Cannon Ammo
Picture and documentation of Civil War Cannon ammunition ordered for federal forces on Harbor Island(Aransas Pass,TX).
Maj. Wm G Thompson
Commdg. Post Aransas Pass
Major,
Capt. Hitchcock, Act. Chief Ord. Officer - U. S. Forces
Texas, has written to Capt. Francis J Shunk Chief Ord. Officer at New Orleans,
to send "Aransas Pass" 220 rounds assorted
ammunition for 20 pdr Parrott Guns
60 rounds for 24 pdr Howitzer
60 rounds for 18 "
"
60 rounds for 12 "
"
400 Friction Primers
The Commanding Officer at Aransas Pass will receipt the above stores on
their arrival.
By Order of
Maj. Genl. N.J.T. Dana
Hugh G Brown
Capt. and A.A. Genl
Aransas Pass controlled the access to Corpus Christi, and was a major avenue for confederate blockade runners. The Union Army had captured the battery commanding the pass the previous November, which, along with the occupation of Brownsville and Matagorda, effectively shut off access to the blockade runners of any port south of Galveston.
However, by late summer of 1864, most Union positions on the Texas coast had been recaptured by the Confederates.
It is rare to find original official documents of Union forces in Texas. This document gives first-hand information on the types of artillery stationed in the fortifications at Aransas Pass.
Major General Dana was severely wounded leading his troops at Antietam earlier in the war. He was commander of the 13th Army Corps during this time, with his headwuarters in Ft. Esperanza at Pass Cavallo with the First Division. Prior to this, Dana had commanded the invasion of Brownsville, TX (a post he had defended during the Mexican War) and managed to chase the Confederates past Laredo, clamping down on the cotton tradewith Mexico from South Texas.
Contributed by Will Beauchamp
