Capt. Henry Fleig grave dedication Washington Cemetery, Houston Texas

Grave Dedication

We have been invited here today to honor some of the great heroes who have gone before us. Men who fought and died for the cause that they believed in; that is: Duty to God and duty to Country, and the right for sovereign states to govern themselves.

So often in our times, young people are asked, Who are your heroes? The reply is usually the name of some sports star. These sports stars are not heroes, they only possess some great athletic ability. They have no real courage and they seldom have character. My heroes, on the other hand, are the real men that suffered and sacrificed the hardships of war for four long years. A war that was brought to them by a northern aggressor, bent on destroying the South economically, politically, totally.

Who are my heroes? Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, Dick Dowling, Richard Taylor, Sul Ross, and Capt. William Fleig; these are my heroes. Dedicated to their cause, willing to give even their very life for what they believed in. We must instill in today's generation and the generations yet to come why these men are our heroes, the importance of their sacrifice; the fact that the South was right and the South did not fight and die in vain! The fact that the all-powerful centralized federal government was contrary to the very Constitution on which this country was founded.

So we come here today to this hollowed ground, made holy by the internment of these great men who have gone before us. Let us pay our respects to these gallant men, who fought for the old Southern Cross. We pray that when we stand before the Throne of God, with Our Lord Jesus Christ at his right side, that God weighs the evidence of our deeds and find us as worthy as these men who have gone before us. For their deeds were righteous and in the end God will vindicate them and us! Deo Vindice!

Captain William H. Fleig
(23 February 1823 - 14 September 1923)

Captain William H. Fleig was born in Charleston, SC and died in Houston, having lived here for 80 of his 100 years. He took to the sea early in life, and spent thirty years in ships, including service with Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian war of independence in 1860-62. Captain Fleig soon joined the Confederates in Texas, serving under General John Bankhead Magruder. Magruder and the Confederates were assigned to defend Galveston, which they did adrnirably.

Their most spectacular feat was the capture of the U.S. S. Harriet Lane, causing considerable embarrassment, fear, and shame throughout the Union Navy. Admiral Farragut wrote, "The capture of the Harriet Lane and the abandonment of Galveston was not only the most unfortunate thing that ever happened to the Navy, but the most shameful."

For over a year she remained in harbor at Galveston undergoing repairs and refitting, and a goodly amount of non-decision-making. After dark on the evening of April 30, 1864, sixteen months following her capture, the Harriet Lane under Capt. Fleig slipped out of Galveston Harbor, evading the Union blockaders by going out a channel that was incorrectly believed to be too shallow to permit her passage. Realizing too late that Harriet Lane was about to get away, the Union ship Katahdin gave chase and by dawn the next morning was gaining on her. However, Captain Fleig demonstrated superior seamanship, frequently changing course to keep his pursuer fighting a strong headwind, and by 2 p.m. Harriet Lane was beyond the reach of the Union Navy.

After the war, Fleig married Miss Calista Texas Stevens and joined the auditing department of the Kirby Lumber Company. They had a large family, including daughters Lula and Calista, who were both active members of the Robert E. Lee Chapter #186, U.D.C. Lula Fletcher served as sixth President of the Chapter in 1924-25.

Captain Fleig was a member of the Dick Dowling Camp #197, United Confederate Veterans. He attended the reunion of the "Blue and Gray" veterans at Gettysburg, PA in 1913, at which time he was 90 years old.

In October 1922, Fleig, then 99, retired from the Kirby Lumber Company. A year later, he died in his home in Houston at 320 East 6th Street in the Heights. At age 100 years, 6 months, and 21 days, the Houston Chronicle named him "Houston's Oldest Citizen".