Based on recent discoveries in nautical archaeology, Francaviglia tells the stories of the ill-fated Spanish flotilla that wrecked off Padre Island in 1554 and of French explorer La Salle's flagship Belle, which sank in 1687. He explores the role of the Texas Navy in the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836 and during the years of the Texas Republic, and also describes the Civil War battles at Galveston and Sabine Pass - battles that humiliated the Union Navy and helped keep Texas in the hands of the Confederacy. Finally, he recounts major developments of the nineteenth-century - the erecting of lighthouses, the dredging of channels, and the development of steam-powered liners of the Morgan and Mallory lines - concluding with the disastrous Galveston Hurricane of 1900.
- ISBN10 0292725035
- ISBN13 9780292725034
- Publish Date 1 March 1998
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 13 July 2009
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Texas Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 324
- Language English