A Handful of Men Repelled a Federal Invasion at Sabine Pass

Lt. Dick Dowling and his Davis Guards, all Irish immigrants in their twenties or younger, manned six cannons at Fort Griffin on the Sabine. When four Union gunboats and transports carrying General William Franklin's 4,000 soldiers approached, the Guards fired 107 rounds in 35 minutes. They disabled two gunboats, captured 350 prisoners, and suffered no casualties. The Confederate Congress formally thanked them.

The site is preserved today as Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site, managed by the Texas Historical Commission. It includes a bronze statue of Dowling and memorials to Union casualties. Dowling himself died in 1867 of yellow fever at age 30. The THC manages the site; visit thc.texas.gov for visitor information.