Splitting the Confederacy E-Book

• Herausgeber: Charles River Editors
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 156

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Given its importance, it’s somewhat surprising in retrospect that the Union managed to capture New Orleans in an easier manner than places like Vicksburg and Atlanta. Admiral David Farragut’s naval forces battered their shaky Confederate counterparts and were able to get over a dozen ships upriver past a couple of crucial Confederate forts along the Mississippi. By May 1862, Union forces occupied the city and General Benjamin Butler became its military governor, leaving the last true bastion of Confederate defenses on the Mississippi at Vicksburg. When Grant captured that in July 1863, the Union controlled the entire river and essentially cut the Confederacy in two.

In many ways, the occupation of New Orleans for the rest of the war is as intriguing a story as the campaign to capture it. Butler was a political general, and while he would go on to be a politician in the North after the war, he became the most reviled man in the South as a result of his reign in New Orleans. During a governorship that helped earn him the moniker “Beast,” Butler became notorious for several acts, including seizing a massive amount of money that had been deposited in the Dutch consul’s office. But it was General Order No. 28, which said any woman in town who insulted a member of the Army would be treated like “a "woman of the town plying her avocation" (in other words, she’d be treated as a prostitute) that earned widespread condemnation across the nation, and even abroad in England. Butler was considered so brutal in the South that Confederate president Jefferson Davis personally ordered that he should be executed if he was captured. As it turned out, he never was, and when he was recalled east, he served in commands for the duration of the war before going on to a distinguished political career.

The only domino left to fall was the stronghold of Vicksburg, and both sides knew it. The Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Ulysses S. Grant, would spend months trying to encircle the city and eventually force John Pemberton’s Confederate army to surrender. Grant eventually succeeded on July 4, 1863, but since it came a day after the climactic finish of the Battle of Gettysburg, Vicksburg was (and still is) frequently overlooked as one of the turning points of the Civil War. In fact, had the Confederate’s military leadership listened to Longstreet, who advocated detaching soldiers from Lee’s army to head west and help the Confederates deal with Grant or Rosecrans in that theater, the Battle of Gettysburg might never have happened.

While many read about the siege of Vicksburg in the summer of 1863, as well as the desperate straits the Confederate soldiers and Vicksburg residents found themselves in, Grant’s initial attempts to advance towards Vicksburg met with several miserable failures, and it took several months just to get to the point where the Union forces could start a siege. First, Grant’s supply base at Holly Springs was captured, and then an assault launched by Union General Sherman at Chickasaw Bayou was easily repulsed by Confederate forces, with serious Union casualties resulting.  Grant then attempted to have his men build canals north and west of the city to facilitate transportation, which included grueling work and disease in the bayous.

On April 30, 1863, Grant finally launched the successful campaign against Vicksburg, marching down the western side of the Mississippi River while the navy covered his movements. He then crossed the river south of Vicksburg and quickly took Port Gibson on May 1, Grand Gulf on May 3, and Raymond on May 12.  Realizing Vicksburg was the objective, the Confederate forces under the command of Pemberton gathered in that vicinity, but instead of going directly for Vicksburg, Grant took the state capital of Jackson instead, effectively isolating Vicksburg. Pemberton’s garrison now had broken communication and supply lines.

Leseprobe

Splitting the Confederacy: The History of the Union Campaigns to Take the Mississippi River

By Charles River Editors

A panoramic depiction of New Orleans in 1862

About Charles River Editors

Charles River Editors provides superior editing and original writing services across the digital publishing industry, with the expertise to create digital content for publishers across a vast range of subject matter. In addition to providing original digital content for third party publishers, we also republish civilization’s greatest literary works, bringing them to new generations of readers via ebooks.

About the Author

Sean McLachlan has spent much of his life in Arizona and Missouri, working as an archaeologist and tracing legends of the Old West. Now a full-time writer, he’s the author of many history books and novels, including A Fine Likeness, a Civil War novel with a touch of the weird. For more information, check out his Amazon page and blog.

