Richard "Dick" Dowling and his Men Memorial, Sabine Pass, TX
Posted by: 
kwashnak
N 29° 43.952 W 093° 52.377
15R E 415579 N 3289467
Monument to Confederate leader Lt. Richard Dowling and his unit (Company F Texas Heavy Artillery) for action at the Battle of Sabine Pass during the Civil War. Sabine Pass Battlefield Park, Sabine Pass, Texas.
Waymark Code: WMQR0G
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/21/2016
Views: 6
Monument is located in the Sabine Pass Battlefield Park and highlights the actions of Lt. Dowling who was in command of the Confederate unit at Fort Griffin which repelled Union boats attempting to come up the Sabine Pass between Texas and Louisiana in 1863.
Born in Ireland, Dowling was a businessman in Houston when the war broke out, the militia unit he was a member of, which was comprised mostly of Houston's Irish, elected him First Lieutenant and the unit referred to themselves as the Jefferson Davis Guard in honor of the CSA President.
In 1936, as part of the state's centennial celebration, the state of Texas honored Dowling with a monument to him and his men for their actions at the battle. It is a three panel Texas marble monument with a statue of Dowling holding a lit torch in one hand and field glasses in the other, preparing to set off artillery aimed at the Union gunboats.
It is inscribed as follows:
Monument Front
Center Panel
In Memory of Lt. Richard W. Dowling and his men
Texas remembers the faithfulness and valor of her sons and commends their heroic example to future generations
Erected by State of Texas 1936
Left Panel
The Men Who Fought
2nd LT. N.H. Smith
Dr. Geo. H. Bailey
Patrick Abbott
Michael Carr
Abner R. Carter
Pat Clair
James Corcoran
Thos. Daugherty
Hugh Degan
Michael Delaney
Dan Donovan
Jno. Drummond
Michael Eagan
Pat Fitzgerald
James Fleming
John Flood
William Gleason
Tom Haggerty
William Hardy
John Hassett
John Hennessey
James Higgins
Tim Higgins
Front Right Panel
With Dowling Were
Tim Hurley
William L. Jett
Pat Malone
Alex McCabe
Pat McDonnell
Tim McDonough
John McGrath
John McKeever
Michael McKernan
Dan McMurray
Jno. McNealis
Mich. Monoghan
Peter O'Hara
Lawrence Plunkett
Maurice Powers
Edw. Pritchard
Charles Rheins
Mich. Sullivan
Pat Sullivan
Thomas Sullivan
Mathew Walsh
John T. Westley
John W. White
Joseph Wilson
Monument Rear
Center Panel
At this site on Sept 8th, 1863 Dick Dowling and forty-seven men comprising Company F Texas Heavy Artillery Jefferson Davis Guards CSA from a mud fort repulsed an attack made by four warships and twelve hundred men of the Federal Army thus saving Texas from invasion by the enemy
Left Panel
Thus it will be seen that we captured with forty-seven men, two gunboats mounting thirteen guns of the heaviest caliber and about three hundred and fifty prisoners. All my men behaved like heroes, not a man flinched from his post. Our motto was Victory or Death.
Official Report of Lt. Richard W. Dowling
Right Panel
There is no parallel in ancient or modern warfare to the victory of Dowling and his men at Sabine Pass considering the great odds against which they had to contend.
Jefferson Davis
List if there are any visiting hours:
Daily: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Extended summer hours May 1–Aug. 31: 8 a.m.–8 p.m.
Entrance fees (if it applies): Free
Type of memorial: Monument
Website pertaining to the memorial: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
*(1.)* Please submit a photo(s) taken by you of your visit to the location (non-copyrighted photos only). GPS photos are also accepted with the location in the background, and old vacation photos are accepted. If you are not able to provide a photo, then please describe your visit or give a story about the visit.
*(2.)* If you have additional information about the memorial which is not listed in the waymark description, please notify the waymark owner to have it added, and please post the information in your visit log.