McComb, David G. Texas: A Modern History. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989.
David G. McComb’s, Texas: A Modern History does not attempt to discuss the Civil War in its entirety, but rather, it focuses very specifically on the role that Texas played in the Civil War. In fact, McComb dedicated no more than 8 pages of his 184-page book to the Civil War at all. That being said, McComb wrote two powerful, though brief paragraphs about Dick Dowling and the Battle of Sabine Pass. McComb described the fort from which Dowling and his men fought off the Union invasion as “earthworks” that “Confederate forces had thrown up,” and said that Dowling and 42 men fought off five thousand Union troops with twenty ships and three gunboats (74). According to McComb’s account of the story, after just 45 minutes the Union forces surrendered and the Confederacy took two of the gunboats and 315 men prisoners. He additionally notes that no “rebels” were hurt or killed. Most notably, he commented that Union General William B. Franklin “got the reputation of being the only American general who managed to lose a fleet in a contest with land batteries,” thus highlighting, and almost (though subtly so) mocking, the Union loss (74). Notably, there is no mention of slavery in McComb’s account of the battle of Sabine Pass. Additionally, although McComb is a professional historian, he does not mention the fact that the Confederate fort was professionally engineered, as we know to be the case. Ultimately, although McComb does not glorify the Confederacy, he certainly does not downplay how remarkable Dowling’s victory was either.
In McComb’s 2010 revised edition of Texas: A Modern History, his discussion of Dick Dowling is word-for-word identical to what he published in the 1989 edition. Indeed, the page numbers are almost the same—page 74 in the 1989 edition, while in the 2010 edition the two paragraphs begin on page 73 and are continued on 74. This is not particularly surprising, however, as McComb’s revised edition was intended to continue the story of Texas and cover the late 20th and early 21st centuries, rather than to change what he had already published. Indeed, the two editions are nearly identical, but the revised edition contains an additional chapter. However, I personally was surprised to see that he did not make changes to the whole book. As professor emeritus of history at Colorado State University, it would seem that McComb would recognize that over the 20 years between his two editions, scholarship about the history of the South has changed and grown dramatically. It was disappointing to see that he did not show those changes in his new edition.
Although McComb is a professor of history, this book was written with the general adult population, rather than the university community, in mind. His preface states: “This is a brief, narrative history of Texas written for the adult reader who wishes to probe into the ethos of a people, taste the unique flavor of the culture, and experience the rhythm of development.” In that sense, McComb’s book is something of a textbook for adults, written to be both informative and enjoyable. McComb was raised in Houston, and is a member of the Texas State Historical Association, and it is clear throughout his book that it was a project that was very personal for him. For example, he took many of the photographs featured in the book, and the conclusion of his preface reads: “It wasn’t always easy to be a Texan; it still isn’t.” Clearly, McComb felt personally connected to this book, as it allowed him to write a narrative of his home state. Though at times McComb does write critically about Texas, understanding the potential bias that he had coming into this project (anyone who knows anyone from Texas will tell you how fiercely proud Texans are of their state) is key to understanding why he wrote the way that he did, and perhaps explains why he did not write more critically about Dick Dowling and the Civil War.
Chapter 3: Texas and the United States, page 74 (1989 Edition)
Nine months later a federal invasion of Texas was stopped at Sabine Pass. At this strategic point where the waters from Sabine Lake empty into the Gulf of Mexico, the Confederate forces had thrown up earthworks and installed six cannons and forty-two men. The soldiers, mainly Irish Houstonians, under the command of Lieutenants N.H. Smith and Richard W. Dowling, a gregarious barkeeper in Houston, faced an invading force of five thousand on twenty vessels protected by three gunboats. The Northern idea was to have the gunboats silence the fort before the troops landed.
As two of the boats approached, the Confederate battery opened fire. Shortly, the rebel guns knocked out one gunboat and then concentrated their fire on the second. In forty-five minutes the second boat went aground and both of the ships surrendered. The Confederates took the two gunboats and 315 prisoners. With that, the invading force retreated to New Orleans, and its leader, General William B. Franklin, got the reputation of being the only American general who managed to lose a fleet in a contest with land batteries. The rebel loss was “ strictly and positively, nobody hurt.”
Chapter 3: Texas and the United States, pages 73-74 (Revised 2010 Edition)
Nine months later a federal invasion of Texas was stopped at Sabine Pass. At this strategic point where the waters from Sabine Lake empty into the Gulf of Mexico, the confederate forces had thrown up earthworks and installed six cannons and forty-two men. The soldiers, mainly Irish Houstonians, under the command of Lieutenants N. H. Smith and Richard W. Dowling, a gregarious barkeeper in Houston, faced an invading force of five thousand on twenty vessels protected by three gunboats. The Northern idea was to have the gunboats silence the fort before the troops landed.
As two of the boats approached, the Confederate battery opened fire. Shortly, the rebel guns knocked out one gunboat and then concentrated their fire on the second. In forty-five minutes the second boat went aground and both of the ships surrendered. The Confederates took the two gunboats and 315 prisoners. With that, the invading force retreated to New Orleans, and its leader, General William B. Franklin, got the reputation of being the only American general who managed to lose a fleet in a contest with land batteries. The rebel loss was “strictly and positively, nobody hurt.”