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 Commodore Leon Smith Posted by:  kwashnak
N 29° 43.933 W 093° 52.393
15R E 415553 N 3289432
Marker for Confederate sailor at Sabine Pass Battlefield Park, 6100 Dick Dowling Drive, Sabine Pass, TX
Waymark Code: WMQQTG
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/20/2016
Views: 7
One of several markers explaining the actions from the Civil War around the Sabine Pass area of Texas at the Sabine Pass Battlefield Park. The park was heavily damaged by Hurricanes Rita (2005) and Ike (2008), and when the park was rebuilt, many markers were replaced and relocated here.
Marker Number: 15458
Marker Text:
Maine native Leonidas Smith (b. 1829) became a sailor as a youth and, by age 21, commanded the U.S. Mail Packet Pacific along the west coast. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he was sailing out of Galveston, Texas. He served as volunteer naval aide to Gen. John Bankhead Magruder, who commanded Confederate forces in Texas and gave Smith control of the Texas Marine Department. Although Smith remained a volunteer, he was noted in records as Captain, Major or Commodore, and by the nickname “Lion,” for his courage and boldness.
On January 1, 1863, Smith played a decisive role in the Battle of Galveston when, in support of Magruder’s plan to drive Federal forces from the island, he led an assault utilizing “cottonclad” steamships armed with field artillery pieces and infantry troops. Smith used the C.S.S. Bayou City to ram the U.S.S. Harriet Lane, disabling the federal vessel and turning the battle in favor of the Confederates.
While in Beaumont on September 8, 1863, Smith heard cannon fire from Sabine Pass signaling a battle for control of this strategic area. Sending troops aboard the C.S.S. Roebuck, he quickly made his way here by horseback to support the Davis Guard of Lt. Dick Dowling during the Battle of Sabine Pass. After the Confederate victory, Smith took charge of bringing captured vessels and men into the port, winning praise for his efforts.
Smith returned to California after the war. In 1869, he was killed in Alaska, and his body was moved to San Francisco, California for burial.
2006
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