NEXT MEETING
Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390, Sons
of Confederate Veterans, will meet from 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 11, at the
Pitt Grill Restaurant in Sulphur. The
business and program part of the meeting will get underway promptly at 6:30 p.m. The program will be on
"Defending Confederate Heritage." We will discuss the best ways to
defend our precious heritage, which always seems to be under attack on many
fronts. We'll concentrate on giving you the information you need to effectively
defend your heritage.
_______________________________
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| Ronnie Fox |
(September 29, 1939 - August 16, 2012)
Compatriot
Ronald Edward "Ronnie" Fox, age 72, died Thursday, August 16, 2012,
at his residence in DeQuincy, Louisiana. Funeral services were held Aug. 20,
2012 at Christensen Funeral home in DeQuincy and burial in Mimosa Pines in
Carlyss. Graveside services included SCV memorial rites.
He
was a Christian by Faith and a member of The Refuge Church. He loved
motorcycles and was a member of "MAC" -- Motorcycle Awareness
Campaign. He was a State Captain of The Sons of Confederate Veterans Mechanized
Cavalry. He will always be remembered as a wonderful husband, father and
grandfather. He was a man who was loyal to his friends, very giving and never
met a stranger. He was the son of the late Joseph Fox and the late Myrtie
(Hallie) Fox. He is survived by his Son, Troy S. Fox and his wife, Patsy of Quitman, La.; Two Sisters, Shelby Kile and Pat Dees of Westlake, La.; Two Brothers, Glynn Fox and his wife Pat of Gaithersburg, Md. and Ken Fox and his wife, Pat of Chattanooga, Tenn. One grandson- Steven Fox of Lake Charles, La. He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Myrtie (Hallie) Fox, his wife of 30 years, Jerri (Collins) Fox and daughter, Donna Swaggart.
RONNIE FOX MEMORIAL
RIDE
Cmdr.
Archie Toombs announced the first annual Ronnie Fox Memorial Ride will be Saturday,
Sept. 8, and leave from the Pitt Grill in Sulphur at 7 a.m. and the destination
will be the Sabine Pass Reenactment in
Sabine Pass, Texas.
Cmdr.
Toombs said the ride is open to anyone who wants to go by bike (motorcycle),
car or truck."If you can make it please do,and bring a friend or two and let's remember our old and dear friend with a ride he loved to make.If you can make it give me a shout are e-mail,are give me a call," Cmdr. Tooms said.
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| Major Richard W. "Dick" Dowling |
The Battle of Sabine Pass
September 8, 1863
The Battle of Sabine Pass, on September 8, 1863, turned back one of several Union attempts to invade
and occupy part of Texas during the Civil War. The United States Navy blockaded the Texas coast
beginning in the summer of 1861, while Confederates fortified the major ports.
Union interest in Texas and other parts of the Confederacy west of the
Mississippi River resulted primarily from the need for cotton by northern
textile mills and concern about French intervention in the Mexican civil war.
In September 1863 Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks sent by transport from
New Orleans 4,000 soldiers under the command of Gen. William B. Franklin to
gain a foothold at Sabine Pass, where the Sabine River flows into the Gulf of
Mexico. A railroad ran from that area to Houston and opened the way into the
interior of the state. The Western Gulf Blockading Squadron of the United
States Navy sent four gunboats mounting eighteen guns to protect the landing.
At Sabine Pass the Confederates recently had constructed Fort Griffin, an
earthwork that mounted six cannon, two twenty-four pounders and four thirty-two
pounders. The Davis Guards, Company F of the First Texas Heavy
Artillery Regiment, led by Capt. Frederick Odlum, had placed stakes along both
channels through the pass to mark distances as they sharpened their accuracy in
early September. The Union forces lost any chance of surprising the garrison
when a blockader missed its arranged meeting with the ships from New Orleans on
the evening of September 6. The navy commander, Lt. Frederick Crocker, then
formed a plan for the gunboats to enter the pass and silence the fort so the
troops could land. The Clifton shelled the fort
from long range between 6:30 and 7:30 A.M. on the 8th, while the Confederates
remained under cover because the ship remained out of reach for their cannon.
