Texas Marine Department

The Texas Marine Department (1861–1865) (alt Marine Department of Military District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, Trans-Mississippi Marine Department) was formed in the State of Texas shortly after Texas came under blockade from the Union Navy in 1861. It operated under the control of the Confederate Navy during the Civil War.[1]

"The Texas Marine Department, an organization unique in the Confederacy, combined the roles of a conventional navy, revenue service, and military logistics command."[2]

The ships in the Marine Department mainly consisted of small vessels, improvised cottonclad warships, and some captured US Navy ships.

The Department was instrumental in the liberation of Galveston, occupied by the Union, and winning the Battle of Galveston on January 1, 1863.[3] It was disbanded at the end of the war.[4]

  1. ^ Hall. The Galveston-Houston packet. pp. 65–66.
  2. ^ Hall. The Galveston-Houston packet. p. 67.
  3. ^ Hall. The Galveston-Houston packet. pp. 73–79.
  4. ^ Hall. The Galveston-Houston packet. p. 82.