LOVELL, MANSFIELD
Lovell, Mansfield
(October 20, 1822–June 1, 1884)
Confederate General
L
ovell was a capable
commander, but he
had the misfortune
of trying to defend
weakly held New Orleans
against superior Union
forces. Officially exoner-
ated for the loss, he was
never fully trusted there-
after and spent the bal-
ance of the Civil War in
minor commands.
Mansfield Lovell was
born in Washington, D.C.,
on October 20, 1822, the
son of an army surgeon,
Gen. Joseph Lovell. He
was admitted to the U.S.
Military Academy in 1838
and graduated four years
later, ninth in a class of
- Commissioned a sec-
ond lieutenant in the
Fourth U.S. Artillery, Lov-
ell reported for duty in
Texas and performed sev-
eral years of garrison duty under Gen. Zachary
Taylor. When the Mexican-American War
erupted in 1846, he accompanied Taylor’s inva-
sion of northern Mexico; he was wounded and
won a brevet promotion for gallantry at Mon-
terrey on September 18–21. While recuperat-
ing he served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. John
A. Quitman. The following year Lovell joined
Gen. Winfield Scott’s column as it advanced
upon Mexico City. He fought conspicuously in
the storming of Chapultepec on September 14,
1847, receiving a second brevet promotion to
captain. He served several more years of fron-
tier duty until 1854, then resigned his commis-
sion to work at an ironworks in New Jersey. In
1858, Lovell relocated to New York City, be-
coming the first superintendent of street im-
provement and befriend-
ing Gustavus W. Smith, a
future Confederate gen-
eral. When the Civil War
commenced in April 1861,
Smith departed immedi-
ately, but Lovell lingered
indecisively at New York
for several months. He fi-
nally tendered his ser-
vices to the Confederacy
that September, but the
delay engendered great
suspicion as to his actual
loyalty.
Lovell enjoyed a pris-
tine military reputation
before the war, so on Oc-
tober 7, 1861, he gained
an appointment as a
major general. Further-
more, he was entrusted
with the command of De-
partment No. 1—the city
of New Orleans. This
strategic location con-
trolled access of the Mississippi River to the
Gulf of Mexico and also obstructed all Union
advances up the mighty waterway. When
Lovell arrived in New Orleans he was aghast
to find that the city’s manpower had been
stripped for service in other theaters. His
command consisted of only 4,500 ill-trained
and ill-armed militia and a handful of
steamships under construction. Nevertheless,
he threw himself into strengthening the de-
fenses of New Orleans with commendable en-
ergy. He especially strengthened Forts St.
Philip and Jackson, which controlled the ap-
proaches on the Mississippi, 75 miles down-
stream. These were the city’s main defenses,
and it was hoped their presence would deter a
Union fleet from passing. The entire schemeMansfield Lovell
Library of Congress