New Orleans
The Capture of New
Orleans (April 25 – May 1,
1862)
• Having fought past Forts Jackson and St.
Philip, the Union was unopposed in its
capture of the city itself, which was
spared the destruction suffered by many
other Southern cities. However, the
controversial and confrontational
administration of the city by its military
governor caused lasting resentment. This
capture of the largest Confederate city
was a major turning point and an incident
of international importance.
• Winfield Scott's "Anaconda Plan" called for
the division of the Confederacy by seizing
control of the Mississippi River. One of the
first steps in such operations was the
imposition of the Union Blockade. After the
blockade was established, a Confederate
naval counterattack attempted to drive off
the Union navy, resulting in the Battle of
the Head of Passes. The Union
countermove was to enter the mouth of
the Mississippi River, ascend to New
Orleans and capture the city, closing off
the mouth of the Mississippi 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 masonry forts,
Jackson and St. Philip, above
the Head of Passes,
approximately seventy miles
below New Orleans.
• From April 18 to April 28,
Farragut bombarded and then
fought his way past the forts in
the Battle of Forts Jackson and
St. Philip, managing to get
thirteen ships up river on April
24
A map of Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson on the
Mississippi River south of New Orleans. These forts
were a first line of defense for the city during the
American Civil War, and in April, 1862, fell to the Union.
The map shows the site of the chain barrier and
Confederate batteries
• the Confederate fleet at New
Orleans had "made a sorry
showing. Self-destruction, lack of
co-operation, cowardice of
untrained officers, and the
murderous fire of the Federal
gunboats reduced the fleet to a
demoralized shambles."
• After the Union Navy broke through
the Confederate ring of fortifications
and defense vessels guarding the
lower Mississippi: the Confederates
Evacuated. The inner ring of
fortifications at Chalmette was only
intended to resist infantry, and few
of the gun batteries were aimed at
the river. Most of the artillery,
ammunition, troops and vessels
were committed to the Jackson/St.
Phillips position. Once this line was
forced, all that remained were three
thousand militia armed with
shotguns, and sundry military
supplies
• Lovell loaded his troops and
supplies aboard the New
Orleans, Jackson, and
Northern Pacific railroad
and sent it to Camp Moore,
78 miles north. All artillery
and munitions were sent to
Vicksburg. Lovell then sent
a last message to the War
Department in Richmond,
“The enemy has passed the
forts. It is too late to send
any guns here; they had
better go to Vicksburg.”
• Military stores, ships, and warehouses
were then burned. Anything considered
useful to the Union including
thousands of bales of cotton were
thrown into the river.
• Despite the complete vulnerability of
the city, the citizens along with
military and civil authorities remained
defiant. At 2:00 p.m. on 25 April,
Admiral Farragut sent Captain Bailey,
First Division Commander from the USS
Cayuga, to accept the surrender of the
city.
• Armed mobs within the city defied
the Union officers and sailors sent to
city hall. General Lovell refused to
surrender the city, along with Mayor
Monroe. William B. Mumford pulled
down a Union flag raised over the
former U.S. mint by sailors of the
USS Pensacola and the mob
destroyed it. Farragut did not
destroy the city in response, but
moved upriver to subdue
fortifications north of the city. On
April 29, Farragut and 250 marines
from the USS Hartford removed the
Louisiana State flag from the City
Hall
“Beast Butler”
• On May 1,
1862 Maj.
Gen. Benjamin
Butler, with an
army of 5,000
men occupied
the city of
New Orleans
without
resistance.
• Butler was one of the
most controversial
and volatile
personalities of the
Civil War. He was
infamous in New
Orleans for his
confrontational
proclamations and
alleged corruption
• The truth is far more complex and
subtle. Butler was in fact a political
general, awarded his position by
excellent political connections and
accomplishments. It was his political
expertise that made his position in
New Orleans tenable. He in no way had
the military force necessary to hold it
by force alone. His total military
command numbered 15,000 troops. He
was never sent reinforcements during
the time he commanded in Louisiana.
As Butler himself put it, "We were
2,500 men in a city... of 150,000
inhabitants, all hostile, bitter, defiant,
explosive, standing literally in a
magazine, a spark only needed for
destruction.
• The United States War
Department under Edwin M.
Stanton expected Butler to hold
eastern Louisiana, the cities of
Baton Rouge and New Orleans,
maintain communications up
river to Vicksburg, and support
Farragut’s forces for the siege
of Vicksburg.
• In addition the city of New Orleans
itself was just as indefensible for the
Union as for the Confederates.
Surrounded by a fragile network of
levees and lower than anything else
around it, New Orleans was
extremely vulnerable to flooding,
bombardment, or insurrection, and
generally unhealthy and subject to
devastating epidemics. The defense
of the city against attacks from
Confederate forces depended on an
extensive outer ring of fortifications
requiring a garrison of thousands of
troops
• It could also be pretty much
counted on that the
Confederacy would launch a
major counteroffensive to
retake New Orleans. As the
largest population center of the
Confederacy, and commanding
formidable industrial and
shipping resources, its
permanent loss would be
• Butler began his rule of martial
law in New Orleans by
sentencing anyone calling for
cheers for Jeff Davis and
Beauregard to three months
hard labor at Fort Jackson. He
also issued order number 25,
which distributed captured
Confederate food supplies of
beef and sugar in the city to the
•Butler's General Order No. 28 of May 15,
issued after many provocations and displays
of contempt by women in New Orleans
• It stated that if any woman should insult or
show contempt for any officer or soldier of
the United States, she shall be regarded
and shall be held liable to be treated as a
"woman of the town plying her avocation",
i.e., a PROSTITUTE. This order provoked
protests both in the North and the South,
and also abroad, particularly in Britain and
France, and many considered it the cause
of his removal from command of the
Department of the Gulf on December 17,
1862. He was also nicknamed "Beast
Butler," and "Spoons," for his alleged habit
of pilfering the silverware of Southern
homes in which he stayed. He became so
reviled in the city that merchants began
• On June 7, he executed one William B.
Mumford, who had torn down a United
States flag placed by Farragut on the New
Orleans Mint; for this execution, he was
denounced in December 1862 by
Confederate President Jefferson Davis in
General Order 111 as a felon deserving
capital punishment, who if captured should
be reserved for execution. Butler's
administration did have benefits to the
city, which was kept both orderly and
healthy. The Butler occupation was
probably best summed up by Admiral
Farragut, who stated, "They may say what
they please about General Butler, but he
was the right man in the right place in New
Orleans."
• The Union Blockade and the
King Cotton embargo had done
damage to the port economy,
leaving many without work. The
value of goods passing through
New Orleans had gone from
$500 million to $52 million from
1860 to 1862
• Butler also used his commercial contacts
in the northeast and Washington to revive
commerce in the city, exporting 17,000
bales of cotton to the northeast and reestablishing international trade. He also
employed many in support of the Union
military, and in cleaning up the city. He
expanded the city sewer system, and set
up pumps to empty the system into the
river. This policy freed the city from the
expected summer yellow fever epidemic,
and saved the lives of thousands. He
extensively taxed the wealthy of the city
to set up social programs for the lower
• Butler's generally abrasive style
and heavy handed actions did,
however, catch up with him.
Many of his acts gave great
offense, such as the seizure of
$800,000 that had been
deposited in the office of the
Dutch Consul and his
imprisonment of the French
Champagne magnate Charles
Heidseik
• Butler's administration did have
benefits to the city, which was kept
both orderly and healthy. The Butler
occupation was probably best
summed up by Admiral Farragut,
who stated, "They may say what
they please about General Butler,
but he was the right man in the right
place in New Orleans
• On December 14, 1862, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks
arrived to take command of the Department of the
Gulf. Butler was not made aware of this change
until Banks arrived to tell him. Political
considerations in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio tipped
the balance. The Democratic victories in Illinois
and Ohio had alarmed the Lincoln administration on
November 4, and a dramatic letter from Governor
Oliver P. Morton of Indiana claimed that the states
along the Ohio had more in common with the
southern states than with New England, and would
leave the Union if the Mississippi were not reopened to trade.
• An invasion of Texas would be
favorably received by a pro-union group
of German American cotton farmers
living there. This idea was championed
by Banks, a New England political
general eager to send cotton to North
Eastern mills. Banks would start the
Siege of Port Hudson, and on its
successful conclusion, begin the Red
River Campaign in pursuit of Texan
cotton.