Ed, I have some family history from an ancestor in Ragsdale's Battalion that witnessed an execution at Sabine Pass in 1864. Chances are it was the one you referenced. My cousin sent this to me regarding Tom F. Seamans of Tyler County.

I found this on a webite re Capt Weiss:

In 1928, 90-year-old “Uncle Tom” Seamens (sic), of Seamen’s Bluff near Boone’s Bluff, told of his experiences as fiddler aboard Capt. N. Wiess’ steamers. Ordinarily Seamens was a cotton farmer, but when cotton harvest ended, he fiddled for the next 3 months aboard either the Gallatin or Graham until 1872. Seamens was a Confederate soldier in Spaight’s Battalion, and he first met Nap Wiess there while both were soldiers. Seamens wrote of being forced to watch a deserter being shot by a firing squad in Aug., 1864, which my Grandpa Block also had to watc W. T. Block, “Tom Seamens: Pioneer’s Tales Cover Area History,” Beaumont Enterprise, Jan. 11, 2003.

Joe