Sabine

“Disabling and capture of the Federal gunboats Sachem and Clifton, in the attack on Sabine Pass, Tex., September 8th, 1863. One of the objects of this expedition was to take Sabine City; and on September 8th Generals Franklin and Weitzel proceeded to the pass, and prepared to enter and land their troops as soon as the enemy’s batteries were silenced. The strength and the position of these were known, the pass having been in Federal hands in 1862, yet the only preparation for attack was to send the Clifton, an old Staten Island ferryboat, and the Sachem, an inferior propeller, to attack the batteries, putting on them about one hundred sharpshooters. The vessels advanced firing, but without eliciting a reply till they were well in range, when the batteries opened. The Sachem was soon crippled and forced to strike, while a shell penetrated the boiler of the Clifton, causing an explosion that made her a perfect wreck. Many were killed in the action and by the explosion; some few escaped, but nearly all that survived were made prisoners."— Frank Leslie, 1896

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