Battle of Forts Jackson and 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 two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River south of the city were attacked by a Union Navy fleet . As long as the forts could keep the Federal forces from moving on the city , it was safe , but if they were negated , there were no fall - back positions to impede the enemy advance . New Orleans , the largest city in the Confederacy , was already under threat of attack from the north when Farragut moved his fleet into the river from the south . The Confederate Navy had already driven off the Union blockade fleet in the Battle of the Head of Passes the previous October . Although the menace from upriver was geographically more remote than that from the Gulf of Mexico , a series of losses in Kentucky and Tennessee had forced the War and Navy Departments in Richmond to strip the region of much of its defenses . Men and equipment had been withdrawn from the local defenses , so that by mid - April almost nothing remained to the south except the two forts and an assortment of gunboats of questionable worth . Without reducing the pressure from the north , ( Union ) President Abraham Lincoln set in motion a combined Army - Navy operation to attack from the south . The Union Army offered 18 , 000 soldiers , led by the political general Benjamin F . Butler . The Navy contributed a large fraction of its West Gulf Blockading Squadron , which was commanded by Flag Officer David G . Farragut . The squadron was augmented by a semi - autonomous flotilla of mortar schooners and their support vessels under Commander David Dixon Porter . The expedition assembled at Ship Island in the Gulf . Once they were ready , the naval contingent moved its ships into the river , an operation that was completed on April 14 . They were then moved into position near the forts , and on April 18 the mortars opened the battle . The ensuing battle can be divided into two parts : a mostly ineffective bombardment of the Confederate - held forts by the raft - mounted mortars , and the successful passage of the forts by much of Farragut ' s fleet on the night of April 24 . During the passage , one Federal warship was lost and three others turned back , while the Confederate gunboats were virtually obliterated . The subsequent capture of the city , achieved with no further significant opposition , was a serious , even fatal , blow from which the Confederacy never recovered . The forts remained after the fleet had passed , but the demoralized enlisted men in Fort Jackson mutinied and forced their surrender . Background . Fort Jackson and Fort St . Philip were a pair of closely associated forts on the Mississippi River . They were sited some above Head of Passes , where the river divides before it finally enters the Gulf of Mexico , or about downstream from New Orleans . Fort Jackson was on the right ( generally west , but here south ) bank , while Fort St . Philip was on the left ( here , north ) bank of the river . Because of the path of the river , Fort Jackson was actually somewhat east of Fort St . Philip . Designed for defense against invasion in the days of sail , the two forts were sited near a bend in the river that would force ships to slow down in passing , so they would be nearly stationary targets under the 177 guns of the forts that bore on the channel . Union preparations . Although land - based forts had long been considered to be invulnerable to attack by naval guns , some weaknesses had been exposed in the Battle of Port Royal , South Carolina , on November 7 , 1861 . 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 . He particularly emphasized the desirability of assaulting New Orleans , the largest city in the Confederacy , from the Gulf . Fox proposed that the two forts could be weakened if not completely destroyed by a mortar barrage , and a relatively small Army force then could assault the weakened forts . Following the reduction of the forts , or even during the army assault , a fleet could steam past them and attack New Orleans directly . At first , the Army , in the person of General - in - Chief George B . McClellan , opposed the plan . 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 . Army opposition was negated , however , when ( Union ) Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles coopted the political general Benjamin F . Butler by allowing the expedition to proceed under Butler ' s name . With Butler ' s support , Welles was able to persuade President Abraham Lincoln to order the campaign forward . On February 23 , 1862 , Butler was informed that he was in charge of the land forces " destined to cooperate with the Navy in the attack on New Orleans . " The number of troops at his disposal was whittled down appreciably from McClellan ' s original estimate , to only 18 , 000 . An organizational change in the Navy had to be made before planning for the campaign could proceed . On December 23 , 1861 , the Gulf Blockading Squadron was divided into the East Gulf and West Gulf Squadrons . To command the West Gulf Blockading Squadron , Secretary Welles selected Captain David Glasgow Farragut . The new commander arrived at Ship Island , in the Gulf of Mexico , on February 20 , 1862 ; this can be taken as the starting date for the campaign . Farragut had two problems to deal with in addition to any posed by the Confederates . The first , dealing with Butler and his army , was handled by simply ignoring him ; the Army took no further part in his plans . 