Creuzbaur's Battery, C.S.A. "The Big Guns of Fayette"
Schulenburg, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in Fayette County, 1861, by Edmund Creuzbaur, a former Prussian artillery officer, and composed of around 150 men, 4 cannons, 72 horses, 39 mules. It served as both light and heavy field artillery at Fort Brown, Sabine Pass and other points in Texas and Louisiana. The unit at Calcasieu Pass, La., May 1864, attacked and captured two Union gunboats. In the 75-minute fight, one ship was hit 65 times; Wm. Kneip was killed; of the wounded, three later died. Capt. Creuzbaur soon after resigned and his brother-in-law, Capt. Charles Welhausen, assumed the command. (1965)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Raised in Fayette County in 1861 and led by former Prussian artillery officer Edmund Creuzbaur, this Confederate battery of roughly 150 men and four cannons served across Texas and Louisiana. Its most dramatic action came at Calcasieu Pass in May 1864, where it attacked and captured two Union gunboats in a 75-minute fight. The unit later passed to Creuzbaur's brother-in-law, Capt. Charles Welhausen.
Why it matters
The battery shows how immigrant military expertise and local volunteers shaped the Confederate war effort along the Gulf Coast, far from the war's famous eastern battlefields.
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Related people
- · Edmund Creuzbaur
- · Charles Welhausen
- · Wm. Kneip
Related events
- · Battle of Calcasieu Pass
Themes & tags
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