638 



NAVY, U. S., OPERATIONS OF. 



er Porter, on account of disaffection in the gar- 

 rison. Two hundred and fifty in fact of the 

 garrison of Fort Jackson, after spiking the guns 

 bearing up the river, surrendered themselves 

 to Gen. Butler's pickets on the night of the 

 28th, averring that they had been impressed 

 and would fight no longer. While the capitula- 

 tion was being drawn up, the Confederate naval 

 officers towed the ram Louisiana to a point 

 above the forts, and having set her on fire, turn- 

 ed her adrift, with guns shotted, in the expec- 

 tation that she would explode in the midst of 

 the fleet. The final catastrophe, however, took 

 place sooner than they had hpped. Just as the 

 battery got abreast of Fort St. Philip it blew 

 up with a tremendous noise, and sunk imme- 

 diately. The only injury was to a Confederate 

 soldier in the fort, who was killed by one of 

 the fragments. As soon as the capitulation 

 was completed, the Harriet Lane turned her 

 attention to the three Confederate steamers 

 which were lying about half a mile above. 

 One of them had already been scuttled ; the 

 others surrendered without resistance, and 14 

 officers, 7 engineers, the crews of the steamers, 

 and 300 men and two companies of marine ar- 

 tillery belonging to the Louisiana became pris- 

 oners of war. The men were released on pa- 

 role ; the officers, in consequence of their con- 

 duct in setting fire to the battery, and attempt- 

 ing to destroy the fleet while a capitulation 

 was in progress, were sent to the North as close 

 prisoners. Gen. Phelps now arrived, and 

 Porter turned over to him the forts, guns, and 

 captured property. The loss of the Confed- 

 erates during the bombardment was 14 killed 

 and 39 wounded. The casualties in the fleet 

 were, during the six days' bombardment, 2 

 killed and 24 wounded ; during the passing of 

 the forts and the engagement with the Chal- 

 mette batteries, 37 killed, and 147 wounded; 

 on board the mortar boats, 1 killed and 6 

 wounded ; total, 40 killed, and 177 wounded. 

 Fort St. Philip was very little injured, only 

 one of the mortars having fired upon it, be- 

 cause its fate evidently depended upon that of 

 Fort Jackson. The latter was described by 

 Commander Porter after the surrender as " a 

 perfect wreck." Over 1,800 shells fell inside 

 the work proper, 170 in the water battery, and 

 by the estimate of the soldiers, about 3,000 in 

 the ditches around the works. All the build- 

 ings in and near the fort were burnt ; the ram- 

 parts were severely damaged on every side, and 

 particularly on the north, but had been repaired 

 with sand bags which were constantly sent 

 down from New Orleans during the bombard- 

 ment; the walls of the citadel were cracked in 

 many places very badly ; the casemates were 

 cracked from end to end, several of them show- 

 ing wide fissures in the roofs and sides, and 

 their floors were three inches under water. 

 Still there is little question that, but for the 

 interruption of their communications with New 

 Orleans, these works could have held out much 

 longer, the extent of the damage being far from 



proportionate to the time and powder expended 

 in the bombardment. If the formidable 13-inch 

 mortars did not fully answer the expectations 

 which had been formed of them, this fact must 

 be attributed first to the softness of the soil 

 which allowed the shells to sink 20 feet, by 

 measurement, before they exploded, and sec- 

 ondly to the difficulty of getting accurate range : 

 the forts rose but little above the surrounding 

 bushes, and the vessels which were moored be- 

 hind the wood often had to fire almost at ran- 

 dom ; the mortars could only be pointed from 

 sights fixed to the mast heads, and the most 

 curious expedients were resorted to for obtain- 

 ing correct firing. 



After the conquered forts and city had been 

 occupied by the military forces, Commander 

 Porter was ordered to repair to Ship Island. 

 The Portsmouth, the Pensacola, and one gun- 

 boat were stationed at New Orleans; seven 

 vessels were sent up the river under command 

 of Captain Craven, "to keep up the panic;" 

 and the smaller steamers, under command of 

 Captain Lee, were ordered to ascend as far as 

 Vicksburg. > 



Commander James S. Palmer arrived off Ba- 

 ton Rouge with the Iroquois, May 7, and de- 

 manded the surrender of the town and all prop- 

 erty belonging to the Confederate Government, 

 promising to respect the rights and property of 

 private citizens, but requiring that the United 

 States flag should be hoisted on the arsenal. 

 The mayor, while admitting that the city was 

 without the means of resistance, refused to sur- 

 render or to hoist the flag. Com. Palmer 

 accordingly landed a force and took possession 

 of the arsenal, and Flag-Officer Farragut arriv- 

 ing soon afterward took measures to secure 

 proper respect for the national ensign, and to 

 cause all other flags to be suppressed. 



On the 12th the Iroquois anchored off 

 Natchez in company with several other vessels, 

 and Commander Palmer sent on shore a de- 

 mand for surrender which the people at the 

 wharf refused to receive. He then made dis- 

 positions for landing an armed force; but was 

 met at the shore by a deputation from the com- 

 mon council with an apology for the previous 

 refusal. The mayor sent a reply to the sum- 

 mons similar to that given by the mayor of 

 Baton Rouge, but he issued a proclamation 

 urging the citizens to commit no act to provoke 

 the displeasure of the United States forces. As 

 Natchez however had never been occupied as 

 a military position, Commander Palmer defer- 

 red taking formal possession of it. 



Commander S. P. Lee with the advance of 

 the squadron arrived near Vicksburg, May 18, 

 and in reply to his demand for surrender re- 

 ceived a defiant refusal. He then gave 24 hours 

 for the removal of women and children, after 

 which time he declared he should consult his 

 own judgment as to the propriety of immediate- 

 ly opening fire. Flag-Officer Farragut arrived 

 a few days afterward, accompanied by a column 

 of troops under General Williams. Subsequent- 



