The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 364
434 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
der a flag of truce from Virginia Point, as the citizens declared,10
very sparingly.
On the night of December 31, 1862, the Harriet Lane was an-
chored near the western end of the ship channel off Thirty-first
Street, with the fires of her furnaces banked. The Owasco,
Sachem, and Clifton were anchored at intervals along the three
miles of city front, with light heads of steam on in their boilers,
sufficient to move them if necessary. The flagship. Westfield was
at the entrance to the harbor with full head of steam, ready for
patrol duty, and on watch for any blockade runner that might
attempt to enter the harbor.
There had been nothing unusual happening in several days, no
intelligence of unusual activities among the Confederate garrisons;
so no more than usual vigilance was being observed when at two
o'clock next morning the signal lights began to flash and the crews
were turned out of their hammocks to the alarm, "The enemy is
approaching." There was none of the fleet, except the Westfield,
with sufficient steam on to maneuver. The lights of the furnace
fires of several vessels coming down the bay from the northward
had been seen, and there was no doubt of their hostile character.
The Westfield left her station and started up Bolivar Channel
intending to pass east and north of Pelican Island and thus place
herself in the rear of the approaching vessels as they passed down
the channel to the west of the island to enter the ship channel,
where the other vessels of the fleet lay at anchor. The steersman
miscalculated the force of the tide or trend of the channel, and
she suddenly went hard aground off the east end of the island,
about two miles from her station. It was then discovered that
the Confederate vessels were in retreat, and were disappearing to
the northward. The Federals decided that it had only been a
reconnaissance, and their crews were ordered below to their ham-
mocks.
Five miles away on the island a long gray column that had
crept across the railroad trestle from the main land and was slowly
advancing to the city had halted in confusion. When things grew
'"Personal letters of N. D. Labadie, P. C. Tucker, W. P. Doran, et al.
See, however, report of Col. I. S. Burrell, December 29, 1862, Off. Recs.,
Ser. I, Vol. XV, 204.364
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918, periodical, 1918; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101073/m1/370/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.