While the Bay City Sentinel history page normally concerns itself with Matagorda County history, a recent trip to Port Lavaca turned up something interesting.
The 10-foot Lavaca artillery battery silhouette, at the city’s Bayfront Peninsula Park, left, was commissioned by the Calhoun County Historical Commission with help from The Trull Foundation.
The silhouette, which was placed in Bayfront Peninsula Park in October 2014, depicts a Lavaca artillery battery defending the town with cannon fire Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 1862.
During those two days, two Union Navy ships bombarded Lavaca firing about 252 rounds into the town.
But Lavaca did not surrender, and the gunboats withdrew.
However, Lavaca and Indianola were occupied by Union forces - for the remainder of the war - in December 1863 as part of the Union’s push up the Texas coast, under the command of Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks..
That same push did involve Matagorda County in its two main Civil War encounters with the Union
First was the calamitous Matagorda Incident on New Year’s Eve 1863 when Confederates stationed at Matagorda took three boats to defend against against Union forces on Matagorda Bay.
But the mission met disaster when a powerful norther pounded the bay, sinking two of the Matagorda men’s boats and 22 soldiers perished.
Union forces continue to probe Matagorda Peninsula Confederate defenses and in January bombarded the sand fortress that about 4,000 Conferates defended at the mouth of Caney Creek, under the command of Maj. Gen. John McGruder.
Union forces bombarded the Caney earthworks in January and February 1863 and landed 2,500 soldiers but those troops moved away from the Caney fort.
The Union removed its forces from Matagorda Peninsula and redeployed them in Louisiana.
Bay City Sentinel/Mike Reddell
