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Forts
Jackson and St. Philip
April 16-28, 1862
Plaquemines Parish,
LA
Campaign: Blockade and Coastal Raids
Flag-Officer David G. Farragut, USN
Brig. Gen. Johnson K. Duncan, CSA and
Cdr. John K. Mitchell, CSN
Farragut had the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, as well as a substantial army
expeditionary force; the Confederates had the garrisons of Forts Jackson and St.
Philip and various ill-prepared ships.
Confederate losses were nearly 800, while Union losses were a bit over 200.
Early Union plans had called for the division of the Confederacy by seizing
control of the Mississippi River. One of the first steps in such operations was
to enter the mouth of the Mississippi River, ascend to New Orleans and capture
the city, closing off the entrance to Rebel ships. In mid-January 1862,
Flag-Officer David G. Farragut undertook this enterprise with his West Gulf
Blockading Squadron. The way was soon open except for the two forts, Jackson and
St. Philip, above the Head of the Passes, approximately seventy miles below New
Orleans. In addition to the forts and their armament, the Confederates had
placed obstructions in the river and there were a number of ships, including two
ironclads, to assist in the defense. Farragut based his operations from Ship
Island, Mississippi, and on April 8, he assembled 24 of his vessels and Comdr.
David D. Porter's 19 mortar schooners near the Head of the Passes. Starting on
the 16th and continuing for seven days, the mortar schooners bombarded Fort
Jackson but failed to silence its guns. Some of Farragut’s gunboats opened a way
through the obstruction on the night of the 22nd. Early on the morning of the
24th, Farragut sent his ships north to pass the forts and head for New Orleans.
Although the Rebels attempted to stop the Union ships in various ways, most of
the force successfully passed the forts and continued on to New Orleans where
Farragut accepted the city’s surrender. With the passage of the forts, nothing
could stop the Union forces: the fall of New Orleans was inevitable and
anti-climatic. Cut off and surrounded, the garrisons of the two forts
surrendered on the 28th.
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