The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 375
434 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The United States Gunboat Harriet Lane
glasses could see every wharf in the harbor, and most of what
happened thereon-and a cruiser was dispatched in pursuit.
When the Harriet Lane arrived off her destined port, a Federal
warship was observed awaiting her. Attempting to escape up the
coast, the chase became too warm, and Captain Barney seeing cap-
ture imminent, ran his vessel aground, fired her cargo, and escaped
with his crew to the shore in his small boats. She was not badly
injured, for the fire was got under control. Refloated, she was
taken into the harbor as a prize of war, duly condemned, declared
unfit for naval use, and sold. Her purchasers removed the dam-
aged engines and paddle wheels, shipped a third mast and altered
her rig to that of three-masted fore-and-aft schooner. Her name
was changed to the Elliot Ritchie, and she was put into the At-
lantic coastwise service with Philadelphia as her home port.28 She
several times visited Galveston harbor after the war, with cargoes
of coal and merchandise. I saw here there myself in 1878-1879.
She was abandoned at sea in 1881 when on fire with a cargo of
coal. This closes her career.
The following correspondence taken from the files of the Gal-
veston News may be of some interest:
Hempstead, Waller Co., Tex., January 5th.
The News of today contains a report of the, opening of the
Grand Opera House by Miss Marie Wainright's Company. The
lady is a daughter of Captain J. M. Wainright, commanding the
U. S. sloop of war, Harriet Lane, one of the ships engaged in the
battle of Galveston, January 1st, 1863, who lost his life when the
boarding Confederate troops of the Bayou City steamer captured
his ship.
Captain Wainright was standing on the bridge of his ship, giv-
ing orders, when he received a bullet under his left eye, killing
him. The shot was fired by , one of Greens' Brigade,
named of Washington county. Another member, pri-
vate , rushed forward and received the revolver, an old-
fashioned Colt's cap and ball pistol. He presented it to another
member named Howell. The sword unbuckled from the waist of
the corpse was taken by another member, who is said to have pre-
sented it to First Lieutenant James V. Riley, who, in line of pro-
motion after the death of his captain, A. R. Wier, who was in-
"W. P. Doran (Sioux) in Galveston Daily News, May 22, 1895.
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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/m1/381/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.