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 . Porter was a master of intrigue who had the ear of Assistant Secretary Fox , and Farragut had to let the mortars be tried , despite his strong personal belief that they would prove worthless . In mid - March , Farragut began moving his ships across the bar at the mouth of the river . This was not without incident ; the depth of water was found to be only 15 feet ( 4 . 5 meters ) instead of the 18 feet ( 5 . 8 meters ) that was expected . At least one ship that the Administration wanted in the expedition , USS " Colorado " , drew too much to get across . To Farragut , the most serious problem presented by the failed effort to bring " Colorado " into the river was not the reduction in the force he had available , but rather the lost time . With " Colorado " subtracted , the fleet inside the bar included six ships and twelve gunboats . After the warships of the squadron were safely in the river , Porter ' s 26 mortar schooners and associated vessels were brought in with no problems , beginning on March 18 . In the next month , Farragut had to gauge the strength of the forts , find the range of their guns , determine the nature of other obstructions in the channel , place the mortar boats where they would be most effective , and put his warships in battle condition . Working under the intermittent fire of the forts and Confederate gunboats , men of the Coast Survey who had been assigned to the Navy went ashore and surveyed the forts from a distance , placing buoys in the river channel to mark where the gunboats should be anchored . On April 18 , the preliminaries were completed . Union chain of command . In the final days of preparation for his ships to run past the forts , Farragut organized his fleet , dividing it into three sections . ( 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 . ) Command of the first division of gunboats was given to Captain Theodorus Bailey , who was also appointed second in overall command , to take over if Farragut himself were to become incapacitated . Command of the second division of gunboats was given to Captain Henry H . Bell . Farragut retained divisional command of the ships for himself . Confederate preparations . From the beginning , plans of the Confederate War Department ( Secretary of War Judah P . Benjamin at first , later George W . Randolph ) in Richmond for defense of New Orleans were distorted by the belief that the primary threat to the city came from the north . Reflecting that belief , much of the material intended to protect the city was sent to strongpoints on the Mississippi , such as Island Number 10 , Fort Pillow , and Memphis . The immediate vicinity of the city was actually weakened as guns were withdrawn for use in distant campaigns , as for example that leading to the Battle of Shiloh . The region was also stripped of men of military age . Confederate Major General Mansfield Lovell , commander of Department No . 1 , put much more credence in the buildup in the Gulf than did his distant superiors . Flag Officer George N . Hollins , CSN , in charge of the Confederate naval forces on the Mississippi at the time , personally agreed with Lovell , but his orders did not permit him to act on his beliefs . Fort Jackson and Fort St . Philip were under the local command of Brigadier General Johnson K . Duncan . The average quality of the soldiers in the garrison was probably not as high as Lovell and Duncan would have liked ; the most militant had been drawn off for other fields , leaving the irresolute and the unfit . Because New Orleans was something of an international city , the ranks contained a greater proportion of foreign - born soldiers than most units of the Confederate Army . Nevertheless , they could be expected to perform their duty , even if they would not make extraordinary exertions . The forts around the city were supplemented by two defensive chains stretched across the river to prevent passage . ( The chains were sometimes referred to as either ' rafts ' or ' booms ' in the reports . ) One chain was placed above the city , and had no effect on the battle . The other was placed just below the forts , where enemy vessels trying to break it would come under their fire . This barrier was much more important than its counterpart . Originally put in place soon after Lovell took command of the Department , it broke under the weight of debris washed down the river in the spring floods . It was repaired , but Lovell did not consider the replacement as good as the original . Additional defense was provided by several ships and boats that were grouped into three separate organizations , with no common command . The largest of these ( by firepower ) was a contingent of the Confederate States Navy : three ironclads , CSS " Manassas " , " Louisiana " , and " Mississippi " ; two more traditional warships , converted from merchantmen , CSS " McRae " and " Jackson " , and several unarmed support craft . The state of Louisiana furnished two ships of the Louisiana Provisional Navy , " General Quitman " and " Governor Moore " . Last were six cottonclad rams of the River Defense Fleet , nominally a part of the Confederate States Army but commanded by civilian captains and with mostly civilian crews : " Warrior " , " Stonewall Jackson " , " Defiance " , " Resolute " , " General Lovell " , and " General Breckinridge " ( also known as " R . J . Breckinridge " ) . Also present were several tugs and unarmored harbor craft , of which two , " Belle Algerine " and " Mosher " , must be mentioned for the parts they played in the battle . Confederate naval command . With three separate organizations in the confined waters of the lower Mississippi , the fleet command situation was already bad enough , but it began to deteriorate further when the buildup of Farragut ' s fleet in the lower river became apparent . 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 . Hollins was sure that the threat from the Gulf was much more severe than Richmond thought , so he was prepared to listen when General Lovell pleaded for him to come down to New Orleans to help in its defense . When there , he sent a telegram to Richmond seeking permission to attack Farragut ' s ships while they were still lightened to be brought in across the bar . His pleas were so insistent that they virtually amounted to insubordination . Hollins was called to Richmond , ostensibly to serve on an examination board , but in effect to be removed from active service . By default , command of the Confederate Navy vessels in the vicinity of New Orleans fell on the shoulders of Commander William C . Whittle , up to that time commandant of the navy yard there . Whittle did not consider himself able to handle all of his new duties , so on April 18 he passed command of CSS " McRae " , " Jackson " , and " Manassas " , together with their support vessels , to his executive officer , Commander John K . Mitchell . These were all the Confederate Naval vessels afloat at the time ; " Louisiana " and " Mississippi " had not yet been launched , and were explicitly not controlled by Whittle or Mitchell . Later , when " Louisiana " was launched but before she was completed , she joined the others in Mitchell ' s domain . General Lovell tried to reduce command confusion by ordering that all vessels afloat should likewise take orders from Commander Mitchell . However , Captain John A . Stephenson , leading the River Defense Fleet , refused to accept Navy orders . He was able to get away with this act of seeming mutiny because the relation of his fleet to the Army was contractual rather than military . The battle . First phase : the bombardment , April 18 through 23 . Porter ' s 21 mortar schooners were in place on April 18 . They were placed close to the river banks downstream from the barrier chain , which was still in place . Their tops were covered with bushes for camouflage ; this was replaced as soon as it was stripped away by the shock of firing their weapons . Commencing in the early morning , the mortars kept up a steady fire all day . Porter had specified a rate of a shot every ten minutes from each mortar , which would have kept a shot in the air throughout the bombardment . The rate could not be maintained , but more than 1400 shots were fired on the first day . The rate of fire was somewhat less on subsequent days . The fuses in the shells proved to be unreliable , with the result that many of the shells exploded prematurely . To eliminate the problem , on the second and subsequent days of the bombardment , Porter ordered that all fuses should be cut to full length . The shells therefore hit the ground before exploding ; they would sink into the soft earth , which would then muffle the effects of the blast . Probably because it was nearer to the Federal mortars , Fort Jackson suffered more damage than did Fort St . Philip , but even there it was minimal . Only seven pieces of artillery were disabled , and only two men were killed in the bombardment . Return fire on Porter ' s vessels was about equally ineffective ; one schooner was sunk , and one man was killed by enemy action ( another man died when he fell from the rigging . ) . Porter had rashly promised Welles and Fox that the mortar fleet would reduce both forts to rubble in 48 hours . Though this did not happen , and the immediate fighting capacity of the forts were only marginally affected , a survey of Fort Jackson after the battle did note the following damage : Brigadier General Duncan , CSA , commanding the forts , described damage to Fort Jackson on the first day , April 18 : General Duncan recorded 2 , 997 mortar shells fired on that day . This kind of damage made life in Fort Jackson a misery when combined with constant flooding from high water within the fort . The crew could be safe from mortar fragments and falling debris only within the dank and partially flooded casemates . Lack of shelter , food , blankets , sleeping quarters , drinkable water , along with the depressing effects of days of heavy , unanswered shelling were hard to bear . When combined with sickness and the