(US/TX) My Father is Here

Background: The Battle of Galveston Bay, January, 1863

In January, 1863, the island of Galveston was re-captured from Union control by the Confederate forces. It was an important win.

The Union general, two years later, said that Galveston, as a military position was second in importance only to New Orleans and Mobile. General Banks wrote to the Secretary of War in April, 1865, that the loss of Galveston was "the most unfortunate affair that occurred in [the Department of the Gulf] during my command."

Soon after the Battle, Confederate General Magruder told his soldiers:

Soldiers of the Army of Galveston:

The New Year dawned upon an achievement whose glory is unsurpassed. That glory is yours. You have recaptured an island 2 miles from the mainland. You have repossessed yourselves of your beautiful "Island City," and made its hostile garrison, entrenched behind inaccessible barricades, surrender to you at discretion....Your general is proud to command you; your State and country will honor you as long as patriotism and heroism are cherished among men.

General John Bankhead Magruder, Address to the Army of Galveston, January 14, 1863.

An Inside Story:

The Union troops entered Galveston Bay on the Harriet Lane. One of its young officers was Edward Lea, a valiant Tennessean.

His father, Colonel Albert Miller Lea, a classmate of Magruder at West Point, joined the Confederate Army, and was assigned to General Magruder's staff at Galveston.

In Colonel Lea's last letter to his son he had prophetically warned him,"if you decide to fight for the Old Flag [the Union army], it is not likely we will meet again except face to face on the battlefield."

And so it happened. Like other families, they were divided in their loyalties, and met their last time on the battlefield of opposing armies.

After the fighting had stopped at the Battle of Galveston, Albert Lea revealed to General Magruder for the first time that his son had been serving on one of the enemy's Union vessels involved in the battle.

Magruder immediately gave his friend permission to go look for his son.

As he had predicted before the war, Albert Lea arrived on the deck of the captured Harriet Lane to discover his son lying on the deck dying of multiple wounds.

The boy recognized his father and said, "Father, I wish I could have given the order to move the ship sooner."

Some soldiers nearby, who realized the boy was dying, asked, "Is there anything you need?"

And the boy, in love and trust, said, "No, my father is here."

Two days later, Albert Lea read the funeral service over his son's quickly dug grave in a burial plot in the Episcopal Cemetery on Galveston Island.

Today, if you visit the old cemetery in Galveston, walk among the grave markers and recall that valiant souls on both sides 'gave their last measure of devotion.'

And, if you look carefully, chances are you will come across one particular marker that is inscribed with an anchor and a spyglass, and the words:

Edward Lea
1840-1863
My Father is Here

My earthly father died in 1999. But through the work of Jesus Christ at the cross, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, I can confidently say every morning when I rise and every evening when I lie down to rest, "My Father is here."

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of god. I John 3:1

What manner of love....what a vast supply has been poured out on us...so that we can be called
God's children!

My Father is here. With me. All the time.

DOXOLOGY!