Military Technology: The Confederate Floating Battery Revival During the American Civil War

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Pope intended to tow the floating battery into the river and let it drift down to the crossing point, where it would anchor and open fire on the Confederate defenses. Ultimately, he did not have to use the floating battery because two ironclads ran past the Confederate defenses to join him.

Once Flag Officer Andrew Foote gave his approval to test the Confederate defenses, the Navy began softening up the Confederate batteries to ensure the safety of Captain Henry Walke and his ironclad Carondelet. The most famous of these actions was the raid on the first Confederate battery on the Tennessee shore, but the presence of New Orleans still worried the Federals–Carondelet would come very close to the battery. The Navy concentrated its fire on New Orleans early in April.

Despite inaccurate fire from long range, some guns and mortars found their target. Gunfire sank the flatboat that the Pelican Guards used as quarters, and a rifle shot wrecked one gun. Mortar shells and rifle shots so perforated the side of New Orleans that it careened to port. Water washed over the deck and almost reached the muzzles of the guns.

Averett had to get the battery out of range to repair it. New Orleans hastily dropped downriver, where the crew pumped out the water, finding two 3-foot holes caused by mortar shells below the waterline. They repaired all the damage within 24 hours. Brigadier General W. W. Mackall, the new Confederate commander, ordered New Orleans moored off the southern end of Island No. 10.

During the night of April 4, Carondelet slipped past most of the Confederate batteries unnoticed. The last obstacle was New Orleans. Given more warning than the other batteries, it managed to fire two shots at Carondelet. One embedded itself in the coal barge on the port side of the Union vessel, coming close to hitting the ironclad.

Under the protective guns of Carondelet, Pope’s army successfully crossed the Mississippi, causing the Confederate defenses to collapse without much of a struggle. To keep the Union from capturing New Orleans, Averett scuttled it and surrendered to a Union cavalry unit.

Except for some minor use of Georgia later in the war, the Confederate use of floating batteries ended with the sinking of New Orleans. A stationary target covered with iron plate simply was no match for the firepower of the Union Navy.

This article was written by Robert Collins Suhr and originally appeared in the July 1996 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to America’s Civil War magazine today!

Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts, Military Technology

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