Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainIn 47 minutes on September 8, 1863, 47 Confederate soldiers stopped a Union invasion fleet — over 55 sailors died and two gunboats were captured at this preserved waterway battlefield.
6100 Dick Dowling Rd, Sabine Pass, TX 77655
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free day-use admission. The site is managed by the Texas Historical Commission.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat coastal plain with paved walkways; accessible near the monument and boat launch.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1863 · September 8, 1863 Confederate victory — 47 men repelled 5,000-man Union invasion · Two Union gunboats captured: USS Clifton and USS Sachem · Mass grave of Union sailors on site · Texas Historical Commission State Historic Site
Sabine Pass, a shallow tidal channel connecting Sabine Lake to the Gulf of Mexico, guarded the border between Texas and Louisiana and the supply routes behind Confederate Texas. In September 1863, Union General Nathaniel Banks mounted an amphibious operation to seize it — four gunboats and transports carrying roughly 5,000 troops under General William Franklin.
Fort Griffin, the Confederate position at the pass, was defended by 47 men of the Davis Guards under Irish-born Lt. Dick Dowling. The fort's six guns were sited to cover a narrow dredged channel that Union vessels would have to navigate in single file. On the morning of September 8, the USS Clifton and USS Sachem led the naval advance. Confederate gunners, who had spent months drilling against painted stakes in the channel, opened fire and within 47 minutes had struck the Clifton and Sachem repeatedly. The Clifton ran aground; the Sachem was struck in her steam drum, scalding much of her crew. Both vessels surrendered with their crews — approximately 350 Union sailors captured. Casualty estimates from the Texas Historical Commission place Union dead at over 55. The remaining Union fleet withdrew without landing troops.
The battle drew notice even in the Confederate capital: President Jefferson Davis praised Dowling and the Davis Guards, who suffered no casualties themselves. The mass grave for Union sailors killed in the engagement remains on the site.
The Texas Historical Commission manages the site today as a day-use park. The Dick Dowling statue — erected in 1936 — and historical markers along the Sabine Pass waterfront are the primary interpretive features.
Sources
The paranormal lore at Sabine Pass centers on the waterway itself rather than the land park. Accounts collected by Texas folklore researchers describe a figure seen by barge operators and maritime workers along the Sabine Pass channel, typically after dark, dressed in a dark blue Union naval uniform and moving without apparent orientation — referred to locally as the Headless Gunner.
The specific legend traces to the September 8, 1863 battle: Confederate artillery fire struck the USS Clifton repeatedly during the engagement, and at least one account, preserved in Texas maritime folklore, describes a gunner killed by a direct cannonball strike at his station. The Texas Hill Country archive cites barge workers' testimony describing the figure searching the bank near the area of the Union mass grave.
The site receives minimal infrastructure or formal interpretive support, which means sightings are not systematically documented. The handful of accounts that have been recorded come from people with reasons to be on the water at night — commercial mariners and fishermen — rather than paranormal investigators. Whether the reports reflect genuine tradition or accumulated embellishment is not documented in any formal source.
Notable Entities
Walk the waterfront along the Sabine Pass channel where Lt. Dick Dowling's Davis Guards disabled and captured two Union gunboats — the USS Clifton and USS Sachem — on September 8, 1863. The Dick Dowling statue and historical markers explain the engagement. The mass grave site for Union sailors killed in the battle is on the grounds.
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