Old West New West Magazine – Your Travel & History Guide for Western Adventures. Enjoy Travel Tips, Discounts, Specials, Restaurant Reviews, National Park Information and Much More… http://www.oldwestnewwest.com/civil-war-and-the-west/texas/feed/atom.html 2012-02-09T20:38:32Z Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management 2008-08-31T16:47:59Z 2008-08-31T16:47:59Z http://www.oldwestnewwest.com/2008083196/civil-war-and-the-west/texas/the-south-gets-troops-guns-cotton-and-a-link-to-mexico.html Mike Harris Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The plan seemed perfect. About 5,000 Union Army troops aboard 20 Navy vessels would leave from New Orleans, travel up the Sabine River in Texas, capture Sabine Pass and begin a Federal invasion of Texas. And why not? By mid-1863 Union forces controlled New Orleans, and with the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, the entire Mississippi River.<br /><br />But Federal Admiral David Farragut and Union Army Major General N. P. Banks hadn't counted on Lt. Richard William "Dick" Dowling, a red-haired Irishman born in Galway County who was cocky, self-assured and only 25 years old.<br />

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The plan seemed perfect. About 5,000 Union Army troops aboard 20 Navy vessels would leave from New Orleans, travel up the Sabine River in Texas, capture Sabine Pass and begin a Federal invasion of Texas. And why not? By mid-1863 Union forces controlled New Orleans, and with the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, the entire Mississippi River.<br /><br />But Federal Admiral David Farragut and Union Army Major General N. P. Banks hadn't counted on Lt. Richard William "Dick" Dowling, a red-haired Irishman born in Galway County who was cocky, self-assured and only 25 years old.<br />