Richard W. Dowling

Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, Dowling had made a name for himself as an able and successful entrepreneur. Among other things, he had been involved with a predominantly Irish militia company which served a more social than military role in Houston society. On Secession, this militia company was mustered straight into the Confederate Army, with Dowling himself being elected first lieutenant. Composed primarily of Houston Irish, many of them clients from his saloons, this unit named themselves the "Davis Guards" in honor of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who had been in Texas as a young officer in the pre-war United States Army and was remembered for his prowess and leadership skills. The Davis Guards were initially part of a Texas State Troops/Confederate expedition sent to take over Union Army forts and arsenals along the border with Mexico; the expedition was successfully completed without a shot being fired. They participated in the Battle of Galveston on New Year's Day 1863, following which they were assigned to a newly constructed artillery post near the mouth of Sabine River called "Fort Sabine" (later named "Fort Griffin", not the same as the later Fort Griffin established west of Fort Worth).

Sabine Pass was important as a point of arrival and departure for blockade runners. With the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863, followed by the Battle of Gettysburg, it was obvious that the Civil War was now not going well for the Confederacy, an invasion of Texas appeared to be imminent. It was suspected that the Union Army would attempt an invasion of Texas via Sabine Pass, because of its value as a harbor for blockade runners and because about 18 miles northwest was Beaumont, on the railroad between Houston and the eastern part of the Confederacy.

To negotiate Sabine Pass all vessels except small boats took one of the two river channels, both of about 5 feet (1.5 meters) depth and one on each side of the Pass. These channels were separated by naturally formed "oyster-banks" known to be barely two feet (0.61 meters) under the surface. No seagoing ship could traverse the Pass without great risk of going aground, if it did not follow one of the channels. The inevitable course of any steam-powered warship—including shallow-draft gunboats then common to the U.S. Navy—would necessarily use one of the channels, both of which were within fair range of the fort's six smoothbores.

Dowling spent the summer of 1863 at the earthen fort instructing his men in gunnery. To mark the optimum distance and elevation for each of the guns, he implemented the technique of setting long slender poles (painted white, in this instance) in both channels at several places. This was an old method for guiding boats and, especially since the advent of firearms, to mark an aiming points for guns.

On 8 September 1863 a Union Navy flotilla of some 22 gunboats and transports with 5,000 men accompanied by cavalry and artillery arrived off the mouth of Sabine Pass. The plan of invasion was sound, but monumentally mismanaged. Four of the flanking gunboats were to steam up the pass at speed and draw the fire of the fort, two in each channel, a tactic which had been used successfully in subduing the defensive fortifications of Mobile and New Orleans prior to this, when gunboats disabled the forts at close range with their own guns. This time, though, Dowling's artillery drills paid off as the Confederates poured a rapid and withering fire onto the incoming gunboats, scoring several direct hits, disabling and capturing two, while the others retreated in disarray. The rest of the flotilla retreated from the mouth of the pass and returned ignominiously to New Orleans, leaving the disabled ships with no option but to surrender to Dowling. With a command of just 47 men, Lieut. Dowling had thwarted an attempted invasion of Texas, in the process capturing two gunboats, some 350 prisoners and a large quantity of supplies and munitions.[6]

The Confederate States Congress offered its appreciation to Dowling, now promoted to major, and his command, as a result of their battlefield prowess.[7] In gratitude, the "ladies of Houston" presented the unit with specially struck medals.[8] The medals were actually Mexican eight reale coins with both faces sanded down and with new information carved into them. They were inscribed "Sabine Pass, 1863” on one side, and had a Maltese Cross with the letters D and G on the other.[9]

Major Richard Dowling, General James Longstreet, and unidentified veterans.

After the battle of Sabine Pass Dowling was elevated to hero status in his hometown of Houston. John Nova Lomax of the Houston Press stated that in that city "Dowling was treated something like Julius Caesar home from a punishing foray into Gaul."[10] He subsequently served as a recruiter for the Confederacy and was personally commended for his action at the battle by Jefferson Davis. After the war Dowling returned to his saloon business in Houston and quickly became one of the city's leading businessmen. Dowling's promising future was cut short by another yellow fever epidemic which devastated Houston in the late summer of 1867, and he died on 23 September 1867.[1]

He was buried at St. Vincent's Catholic Cemetery, the oldest Catholic cemetery in Houston.[11]

The Davis Guards Medal was presented by the "ladies of Houston" in 1863 to the artillery company. It is regarded to be the only medal authorized for wear on the Confederate uniform. Of the 50 medals issued, only 3 are known to still exist. They are on display at the American Civil War Museum, Bullock Texas State History Museum, and Texas Military Forces Museum.

