DK - The American Civil War

Varuna was the only Union loss of the

battle. The Governor Moore was later

shot up by several Union warships and,

out of control, was sunk by her crew.

The strangest-looking vessel in the

battle was CSS Manassas, a cigar-shaped

ironclad with a ram and a single gun.

Her curved armor performed excellently

as she attempted a series of ramming

attacks. The sidewheel steamer USS

Mississippi and the sloop USS Brooklyn

were both struck, and the Brooklyn

suffered serious damage. The

Manassas finally

ran aground and

was destroyed.

The other

Confederate

ironclad, CSS

Louisiana, was only

able to fire a few

shots—she was later

scuttled to avoid

capture. With the

Southern naval force

routed, Farragut had a

clear path to New Orleans. He reached

the city on April 25 and demanded its

surrender. The garrison by then had

been evacuated, leaving New Orleans

defenseless, but the Confederate

authorities refused to surrender, while

Union officers and sailors who landed to

take formal possession of the city were

harassed. Farragut wisely waited,

allowing feelings to cool down. After

four days his marines were able to raise

the Union flag over the major public

buildings in New Orleans.

The forts, meanwhile, remained in

Confederate hands, but shortly after the

mortar bombardment was resumed on

night was lit up like a fireworks display.
Farragut’s boldness paid off, for as he
had anticipated, the land batteries fired
wildly in their panic and confusion.
Only three of the gunboats in the Union
rear division failed to pass the forts. One
was disabled by gunfire
and the other two
turned back, rather
than attempt to push
through the passage as
dawn broke.
Confederate
warships beyond
the barrier
responded in
piecemeal
fashion. Their
tugs pushed rafts
heaped with burning
wood toward Union ships, setting fire
to Farragut’s flagship, which was
rescued by the efforts of its crew.

Cottonclad vs. gunboat
Meanwhile, CSS Governor Moore, a
cottonclad converted from a civilian
paddle steamer, attacked boldly under
the command of Lieutenant Beverly
Kennon. Finding USS Varuna isolated,
he relentlessly pursued her, despite
taking heavy casualties in a fierce
exchange of fire. The Governor Moore
twice rammed into the Varuna with her
reinforced bow before CSS Stonewall
Jackson sank the Union gunboat. The

April 29, the Fort Jackson garrison

mutinied. General Johnson Duncan,

commander of the forts, decided that it

was time to give in. As a result, when

General Benjamin Butler’s Union troops

marched into New Orleans on May 1,

they were unopposed. They had taken

the city without seeing any fighting.

THE FALL OF NEW ORLEANS

New Orleans came under the military rule

of Union General Benjamin Butler. His

abrasive approach to controlling a hostile

city provoked international controversy.

BRUTAL OCCUPATION

Butler cracked down on demonstrations of

support for the Confederacy in the occupied

city. Newspapers were censored and

churchmen arrested for expressing Confederate

sympathies in their services. When William

Mumford was hanged for having torn down a

Union flag at the time of the city’s surrender,

Jefferson Davis declared Butler himself a

criminal worth hanging.

Moreover, from a Union point of view, Butler

outraged international opinion. France’s

government denounced the arrest of champagne

merchant Charles Heidsieck as a spy.

Most damaging was Butler’s General

Order of May 15, 1862, stating that

any woman who insulted Union

soldiers “shall be ... treated as a

woman of the town”—in other

words, as a prostitute.

Butler succeeded in

keeping order and

improving public

health, but he was

removed from

command of the

Department of the

Gulf in late 1862.

AFTER

Unwelcome arrivals

Sailors sent ashore to take formal possession of New

Orleans after the Union victory met a hostile reception

from angry crowds. The city was not occupied by Union

soldiers until a week after the victory.

BENJAMIN BUTLER

Mayhem on the Mississippi
The running of the forts under cover of darkness led to a
chaotic moonlit river battle. Fort Jackson can be seen on
the left of the picture firing on the Union ships as they
round the bend in the river.

“The passing [of the forts] was

one of the most awful sights

and events I ever saw.”

LETTER OF DAVID FARRAGUT TO THE ASSISTANT NAVAL SECRETARY, APRIL 27, 1862

Battle rattle

This 10½-in (26-cm) wide wooden rattle

was of the type used on small warships

to summon all hands to their action

stations at the moment of battle.