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East Texas Historical Journal Volume 4 Issue 2 Article 10 10-1966 N.H. Smith's Letters from Sabine Pass, 1863 Alwyn Barr Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj  Part of the United States History Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Recommended Citation Barr, Alwyn (1966) "N.H. Smith's Letters from Sabine Pass, 1863," East Texas Historical Journal: Vol. 4 : Iss. 2 , Article 10. Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol4/iss2/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History at SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in East Texas Historical Journal by an authorized editor of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact cdsscholarworks@sfasu.edu. 140 East Texas Historical JournalN. H. SMITH'S LETTERS FROM SABINE PASS, 1863Edited byALWYN BARRSabine Pass, which separates the coasts of Texas and Louisiana andprovides access to the Sabine and the Neches rivers, was a pivotalpoint throughout the American Civil War. The Te.xas Secession Con-vention voted to fortify the pass in March, 1861. A local citizens' com-mittee soon thereafter erected temporary works and provided the firstartillery for the post, two antiquated twelve-pounders. A battalion ofConfederate troops was raised by Lieutenant Colonel James B. Likensin 1861 for defense of the pass, and was reorganized in 1862 underLieutenant Colonel Ashley W. Spaight. Confederate control continueduntil the fall of 1862, when a yellow fever epidemic and inadequateartillery forced the garrison to spike its guns and retreat before Federalwarships which entered the pass. In January, 1863, a surprise attack byimprovised Confederate cottonclad gunboats captured two Union block-aders off Sabine Pass and regained control of the estuary.lMajor General John B. Magruder, commander of the Confederatemilitary district of Texas, New Me.."Cico, and Arizona, then sent hisengineers to Jay out new defenses for the protection of the pass. Newworks were drawn up and heavier cannon were brought in by ColonelValery Sulakowski and Major Getulius Kellersberger. Once construc~tion was underway, its completion was left to Lieutenant N. H. Smithwho arrived in early August to assume command of a detachment ofheavy artillery, fonnerly sappers and miners, which had been on tempo-rary engineering duty at Sabine Pass since May, 1863.2 They wereprobably assisted by the garrison and possibly by slave labor.Before the project was finished, a Federal invasion force appearedon September 7. In the battle of Sabine Pass which followed on Sep-tember 8, Lieutenant Dick Dowling assigned Smith to command thesection of thirty-two--pounders in the fort's sLx-gun battery. The Con-federate cannoneers then proceeded to disable and capture two Uniongunboats while driving the remainder of the invasion fleet out to sea.In his report, Dowling said that Smith. "by his coolness and bravery,won the respect and admiration of the whole command." Following thevictory, Magruder concentrated additional troops in the area., and Sula-kowski and Kellersberger made extensive improvements and additionsto the fortifications at the pass.sNaturally, Smith from time to time wrote to his commanding officerin Galveston, Captain M. G. Howe, both before and after the battle.Four of the lieutenant's letters have been preserved in the Howe Col-lection in the Archives of the University of Te."{as Library. AlthoughSmith left no account of the battle itself, the letters provide a some-East Texas Historical Journal 141times humorous suggestion of conditions at Sabine Pass in August andSeptember, 1863.Smith's spelling has been changed only in the case of proper names,since it is otherwise generally understandable. Periods and commas havebeen added to clarify his statements since he used almost no punctuation.All changes are in brackets.Engineers OfficeSabine Pass Aug 26'/63Capt M G HoweCommdg S rappers] and MinersDear CaptYours of the 15th came to hand Two days Since and Shouldhave been answered byt that I awated this oportunity[.] If the nameof [Sergeant F.] Weinberg does not appear on the power of attourneysent you it is yerry Strange for I was sure he bad Signed, his intentionwas to have signed- I have payed the whole party bere nine in num-ber for two months Extra duty amounting to forty five Dols pr manfor all e.xcept Weinberg and him I paid fifty one whicb I think youwill find corred by the Rolls of last month[.]I send Corp [August] Pau[ts]cbe after clothing for the detacbmenthere[.] you will please furnish him, some of the men are naked andotbers barefooted!,] all want something[.]Yours TrulyN H SmithLt Hvy Art on EngService and in chg SabineEng OfficeSabine Pass Aug 26th/63Capt M G HoweDear CaptYou will please