ever - present corrosive fear , conditions were definitely a drain on morale . These factors contributed to the mutiny of the Fort Jackson garrison on the 28th of April . This mutiny began a subsequent collapse of resistance downriver from the city . Fort St . Phillips was also surrendered , the CSS " Louisiana " blown up and even the Confederate fleet on Lake Pontchartrain was destroyed to avoid capture . The general collapse of morale began with the mutiny and greatly simplified the occupation of New Orleans by the Union navy . The Confederate authorities had long believed that the Navy ' s ironclad ships , particularly CSS " Louisiana " , would render the river impregnable against assaults such as they were now experiencing . Although " Louisiana " was not yet finished , Generals Lovell and Duncan pressed Commodore Whittle to hurry the preparation . Acceding to their wishes against his better judgment , Whittle had the ship launched prematurely and added to Commander Mitchell ' s fleet even while workmen were still fitting her out . On the second day of the bombardment , she was towed ( too late , her owners found that her engines were not strong enough to enable her to buck the current ) to a position on the left bank , upstream from Fort St . Philip , where she became in effect a floating battery . Mitchell would not move her closer because her armor would not protect her from the plunging shot of Porter ' s mortars . However , because her guns could not be elevated , they could not be brought to bear on the enemy so long as they remained below the forts . After several days of bombardment , the return fire from the forts showed no signs of slackening , so Farragut began to execute his own plan . On April 20 , he ordered three of his gunboats , " Kineo " , " Itasca " , and " Pinola " to break the chain blocking the river . Although they did not succeed in removing it altogether , they were able to open a gap large enough for the flag officer ' s purposes . For various reasons , Farragut was not able to make his attack until the early morning of April 24 . Second phase : passing the forts . Having resolved to pass the forts , Farragut somewhat modified his fleet arrangements by adding two ships to Captain Bailey ' s first section of gunboats , thereby eliminating one of his ship sections . After the alteration , the fleet disposition was as follows : The ship " Portsmouth " was left to protect the mortar schooners . When passing the forts , the fleet was to form two columns . The starboard column would fire on Fort St . Philip , while the port column would fire on Fort Jackson . They were not to stop and slug it out with the forts , however , but to pass by as quickly as possible . Farragut hoped that the combination of darkness and smoke would obscure the aim of the gunners in the forts , and his vessels could pass by relatively unscathed . At approximately 03 : 00 on April 24 , the fleet got under way and headed for the gap in the chain that had blocked the channel . Soon after passing that obstacle , they were spotted by men in the forts , which promptly opened up with all their available firepower . As Farragut had hoped , however , their aim was poor , and his fleet suffered little significant damage . His own gunners ' aim was no better , of course , and the forts likewise sustained little damage . The last three gunboats in the column were turned back . " Itasca " was disabled by a shot in her boilers and drifted out of action ; the others ( " Pinola " and " Winona " ) turned back because dawn was breaking and not because of Rebel gun practice . The Confederate fleet did very little in this stage of the battle . CSS " Louisiana " was finally able to use her guns , but with little effect . The armored ram CSS " Manassas " came in early and tried to engage the enemy , but the gunners in the forts made no distinction between " Manassas " and members of the Federal fleet , firing on friend and foe indiscriminately . 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 . Once past the forts , the head of the Federal column came under attack by some of the Confederate ships , while some of the vessels further back in the column were still under the fire of the forts . Because of their fragmented command structure , the Confederate ships did not coordinate their movements , so the battle degenerated to a jumble of individual ship - on - ship encounters . CSS " Manassas " rammed both and " Brooklyn " , but did not disable either . As dawn broke , she found herself caught between two Union ships and was able to attack neither , so Captain Warley ordered her run ashore . The crew abandoned the vessel and set her afire . Later , she floated free from the bank , still afire , and finally sank in view of Porter ' s mortar schooners . Tug " Mosher " pushed a fire raft against the flagship USS " Hartford " , and was rewarded for her daring by a broadside from the latter that sent her to the bottom . " Hartford " , while attempting to avoid the fire raft , ran ashore not far upstream from Fort St . Philip . Although she was then within range of the guns of the fort , they could not be brought to bear , so the flagship was able to extinguish the flames