In class today, Alex raised a good question about how the various groups should deal with discrepancies in the numbers of soldiers reported to have been involved in the Battle of Sabine Pass.
This is an issue that has been raised before on this blog and elsewhere. (For example, see my round-up post on Library Assignment #2, and this comment on one of Kat’s posts.)
What are you thoughts on how we should deal with this issue in the various parts of our project? Should we settle on a particular set of numbers to use across the projects? Or simply say that the number is still controversial? I’m eager to hear your thoughts.
Perhaps one way to begin this discussion would be to share how you yourself have resolved the numbers issue if you have had to pick a number for one of your group assignments. Which source did you rely on and why?
Hey Guys, I don’t know if anyone still cares, but while I was doing some research going through the Houston Public Library Archive I came upon this footnote by Ann Caraway Ivans (but it refers to a collection in the National Archives)
In his Official Report (dated September 9, 1863, War of the Rebellion – Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 26, Part 1, pp. 311-312), Dick Dowling says “thus it will be seen we captured with 47 men…” His enumeration includes the 40 Davis Guards under his command, as well as Dr. George H. Bailey, Sabine City Hospital surgeon who volunteered at the fort, Engineer Nicholas H. Smith, who manned one o f the cannon, and himself, for a total of43 men. During the battle, the fort was visited by four others, a Dr. Murray from the hospital in Sabine City, as well as Captain OdIum, Dowling’s superior officer, and Major Leon Smith, commanding Marine Department of Texas, and Captain W. S. Good, an ordnance officer. The latter four did not actually participate in the battle, but left the fort to secure reinforcements for the Davis Guards, at Dick Dowling’s request.
Thus I argue we go with the 43 number because the 43 Davis Guards were the ones who warded off the attack.
Nice find, Craig. Maybe we can still use various numbers, depending on the needs of the context, as long as we clarify exactly what the number stands for. E.g., “43 participants in the battle” or “no more than 47 men in the fort” or “40 members of the Davis Guard.”