Behind the fort Odlum and other Confederate officers gathered reinforcements,
although their limited numbers would make resistance difficult if the federal
troops landed.
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| Dick Dowling Monument Sabine Pass Battleground |
Finally at 3:40 P.M. the Union gunboats began their advance through the pass, firing on the fort as they steamed forward. Under the direction of Lt. Richard W. Dowling the Confederate cannoneers emerged to man their guns as the ships came within 1,200 yards. One cannon in the fort ran off its platform after an early shot. But the artillerymen fired the remaining five cannon with great accuracy. A shot from the third or fourth round hit the boiler of the Sachem, which exploded, killing and wounding many of the crew and leaving the gunboat without power in the channel near the Louisiana shore. The following ship, the Arizona, backed up because it could not pass the Sachem and withdrew from the action. The Clifton, which also carried several sharpshooters, pressed on up the channel near the Texas shore until a shot from the fort cut away its tiller rope as the range closed to a quarter of a mile. That left the gunboat without the ability to steer and caused it to run aground, where its crew continued to exchange fire with the Confederate gunners.
Another
well-aimed projectile into the boiler of the Clifton sent steam and
smoke through the vessel and forced the sailors to abandon ship. The Granite
City also turned back rather than face the accurate artillery of the
fort, thus ending the federal assault. The Davis Guards had fired their cannon
107 times in thirty-five minutes of action, a rate of less than two minutes per
shot, which ranked as far more rapid than the standard for heavy artillery. The
Confederates captured 300 Union prisoners and two gunboats. Franklin and the
army force turned back to New Orleans, although Union troops occupied the Texas
coast from Brownsville to Matagorda Bay later that fall. The Davis Guards, who
suffered no casualties during the battle, received the thanks of the
Confederate Congress for their victory. Careful fortification, range marking,
and artillery practice had produced a successful defense of Sabine Pass.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Alwyn
Barr, "Sabine Pass, September 1863," Texas Military History 2
(February 1962). Andrew Forest Muir, "Dick Dowling and the Battle of
Sabine Pass," Civil War History 4 (December 1958). Frank X.
Tolbert, Dick Dowling at Sabine Pass (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962). Jo
Young, "The Battle of Sabine Pass," Southwestern Historical
Quarterly 52 (April 1949). Alwyn Barr
Alwyn Barr, "SABINE PASS, BATTLE OF," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qes02), accessed September 03, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical
Association
150th
Anniversary
BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG, MD
September 17, 1862
On
September 16, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan confronted Lee’s Army of Northern
Virginia at Sharpsburg, Maryland. At dawn September 17, Hooker’s corps mounted
a powerful assault on Lee’s left flank that began the single bloodiest day in
American military history. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Miller’s
cornfield and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church. Union assaults against
the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal
advantage was not followed up. Late in the day, Burnside’s corps finally got
into action, crossing the stone bridge over Antietam Creek and rolling up the
Confederate right. At a crucial moment, A.P. Hill’s division arrived from
Harpers Ferry and counterattacked, driving back Burnside and saving the day.
Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while
McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight
the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their
lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with
McClellan throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river.
McClellan did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army
of Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.
(National Park Service)
THE BLOODIEST DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Casualties at the Battle of Sharpsburg:
Confederates, out of 38,000 engaged;
10,316 total
1,546
killed
7,752 wounded
1,018 captured/missing
7,752 wounded
1,018 captured/missing
Union, out of
75,000 present for duty:
12,401
total
2,108
killed
9,540 wounded
753 captured/missing
9,540 wounded
753 captured/missing
 |
| Brig. Gen. William E. Starke Killed in Action commanding the 2nd La. Brigade (Library of Congress) |
LOUISIANIANS AT SHARPSBURG
Two Louisiana infantry brigades fought
at the Battle of Sharpsburg
150-years-ago.
Brigadier General Harry T. Hayes 1st
Louisiana Brigade consisted of: the 5th Louisiana: Col Henry Forno; 6th
Louisiana: Col Henry B. Strong (k); 7th Louisiana; 8th Louisiana: Ltc Trevanion D. Lewis (w); 14th Louisiana.
