The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 65
641 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Battle of Calcasieu Pass
five times by artillery fire in the ninety-minute battle. Fourteen
cannon and 166 men were captured aboard the gunboats in a
victory comparable to those at Sabine Pass and Galveston in
material results, despite the fact that Union sailors had thrown
overboard all their small arms and spiked the heavy guns. Of more
interest to the ragged Texans were captured stores of oysters,
sardines, and hams upon which they feasted that night. Confed-
erate losses in the hotly contested action were eight killed and
fourteen wounded, with Griffin's battalion and Creuzbaur's Bat-
tery suffering sixteen of the twenty-two Texan casualties."
Prior to the battle a rumor had spread that a Federal raiding
party of 300 men was ashore seeking to destroy the schooner
Revenge and any other blockade-runners up the Calcasieu River.
To counter such a move Lieutenant Colonel Spaight had occupied
Lake Charles with the remaining companies of his infantry and
three companies of Daly's cavalry while Griffin's command ad-
vanced on Calcasieu Pass. The information later was proven to
be false, for only sixteen pickets and a small scouting party were
absent during the action on May 6.20
On May 7 news of the victory was received by the military
headquarters in both Shreveport and Houston. The dispatch to
district headquarters was accompanied by a request for men to
guard the prisoners at Camp Groce near Hempstead. First public
news of the battle broke in the Galveston Tri-Weekly News on
May 8. The column headline, proclaiming "Another Victory by
Texians," was echoed by the Houston Daily Telegraph's "Three
Cheers for Col. Griffin" the next day. From Shreveport on May 9
Magruder also sent his thanks and appreciation to Griffin's com-
mand, then ordered the Texans back to Sabine Pass which they
held without further alarm until the end of the war.21
lIbid.; reports of Colonel William H. Griffin, May 11, 17, 1864, Oficial Records,
Series I, Vol. XXXIV, Pt. 1, 912-914; Return of Casualties in the Confederate
forces at Calcasieu Pass, May 6, 1864, ibid., 914; Houston Daily Telegraph, May 11,
1864; Houston Daily Telegraph Supplement, May xx, 1864; Galveston Tri-Weekly
News, June 20o, 1864.
2olbid., May 8, 1864; Galveston "News" Bulletin, May 14, 1864; History of Spaight's
Regiment, A. W. Spaight Papers (typescript, Archives, University of Texas Library).
21Galveston Tri-Weekly News, May 8, 1864; Houston Daily Telegraph, May 9,
1864; Major General J. B. Magruder to Brigadier General P. O. H6bert, May 9, 1864,
Official Records, Series I, Vol. XXXIV, Pt. 3, 812-818; S. S. Anderson to General
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963, periodical, 1963; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101196/m1/79/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.