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00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 789

In mid-March 1864 Union forces actively probed the Texas coastline.  On March 17, a Federal force landed near Corpus Christi seeking contraband cotton; the Federals soon evacuated, taking seized cotton and Texas Unionists with them. 

At Laredo, 200 Union troops harassed that city before retiring; Confederate Colonel Santos Benevides requested urgently needed supplies and reinforcements, fearing that the Union raid had exposed how short of manpower he was.  On Monday, March 21, a Union warship fired on the Matagorda, a Confederate blockade runner, which had run aground near Velasco. 

Confederate shore batteries managed to explode an artillery shell above the Union warship, driving her crew below deck and forcing the warship to withdraw.  The Matagorda would be saved, only to be destroyed in July 1864 while running out of Galveston, Texas.