Introduction

Splitting the Confederacy

A Civil War cartoon depicting hostile women in New Orleans

“As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation.” – Benjamin Butler’s General Order No. 28

In 1860, New Orleans was just as unique a city as it is today. It was racially and linguistically diverse, with many French, German, and Spanish speakers, and a population of white, black, and mixed-race inhabitants. Louisiana’s population was 47% slave and also had one of the largest numbers of free blacks in the country. Situated near the mouth of the continent’s largest river, the Mississippi, it was an international center for trade and industry. New Orleans was the sixth largest city in the country and the largest in any of the states that would end up joining the Confederacy. The volume of trade through its port was second only to New York, and the city’s commercial ties with England and Spain and cultural ties with France meant that the European powers would be looking closely at how the city fared in the Civil War, especially after it was occupied by Union forces. The Lincoln administration, fearful of European meddling in the war effort, had to constantly keep European opinion in mind when dealing with the captured city, and the story of New Orleans in the Civil War is one of far-reaching political, racial, and social tensions.

Given its importance, it’s somewhat surprising in retrospect that the Union managed to capture New Orleans in an easier manner than places like Vicksburg and Atlanta. Admiral David Farragut’s naval forces battered their shaky Confederate counterparts and were able to get over a dozen ships upriver past a couple of crucial Confederate forts along the Mississippi. By May 1862, Union forces occupied the city and General Benjamin Butler became its military governor, leaving the last true bastion of Confederate defenses on the Mississippi at Vicksburg. When Grant captured that in July 1863, the Union controlled the entire river and essentially cut the Confederacy in two.

In many ways, the occupation of New Orleans for the rest of the war is as intriguing a story as the campaign to capture it. Butler was a political general, and while he would go on to be a politician in the North after the war, he became the most reviled man in the South as a result of his reign in New Orleans. During a governorship that helped earn him the moniker “Beast,” Butler became notorious for several acts, including seizing a massive amount of money that had been deposited in the Dutch consul’s office. But it was General Order No. 28, which said any woman in town who insulted a member of the Army would be treated like “a "woman of the town plying her avocation" (in other words, she’d be treated as a prostitute) that earned widespread condemnation across the nation, and even abroad in England. Butler was considered so brutal in the South that Confederate president Jefferson Davis personally ordered that he should be executed if he was captured. As it turned out, he never was, and when he was recalled east, he served in commands for the duration of the war before going on to a distinguished political career.

At the start of 1863, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had been frustrating the Union in the Eastern theater for several months, but the situation in the West was completely different. The Confederates had lost control of several important states throughout 1862, and after New Orleans was taken by the Union, the North controlled almost all of the Mississippi River, which Confederate general James Longstreet called “the lungs of the Confederacy”. By taking control of that vital river, the North would virtually cut the Confederacy in two, putting the South in a dire situation.

The only domino left to fall was the stronghold of Vicksburg, and both sides knew it. The Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Ulysses S. Grant, would spend months trying to encircle the city and eventually force John Pemberton’s Confederate army to surrender. Grant eventually succeeded on July 4, 1863, but since it came a day after the climactic finish of the Battle of Gettysburg, Vicksburg was (and still is) frequently overlooked as one of the turning points of the Civil War. In fact, had the Confederate’s military leadership listened to Longstreet, who advocated detaching soldiers from Lee’s army to head west and help the Confederates deal with Grant or Rosecrans in that theater, the Battle of Gettysburg might never have happened.

While many read about the siege of Vicksburg in the summer of 1863, as well as the desperate straits the Confederate soldiers and Vicksburg residents found themselves in, Grant’s initial attempts to advance towards Vicksburg met with several miserable failures, and it took several months just to get to the point where the Union forces could start a siege. First, Grant’s supply base at Holly Springs was captured, and then an assault launched by Union General Sherman at Chickasaw Bayou was easily repulsed by Confederate forces, with serious Union casualties resulting. Grant then attempted to have his men build canals north and west of the city to facilitate transportation, which included grueling work and disease in the bayous.

On April 30, 1863, Grant finally launched the successful campaign against Vicksburg, marching down the western side of the Mississippi River while the navy covered his movements. He then crossed the river south of Vicksburg and quickly took Port Gibson on May 1, Grand Gulf on May 3, and Raymond on May 12. Realizing Vicksburg was the objective, the Confederate forces under the command of Pemberton gathered in that vicinity, but instead of going directly for Vicksburg, Grant took the state capital of Jackson instead, effectively isolating Vicksburg. Pemberton’s garrison now had broken communication and supply lines. With Grant in command, his forces won a couple of battles outside Vicksburg at Champion Hill and Big Black River on May 16 and 17, forcing Pemberton’s men into Vicksburg and completely enveloping it. When two frontal assaults were easily repulsed, Grant and his men settled into a nearly two month long siege that ultimately won the campaign. It was the largest troop surrender during the entire Civil War, and Vicksburg’s residents were so embittered that popular folklore maintained Vicksburg didn’t celebrate Independence Day for a generation.

Splitting the Confederacy: The History of the Union Campaigns to Take the Mississippi River chronicles the history of the crucial campaigns that helped the North win the war. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Union capture of the Mississippi River like never before.

Splitting the Confederacy: The History of the Union Campaigns to Take the Mississippi River

About Charles River Editors

About the Author

Introduction

Secession

The Start of the War

Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip

The Capture of New Orleans

The Occupation of New Orleans

The Importance of Vicksburg

The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou

Figuring Out How to Approach Vicksburg

Grant’s Big Gamble

Encircling Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg

The Aftermath

Bibliography

Secession

In 1860, Louisiana was swept up in the tumult associated with the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States. While he stated that he only wanted to curb the expansion of slavery, not eradicate it, many people in the 15 slaveholding states were convinced that he meant to do away with the “peculiar institution.”

One man particularly sure of that was the newly elected governor of Louisiana, Thomas Overton Moore. Like many political leaders in the state, he hated the very idea of Lincoln, and in fact, Lincoln’s name hadn’t even appeared on Louisiana’s presidential ballot. In Moore’s inaugural address on January 23, 1860, he outlined what he thought the Republican party felt towards the slaveholding states: “So bitter is this hostility felt towards slavery which these fifteen states regard as a great social and political blessing that it exhibits itself in legislation for the avowed purpose of destroying the rights of slaveholders guaranteed by the Constitution and protected by Acts of Congress.” The speech continued in a similar fiery vein, concluding with the ominous words that “a wide-spread sympathy with felons has deepened the distrust in the permanent Federal government, and awakened sentiments favorable to a separation of the states.”

Moore

Tensions only increased during his first year in office. Secessionist speeches were given at churches, clubs, and private homes, and militias sprang up, pledging their loyalty to the state and vowing to protect it if it should secede. In the wake of Lincoln’s election in November 1860, South Carolina moved forward on their promised threat of seceding from the Union. Less than a week after the election, the state legislature began calling for a convention to do just that, and on December 20, 1860, a convention met to pass an ordinance of secession, and they did so unanimously:

“The State of South Carolina

At a Convention of the People of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia on the Seventeenth day of December in the year or our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, and there by divers adjournments to the Twentieth day of December in the same year –

An Ordinance To dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America.”

We, the People of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled do declare and ordain, and it is herby declared and ordained, That the Ordinance adopted by us in Convention, on the twenty-third day of May in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and eight eight, whereby the Constitution of the United State of America was ratified, and also all Acts and parts of Acts of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying amendment of the said Constitution, are here by repealed; and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of “The United States of America,” is hereby dissolved.

Done at Charleston, the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty.”

Having just asserted that South Carolina was no longer part of the United States, the delegates also felt compelled to list “the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States, by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the States.” They did this in a document titled Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union. As the document made painstakingly clear, South Carolina seceded from the Union because of perceived violations by Northern states over their rights to have, use, move, and recapture slaves.

The announcement that South Carolina had seceded led to boisterous celebrations and fireworks displays in places like Charleston. While Lincoln was aware of the sentiments being expressed, he was initially surprised that a Southern state had actually made good on its threats. Meanwhile, President James Buchanan sat on his hands, believing the Southern states had no right to secede but that the Federal government had no effective power to prevent secession.

James Buchanan

With Buchanan in power until Lincoln’s inauguration in March 1861, the secessionists in South Carolina hoped that they would be allowed to leave the Union peacefully. And by successfully seceding and blazing the path, a number of Southern states that had been mulling taking the same step went ahead and did so in January.

On January 9, 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union, passing a similar ordinance of secession that South Carolina had. This one, however, also made clear that Mississippi was willing to create a new union with any states that followed suit by seceding from the United States as well. Like South Carolina, Mississippi listed the reasons it had taken such a drastic step, explicitly citing the contentious issues over slavery between the North and South.

Harper’s Weekly illustration of Mississippi’s Congressional Declaration, including Jefferson Davis at top and center

The day after Mississippi seceded, Florida’s delegates met in the state capital of Tallahassee to vote on their own secession ordinance. The delegates had met a week earlier to discuss secession, and on January 10, 62 of the 69 delegates eligible to vote approved their ordinance of secession. In case it wasn’t clear why Florida felt the need to secede, their laws later made clear: “The General Assembly shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves.”

The day after Florida seceded, Alabama made it official. On January 11, 1861, Alabama passed their own ordinance of secession, while also using it to invite political leaders of all of the slave states in the Union to meet in Montgomery on February 4 “for the purpose of consulting with each other as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted and harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for our common peace and security.”

Believing the state would soon break away and wanting to surprise the Federal government before it could act, Governor Moore ordered the Louisiana state militia and various volunteer companies to seize the Federal arsenal at Baton Rouge and the Federal forts guarding New Orleans - Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, which sat opposite each other on the Mississippi River southeast of the city – on January 10. As the Federal government protested and discussed what to do about this open defiance, delegates from all over Louisiana presided over a convention regarding secession on January 23. While the state constitution required a popular referendum to establish a convention on secession, Moore ignored this, saying, “I do not think it comports with the honor and self-respect of Louisiana as a slave-holding state to live under the government of a Black Republican president.”

On January 19, Georgia made their secession official, and they also felt compelled to list the reasons justifying their decision. In addition to the central issue of slavery, the Georgians made reference to John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, which they described as “the actual invasion of one of the slave-holding States.”

Louisiana and Texas were the next to follow, with Louisiana seceding on January 26 and delegates meeting in Texas on February 1. Texas wouldn’t officially secede until February 23, by which time the Confederacy had formed, so their referendum was about whether to join the Confederacy in addition to seceding. Texas gave their reasons for seceding, and once again they were about slavery.

An 1861 political cartoon depicting the seceding states following South Carolina off a cliff

Secession was most popular with New Orleans citizens who were native born, the Latin Creoles and Anglo-Americans. Conversely, immigrants from the North or from Europe, particularly Ireland and Germany, were less enthusiastic, and while some joined the Confederate army or militias and others only gave vocal support, many would change their colors once the city was taken.

There was also some support for secession among the free black population, some of whom were slaveowners themselves. At a meeting on April 22, 1861, a group of free blacks resolved to create companies of black volunteers to defend the state in case of attack. There was precedent for this, as black Louisianans had fought against Native Americans during the Spanish and French colonial periods and for the United States during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. A leader among them was Jordan Noble, who had served as a drummer boy in that battle.

The black community soon formed the Native Guards, which was incorporated into the Louisiana State Militia. Most of these companies equipped themselves at their own expense, and at least one company decided to be led by a white officer, while others chose black officers. Any black man who organized his own company was given a captain’s commission by Governor Moore on May 2, 1861, but that was as far as Moore would go. He did not give the Native Guards any weapons or active duty assignments, so the men had to resign themselves to drills and parades. None saw active duty and weren’t even allowed to guard Union prisoners when they offered their services for the job.

The Start of the War

At the outset of the war, the Lincoln administration immediately realized the importance of New Orleans; if the Union could take the city, they would control the mouth of America’s greatest river and seal off much of the Confederacy’s international trade. In addition, it would open the way for a naval expedition up the river, and if the Mississippi could be taken from New Orleans to St. Louis, the Confederacy would be cut in half. However, setbacks such as the First Battle of Bull Run kept the Federals occupied for the first months of the war, and it wouldn’t be until 1862 that any serious attempt was made against Louisiana.