The 57 acre battle field of Sabine Pass, on the Louisiana-Texas border, was hit by Hurricane Rita back in 2005, and then last year by Hurricane Ike. Both were extremely damaging hits with toppled trees and broken markers.
After a lot of work and a $600,000 rebuilding program, the park is set to reopen by the end of summer.
Richard W. "Dick" Dowling, 25, a Houston saloon owner and 47 mostly Irish troops of Co. F Texas Artillery disabled two Union gunboats and forced others to withdraw in less than an hour's action with no loss. Sixty Union soldiers and sailors were killed or missing.
The Dowling statue was erected in 1936 to honor the 100th anniversary of Texas independence. It is estimated that a storm surge of ten feet or more swept over the battlefield during the hurricanes.
In Line of the Wind. --Old B-R'er
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
