The only major battle of the Civil War was over control of Galveston.  That didn’t exactly happen on this day.  However, in 1862, Union Commander William B. Renshaw led a squadron of eight ships into Galveston harbor and demanded surrender of the only important Texas. Brig. Gen Paul O. Hebert had already removed most of the heavy artillery from Galveston Island wisely believing it to be indefensible.  In return, the garrison at Fort Point fired on the Union ships, which responded with volleys that dismounted the Confederate guns. The Confederate commander Col. Joseph J. Cook arranged a four-day truce and used it to evacuate his men to the mainland.

The latest 2014 read was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.  I estimate that this was about the tenth time I have read this classic.  I discover something new each time I read it.  For those who have not read it (Really?), here is a brief synopsis (no real spoiler alert needed).

The book is unusual in that it has two narrators.  The first unnamed narrator is on a boat (likely a large yacht) on the lower reaches of the Thames.  He is gathered near dusk with the Director, Marlowe and some others. They are all of the sea, but Marlowe is the only one still making his living in that way.  Marlow remarks how this too was “once one of the dark places of the earth” imagining how a young Roman soldier must have felt going up against the native Britons.  Marlowe then begins to tell his tale.  Out of work, Marlowe travels to the Continent to the Sepulcher City to take a job as a riverboat captain for an ivory-trading company in the unnamed Congo.  In fact, no location but the Thames is ever named in this novel.  Marlowe tells of his travails in reaching his destination and finding his small paddle-wheeler sunk upstream from the main trading station.  It takes several months to fix during which time he learns more and more of Kurtz, manager of the Central Station.  Kurtz delivers more ivory than all of the other agents combined and there is a great mystery about his techniques.  With the steamer fixed, Kurtz begins a journey upriver with the manager and several “pilgrims.”  Just short of the Central Station, the boat is attacked by natives, but only the helmsman is killed by a spear.  When they finally arrive at the Central Station, Kurtz is ill and Marlowe encounters a Dutchman who has been living solitarily in the bush for several years and has befriended Kurtz in a manner of speaking.  The Dutchman tells Marlowe of Kurtz’ incredible strength, powers and resolve.  We are led to believe that Kurtz is a remarkable man.  Marlowe discover that Kurtz has written a monograph on his techniques that ends abruptly and has scrawled on the end “Exterminate all the brutes.”  Kurtz is taken on board the steamer, but escapes at night where Marlowe finds him crawling through the grass.  Kurtz dies, his last words having apparently been “The Horror, the Horror.”  Marlowe returns to the Sepulcher City in awe of Kurtz and with a bundle of letters and papers that he refuses to give to the Company.  The book ends with Marlowe visiting Kurtz’ “Intended”.  He gives her letters back to her and when she asks what Kurtz’ last words were – Marlowe lies telling her it was her name.

The plot is really incidental to the psychological drama in Marlowe’s mind as he struggles to make sense of the jungle, the preposterous characters around him and Kurtz who he ultimately concludes was a remarkable man.

Only three characters are ever named – Marlowe, Kurtz and Van Schuyten who is a trading post owner mentioned only once.  The book is clearly not PC by todays standards with frequent use of “nigger”, no thoughts about the  consequences of the ivory trade, and condescending descriptions of the Africans.  Still it is worth a read.

At eight o’clock in the evening on October 3, 1930, the Daisy Bradford No. 3 well struck oil. It was a gusher, and set of a spectacular oil rush in the East Texas field. It was the largest oilfield every discovered up to that time.  The well was brought in by Columbus Marion “Dad” Joiner.  Joiner had begun drilling in Rusk County in 1927 with rusted, third-hand equipment. According to legend, a geologist from Texaco told Joiner, “I’ll drink every barrel of oil you get out of that hole.”  In 1930 Joiner began to drill eight miles west of Henderson, Texas on Daisy Bradford’s farm with a wooden rig and used tools.  His first two wells were dry holes, but when the Daisy Bradford No. 3 came in, it changed Texas and the world.

A really big day in Texas history.  In 1835, the first “battle” of the Texas Revolution was fought at Gonzalez.

When Gen. Ugartechea, the Mexican military commander in Texas, learned that colonists in Gonzales had refused to surrender a small cannon that had been given to them to ward off attacks by Native Americans, he ordered Francisco de Castaneda and 100 dragoons under his command to seize it.  Hoping to avoid escalating the already tense relations between the Texas colonists and Santa Anna, Ugartechea ordered Castañeda to use force if necessary but to avoid conflict if possible.

When Castaneda reached the Guadalupe River opposite Gonzales, he found the ford impassable because of high water and was confronted by eighteen militiamen.  Unable to enter Gonzalez, Castañeda pitched camp near the ford. He later moved his camp 7 miles upriver when he received word that the Texan colonists were amassing a number of volunteers.

On October 1, the Texan colonists crossed the Guadalupe and marched upriver toward Castañeda’s new camp. On the morning of October 2 they attacked, Castaneda immediately ordered his men to fall back to a more defensible position behind the camp.

At one point, Castañeda arranged a parley with Texan commander  J. H. Moore.   Castañeda inquired why he had been attacked without provocation.  Moore answered that the Texans were fighting to keep the cannon and uphold the Constitution of 1824. Castaneda explained that he was a Federalist and personally opposed to the policies of Santa Anna.  He told Moore that he did not want to fight Moore’s men and only wanted to reclaim the Cannon.  Moore invited Castañeda to join them in fighting for the Constitution of 1824. Castaneda was unable to do so because as a soldier he was required to follow his orders and not engage in politics.  Unable to reach an agreement, the fighting resumed after the commanders returned to their positions.

Looking at the situation, Castaneda ordered a withdrawal to San Antonio.  In his later report, Castañeda stated that “since the orders from your Lordship were for me to withdraw without compromising the honor of Mexican arms, I did so.”  Despite Castañeda’s efforts to avoid war, the minor skirmish at Gonzales is now viewed as the breaking point that led to war between the American colonists and the Mexican government

I have to look at crap like this on the way to work.