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Regular Session, 2014 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 112
BY SENATOR MORRISH
A RESOLUTION
To designate May 6, 2014, as "Battle of Calcasieu Pass Day" in the Louisiana Senate.
WHEREAS, May 6, 2014, is the sesquicentennial of the Civil War battle of
Calcasieu Pass in Southwestern Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, this battle was a skirmish fought on May 6, 1864, near the mouth of the
Calcasieu River in Southwestern Louisiana which resulted in a victory by the Confederate
States of America; and
WHEREAS, though involving no more than five hundred soldiers and sailors and
taking place in a remote area of the Confederacy, this battle was a significant part of the
successful effort by Confederate coastal defense troops to defend the western coast of the
Gulf of Mexico from Union forces; and
WHEREAS, along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the continuing
Confederate effort to deny the Union access to the lands bordering the western Gulf of
Mexico was successful in tying up thousands of Union troops and in denying sporadic
attempts at invasion from the sea; and
WHEREAS, upon orders from their commanders, in April 1864, the U.S.S. Granite
City and the U.S.S. Wave bombed the Confederate fort at the mouth of the Calcasieu River
and traveled about two miles up river to the pass, where they disembarked several Union
infantrymen to round up livestock from surrounding farms, believing farmers in the area to
be Union sympathizers; and
WHEREAS, the Wave and the Granite City traveled to Calcasieu Pass, located in an
area where the bend in the river formed a peninsula on the land; and
WHEREAS, the Union soldiers sought to secure the areas adjacent to the pass where
their ships were anchored by destroying the bridges over Mud and Oyster bayous and
posting guards around their perimeter; and
WHEREAS, the Confederate garrison forty miles west at Sabine Pass was apprised SR NO. 112 ENROLLED
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of the situation in Louisiana and assembled a force to expel the Union ships and their
infantrymen from Confederate soil; and
WHEREAS, on the afternoon of May 4, 1864, the Confederate foot soldiers began
their trek from Texas to Calcasieu Pass, arriving along the Calcasieu River area in the early
morning hours of May 6; and
WHEREAS, in order to support the infantry, artillery was ferried from Fort
Manhassett across Sabine Lake, into Johnson Bayou in Louisiana, and eventually to within
firing range of the Union gunboats in the Calcasieu River; and
WHEREAS, as the day dawned on May 6, the Confederate forces completely
surprised the Union troops, their guards having abandoned their posts in the face of
Confederate activity in the area, beginning an artillery bombardment and shelling the ships
in the river; and
WHEREAS, the Union naval forces returned fire and the Confederate artillery was
caught in deadly crossfire between the ships and heavy fire on the artillery resulted in a
direct hit on one cannon, demolishing the cannon and injuring the three artillerymen; and
WHEREAS, a quick-thinking Confederate lieutenant moved the remaining cannon
closer to the river, thus avoiding any more damage from the crossfire; and
WHEREAS, withering fire demolished the Granite City's wheel house and sixteen
Confederate shells penetrated her hull near the waterline, causing her lieutenant to hoist a
white flag over the ship and to lower a boat to take on the victors; and
WHEREAS, with the surrender of the Granite City, the Confederate soldiers turned
all their artillery on the Wave while her sailors hastened to gather enough steam to escape
down river; and
WHEREAS, the Confederate shells crashed through the Wave's pilot house, engine
room, and boilers, followed by a direct hit on the gunboat's 32-pound cannon, ending the
gunboat's ability to return fire, and resulting in the raising of a white flag of surrender on the
mast of the Union boat; and
WHEREAS, the Union infantry who were camped on shore, surrendered without
firing a shot in defense of their positions and became somewhat willing prisoners of the
Confederate troops; and SR NO. 112 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, the Confederate forces gathered the Union prisoners and took control
of the gunboats; and
WHEREAS, Confederate casualties totaled fourteen dead and, at least eleven
wounded and Union casualties totaled six sailors and, at least twenty-one injured; and
WHEREAS, the total number of Union dead was difficult to determine as Union
sailors were believed to have weighted down some bodies and thrown them in the river; and
WHEREAS, the Confederates took command of the two gunboats, also a total of one
hundred seventy-four prisoners, sixteen cannons, the stolen livestock; and
WHEREAS, once the soldiers, prisoners, and the two gunboats returned to the
Confederate Fort Manhassett across the Sabine River, the gunboats were converted to
blockade runners and prowled the waters of the western Gulf of Mexico until the end of the
war in April 1865.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby designate May 6, 2014, as "Battle of Calcasieu Pass Day" in the Louisiana
Senate.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE