Decks Covered With Blood

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Union Admiral David Farragut, preparing to brave the frowning bluffs
of Port Hudson, kept his young son by his side. They would “trust in
Providence,” he decreed. So would their shipmates.

By John F. Wukovits

The chief justice of the United States, Edward White, walked toward Admiral George Dewey, recently returned from his heroic exploits in Manila Bay, where his flotilla had soundly defeated a Spanish fleet in the early stages of the Spanish-American War. Their paths had crossed years before, although they had not met at the time, for the two illustrious men had fought on opposite sides in the Civil War battle at Port Hudson, Louisiana. White, a Confederate lieutenant, had watched from commanding bluffs while Rebel batteries tore into Dewey’s Federal ship and left it a burning hulk. White reminded Dewey of that incident and teased, “We got the better of you that night, George.” Dewey smiled and replied, “I must say that I have to agree with you.”

Dewey was not the only important naval figure involved at Port Hudson. Admiral David Farragut, commander of the Union Navy on the lower Mississippi and Dewey’s hero, planned and led the action on the winding river. Farragut’s reason for advancing on Port Hudson was simple. Union forces controlled the Mississippi River north of Memphis and south of Baton Rouge, but in the middle, Confederate ships held sway. This enabled them to bring vital Texas wheat, rice and cattle, as well as supplies from Europe (which avoided the Union blockade by docking in Mexico) down the Red River to the beleaguered forces at Vicksburg, the final Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi. A movement upriver would cut off Vicksburg from these precious supplies, but to do so required charging past strong Confederate batteries at Port Hudson.

Resting 25 miles north of Baton Rouge, Port Hudson was a tiny community of 50 homes that man and nature had shaped into a hardened knot of resistance to anyone attempting to skirt its bluffs. Earthworks and seven miles of trenches, interspersed with patches of woods, swamps and ravines, sheltered 16,000 Confederate troops under Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner and guarded the land side, while 21 large guns protected by eager sharpshooters bristled menacingly along three miles of bluffs bordering the river. Whether approaching from land or sea, a hostile force faced running a ghastly gauntlet of fire to challenge what one Confederate private boasted was “a place hard to get at.”

Magnifying an attacker’s difficulties were problems posed by nature itself. As the Mississippi neared Port Hudson, it swerved in a sharp westerly bend for over a mile. At the bend’s entrance along the right, or eastern side, began a line of bluffs soaring 80 to 100 feet high–ideal positions for Confederate heavy guns. The opposite shore gently rose to a low peninsula from shallow waters plagued by numerous eddies that channeled ships toward the eastern side of the river–the side directly under Port Hudson’s guns. A stout 5-knot current at that spot slowed enemy ships to a tortuously slow pace making them inviting targets for Confederate guns.

Farragut commanded a small but potent squadron for his run past Port Hudson. His flagship, Hartford, wielded 28 guns, while Richmond sported 25, Monongahela 11, and Dewey’s ship, the side-wheeler Mississippi, carried 17 more. The small, river ironclad Essex added another seven. Farragut lashed gunboats to the sides of Hartford, Richmond and Monongahela to give the ships twin-screw capability, thereby increasing their maneuverability in the tricky Mississippi waters. A two-ship combination could rapidly turn by backing with one screw while going forward with the other. Mississippi’s side paddle wheels made that step impractical for Dewey’s ship, so it headed upstream under its own power.

An impatient Farragut had hoped to obtain help from his Army counterparts and thus implored commanders in New Orleans to move on land against Port Hudson while he advanced on water. This would at least occupy some of the awesome Confederate guns and draw them away from his squadron as it steamed by in the open. On March 13, 1863, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, Union commander at New Orleans, finally agreed to make such a move, and Farragut finished preparing his ships.

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