and work her way off the bank with little significant damage . In getting under way , " Governor Moore " was fouled by and ran into the Confederate tug " Belle Algerine " , sinking her . Attacking the Union fleet , she found USS " Varuna " ahead of the rest of the fleet . A long chase ensued , both ships firing on each other as " Governor Moore " pursued the Federal vessel . Despite losing a large part of her crew during the chase , she was eventually able to ram " Varuna . " The cottonclad ram " Stonewall Jackson " , of the River Defense Fleet also managed to ram . " Varuna " was able to reach shallow water near the bank before she sank , the only vessel lost from the attacking fleet . Captain Beverley Kennon of " Governor Moore " would have continued the fight , but his steersman had had enough and drove the ship ashore . Kennon , apparently realizing that his steersman was correct and that the ship was unable to do any more , ordered her abandoned and set afire . CSS " McRae " engaged several members of the Federal fleet in an uneven contest that saw her captain , Lieutenant Commanding Thomas B . Huger , mortally wounded . " McRae " herself was badly holed , and although she survived the battle , she later sank at her moorings in New Orleans . None of the rest of the Confederate flotilla did any harm to the Union fleet , and most of them were sunk , either by enemy action or by their own hands . The survivors , in addition to " McRae " , were CSS " Jackson " , ram " Defiance " , and transport " Diana " . Two unarmed tenders were surrendered to the mortar flotilla with the forts . " Louisiana " also survived the battle , but was scuttled rather than be surrendered . In summary , during the run of the fleet past the forts , the Union Navy lost one vessel , while the defenders lost twelve . Surrender of New Orleans and the forts . The Union fleet faced only token opposition at Chalmette , and thereafter had clear sailing to New Orleans . The fourteen vessels remaining arrived there in the afternoon of April 25 and laid the city under their guns . In the meantime , General Lovell had evacuated the troops that had been in the city , so no defense was possible . Panic - stricken citizens broke into stores , burned cotton and other supplies , and destroyed much of the waterfront . The unfinished CSS " Mississippi " was hastily launched ; it was hoped that she could be towed to Memphis , but no towboats could be found , so she was burned by order of her captain . Farragut demanded the surrender of the city . The mayor and city council tried to buck the unpleasant duty up to Lovell , but he passed it back to them . After three days of fruitless negotiations , Farragut sent two officers ashore with a detachment of sailors and marines . They went to the Custom House , where they hauled down the state flag and ran up the United States flag . That signified the official return of the city to the Union . Meanwhile , General Butler was preparing his soldiers for an attack on the forts that were now in Farragut ' s rear . Commodore Porter , now in charge of the flotilla still below the forts , delivered a demand to surrender to the forts , but General Duncan refused . Accordingly , Porter again began to bombard the forts , this time in preparation for Butler ' s assault . However , on the night of April 29 , the enlisted garrison in Fort Jackson mutinied and refused to endure more . Although Fort St . Philip was not involved in the mutiny , the interdependence of the two forts meant that it was also affected . Unable to continue the battle , Duncan capitulated the next day . The end of CSS " Louisiana " came at this time . Commander Mitchell , who represented the Confederate States Navy in the vicinity of the forts , was not included in the surrender negotiations . He therefore did not consider it his duty to observe the truce that had been declared , so he ordered " Louisiana " to be destroyed . Set afire , she soon parted her lines and floated down the river and blew up as she passed Fort St . Philip ; the blast was strong enough to kill one soldier in the fort . Aftermath . Forts Jackson and St . Philip had been the shell of the Confederate defenses on the lower Mississippi , and nothing now stood between the Gulf and Memphis . After a few days spent repairing battle damage his ships had suffered , Farragut sent expeditions north to demand the surrender of other cities on the river . With no effective means of defense , Baton Rouge and Natchez complied . At Vicksburg , however , the guns of the ships could not reach the Confederate fortifications atop the bluffs , and the small army contingent that was with them could not force the issue . Farragut settled into a siege , but was forced to withdraw when falling levels of the river threatened to strand his deep - water ships . Vicksburg would not fall until another year had passed . The fall of New Orleans as a consequence of the battle may also have swayed European powers , primarily Great Britain and France , not to recognize the Confederacy diplomatically . Confederate agents abroad noted that they were generally received more coolly , if at all , after word of loss of the city reached London and Paris .