Episode 14: LT Robert M. Franklin and the C.S. Bayou City at the Battle of Galveston

First Person Civil War Podcast

At the Battle of Galveston, 1 January 1863, LT Robert M. Franklin and the Texas Sailors, Artillerymen, Cavalrymen and Infantrymen aboard the Cottonclad C.S. Bayou City, with three other ships participated in a combined attack on Union Forces by both land and sea upon Galveston Texas. LT Franklin and his fellow Texans strapped bales of cotton to the C.S. Bayou City and the C.S. Neptune for added protection as they faced the numerically superior Union Navy around Galveston.

With the C.S. Bayou City in the lead, the two Cottonclads attempted to board the USS Harriet Lane. In their first attempt to board the Union vessel, the Bayou City temporally lost steering and the Neptune became so damaged that it ran ashore to stop from sinking. On its second attempt, LT Franklin and the Texans aboard C.S. Bayou City successfully boarded and captured the USS Harriet Lane.
Sources used for this episode:
Franklin, Robert M. Battle of Galveston January 1st, 1863. Washington: Congressional Library, 1911. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.battleofgalvesto00fran/?sp=1&st=slideshow#slide-3.
Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. 1, Vol. 9. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1883. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609552&view=1up&seq=3.
IBID. Ser. 1, Vol. 15. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609586&view=1up&seq=3.
“Aged Galvestonian Claimed by Death. Judge R.M. Franklin is Honored by Confederate Comrades.” Galveston Daily News, February 22, 1923. Newspapers.com.