As the steamer had not arrived in the morning, I left by
railroad for Galveston. General Scurry insisted upon sending his servant to
wait upon me, in order that I might become acquainted with “an aristocratic
negro.” “John” was a very smart fellow, and at first sight nearly as white as
myself.
In the cars I was introduced to General Samuel Houston, the
founder of Texan independence. He told me he was born in Virginia seventy years
ago, that he was United States senator at thirty, and governor of Tennessee at
thirty-six. He emigrated into Texas in 1832; headed the revolt of Texas, and
defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto in 1836. He then became President of the
Republic of Texas, which he annexed to the United States in 1845. As Governor
of the State in 1860, he had opposed the secession movement, and was deposed.
Though evidently a remarkable and clever man, he is extremely egotistical
and vain, and much disappointed at having to subside from his former grandeur.
The town of Houston is named after him. In appearance he is a tall, handsome
old man, much given to chewing tobacco, and blowing his nose with his fingers.1
I was also introduced to another “character,” Captain Chubb,
who told me he was a Yankee by birth, and served as coxswain to the United
States ship Java in 1827. He was afterwards imprisoned at Boston on suspicion
of being engaged in the slave trade; but he escaped. At the beginning of this
war he was captured by the Yankees, when he was in command of the Confederate
States steamer Royal Yacht, and taken to New York in chains, where he was
condemned to be hung as a pirate; but he was eventually exchanged. I was
afterwards told that the slave-trading escapade of which he was accused
consisted in his having hired a coloured crew at Boston, and then coolly selling
them at Galveston.
At 1 P.M., we arrived at Virginia Point, a tête-de-pont at the
extremity of the main land. Here Bates's battalion was encamped — called also
the “swamp angels,” on account of the marshy nature of their quarters, and of
their predatory and irregular habits. The railroad then traverses a shallow
lagoon (called Galveston Bay) on a trestle-bridge two miles long; this leads to
another tête-de-pont on Galveston island, and in a few minutes the city
is reached.
In the train I had received the following message by
telegraph from Colonel Debray, who commands at Galveston: — “Will Col.
Fremantle sleep to-night at the house of a blockaded rebel?” I answered:— “Delighted;”
and was received at the terminus by Captain Foster of the Staff, who conducted
me in an ambulance to headquarters, which were at the house of the Roman
Catholic bishop. I was received there by Colonel Debray and two very
gentlemanlike French priests.
We sat down to dinner at 2 P.M., but were soon interrupted
by an indignant drayman, who came to complain of a military outrage. It
appeared that immediately after I had left the cars a semi-drunken Texan of
Pyron's regiment had desired this drayman to stop, and upon the latter
declining to do so, the Texan fired five shots at him from his “six-shooter,”
and the last shot killed the drayman's horse. Captain Foster (who is a
Louisianian, and very sarcastic about Texas) said that the regiment would
probably hang the soldier for being such a disgraceful bad shot.
After dinner Colonel Debray took me into the observatory,
which commands a good view of the city, bay, and gulf.
Galveston is situated near the eastern end of an island
thirty miles long by three and a half wide. Its houses are well built; its
streets are long, straight, and shaded with trees; but the city was now
desolate, blockaded, and under military law. Most of the houses were empty, and
bore many marks of the illdirected fire of the Federal ships during the night
of the 1st January last.
The whole of Galveston Bay is very shallow, except a narrow
channel of about a hundred yards immediately in front of the now deserted
wharves. The entrance to this channel is at the north-eastern extremity of the
island, and is defended by the new works which are now in progress there. It is
also blocked up with piles, torpedoes, and other obstacles.
The blockaders were plainly visible about four miles from
land; they consisted of three gunboats and an ugly paddle steamer, also two
supply vessels.
The wreck of the Confederate cotton steamer Neptune
(destroyed in her attack on the Harriet Lane), was close off one of the
wharves. That of the Westfield (blown up by the Yankee Commodore), was off
Pelican Island.
In the night of the 1st January, General Magruder suddenly
entered Galveston, placed his field-pieces along the line of wharves, and
unexpectedly opened fire in the dark upon the Yankee war vessels at a range of
about one hundred yards; but so heavy (though badly directed) was the reply
from the ships, that the field-pieces had to be withdrawn. The attack by
Colonel Cook upon a Massachusetts regiment fortified at the end of a wharf,
also failed, and the Confederates thought themselves “badly whipped.” But after
daylight the fortunate surrender of the Harriet Lane to the cotton boat Bayou
City, and the extraordinary conduct of Commodore Renshaw, converted a
Confederate disaster into the recapture of Galveston. General Magruder
certainly deserves immense credit for his boldness in attacking a heavily armed
naval squadron with a few field-pieces and two river steamers protected with
cotton bales and manned with Texan cavalry soldiers.
I rode with Colonel Debray to examine Forts Scurry,
Magruder, Bankhead, and Point. These works have been ingeniously designed by
Colonel Sulokowski (formerly in the Austrian army), and they were being very
well constructed by one hundred and fifty whites and six hundred blacks under
that officer's superintendence, the blacks being lent by the neighbouring
planters.
Although the blockaders can easily approach to within three
miles of the works, and although one shell will always “stampede” the negroes,
yet they have not thrown any for a long time.2
Colonel Debray is a broad-shouldered Frenchman, and is a
very good fellow. He told me that he emigrated to America in 1848; he raised a
company in 1861, in which he was only a private; he was next appointed
aide-de-camp to the Governor of Texas, with the rank of brigadier-general; he
then descended to a major of infantry, afterwards rose to a lieutenant-colonel
of cavalry, and is now colonel.
Captain Foster is properly on Magruder's Staff, and is very
good company. His property at New Orleans had been destroyed by the Yankees.
In the evening we went to a dance given by Colonel Manly,
which was great fun. I danced an American cotillon with Mrs Manly; it was very
violent exercise, and not the least like anything I had seen before. A
gentleman stands by shouting out the different figures to be performed, and
every one obeys his orders with much gravity and energy. Colonel Manly is a
very gentlemanlike Carolinian; the ladies were pretty, and, considering the
blockade, they were very well dressed.
Six deserters from Banks's army arrived here to-day. Banks
seems to be advancing steadily, and overcoming the opposition offered by the
handful of Confederates in the Teche country.
Banks himself is much despised as a soldier, and is always
called by the Confederates Mr Commissary Banks, on account of the efficient
manner in which he performed the duties of that office for “Stonewall” Jackson
in Virginia. The officer who is supposed really to command the advancing
Federals, is Weitzel; and he is acknowledged by all here to be an able man, a
good soldier, and well acquainted with the country in which he is manoeuvring.
_______________
1 He is reported to have died in August 1863.
2 Such a stampede did occur when the blockaders
threw two or three shells. All the negroes ran, showing every sign of great
dismay, and two of them, in their terror, ran into the sea, and were
unfortunately drowned. It is now, however, too late for the ships to try this
experiment, as some heavy guns are in position. A description of the different
works is of course omitted here.
SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three
months in the southern states: April-June, 1863, p. 65-71
