"My father is here."
Since 1863, at the turn of the new year, the memory of the American Civil War lies heavy on the heart of Galveston Island.
If you're anything like me, you may have a father or maybe even siblings, and if you're a parent, you may even have a son. Can you imagine going toe to toe with a parent, sibling, or child in an all-out battle?
This story takes us to the Battle of Galveston on January 1st, 1863, a father against son, a story all too common during the American Civil War right here in Galveston.
In 1860, Galveston was a thriving port town of about 7,000 people, and the Port of Galveston was Texas' busiest port. Most of the cotton throughout the state of Texas was exported through Galveston. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Texas joined the Confederate States of America. Galveston's importance as a major port for the Western Confederacy was obvious. If it fell into federal hands, the island would be an excellent blockading base and could serve as a staging area for an invasion into the interior of Texas.
On January 1st, 1863, Confederate Major General John Bankhead Magruder orchestrated a surprise attack to recapture Galveston, as federal forces aimed to control it for Union blockades and strategic military purposes. The United States Navy had captured Galveston in October of 1862. Magruder, dealing with limited resources, converted steamboats into armed cottonclads in order to confront Union warships. Despite delays and initial setbacks, Confederate forces managed to capture the Union ship Harriet Lane and forced Federal troops to surrender.
The battle resulted in a retreat of Union forces from Galveston Bay and transformed Magruder into a celebrated Confederate figure throughout Texas.
This defeat was a significant blow to Union strategy in the Gulf. It would be another two years at the end of the Civil War when the United States Navy would finally sail into the port of Galveston, putting an end to the Texas conflict and officially ending slavery in the state of Texas.
In a previous episode, we learned about the Battle of Galveston and the strategies of the United States Navy and the Confederacy, as well as how the Battle of Galveston played out in favor of the Confederacy. In this episode, we're going to take a closer look at a heart-wrenching father and son story that takes place at the Battle of Galveston.
Our story begins in Richland, Tennessee, where Albert Lea was born in 1808. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1831 and became a distinguished engineer and military officer. In 1835, while serving with the Army Corps of Engineers as a topographer, Albert surveyed southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, including the site of what is now known as Albert Lea, Minnesota, a town named in his honor. He held roles as Tennessee's chief engineer, a federal boundary surveyor, a railroad engineer, and a chief clerk for the United States War Department and in 1837, in Baltimore, Maryland, Albert had a son, Edward Lea.
Edward went on to graduate from the United States Naval Academy in 1855. That same year, Albert Lea, Edward's father, moved to East Texas. Edward rose to the rank of lieutenant commander while serving in various roles before the Civil War, including the East India Squadron. The East India Squadron was a fleet of American ships dedicated to protecting American interests in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Asia. As indicated by his military records, Edward was a strong leader, although he received demerits from time to time, usually for sticking up for his fellow soldiers.
Whispers of a full-on war between the North and the South began to spread, and those rumors became a reality. The American Civil War began with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. The outbreak of this war tore households apart, with brothers opposing brothers and fathers fighting against sons. Families were often divided by loyalties, turning loved ones into enemies and leaving emotional scars that endured long after the war. Edward and Albert Lea were no different. Although Albert had served the United States loyally for most of his career while living in Texas, Albert chose to join the Confederacy. Edward, already in the U. S. Navy, chose to stay with the Union. These decisions no doubt strain their relationship; however, according to historical accounts, both Edward and Albert respected each other's decisions, and they each hoped that they would never meet each other in battle.
Divided by loyalties, Edward, the son, served as a Union naval officer aboard the United States Revenue Cutter, Harriet Lane. In contrast, his father, Albert Lea, served in the Confederacy as an engineer. During this time frame, and due to the circumstances, communication was extremely difficult. The only information that Albert Lea really knew about his son is that Edward was aboard the Harriet Lane, which was serving in the Atlantic, the Gulf Coast, and up and down the Mississippi River. Edward knew his father was probably in Texas, and in the fall of 1862, when the Harriet Lane received orders to make its way towards Galveston, whether Edward and Albert knew it or not, the chances that they would meet face to face in battle increased significantly, a story all too common during the American Civil War.
