Archie P. McDonald, Texas, All Hail the Mighty State. Austin, Texas: Elkin Press, 1983.
Archie P. McDonald’s book Texas, All Hail the Mighty State is a complete history of Texas spanning the entire history of Texas from the first native inhabitants until what Texas is today. The book includes a chapter on Texas’ involvement in the Civil war titled “Secession, Civil War, and Reconstruction.” In this chapter McDonald describes the actions of Texans, during the Civil War, including a brief description of the battle of Sabine Pass. Being a book written by a Texan primarily for Texans McDonald truly presents Dick Dowling as a hero. McDonald refers to the Battle as “Texas’ most ambitious battle,” (p 144) and even includes Jefferson Davis’ statement where he called the battle “the most significant action of the war.” (p 145) McDonald describes the events of the battle in quite bland terms compared to other accounts I have encountered, but he obviously holds the actions taken by the Texans in high regard. Citing the battle’s adverse effect on Wall Street stocks and on the Unions lines of credit with the British. (p 145) Though the account is not totally one sided as it mentions General Banks latter success in taking all of the Texas ports South of Galveston.
As I mentioned above the book Texas, All Hail the Mighty State is a history of Texas for those who love Texas. The book was published, in 1983, in Austin, Texas by the Eakin Press and appears to be a brief history of Texas and not a textbook. The book that I had access to was an ebook, through Fondren Library. By looking through The Handbook of Texas I determined that McDonald was a contributor on many works including histories of Texas, Biographies, and even an annual report for Halliburton. Also there is mention that sections of this book previously were featured in the Dallas Times Herald. The book depicts Texas heroes, like Dick Dowling, in a very favorable light. But I do not believe this account is overly biased in the way it depicts Texas History.
It is not clear weather any earlier or later editions exist as I was unable to ascertain the existence of other editions through the services provided by Fondren Library, but it should be noted that McDonald mentions a previous version that appeared at some point in the Dallas Times Herald.
The Transcription below comes from the 1983 edition of Archie P. McDonald’s book Texas, All Hail the Mighty State. The two portians come from page 144 and 145 respectivly.
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ling, a Houston saloon keeper. In September, 1863, General Nathaniel Banks attempted to send seventeen Union naval vessels and a force of over 1,500 soldiers through Sabine Pass to attack the interior. Dowling’s guns sank or disabled two vessels in the main channel, thus blocking the way for the remainder of the ships and preventing the disembarking of the Union soldiers, who were then withdrawn to New Orleans.
The Battle of Sabine Pass was hailed by Jefferson Davis as the most significant action of the war at a time when he was grasping at straws after the defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. The results even had a negative affect on Wall Street stocks and American credit in England. General Banks was more successful farther down the coast. His forces succeeded in capturing or controlling every port from the Rio Grande to just below Galveston, including Corpus Christi, Aransas Pass, and Indianola.