Brigadier General William E. Starke,
who was killed in action in the battle, led the 2nd Louisiana Brigade, which
consisted of: 1st Louisiana: Ltc Michael Nolan (w), Cpt William E.
Moore; 2d Louisiana, Col Jesse M. Williams; 9th Louisiana, Col Leroy A.
Stafford, Ltc William R.
Peck; 10th
Louisiana, Cpt Henry D.
Monier; 15th Louisiana, Col Edmund Pendleton;
Coppens' (First Louisiana Zouaves) Battalion, Cpt M. Alfred Coppens.
The 10th Louisiana Infantry included
Company K, Confederate States Rangers, which
was partially from Calcasieu Parish.
Louisiana artillery at Sharpsburg included Madison (Louisiana) Light Artillery: Cpt George V. Moody, Louisiana Guard Artillery: Cpt Louis E. D'Aquin, and the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, Col. James B. Walton.
LAKE CHARLES SOLDIERS AT SHARPSBURG
By Mike Jones
At least two Lake Charles soldiers fought in the Battle of Sharpsburg and were both among the 10,000 Confederate casualties there. Private Asa Ryan, 27, was severely wounded and captured by the Yankees and Private Joseph Auge Jr., 24, was killed in action. They both served in Company K, Confederate States Rangers, 10th Louisiana Infantry. Ryan was born March 5, 1836, the oldest son of John Jacob Ryan Jr., the "Father of Lake Charles," born about 1838 and was the son of Joseph Auge Sr. and was listed in the household of Joseph Sallier Sr. on the 1860 census. Both men listed their occupations as farmer. Ryan and Auge received their wounds in the fighting, either along the Hagerstown Pike or in Miller's cornfield, with Stonewall Jackson's Corps. Ryan was wounded in the left leg and after his capture his left leg was amputated, disabling him permanently. He was eventually exchanged and released by the Yankees, but his war was over. Auge was apparently killed instantly during the battle. Ryan finally got home, on crutches, after the war and resumed his life. He was married twice and had six children in all. Ryan died March 16, 1878 and is buried in the Bilbo Cemetery. Auge was single and his final resting place is unknown.
Two other men of Company K were killed in action at Sharpsburg. They were Private Justice H. Jackson, 34, St. Landry Parish, and Corporal James McKinney, 25, of New Orleans. Private Armelin Lincicome of Vermilion Parish was 20-years-old at the time he was shot in the neck by a Yankee, permanently disabled and captured. He was held at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md. until his release and exchange. He returned home, married and had seven children. He died in 1914. Also wounded from the company was Private Easton Hoffpauir. of Vermilion Parish. He received a sick furlough and returned home.
First Lieutenant Edward A. Seton of Lake Charles wrote home about the battle in a letter dated Sept. 21, 1862. He wrote, "On the 17th Sept, we had a battle in Maryland & our company had 15 men in the fight & and but four came out safe. .. . We held the field until the 19th and fell back across the Potomac, but we are expecting to cross again tomorrow. We have beat the enemy at every point."
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| Confederate dead of Starke's Louisiana Brigade along the Hagerstown Pike. (Library of Congress) |
Two other men of Company K were killed in action at Sharpsburg. They were Private Justice H. Jackson, 34, St. Landry Parish, and Corporal James McKinney, 25, of New Orleans. Private Armelin Lincicome of Vermilion Parish was 20-years-old at the time he was shot in the neck by a Yankee, permanently disabled and captured. He was held at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md. until his release and exchange. He returned home, married and had seven children. He died in 1914. Also wounded from the company was Private Easton Hoffpauir. of Vermilion Parish. He received a sick furlough and returned home.
First Lieutenant Edward A. Seton of Lake Charles wrote home about the battle in a letter dated Sept. 21, 1862. He wrote, "On the 17th Sept, we had a battle in Maryland & our company had 15 men in the fight & and but four came out safe. .. . We held the field until the 19th and fell back across the Potomac, but we are expecting to cross again tomorrow. We have beat the enemy at every point."