The United States Navy sailed into the port of Galveston in October of 1862, all but unopposed. The Confederacy decided to abandon the island and focus their resources more inland. For Galveston residents, they were urged to evacuate, but not everyone left the island. From October 1862 to January 1st, 1863, the Union Navy held the port of Galveston and the very desolate Galveston Island. As mentioned previously, Confederate Major General John Bankhead Magruder was put in charge of Confederate Texas operations, and as soon as he arrived in Texas in late 1862, he placed the task of recapturing Galveston, Texas's most significant port, at the very top of his list.
Edward was stationed with the Union Fleet, enforcing the blockade of the Texas coast on Galveston Island. Albert, upon hearing the plans to recapture Galveston, sat in the growing tension and prepared for the conflict to come. In late December of 1862, the Confederates hatched a daring battle strategy. The plan was to utilize cotton-clad steamboats, a land-based attack force, to capture or destroy the United States Navy vessels stationed at the port of Galveston.
If you'd like to hear more about that battle and the strategy behind it, we've covered it in a previous episode, which is linked in the description.
On New Year's Eve, 1862, Albert Lea and the Confederate forces marched over Galveston Bay to Galveston Island, across a raggedy wooden rail bridge, and continued to march along the bay side of Galveston Island all night long until they reached downtown Galveston where they set up their cannons and artillery. Scouts began naming off the Union Navy vessels in the harbor, and Albert Lea listened intently: "The Clifton, The Westfield, The Owasco, The Coryphus, The Sachem, The Harriet Lane." Albert knew this was the moment that he would be facing off against his own son.Although rumors had been spreading of a Confederate attack, Edward Lea and the Union Navy station at Galveston were not suspecting an attack at dawn on New Year's Day.
As the sun crested the horizon on New Year's Day, 1863, from land and by sea, the Confederates began to attack the Union Navy. As the land forces fired upon the ships in the harbor, the Cottonclads, made up of the Neptune and the Bayou City, made their way into the harbor. While the Neptune tried to ram the Harriet Lane. The Harriet Lane sank the Neptune, but men from the Bayou City boarded and seized the federal vessel despite the explosion of their own heavy cannon.
After an intense fight, the Union Navy vessels at the port of Galveston succumbed to the Confederate attack. While fighting to defend his vessel from being overtaken, Edward was shot in the chest. He lay wounded on the deck of the Harriet Lane until the battle was over. Edward's father, Albert, unscathed from the battle, asked permission from his superior officer if he could check on his son aboard the Harriet Lane.
Albert hurried aboard, only to find his son wounded on the deck of the ship. For the first time in years, Albert spoke to his son Edward for a few minutes. Until he decided to leave The Harriet Lane to get medical attention for Edward. When he finally returned, among the other dead Union soldiers aboard the Harriet Lane, he found his 27-year-old son lifeless. Albert asked other crewmembers on board about his son's last moments, and he was told whenever he was being checked on, Edward would say, "I'm fine. My father is here. My father is here". Some of his last words were the assurance that his father was nearby.
The next day, on January 2nd, 1863, Edward was buried at Trinity Episcopal Cemetery, where Albert officiated his funeral. After the Civil War, Albert remained in Galveston, and when someone suggested that his son's remains be reinterred next to Edward's mother in Baltimore, Albert replied that Edward would have preferred that his final resting place be near where he had fallen in battle. Edward Lea's grave remains where he was originally buried.
Although Edward Lea died at 27 years old, his legacy extends far beyond the Battle of Galveston. World War I destroyer, the USS LEA, was named after Edward. And like Edward during the Civil War, the USS LEA was no stranger to conflict, which becomes evident when you look at the service history of the USS LEA.
Launched in October of 1918, it served in the Atlantic during the World War I conflict. It was decommissioned in June of 1922, and recommissioned in 1930, decommissioned again in 1937, and at the outbreak of World War II, was recommissioned in 1939, serving in the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea in a time of peak German U-boat activity, and at the end of World War II, the USS LEA was finally decommissioned in 1945. Just like Edward Lea, the USS LEA service in the United States Navy came to an end at 27 years old.
The American Civil War lies heavy on the heart of Galveston Island. Divided by loyalties, turning loved ones into enemies, and leaving emotional scars that endured long after the war. Father against son, a story all too common during the American Civil War… right here in Galveston.
