"June 5, 1865. Federal forces formally took possession of Texas. Captain Benjamin F. Sands, commanding the division of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron stationed off Galveston, boarded a small Union steamer, USS Cornubia, and entered Galveston harbor, followed by another gunboat, USS Preston. Sands disembarked with a handful of other officers, but took no armed escort, and was met on the wharf by a Confederate officer. The officer escorted the Union men a few blocks to City Hall, where both Sands and the mayor of Galveston addressed a crowd that had gathered there. Both men made assurances of their goodwill and urged the population to go about their business peaceably. Sands told the crowd that he carried a sidearm that day not out of any fear for his own safety but as a sign of respect for the mayor and local officials. Then, along with the mayor, Sands continued on to the old U.S. Customs House, where he "hoisted our flag, which now, at last, was flying over every foot of our territory, this being the closing act of the great rebellion.""