Richard William (Dick) Dowling was born in 1838 in Galway County, Ireland to William and Mary Dowling. Immigrating to Louisiana in 1846, and then Texas in the early 1850s, he was a successful businessman and Confederate hero of the Civil War. In November 1857, he married Elizabeth Ann Odlum, from whose father, Benjamin Digby Odlum, he probably received financial backing for his business ventures. Enlisting in the Confederate Army as a First Lieutenant in 1861, he became famous for leading the Davis Guards during the Second Battle of Sabine Pass on September 8, 1863. Dowling served as a recruiting officer for the Confederacy for the remainder of the war and was discharged with the rank of major in 1865. He died of yellow fever on September 23, 1867. | Source: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdo28Download Original File