On 8 February 1864, the officers and men of Company F (Davis Guards), 1st (Cook's) Texas Heavy Artillery Regiment, Confederate States Army, received the "thanks of Congress."[12]

In 1892, the Houston City Council renamed East Broadway to Dowling Street.[13] On 11 January 2017, Houston City Council approved a plan to rename Dowling Street to Emancipation Avenue.[14]

In 1892, the Houston City Council renamed a street, which is perpendicular to Dowling Street (now Emancipation Avenue), to Tuam Street, the namesake of Dowling's birthplace Tuam, Ireland.

Dowling was posthumously awarded the Southern Cross of Honor in 1899.

In 1905, the Houston City Council commissioned a statue of Dowling by Frank Teich for the Houston City Hall . It was relocated to Sam Houston Park in 1939 and Hermann Park near the Sam Houston Monument in 1958.[15] In 2020 the City of Houston moved the statue into storage until a suitable place could be found to display it.[16]

This was the first public monument commissioned by the city government; he was chosen as he fought in favor of the CSA.[10]

The site received a Historical Marker (#11938) by the Texas Historical Commission in 1998.[17]

In October 1935, a granite obelisk was built near Dowling's grave at Saint Vincent's Cemetery in Houston. The plaque reads: "Near this spot lies LT DICK DOWLING Hero of the Battle of Sabine Pass".[18]

The Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site is the location of the Defense of Sabine Pass, Texas. It is a heritage site operated by the Texas Historical Commission. It features a statue of Dowling and memorial dedicated to the Davis Guards from the State of Texas in 1936.

Dowling Road leads to the Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site.

The Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site received a Historical Marker (#10509) by the Texas Historical Commission in 1936.[19]

In 1937, the United Daughters of the Confederacy a grey granite monument dedicated to Dowling in the center of the intersection of State Highway 87 and Broadway Street in downtown Sabine Pass, TX. It was relocated in the 1960s to a new location on State Highway.[20]

In March 1953, the Dick Dowling Elementary School was built and dedicated in Port Arthur, Texas.[21] It was renamed to Port Acres Elementary School in October 2018.[22]

Dowling was posthumously awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor in 1977.[23]

In 1968 the Richard W. "Dick" Dowling Middle School was built and dedicated in Houston, Texas.[24] It is in the Hiram Clarke area of Southwest Houston.[25] It was renamed to Audrey H. Lawson Middle School in May 2016.[26]

In 1998, the town of Tuam also placed a bronze memorial plaque of Dowling on its Town Hall facade bearing his image and explaining his feats. This is the first known memorial to an Irish-born Confederate soldier in Ireland. It reads:

Major Richard W. (Dick) Dowling C.S.A., 1837-1867 Born Knock, Tuam; Settled Houston Texas, 1857; Outstanding business and civic leader; Joined Irish Davis Guards in American Civil War; With 47 men foiled Invasion of Texas by 5000 federal troops at Sabine Pass, 8 Sept 1863, a feat of superb gunnery; formed first oil company in Texas; Died aged 30 of yellow fever. This plaque was unveiled by Col. J.B. Collerain 31 May 1998

An independent member of Tuam municipal district council proposed removing the plaque at the council's September 2017 meeting, in the light of the 2017 Charlottesville disturbances. Nobody seconded the motion; a Fianna Fáil councillor said the plaque commemorated Dowling's business career and Tuam had "more important things going on".[27]

• Collins, Timothy. 'Dick Dowling: Galway's hero of Confederate Texas', by Timothy Collins and Ann Caraway Ivins; foreword by Edward T. Cotham Jr. Kilnaboy: Old Forge Books, 2013.
• Cotham, Edward T. Jr. 'Battle on the Bay: the Civil War struggle for Galveston', by Edward T. Cotham Jr. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998.
• Cotham, Edward T. Jr. 'Sabine Pass: the Confederacy's Thermopylae', by Edward T. Cotham Jr. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.
• Cotham, Edward T. Jr, ed. The Southern journey of a Civil War marine: the illustrated note-book of Henry O. Gusley, edited and annotated by Edward T. Cotham Jr. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006.

• 
  Davis Guards Medal, 1864
• 
  Grave, St. Vincent's Cemetery, 1867
• 
  Richard Dowling Memorial Statue, 1905
• 
  Obelisk, St. Vincent's Cemetery, 1935
• 
  Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site, 1936
• 
  UDC Memorial, Sabine Pass, 1937
• 
  Plaque, Tuam, 1998