In April 1862, Union naval commander David Farragut led a daring overnight assault past two Confederate forts guarding the Mississippi River, steamed into New Orleans, and seized the Confederacy's largest city and most important port. This episode covers the battle plan, the river fight, the occupation that followed, and the stubborn Confederate resistance at Vicksburg that stalled the Union's Mississippi campaign for another year.

Key Takeaways

• New Orleans was the largest city in the Confederacy and its most important commercial hub, making its capture a major strategic blow to the South.

• Farragut's fleet carried twice as many guns as the Confederate forts defending the river approaches, and seven of his eight steam sloops made it past the forts to the city.

• The city's mayor, John T. Monroe, refused to formally surrender even after Farragut's fleet arrived, forcing Union Marines to raise the American flag themselves.

• Over the course of the Civil War, more than 180,000 Black soldiers served in the Union Army, roughly 10% of total Union forces, with some of the first Black regiments organized in New Orleans after its capture.

• Vicksburg's elevation, sitting atop a 200-foot bluff above the river, made it impossible for Farragut's gunboats to take the city alone, requiring a land campaign that wouldn't succeed until July 1863.

Sign up here to be the first to know about new History250 releases, content & resources!

Questions & Answers (FAQ):

Q1: Why was capturing New Orleans so important to the Union strategy?

New Orleans was the Confederacy's largest city and most important commercial port, controlling access to the lower Mississippi River. Seizing it gave the Union a major base of operations in the Deep South, disrupted Confederate trade and supply routes, and advanced the broader strategic goal of cutting the Confederacy in half by controlling the entire Mississippi from source to mouth.

Q2: How did Farragut get past the Confederate forts protecting New Orleans?

Farragut ran his fleet past Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip in the early morning hours of April 24th under heavy fire. His ships returned fire with twice as many guns as the forts possessed. Confederate fire rafts and gunboats caused some damage, but all but four of his vessels made it through. The overnight river battle was among the most intense naval engagements of the Civil War.

Q3: Why couldn't Farragut take Vicksburg by river?

Vicksburg sat on a 200-foot bluff above the Mississippi, giving Confederate artillery complete elevation advantage over any ships on the river below. Farragut's naval guns could not effectively reach the Confederate fortifications at that angle, and landing troops to scale the bluff directly would have been catastrophic. The city would only fall when Grant's Army surrounded it by land in 1863.

Q4: Who were the Louisiana Native Guards and why do they matter?

The Louisiana Native Guards, also known as the Corps d'Afrique, were five regiments of Black soldiers organized in New Orleans after the Union occupation. Led by Brigadier General Daniel Ullmann, they were among the earliest Black military units formally organized in the Civil War. Their creation in 1862 anticipated the broader policy of enlisting Black men that produced over 180,000 Black Union soldiers by the war's end.

Q5: Was the New Orleans campaign considered a success for the Union?

Yes, decisively. The New York Tribune called the spring 1862 western campaigns a 'deluge of victories.' Capturing New Orleans, along with the victories at Shiloh, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and in Missouri, put the Union in a dominant position in the Western Theater. The failure to take Vicksburg was a significant setback, but New Orleans itself was a major strategic and symbolic win for the North.

Farragut's Objective: Seize the Confederacy's Greatest Port

The battle at Shiloh in Tennessee, fought on April 6th and 7th in 1862, was a major Union victory in the western theater of the Civil War. A few weeks later, the capture of New Orleans would prove another northern win in the West. Led by naval commander David Farragut, the battle was a decisive victory for the Union. In April 1862, naval commander David Farragut led the campaign to capture New Orleans.

The objective: seize the Confederacy's largest and most valuable port city and take a major step to control the Mississippi River. At age nine, Farragut began his life at sea. He earned battle experience in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Though a Tennessian and married to a Virginian, his loyalty lay with the flag of the Union. When fellow Southerners tried to sway him to the Confederate cause, he replied: "Mind what I tell you. You fellows will catch the devil before you get through this business." He commanded a fleet of eight steam sloops, one sailing sloop, and 14 gunboats, accompanied by 19 mortar schooners and transports carrying 15,000 soldiers commanded by General Benjamin Butler. New Orleans controlled access to the lower Mississippi River, making it critical for trade, supply routes, and communication. The war's first major battle had taken place on the eastern front almost a year earlier, as we cover in our episode on the First Battle of Bull Run.

Running the Forts

To reach the city, Farragut's fleet had to pass two Confederate forts situated south of New Orleans: Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip. At 2:00 a.m. on April 24th, seven of Farragut's warships steamed up river. The Confederates opened fire, they had between 80 and 90 guns. Farragut's ships fired back with twice as many. In the meantime, the mortar schooners bombarded the forts. Three rebel gunboats engaged the Union Navy. In one rare successful strike, they sank the sloop Varuna.

In another tactic, the Confederate tugboats pushed rafts with pine and pitch set ablaze, drifting them toward the Union boats. All but four of Farragut's boats made it past the forts toward New Orleans. That same April, the war in the West reached a horrifying new scale, as we cover in our episode on the Battle of Shiloh.

New Orleans Falls

On April 25th, Farragut and his fleet steamed into the city, greeted by angry citizens screaming from the docks. Though New Orleans was now lost, in a pyrrhic gesture Mayor John Tompkins Monroe refused to formally surrender to Farragut, at which point the commander ordered the Marines to raise the American flag over public buildings.

The victory was decisive for the Union, and the loss devastating for the Confederacy, as the North now controlled a major port and strengthened its plan to dominate the Mississippi River. Following defeat, New Orleans was occupied and under the military governorship of Major General Butler. Among others, Mayor Monroe was arrested and imprisoned. Military Governor Butler also organized a large number of freed slaves to serve in the Union Army. Altogether, they formed five regiments known as the Corps d'Afrique, or the Louisiana Native Guards, led by Brigadier General Daniel Ullmann. Over the course of the Civil War, more than 180,000 black soldiers would fight for the North, roughly 10% of Union forces.

Up the River to Vicksburg

After Farragut captured New Orleans, he steamed up the Mississippi River. Along the way, the cities of Baton Rouge and Natchez surrendered. At Vicksburg, however, he met unprecedented resistance. In response to Farragut's call for surrender, the city's mayor replied: "Mississippians don't know and refuse to learn how to surrender. If Commodore Farragut can teach them, let him come and try." Farragut's guns opened fire, but Vicksburg sat atop a 200-foot bluff above the river. Confederate forces were commanded by General Earl Van Dorn. His artillery guns were supremely well positioned to fire back at Farragut's warships. The Union commander soon concluded that firepower from his fleet alone could not take the city. Only a land attack from behind the city could succeed, and that would not happen for more than another year. In the meantime, disease struck the fleet. June along the southern Mississippi was hot, humid, and mosquito-infested. Malaria spread, as did dysentery. Then came the ironclad the CSS Arkansas, commanded by Kentuckian Isaac Newton Brown, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Navy.

The Arkansas maneuvered between two lines of Union vessels, taking fire but returning in kind. The Confederate ironclad disabled the Carondelet, a Union ironclad. The Arkansas suffered 60 casualties, but was able to make its way to safety beneath the Vicksburg guns. Altogether, it had been a good few months for the Union, what the New York Tribune called "a deluge of victories in the West." The war's center of gravity would soon shift back east, as we cover in our episode on the Second Battle of Manassas.