Farragut Battle

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Admiral David Farragut has successfully seized New Orleans from the grasp of the Confederacy on April 24th, 1862. Two of the major opponents to the Union’s advancement in the war were Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, which had been brutally seized from Union troops. Those forts were used to provide a front line of defense from any kind of naval assault on New Orleans. Now, however, securing New Orleans has put a serious dent in the Confederacy’s strength. Farragut accomplished this great feat by organizing an assault on the enemy forts with a daring fleet of 24 gunboats, 19 mortar boats, and nearly 15,000 soldiers on the night of April 24th; it soon forced the forts to surrender. During this attack on the Confederacy’s forts, many Confederate ships were also taken out by Farragut’s fleet which only added to the Confederacy’s defeat in this momentous event. Preceding the the night of April 24th, forces were gathered at a Ship Island south of Biloxi, which was comprised of 18,000 soldiers under the leadership of Major General Butler and the West Gulf Blockading Squadron of Farragut. By April 14th, Farragut had commanded his vessels to below Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Farragut and his naval fleet had to break through the blockade which the Confederacy had set up to prevent Union fleets from entering the Mississippi River. Farragut’s run of the forts started in the morning of the 24th. His strategy was to focus his fire on a …show more content…

Not only did New Orleans allow the Confederacy to have control over the Mississippi river, which gave it a lot of economic influence and power, but it was also the largest city which they possessed. This battle could prove to be one the major events which leads to the Confederacy’s demise. General Butler is already taking steps to dismantle the oppressive laws of the Confederacy over slavery and ensuring that there will be little resistance in New