The Capture of New Orleans 1862On April 24, 1862, Federal gunboats made their way past two Confederate forts to ascend the Mississippi, and the Union navy captured the city of New Orleans. How did the South lose its most important city? In this exhaustively researched, authoritative, well-argued study, Chester Hearn examines the decisions, actions, individuals, and events that brought about the capture of New Orleans - and forever weakened the Confederate war machine. Hearn directs his inquiry to the heart of government, both Union and Confederate, and takes a hard look at the selection of military and naval leaders, the use of natural and financial resources, and the performances of all personnel involved. The decisions of Jefferson Davis, Stephen R. Mallory, and three Confederate secretaries of war, he holds, were as much to blame for the fall of New Orleans as David Farragut's warships. Hearn also scrutinizes the role of Major General Mansfield Lovell and evaluates the investigation that ended his career. Hearn's explorations bring us into a flourishing New Orleans and introduce Louisiana leaders Thomas O. Moore and the debilitated old men sent to prepare the state for war: Major General David E. Twiggs and Commodore Lawrence Rousseau. We follow their trifling efforts to defend the lower Mississippi and General Lovell's frustrations in attempting to arm forts and obtain cooperation from the navy, and we come to understand the dismay of such leaders as P.G.T. Beauregard and Braxton Bragg as they witnessed this bungling. Hearn traces the building of the ironclads Manassas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and investigates the reason for their failure to defend New Orleans. |
Contents
7 | |
18 | |
32 | |
Emergence of the Mosquito Fleet | 67 |
The Night of the Turtle | 81 |
Father Neptune Picks a Captain | 96 |
Mansfield Lovells Debut | 107 |
Farragut Steams South | 125 |
Recipe for Disaster | 187 |
Seventeen Mighty Warships All Ready to Go | 197 |
Running the Gauntlet | 209 |
High Noon at City Hall | 237 |
By Land and By Water | 249 |
Epilogue | 258 |
Appendix | 269 |
Bibliography | 276 |
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Common terms and phrases
32-pounders 9-inch Dahlgrens anchor April April 24 army asked attack barrier Baton Rouge Beauregard Benjamin blockade boats Bragg broadside Brooklyn Butler Captain captured Cayuga command Confederate Navy Craven crew Davey Porter David Dixon Porter deck Department downriver Duncan enemy Farragut fire rafts Flag Officer flotilla Fort Jackson Fort St Forts Jackson Governor Moore gunboats guns Hartford Head of Passes Hollins howitzers hulk Ibid ironclad Iroquois Itasca Jackson and St John later Lieutenant Lincoln Louisiana Lovell Lovell's Mallory Mallory's Manassas March McKean McRae military Mitchell mortar mosquito fleet Naval Office October orders Osbon passing the forts Pensacola Philip Pinola Pope port Porter Preble President Davis reported Richmond rifled River Defense schooners secession Secretary Semmes sent shell Ship Island shot Smith smoke Southwest Pass squadron steam steamers surrender Tifts troops Twiggs Union navy Union vessels upriver Varuna Warley warships water battery Whittle wrote XVIII yards
Popular passages
Page 32 - inviting all those who may desire, by service in private armed vessels on the high seas, to aid this Government in resisting so wanton and wicked an aggression, to make application for. . . letters of marque and reprisal to be issued under the seal of the Confederate States.