galveston in 1862, Union forces occupied the Confederate city for three months, blockading the largest Texas port. Confederate troops covered riverboats in bales of cotton to attempt to armor them against Union cannon. On New Year’s Day 1863 two Confederate riverboats tried to sneak into Galveston Bay. One ship was immediately sunk, and a small ground force was repelled by six Union warships in the harbor.

Confederate Irregulars Force Union Soldiers into the Sea

The apparent Union victory was thwarted when the Confederate Bayou City overpowered the USS Lane’s crew and the USS Westfield became moored on a sandbar. Both sides called a truce to consider their awkward positions. Captain Renshaw of the Westfield botched an attempt to destroy his ship to keep it out of enemy hands, and explosives killed Renshaw and 13 members of his crew. The other Union ships, confused if not defeated, headed out into open sea. The city remained in Southern hands for the remainder of the war, but the devastating blockade was restored in ten days.