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Richard William Dowling, businessman and
Civil Warqv hero, son of
William and Mary Dowling, was born in Tuam, Galway County,
Ireland, in 1838. After 1846 the family migrated to the United
States and settled in New Orleans. In the early 1850s, after the
deaths of his parents, Dick Dowling worked his way to Texas and
eventually settled in Houston.
The likeable, red-headed Irishman quickly
made a reputation as an enterprising businessman. In October
1857 he opened the Shades, the first of his successful saloons.
He probably received financial backing for this enterprise from
Benjamin Digby Odlum,qv whose
daughter, Elizabeth Ann, Dowling married in November 1857. By
1860 he had sold his interest in the Shades and had purchased
the popular Bank of Bacchus near the Harris County Courthouse.
Still later he operated the Hudgpeth Bathing Saloon as well as a
Galveston-based liquor-importing firm.
With the outbreak of the Civil Warqv
Dowling joined the Jefferson Davisqv
Guards as first lieutenant. Capt. Frederick H. Odlum was
commander. During the first part of 1861 Dowling and his
associates raided United States Army outposts on the
Texas-Mexico border. When the guards were designated Company F
of the Third Texas Artillery Battalion in October 1861,
Dowling's theater became the upper Texas Gulf Coast. By 1862 the
battalion was upgraded to a full regiment, the First Texas Heavy
Artillery, under the overall command of Col. J. J. Cook.
Dowling's early Civil War exploits were
consistent but not spectacular. On January 1, 1863, he
participated in Gen. John B. Magruder'sqv
recapture of the port of Galveston (see GALVESTON, BATTLE
OF). Three weeks later, after the transfer of his company to
Sabine Pass, which controlled access to the Sabine River, he
earned his first individual praise. As artillery commander
aboard the steamer Josiah A. Bell, he took part in a
naval battle on January 21, 1863, with two United States
vessels. In a two-hour engagement the Confederate forces
achieved a victory, in part because of Dowling's accuracy with
the eight-inch Columbiad gun, which he commanded. Not only was
he singled out for making some of the "prettiest shots" but also
for saving the Bell's magazine from flooding.
Throughout the spring and summer of 1863
Odlum, Dowling, and the guards manned defensive positions at
Sabine Pass, including Fort Griffin, a nondescript post on the
west side of the pass that controlled both the Texas and
Louisiana channels of the river. By August 1863 Odlum was in
charge of forces at nearby Sabine City, and Dowling commanded
Company F, which consisted of forty-seven men armed with six
cannons, at Fort Griffin. On September 8, 1863, the United
States forces attacked the area in what became known as the
battle of Sabine Pass.qv
Dowling directed such intense and accurate fire from his guns
that two of the United States gunboats, the Clifton and
the Sachem,qqv were
disabled, and the remaining United States vessels withdrew. As a
result of federal ineptitude and Dowling's leadership, Dowling
and his men captured two ships and 350 prisoners and routed the
invasion without a single casualty.
The battle at Sabine Pass was the pinnacle of
Dowling's career. During the remainder of the war he was a
recruiting officer for the Confederacy, until his discharge with
the rank of major in 1865. He returned to Houston, managed the
businesses he had owned before the war, and acquired new
businesses, including real estate, oil and gas leases, and an
interest in a steamboat. His financial successes appeared to
ensure a bright future, but he became ill with yellow fever and
died on September 23, 1867. He was survived by his wife, a
daughter, and a son and was buried in St. Vincent's Cemetery,
Houston.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Alwyn Barr, "Sabine Pass,
September 1863," Texas Military History 2 (February
1962). Seymour V. Connor et al., Battles of Texas (Waco:
Texian Press, 1967; 3d ed. 1980). Andrew Forest Muir, "Dick
Dowling and the Battle of Sabine Pass," Civil War History
4 (December 1958). Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Navies (Washington: Department of the Navy,
1894-1927). Frank X. Tolbert, Dick Dowling at Sabine Pass
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962). James R. Ward, "Richard W. `Dick'
Dowling," in Ten Texans in Gray, ed. W. C. Nunn
(Hillsboro, Texas: Hill Junior College Press, 1968).
James R. Ward
- Handbook of Texas Online, s.v.
","
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/fdo28.html
(accessed March 4, 2008).
(NOTE: "s.v." stands for sub verbo, "under the word.")
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