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| David D. Porter. |
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at Key West; and when all were in readiness, it was arranged that the forts below New Orleans should be first attacked by Porter's fleet, Farragut and his larger and stronger vessels remaining in a reserve just outside ,of the range of the Confederate guns, until they should be silenced by the mortars.
Failing in that, Farragut was to attempt to run by the forts.
When this should be accomplished, he was to clear the river of the Confederate vessels and isolate the forts from their supplies and supports, when General Butler should land his troops in the rear of Fort St. Philip, the weaker fortification, and attempt to carry it by assault.
If success should crown these efforts, the land and naval forces were to pass on toward New
Orleans in such manner as might seem best.
For these purposes, the combined forces were ready for action at the middle of April.
The Confederates had made the most ample provisions, as they thought, for the sure defense of New Orleans.
The infamous General Twiggs,1 whom the Louisiana insurgents had called to their command, had been superseded by Mansfield Lovell, formerly a politician and office-holder in the City of New York.
He was assisted by General Ruggles, a man of considerable energy.
Lovell everywhere saw evidences of Twiggs's imbecility; and, when he was informed of the gathering of National ships and soldiers in the Gulf, he perceived the necessity of strongly guarding every avenue of approach to New Orleans.2
Lovell's special efforts for defense were put forth on the banks of the Mississippi, between the city and its passes or mouths.3 The principal of these were Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the former built by the Government, and the latter was an old Spanish fortress, which had figured somewhat in the war of 1812.
These were at a bend of the Mississippi, about seventy-five miles above its passes.
They occupied opposite sides of the stream, and were under the immediate command of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Higgins, a Virginian.
The general command of the river defenses was intrusted to General J. K. Duncan, formerly an office-holder in New York, who was regarded as one of the best artillerists in the Confederate service.
The armament of the forts, for which they were prepared, was one hundred and fifty guns each.
Between Fort Jackson, on the right bank of the river,
1 See page 265, volume I.
2 This was by far the largest and most important city within the bounds of the Confederacy. It is on the eastern side of the Mississippi River, about one hundred miles above its passes, or mouths, and has two extensive bodies of water lying to the north and east of it, named, respectively, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne. Its population was about 170,000 when the war began. Being at the outlet to the sea of the vast products of the region watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries, it had the largest export trade of any city in the world.
3 The principal passes by which the waters of the Mississippi flow into the Gulf of Mexico, through vast morasses, are five in number, and named respectively, the Southwest, South, Southeast, and East Pass, and Pass à l'outre. The seaward edge of these passes lies almost directly upon the arc of a circle with a radius of fifteen miles.
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