Galveston was a Civil War engagement fought in Texas, 1862. It was a Union victory.
The U.S. Navy began a blockade of Galveston Harbor in July 1861, but the town remained in Confederate hands for the next 14 months. At 6:00 am on October 4, 1862, Cdr. W.B. Renshaw, commanding the blockading ships in the Galveston Bay area, sent Harriet Lane into the harbor, flying a flag of truce. The intention was to inform the military authorities in Galveston that if the town did not surrender, the U.S. Navy ships would attack; a one-hour reply would be demanded. Col. Joseph J. Cook, Confederate military commander in the area, would not come out to the Union ship or send an officer to receive the communication, so Harriet Lane weighed anchor and returned to the fleet. Four Union steamers, with a mortar boat in tow, entered the harbor and moved to the same area where Harriet Lane had anchored. Observing this activity, Confederates at Fort Point fired one or more shots and the U.S. Navy ships answered. Eventually, the Union ships disabled the one Confederate gun at Fort Point and fired at other targets. Two Rebel guns from another location opened on the Union ships. The boat that Col. Cook had dispatched now approached the Union vessels and two Confederate officers boarded U.S.S. Westfield. Renshaw demanded an unconditional surrender of Galveston or he would begin shelling. Cook refused Renshaw's terms, and conveyed to Renshaw that upon him rested the responsibility of destroying the town and killing women, children, and aliens. Renshaw threatened to resume the shelling and made preparations for towing the mortar boat into position. One of the Confederate officers then asked if he could be granted time to talk with Col. Cook again. This officer, a major, negotiated with Renshaw for a four-day truce to evacuate the women, children, and aliens from the city. Cook approved the truce but added a stipulation that if Renshaw would not move troops closer to Galveston, Cook would not permit his men to come below the city. The agreement was finalized but never written down, which later caused problems. The Confederates did evacuate, taking all of their weapons, ammunition, supplies, and whatever they could carry with them. Renshaw did not think that the agreement allowed for all this but, in the end, did nothing, due to the lack of a written document. The fall of Galveston meant that one more important Confederate port was closed to commerce. But the port of Galveston was not shut down for long.
On January 1, 1863, Confederate forces commanded by Major Gen. John B. Magruder drove occupying Union soldiers out of Galveston, Texas, in a clash that combined both naval and land combat during the American Civil War.
The engagement took a decisive turn after the cutter Harriet Lane fell into Confederate hands. Union Fleet Commander William B. Renshaw, unwilling to let the grounded USS Westfield be captured by the enemy, destroyed it himself. This action created confusion among Union troops stationed on land, who mistakenly believed their fleet was surrendering and consequently put down their weapons.
Because an earlier engagement, the Battle of Galveston Harbor in October 1862, is at times referred to as the First Battle of Galveston, this later clash is occasionally known as the Second Battle of Galveston.
Leon Smith led a pair of Confederate cottonclad vessels, the CS Bayou City and the CS Neptune, out of Houston toward Galveston, hoping to challenge the Union ships stationed there. That Union fleet in Galveston Harbor included the Clifton, the Harriet Lane, the Westfield, the Owasco, the Corypheus, and the Sachem, giving the Northern side a six-to-two advantage in vessels. Union gunfire tore into the Neptune, leaving it crippled almost immediately and ultimately sending it to the bottom. The Bayou City fared better, managing to seize the Harriet Lane despite the lopsided numbers.
Meanwhile the Westfield ran aground on a sandbar. Fighting paused briefly under a truce, and the Confederates, though still facing greater numbers, dispatched an officer to discuss terms under which the Union fleet might yield. Their plan called for every Northern vessel except one to be handed over, with that single ship allowed to depart the harbor carrying the crews from all the others. Commander William B. Renshaw refused this arrangement and chose instead to blow up the stranded Westfield so it would not be taken by the enemy.
The charges detonated ahead of schedule, killing Renshaw along with a number of his men. Watching from shore, Union soldiers mistook the destruction for a sign that their fleet was giving up and put down their weapons. Yet the ships that remained never surrendered; they managed to pull back safely to New Orleans, which stayed under Union control.
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