On Maffitt's Final Run Through the Blockade-- Part 2: It Was Grand Theater

By this late date in the war, with all other Confederate ports closed, there were sixteen Union blockaders off Galveston.  Regardless, Maffitt ran that gauntlet, taking heavy fire.  he was so hard pressed, that at the entrance to the harbor, he ran aground on Bird Island Shoals.

Under heavy fire, Maffitt attempted to free the Owl.  The scene became grand outdoor theater as the people of Galveston heard the cannon fire and ascended the steps to their house tops to view the action.

A small Confederate fleet consisting of two gunboats and four transports wasn't much help, but one of the gunboats, the CSS Diana, with a volunteer crew under Captain James H. McGarvey, steamed out into the spray of shot and shell to assist the Owl.

There they found Maffitt "at his exposed post on the bridge of the steamer, calmly directing his men and displaying... the greatest bravery."

With the aid of the Diana, the Owl was soon floated and towed  out of danger to the rejoicing of the housetop audience.

So, the little-known Diana played a role on the last attempt by a Confederate blockade runner to enter a Confederate port.

--Old B-Runner