Battle of the Bay: Corpus Christi, TX.
August 12 - 18, 1862
Corpus Christi - A Texas Traiding Post
In 1839, the first known permanent settlement of Corpus Christi was established by Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney and William P. Aubrey as Kinney's Trading Post, or Kinney's Ranch. It was a small trading post that sold supplies to a Texas revolutionary army camped about twenty five miles to the wast of the port. In July 1845, U.S. troops commanded by General Zachary Taylor set up camp there in preparation for war with Mexico, where they remained until March 1846. About a year later, the settlement was named Corpus Christi and was incorporated on September 9, 1852. During the Texas Secession Movement, Major General Twiggs and his troops evacuated from this port in March of 1861 aboard the USS Belle Italia.
The Yankee Blockade - "Scotts Great Snake"
On April 16, 1861, following the Battle of Fort Sumter, N.C., President Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Blockade Against Southern Ports and required the monitoring of 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of Atlantic and Gulf coastline, including 12 major ports, notably New Orleans and Mobile. Those blockade runners fast enough to evade the Union Navy could carry only a small fraction of the supplies needed. They were operated largely by British and French citizens, making use of neutral ports such as Havana, Nassau, and Bermuda. The Union commissioned around 500 ships, which destroyed or captured about 1,500 blockade runners over the course of the war.
The blockade was successful in blocking 95% of cotton exports from the South compared to pre-war levels, devaluing its currency, and severely damaging its economy. However, it was less successful in preventing war material from being smuggled into the South. Throughout the conflict, at least 600,000 arms (mostly British Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles) were smuggled by blockade runners to the Confederacy, 330,000 of them into the Gulf ports. Historians have estimated that supplies brought to the Confederacy via blockade runners that made it past the Union blockade lengthened the duration of the conflict by up to two years.
In Corpus Christi, TX.. Five Union ships were involved in the blockade: the sloop USS Belle Italia, the steamer converted to a gunboat USS Sachem, the bark USS Arthur, the schooner USS Reindeer, and an armed yacht named USS Corypheus. This small battle group was under the operational command of Lieutenant John W. Kittredge, whose flagship was the USS Belle Italia. Texas had been a main source of supplies for Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Union naval operations to blockade the Texas coast began. Despite being in a Confederate state, Corpus Christi was home to supporters of both the Confederacy and the United States. The size of Corpus Christi's garrison included a few militia companies with two M1841 6-pounder field guns. They were later reinforced by militia, some mounted, another two 12-pounders (5.4 kg), and one 18-pounder (8.2 kg) gun. A total of 700 Confederates were involved in the battle. The militia garrison was commanded by Colonel Charles G. Lovenskiold, but he handed his command over to Major Alfred M. Hobby when he arrived with reinforcements. The garrison was based at the citadel in Fort Kinney.
Raid on Corpus Christi's Port
At noon on August 12, just northwest of Corpus Christi, Union ships Belle Italia, Sachem, Reindeer and Corypheus were sailing from Aransas Bay through a canal into Corpus Christi Bay when they sighted CSS Breaker. The Union Navy vessels then gave chase to the sloop, which was filled with sailors and several Confederate States Army soldiers who were returning from a reconnaissance mission. After a long pursuit, the Union ships closed in on the Confederates and opened fire. The Confederate commander chose to ground his sloop and then scuttle it by fire to prevent her capture. A boarding party from Arthur went to take the vessel and prevent the burning. By the time they arrived, the Confederates had already lowered lifeboats and were escaping overland. The Union sailors boarded the Breaker and put out the fire. Having taken and refloated the prize ship and thus weakened the defenses of Corpus Christi, Union commanders felt it was now time to attack the Confederates defending the town. Knowing that Breaker was gone, Confederates in the bay scuttled CSS Elma and the sloop CSS Hannah.
Running into the Yankee Blockade
After taking the Breaker, the Union vessels sailed southwest the short distance to Corpus Christi and established a blockade. Sachem and Corypheus were designated the first to bombard the Confederate fort. Lieutenant Kittredge transferred his flag to Corypheus from Arthur, who he sent north to procure supplies such as ammunition and food. Belle Italia and Reindeer sat out of range as reserves and the captured Breaker was used as a hospital ship.
