Coal on McFaddin Beach - the Wreck of the schooner MANHASSET

Coal on McFaddin Beach - the Wreck of the schooner Manhasset

One of our duties with the Texas General Land Office Oil Spill Division, is to conduct regular patrols of our local beaches in search of potential oil threats. Last March, in fact, we discovered a large fuel bladder filled with 300 gallons of red dye diesel 25 yards in the dunes on McFaddin Beach. But, that’s not all we found. On many occasions, we find pieces of coal on the sand, some are the size of a quarter, others the size of a football. Now, coal is the most plentiful fuel in the fossil family and it has the longest and, perhaps, the most varied history.  But, how did it get here? I have a theory….. 

Coal found on McFaddin Beach

McFaddin Beach is an uninhabited sandy 20-mile beach on the upper Texas coast stretching from High Island to the eastern edge of Sea Rim State Park. Ten miles east of Sea Rim State Park is the town of Sabine Pass, Texas. The town is at the mouth of the Sabine Neches Waterway and, today, is the 4th largest in the nation for total maritime tonnage. 

Located within the community is Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site. There can be found the story of Confederate Lt. Richard “Dick” Dowling and his 46 men who on the afternoon of September 8, 1863, thwarted an attempted Union attack on Sabine Pass. This attack was part of the Union’s blockade strategy and considered necessary as Sabine Pass was at the time, one of the primary ports for Confederate shipments of supplies and vital to the war effort.  

Statue of Dick Dowling in Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site 

Dowling’s unit was known as the Davis Guards (named for Confederate president Jefferson Davis) and was composed of 45 enlisted men, one engineer, and one surgeon, all Irishmen from Houston and Galveston and all in their 20s or younger. Their fort, known today as Fort Griffin, so named in honor of Colonel W. F. Griffin a local Confederate Commander. Fort Griffin was on the southwest bank of the pass and consisted of an unfinished earthwork that was fortified with six mounted cannons, two 24-pounders and four 32-pounders. 

The attacking Union fleet included the steam powered side-wheeled ironclad gunboats, U.S.S Clifton, U.S.S. Granite City, U.S.S. Sachem and U.S.S Arizona.  Outside the Sabine Pass Bar lay at anchor, the remaining ships of the 22-vessel invasion fleet with nearly 5, 000 infantry on board.  

In a battle lasting less than an hour, Dowling and his men disabled the Union ironclad gunboats, the U.S.S. Clifton (steering system) and the U.S.S. Sachem (a shot through the boiler), inflicted significant casualties along with the capture of nearly 350 prisoners. As a result of this battle, area ports escaped capture and Union forces never penetrated the Texas interior for the remainder of the Civil War. Commodore Henry H. Bell, summed up the Union effort by describing it as “totally failed”. 

THE ATTACK ON SABINE PASS, September 8, 1863 - Sketched by an Eye-Witness, Harper’s Weekly, October 10, 1863, Rebel Battery -U.S.S. Clifton - Transport General Banks - U.S.S. Sachem - U.S.S. Arizona” 

For an interesting account of the battle by a local historian, please see, THE BATTLE OF SABINE PASS - ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS, By W. T. Block at, https://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/battleof.htm

Prior to the Civil War steam was regarded merely as an auxiliary power to sail, to be used in battle maneuvers, in calm, or in entering or leaving port. By the opening of the Civil War, the Union Navy almost exclusively took advantage of steam power. Early in the war, Flag Officer Silas Stringham, of the Atlantic Blockading Squadron commented, “I will trade you two of my sailing frigates and a sloop for one of the new steamers now building”.

Reliance on steam brought new worries, notorious unreliability of steam engines and their dependency on coal. A warship that burned up its coal before reaching its destination was of little use in the battle. The large Union fleet at Sabine Pass was predominantly steam powered and needed coal…. lots of it.

Two-masted schooners were the vessel of choice for coal transport in the coastal trade. These schooners were well adapted to coastal routes with their ability to operate with a small crew, sail closer to the wind, access tight harbors, and carry large amounts of bulk material. 

One of these schooners was the Manhasset, a civilian vessel out of Boston, under contract to supply 300 tons of coal to the blockade gunboats of the Union fleet at Sabine Pass (did you notice the mention about coal?). During a severe storm on the night of September 19, 1863, the Manhassett with its cargo, ran aground on a sandbar near the site planned for a new Confederate fort. In the morning, the Confederates discovered the wreck and the Manhasset was immediately seized, and her civilian crew of seven men were taken prisoner. As the then un-named Confederate fort was built near the site where the Manhasset ran aground, the fort’s name (sometimes spelled Manhassett) was taken from the ship. It seems not everyone in the Union fleet was upset at the loss of the Manhasset. One Union Commander complained to his superiors that the Manhasset’s crew was continually supplying liquor to his men as well as coal.

Many years later, in 1970, road repair crews accidentally dug up several cannonballs and crumbling kegs of black powder about ten miles west of Sabine Pass. Further excavation eventually produced more kegs of black powder and several hundred cannonballs. It’s suspected the ammunition had been buried there by Confederate soldiers in what were the ditches of Fort Manhasset in 1865.

So, the next time you see a piece of coal on McFaddin Beach, pick it up. You may be holding a piece of Civil War history in your hand.