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Sabine Pass : The Confederacy's Thermopylae / Edward T. Cotham.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage SeriesPublisher: Austin : University of Texas Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©2004Description: 1 online resource (288 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780292797642
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 973.735 22
LOC classification:
  • E475.4 .C68 2004eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter One. Setting the Scene -- Chapter Two. The Admiral and the Forts -- Chapter Three. Attacking Texas -- Chapter Four. From Bar to Battle -- Chapter Five. Cottonclads with Cannon -- Chapter Six. Planning a Victory -- Chapter Seven. Texas Is the Target -- Chapter Eight. Sabine Pass as a Stepping-Stone -- Chapter Nine. The Navy Makes Its Plans -- Chapter Ten. The Expedition Departs -- Chapter Eleven. Revising the Plan -- Chapter Twelve. ‘‘Hold the Fort at All Hazards’’ -- Chapter Thirteen. Attack of the Gunboats -- Chapter Fourteen. Praise and Blame -- Chapter Fifteen. The War Ends for Fort Griffin -- Conclusion -- Appendix One. Report of Lieut. R.W. Dowling, Company ‘‘F,’’ Cook’s (Texas) Artillery, Concerning the Battle of Sabine Pass -- Appendix Two. Annotated List of Sabine Pass Battle Participants -- Appendix Three. Union Casualties at the Battle of Sabine Pass -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: In an 1882 speech, former Confederate president Jefferson Davis made an exuberant claim: "That battle at Sabine Pass was more remarkable than the battle at Thermopylae." Indeed, Sabine Pass was the site of one of the most decisive Civil War battles fought in Texas. But unlike the Spartans, who succumbed to overwhelming Persian forces at Thermopylae more than two thousand years before, the Confederate underdogs triumphed in a battle that over time has become steeped in hyperbole. Providing a meticulously researched, scholarly account of this remarkable victory, Sabine Pass at last separates the legends from the evidence. In arresting prose, Edward T. Cotham, Jr., recounts the momentous hours of September 8, 1863, during which a handful of Texans—almost all of Irish descent—under the leadership of Houston saloonkeeper Richard W. Dowling, prevented a Union military force of more than 5,000 men, 22 transport vessels, and 4 gunboats from occupying Sabine Pass, the starting place for a large invasion that would soon have given the Union control of Texas. Sabine Pass sheds new light on previously overlooked details, such as the design and construction of the fort (Fort Griffin) that Dowling and his men defended, and includes the battle report prepared by Dowling himself. The result is a portrait of a mythic event that is even more provocative when stripped of embellishment.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780292797642

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter One. Setting the Scene -- Chapter Two. The Admiral and the Forts -- Chapter Three. Attacking Texas -- Chapter Four. From Bar to Battle -- Chapter Five. Cottonclads with Cannon -- Chapter Six. Planning a Victory -- Chapter Seven. Texas Is the Target -- Chapter Eight. Sabine Pass as a Stepping-Stone -- Chapter Nine. The Navy Makes Its Plans -- Chapter Ten. The Expedition Departs -- Chapter Eleven. Revising the Plan -- Chapter Twelve. ‘‘Hold the Fort at All Hazards’’ -- Chapter Thirteen. Attack of the Gunboats -- Chapter Fourteen. Praise and Blame -- Chapter Fifteen. The War Ends for Fort Griffin -- Conclusion -- Appendix One. Report of Lieut. R.W. Dowling, Company ‘‘F,’’ Cook’s (Texas) Artillery, Concerning the Battle of Sabine Pass -- Appendix Two. Annotated List of Sabine Pass Battle Participants -- Appendix Three. Union Casualties at the Battle of Sabine Pass -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

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http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In an 1882 speech, former Confederate president Jefferson Davis made an exuberant claim: "That battle at Sabine Pass was more remarkable than the battle at Thermopylae." Indeed, Sabine Pass was the site of one of the most decisive Civil War battles fought in Texas. But unlike the Spartans, who succumbed to overwhelming Persian forces at Thermopylae more than two thousand years before, the Confederate underdogs triumphed in a battle that over time has become steeped in hyperbole. Providing a meticulously researched, scholarly account of this remarkable victory, Sabine Pass at last separates the legends from the evidence. In arresting prose, Edward T. Cotham, Jr., recounts the momentous hours of September 8, 1863, during which a handful of Texans—almost all of Irish descent—under the leadership of Houston saloonkeeper Richard W. Dowling, prevented a Union military force of more than 5,000 men, 22 transport vessels, and 4 gunboats from occupying Sabine Pass, the starting place for a large invasion that would soon have given the Union control of Texas. Sabine Pass sheds new light on previously overlooked details, such as the design and construction of the fort (Fort Griffin) that Dowling and his men defended, and includes the battle report prepared by Dowling himself. The result is a portrait of a mythic event that is even more provocative when stripped of embellishment.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2022)