In my original blog posting about the Dowling statue, I raised the following questions:
“As the inscription was the primary place sponsoring organizations to leave their mark on the monument and set the tone of the monument, it is quite interesting that the inscription is so sparse. The questions I ask are: How were these sparse inscriptions chosen? And why was no further inscription included?”
Looking back at the inscriptions on the statue itself each of the four sides of Dick Dowling’s pedestal bear text. The first side holds the inscription,
“This monument is erected to the memory of Dick Dowling and the Davis Guards by Dick Dowling Camp No.197 U.C.V.; and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Divisions Nos.1.2 and 3; and the Emmett Council.”
While I was most interested in this inscription, and the careful nature in which it was planned out (the short mention of Dick Dowling, the order in which the organizations were listed, a further explanation of what each organization did for the project), I actually found the most interesting research into the other three sides of the monument, the listing of role. This roster, which simply aims to list all soldiers present and who fought at the Battle of Sabine Pass, served to be an interesting and telling research project. The compilation of the roster, undertaken by Mr. D. D. Bryan the Secretary of the Dowling Monument Association during November and December of 1902, was actually a trickier task than Bryan had originally intended. Looking at the “Dick Dowling Monument Association Records” and for timeliness at the “Transcript of Dick Dowling Monument Association Records” hosted and compiled for us by the Houston Public Library Digital Archives, I was able to track several key pieces of correspondence that I believe get at the importance and difficulty of Bryan’s task.
Starting with the earliest document regarding the roster in these documents, the correspondence of November 11, 1902 from Mrs. Geo. W. Davis to Bryan, an issue of deserters arises in the narrative (SC12680-03-099). To this point much of what we have learned about Dowling and his merry band of men, the Davis Guards, has esteemed these men from Houston who accomplished this monumental task of stopping the invading Union Navy with but 48 men and a lot of cannon fire. Yet, when the idea that some of these men may have deserted camp prior to battle slightly mars the narrative told by Edward T. Cotham, Jr in his book Sabine Pass: The Confederacy’s Thermopylae. In the book, Cotham retells the story of Dick Dowling and the Davis Guards in a nearly Battle of the Alamo-esque way all unite to fight to “hold the fort at all hazards,” (Cotham, 121) referring to the new Fort Griffin of Sabine Pass. Yet that the Davis Guards may have had deserters takes away from this image of valiant men choosing to stay at all costs.
Yet the deserters are not mentioned specifically for the need to maintain the image of the brave men at Sabine Pass, but instead the shame of the entire unit over the desertion of a few and the reason why it was silenced, as the letter states, “Everyone felt chagrin and shame that any of the Davis Guards should desert and so silence had been observed regarding the affair.” (SC12680-03-099). The letter goes on to state that the names could not be found at the time but that Mrs. Davis would keep looking (SC12680-03-099 to SC12680-03-105). Still, Bryan was now aware that this list of deserters did exist, and needed to be found.
Bryan appears to have followed up his research with Mrs. Davis by contacting former Davis Guards, R.C. O’Hara and John A. Drummond. Both men have their opinions, yet it appears that O’Hara was the more willing to both provide a list of deserters but also supplement the list of men’s names to be inscribed on the monument. However, when asked about the deserters, O’Hara is careful to qualify, “All of the names I gave you as deserters were deliberate deserters—they were not captured—this fact is well known to all the remaining few, it should not be denied, for it is painfully true.” (SC1268-03-093) This classification that men who deserted did so of their own free will seems to be O’Hara’s most biting crticism, that these men would so abandon their duties, have not the courage or honor expected of a Southern gentleman of the time, was more than just a reflection on the individual men’s character, but also a painful fact for the rest of the Guards.
Whereas O’Hara believes that desertion of camp by these men “should not be denied,” John A. Drummond offers an alternative handling of the issue of deserters, “I do not agree with those who wish to bring out the names of dead deserters to the disgrace of their descendance who are living.” (SC1268-03-097) This respect for the families is particularly touching, yet is not echoed by O’Hara in a different letter in which he speaks of the monument as being one to honor, “My ‘brave and noble’ Comrade and Commander, and the brave and true men (except those who deserted) who were under his command.” (SC128-03-107) It is here that it becomes apparent that not only does O’Hara not forgive these men’s for their actions, he seems particularly hurt by their desertion when, “they went out into the night, out the fleets lying off Sabin Pass and Galveston.” (SC128-03-107) These men were not brave and did not live up to their manhood, therefore they should not be treated lightly.
While no full rosters were given the these transcripts that I chose to examine, they are referred to as passing hands in each of the letters regarding problems in the roster (from the spelling of Clare/Care/Clair to the deserters who should be removed) that was to be placed on the monument. While I originally thought these names would be the least cause for concern and discussion, I was utterly wrong. I would like to find out the final decision on these men, and whether they were included in the final listing on the statue or not. Also, the issue of desertion raises many questions in my mind as the affront this might have been on the Southern honor, virtue, and manhood that these men were supposedly living by, as evidenced by the scorn in O’Hara’s correspondence. From this, I ask: How did the rest of the Davis Guards respond to these incidents of desertion? How did their reaction relate to Southern sensibilities, or is it something entirely different as many of these men were Irish immigrants and therefore transplants to the South? Finally, how did the desertion issue play out on the creation of Dick Dowling statue and its inscriptions? What decisions were made?