The ship Portsmouth was left to protect the mortar schooners. When combined with sickness and the ever-present corrosive fear, conditions were definitely a drain on morale. The contingent of 30,000 to 50,000 troops that McClellan considered the minimum needed for success would be a diversion from other Army operations, particularly the Peninsula Campaign against Richmond, Virginia, that he was directing at that time. Flag Officer Hollins was at this time near Memphis, which represented the then-northernmost holdings of the Confederacy on the river, and the Confederate War Department insisted that no effort should be spared to maintain possession. CSS Manassas rammed both USS Mississippi and Brooklyn, but did not disable either. The citadel was set on fire and extinguished several times during the first part of the day, but later it became impossible to put out the flames, so that when the enemy ceased firing it was one burning mass, greatly endangering the magazines, which at one time were reported to be on fire. Because of the path of the river, Fort Jackson was actually somewhat east of Fort St. Philip. The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip (April 18–28, 1862) was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The quarters in the bastions were fired and burned down early in the day, as well as the quarters immediately without the fort. Galveston, and to attempt to acquire control of the lower Mississippi and Texas. After three days of fruitless negotiations, Farragut sent two officers ashore with a detachment of sailors and marines. However, on the night of April 29, the enlisted garrison in Fort Jackson mutinied and refused to endure more. Men and equipment had been withdrawn from the local defenses, so that by mid-April almost nothing remained to the south except the two forts and an assortment of gunboats of questionable worth. google_ad_slot = "3328531478"; His own gunners’ aim was no better, of course, and the forts likewise sustained little damage. They went to the Custom House, where they hauled down the state flag and ran up the United States flag. The second was not so easily dismissed; part of Farragut’s fleet was a semi-autonomous group of mortar schooners, headed by his foster brother David D. Porter. The first, dealing with Butler and his army, was handled by simply ignoring him; the Army took no further part in his plans. /* Civil War Skyscraper, created 1/17/08 */ He therefore did not consider it his duty to observe the truce that had been declared, so he ordered Louisiana to be destroyed. The Union fleet faced only token opposition at Chalmette, and thereafter had clear sailing to New Orleans. The state of Louisiana furnished two ships of the Louisiana Provisional Navy, General Quitman and Governor Moore. At a short bend in the Mississippi River, 60 miles below New Orleans, were Forts Jackson and St. Philip. (This would not be at all exceptional in the Royal Navy, where the division of the fleet into the van, main fleet, and the rear was in fact the usual practice, but the United States Navy had not used full fleets before the Civil War.) From Harper's Brother's American History Volume VI. [2] Without reducing the pressure from the north, (Union) President Abraham Lincoln set in motion a combined Army-Navy operation to attack from the south. Fort St. Phillips was also surrendered, the CSS Louisiana blown up and even the Confederate fleet on Lake Pontchartrain was destroyed to avoid capture. On May 1, Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler's army began landing at New Orleans and occupying the city. [39]General Duncan recorded 2,997 mortar shells fired on that day. Siege of Vicksburg | The Richmond Campaign. To eliminate the problem, on the second and subsequent days of the bombardment, Porter ordered that all fuses should be cut to full length. Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac | In the meantime, General Lovell had evacuated the troops that had been in the city, so no defense was possible. 1861-62 to repossess itself of We have made such extensive preparations to receive them, that it were vexatious if their invincible armada escapes the fate we have in store for it.". The floors of the casemates were flooded, the levee having been broken. With no effective means of defense, Baton Rouge and Natchez complied. Following that battle, (Union) Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox began to press for expanded use of the United States Navy in attacking coastal Confederate positions. google_ad_client = "pub-0597607016984461"; For Questions or comments about this collection. Drums were beating, soldiers were hurrying to and fro, cotton was carried to the levee to be burned; funds in the amount of $4,000,000 had been carried away from the banks, and citizens, with millions in property, had fled from the city. New Orleans, considered an international city and the largest city in the Confederacy, had fallen. Additional defense was provided by several ships and boats[26] that were grouped into three separate organizations, with no common command. Dahlgren guns, and named it Fort Twiggs. In the final days of preparation for his ships to run past the forts, Farragut organized his fleet, dividing it into three sections. My Snake Story, St. Charles Hotel. They were placed close to the river banks downstream from the barrier chain, which was still in place. When the forts were surrendered and the Confederate gunboats subdued, Her captain, Lieutenant Commanding Alexander F. Warley, therefore took his vessel back up the river, to attack when he would be fired upon by only the Union fleet.[46]. The rate of fire was somewhat less on subsequent days. Once they were ready, the naval contingent moved its ships into the river, an operation that was completed on April 14. Mr. Stanton said to General Butler, " The man who takes New Orleans shall be made a lieutenant-general." Second Battle of Bull Run | Storms and delays made the passage long, and it was thirty days before he landed on dreary Ship Island (his place of destination), off the coast of Mississippi, where there was an unfinished fort. They could not much affect the forts, and on the night of the 23d the fleet started to run by them, the mortar-boats helping. "The Last Broadside of the Varuna." The night was intensely dark, and in the gloom a tremendous battle was waged. General Phelps was there with New England troops, so also were