New Orleans, Siege of
New Orleans, Siege of (1862).Anxious to control the Mississippi River early in the Civil War, the Lincoln administration sent an expedition to the Gulf of Mexico after efforts to descend that waterway failed. Capt. David Farragut commanded the Union naval contingent, Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler the army. Their concentration at Ship Island caused Confederate authorities mistakenly to believe their objective was Mobile or Pensacola. Thousands of troops were withdrawn from New Orleans, leaving less than 5,000 militia when Farragut entered the Mississippi.
On 8 April, Farragut assembled his fleet of 24 wooden vessels, mounting about 200 cannon, and 19 mortar schooners. Blocking Farragut's path were 500 Confederates and 80 cannon in Forts Jackson and St. Philip; a chain barricade across the river; and naval vessels. This fleet consisted of three ironclads (the ram...
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