send me by Corp Pau[ts]che one of myhorsesL] I would prefer you sent the mustang unless Capt Kossy wishesto buy him at the price I offered Say $250.00[.] in case you send himlet the Capt use the sorell, the musquetoes are so bad here that it isalmost impossible for a man or horse to live and I do not wish to havethe sorel suffer if I can prevent iU.] if Capt Kossy wants the mustangsend the other and oblige[.]Your True friendN H SmithI wish to God you would relieve me at this place[.lHead Qr Army MusQuetoes5Sabine Pass Aug 26thJ63Capt M G HoweYou ,,\;11 perceive my letter is from the general Hd Qr of thispost[.] would to God that I had not been so mucb honorred but it istwo lateL] Should you unfortunately be obliged to stick your nose outfrom under the bar after the sun goes down you can then have apractical demonstration of what I mean[.] in otherwords should it ever142 East Texas Hi8toricalJournalRespectfully YoursN H SmithLt Sappers and MinersYour friend (in suffering)·N H Smithallow for the imagination [.]be your misfortune to be sent to this accursed of all places bring withyou a bar sufficiently larg for you to lay with your feet strached outfor I am just out of bed and my feet are so badly swolen that I canhardly wear a shoe- I am here Capt for God knows how long[.]you Know what it is to finish up a piece of work like this and haveno material to do it with [.] I have the quarters of the troops to buildyet[,] some where near one Thousand feet of piling to driver,] the fortto palisade[,] four Guns yet to Mount with God Knows how muchmoreL] to commce with I have not one pile[,] about fifty palisades[,]no lumber for quarlersLl with an order just l"eCVd. to send. the best manCorp [George] Rube to Niblets BluII'L]' oh curse the Luck[.] I wishI was back in Galveston- Write me by Pau[ts]ch and give me all thenewsL]1'My hands are blistered writing this letter[.]Capt. M G HoweSappers and MinersCaptYou will please send. me to this place by first safe oppor-tunity four suits of clothing for our men at this place as I had thatnumber Stolen during the late engagementf.]Eng OfficeSabine Pass Sept 16th 1863P SThis place is hell[.] I wish you were here to help me[.] I have noneand the Col [Sulakowskil is in more of a burry than be was in Gal-veston in Feby_8 I am working now about 18 hours in 24[.]Your Sincere friend(Write me a long friendly letter) N H SmithFOOTNOTESlErnest W. Winkler (ed.), Journal of the Secession Convention of Tuas,1881 (Austin, 1912), 133; K. D. Keith, "Military Operations: SabinePass, 1861-63," Burke's Tezas Almuooc and hnmigrants Handbook for188$ (Houston, 1883), 65-68; Alwyn Barr, IITexas Coastal Defense, 1861-1865," Southwestern. Historical Quarterly, LXV, 4, 6, 12-13, 18-19.2Getulius Kellersberger (Helen Sundstrom, trans.), Memoirs of anEngineer in the Confederate Army in Texas (Austin, 1957), 29-31; V.Sulakowski to Captain Edmund P. Turner, August 2, 1863, War of theRebellion: A Compilation of the Official. Re_d. of the Union and Con-federate Armies (70 vols. in 128; Washington, 1880-1901), Series I, Vol.XXVI, Pt. 2. 133; Muster Roll of Captain l\'I. G. Howe's Company ofHeavy Artillery Assigned to Engineer Service, from 30 June, 1863 to31 August, 1863 (IV!. G. Howe Collection, Archives, University of TexasLibrary).East Texas Historical Journal 143'Report of Lieutenant R. W. Dowling, September 9, 1863, Official Rec-ords, Series I, Vol. XXVI, Pt. I, 311; Frank X. Tolbert, Dick Dowlingat Sabine Pass (New York, 1962) j Andrew Forest Muir, "Dick Dowlingand the Battle of Sabine Pass," Civil War Hiatory, IV, 394-428j JoYoung, "The Battle of Sabine Pass," Southwestern Historical Quarterly,LII, 398-409; Alwyn Barr, "Sabine Pass, September, 1863," Texas Mil-itary History, II, 17-22.'The number 6 was written over the number 3 at this point.~Kellersberger, lIfemoiT8, 31, confirms Smith's constant references to thenear plague of mosquitoes in the Sabine Pass area.'Niblett's Bluff, on the Louisiana side of the Sabine River a few milesabove Orange, was a major Confederate supply center for goods beingsent from Texas to the Southern troops in Louisiana.'This i. perhaps the only statement of Confederate preparedness writ-ten in the days immediately preceding the battle. Apparently only the fourcannon were mounted in the interval before September 8, 1863. V. Sul-akowski to J. KeUersberg, October 5, 1863, Official Rec<>rds, Series I,Vol. XXVI, Pt. 2, 298-299.8Sulakowski also had been in charge of the constrnction of fortificationsin Galveston after the recapture of the port city by Magruder on Jan-uary 1, 1863.

N.H. Smith\u27s Letters from Sabine Pass, 1863

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N.H. Smith\u27s Letters from Sabine Pass, 1863

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