The Calvin Shedd Papers > Background > Capture of New Orleans
Capture of New Orleans
| Date(s) of Letter(s) | Boatner, Mark M. The
Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1959. Schmidt, Lewis G. The Civil War in Florida: A Military History. Volume III: Florida's Keys and Fevers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: L. G. Schmidt, 1989. |
| May 4, 1862 May 13, 1862 |
New Orleans was
captured by Admiral D. G. Farragut on April 25, 1862. City defenses included a small
force of militia under the command if General Mansfield Lovell, disbursed among the many
small forts that cover the water approaches to the city. Farragut approached the
city with a force of 24 wooden vessels containing about 200 guns. He started a
bombardment of the forts in order to allow the wooden boats to pass safely. After a
week's bombardment, on April 24th, Farragut ordered the boats to run past the forts, which
they did. A brief engagement resulted in the annihilation of the Confederate river
fleet and Farragut continued up river and captured the undefended city the next day.
Farragut's losses totalled 36 killed and 135 wounded. The Confederate soldiers in
the Forts Jackson and St. Phillips mutinied and forced their commanders to
surrender. The total Confederate losses, death and wounded, were only 50 men.
(Boatner, pp. 591-592) "The gunboat Cayuga arrived with the news of the capture of New Orleans, an action in which she participated, and a salute of 34 guns was fired from Fort Taylor in honor of the capture." (Schmidt, p. 211) |