The following morning, on August 13, Lieutenant Kittredge and a boarding party were ordered ashore to demand a Confederate surrender of the port town on the Nueces River. He was also ordered to allow a forty-eight-hour truce for the evacuation of women and children should the rebels decide to make a stand. The rebels refused to surrender. The Union continued the blockade for the next forty-eight hours. On the 16th, when the truce ended, Kittredge, for unknown reasons, delayed his attack, so the Confederates used the time to continue strengthening their fort.
Ambush on Ft. Kinney
When the rebels evacuated the town of civilians and finished working on the fort, they attacked the Union vessels at dawn on August 17. Lieutenant Kittredge responded with counterbattery fire and silenced the guns temporarily. Whenever the Union ships ceased firing, the Confederates would man the battery again and continue fighting. This process of repeatedly silencing the fort lasted all day and night until Kittredge withdrew his ships due to the darkness. The USS Sachem and USS Corypheus were both damaged slightly, USS Bella Italia is known to have been hit as well, and the shot wounded a petty officer on deck.
Near midnight on the 17th, Belle Italia sent a shore party of thirty sailors and a 12-pounder howitzer to attack the fort; seventy other sailors were available for landing, but only Bella Italia's thirty men were sent ashore. That same night, Confederate forces scuttled A.B. in the shallow channel that leads to Nueces Bay. Kittredge in Corypheus repeatedly tried to tow the ship out of the channel before it burned completely. This was undertaken either to take the ship as a prize or to prevent the ship from sinking and blocking the narrow channel. The Union ships stayed as far away as possible, which helped prevent casualties on both sides. The distance of the ships from the fort meant both forces had to fire at maximum range, thus decreasing the effectiveness of their shots. The Confederate gunners were also untrained; a shortage of gunpowder left them without the ability to practice before the engagement.
The next morning, the landing force advanced until within cannon and musket range of the fort; fighting again commenced, and soon the ships resumed bombarding the Confederate guns. At this time, Major Hobby and twenty-five of the 8th Texas Infantry advanced to defend the battery. Cavalry under Lieutenant James A. Ware was held in reserve but eventually joined in the attack. Skirmishing continued for a time; the Union sailors held out due to their ships, which supported them with artillery fire. After a prolonged skirmish, the Union forces on land began to run low on ammunition and reboarded USS Bella Italia with help from the blockade. Fort Kinney was not taken, but it was silenced by Union fire at this time. The Confederates defeated the shore party and withdrew to the town. Crewmen of United States Navy ships saw this movement, so Kittredge ordered the bombardment of the coastal buildings where Confederate forces had withdrawn. Most of the damaged buildings were houses and stores. After all the ammunition aboard the warships had been expended, the battle was over, and Kittredge ordered his ships north into Aransas Bay. During the bombardment, a Unionist living in Corpus Christi named John Dix grabbed his American flag and headed for the roof of his Water Street home. Dix intended to wave the flag at the United States ships as a sign of surrender, but before he could get to his roof, his daughter-in-law stopped him. She was married to Dix's son, who was fighting for the Confederacy, and the daughter carried a shotgun and pointed it at her father-in-law until the flag was put away. When the shelling was over, the Confederates in town were very angry, and many of the Unionists were happy. Anger over the attack led to the looting of several houses belonging to Union supporters.
Major Victory for the South, Minor Victory for the Yankee's
Casualties of the engagement are mostly unknown, two Union sailors were wounded, one aboard Bella Italia. At least one Confederate was killed in action, Major Hobby was slightly wounded. Once in Aransas Bay, the ships reunited with Arthur, who had left the blockade earlier. The battle ended as a minor victory for the United States; they overcame Confederate naval activity in the area and silenced the enemy fort protecting Corpus Christi and the bay. Confederate forces took the majority of the victory as they defeated the Union shore party; they also continued to hold the town and the silenced fort after the battle.