Galveston, C. S. A.
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Most important Texas seaport during the Civil War. Had consulates of England, France and Spain and worldwide recognition as a cotton exporter. Set up defenses including 10 mud forts and gun batteries on beaches, at railroad depot and on Pelican Spit. Continued shipping cotton in spite of Federal blockade which began in July 1861. Blockade runners used speed, shallow draft ships, wit and courage to escape the Federal ships and haul cotton to Nassau, Havana or Europe and return with guns, medicines and other goods essential to the Confederacy. In Oct. 1862, lack of guns large enough to stop a Federal bombardment caused Gov. F. R. Lubbock to call for evacuation of civilians. The 42nd Massachusetts regiment occupied the city Dec. 25. A week later, Jan. 1, 1863, Confederates recaptured it with forces led by Gen. John B. Magruder, Col. Tom Green and Capts. Leon Smith and Henry Lubbock with "Horse Marines" (mounted Rangers) and "Cotton Clads" (ships walled in cotton bales with gun embrasures). The Trans-Miss. Dept., last Confederate force to surrender, signed terms here June 2, 1865. Federal occupation on June 19 proclaimed Emancipation, and ex-slaves afterwards celebrated "Juneteenth."
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Galveston was Texas's most important seaport during the Civil War, a cotton-exporting city with foreign consulates and a ring of mud forts and gun batteries. Even under Federal blockade, daring blockade runners slipped out to Nassau, Havana, and Europe, trading cotton for guns and medicine. Confederates under General John B. Magruder retook the city on January 1, 1863, and the Trans-Mississippi Department made its final surrender here—followed on June 19 by the Emancipation proclamation that gave rise to Juneteenth.
Why it matters
Galveston witnessed both the Confederacy's last stand and the announcement of freedom that became Juneteenth, binding the Civil War's military end to the birth of a national celebration of emancipation.
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Related people
- · John B. Magruder
- · Tom Green
- · Francis R. Lubbock
Related events
- · Battle of Galveston
- · Juneteenth
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Galveston Island
Galveston, TX
Few places have packed so much Texas history onto one strip of sand as Galveston Island. Shipwrecked Spaniards met the Karankawa here in 1528, the pirate Jean Lafitte made it his headquarters, it served briefly as capital of the Republic in 1836, and it changed hands in the Civil War before the catastrophic hurricane of 1900 killed thousands and remade the city behind a great seawall.
Pier 19, Mosquito Fleet Berth
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This stretch of Galveston waterfront has carried nearly every current of Gulf history — Jean Lafitte's pirate ships, the Republic of Texas Navy, Confederate marine assaults that broke Federal occupation in 1863, and, so the story goes, Prohibition-era rum runners. In calmer years it became the berth of the Mosquito Fleet, small fishing boats named for their insect-like profiles. Their crews blended Asian and European fishing customs into a distinctly American trade, still honored in the yearly blessing of the fleet.
Hendley's Row
Galveston, TX
The mercantile house of William Hendley & Co., founded in 1845, helped drive Galveston's rise as a great port, launching a packet line of fast sailing ships and building ever-larger vessels for the Gulf trade. Between 1855 and 1858 the firm erected this three-story Greek Revival commercial row of four granite-trimmed buildings, whose rooftop cupola became a lookout post for both Confederate and Federal forces during the Civil War. After the war it housed banks, engineers, and merchants as the block stayed at the center of Galveston commerce.
Juneteenth
Galveston, TX
Though Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in the rebelling states free as of January 1863, the news—and the Union power to enforce it—did not reach Texas until the Civil War was over. On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and read General Order No. 3, informing the people of Texas that all slaves were free. Freed African Americans began marking "Emancipation Day" the very next year, and the celebration grew into Juneteenth, which became a Texas state holiday in 1979 and is now observed around the world.