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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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