Port Hudson, or Hickey's Landing, was on a high bluff on the left bank of the
Mississippi, in
Louisiana, at a very sharp bend in the stream.
At the foot of the bluff was Hickey's Landing.
The Confederates had erected a series of batteries, extending along the river from
Port Hudson to
Thompson's Creek above, a distance of about 3 miles. They were armed with very heavy guns.
They were field batteries that might be moved to any part of the line.
Immediately after
Banks took command of the Department of the Gulf (Dec. 18, 1862), he determined to attempt to remove this obstruction to the navigation of the
Mississippi.
He sent
General Grover with 10,000 men to occupy
Baton Rouge, but the advance on
Port Hudson was delayed, because it would require a larger force than
Banks could then spare.
So he operated for a while among the rich sugar and cotton regions of
Louisiana, west of the river.
In March, 1863, he concentrated his forces—nearly 25,000 strong—at
Baton Rouge.
At the same time
Commodore Farragut had gathered a small fleet at a point below
Port Hudson, with a determination to run by the batteries there and recover the control of the river between that place and
Vicksburg.
To make this movement,
Banks sent towards
Port Hudson (March 13) 12,000 men, who drove in the pickets, while two gunboats and some mortar-boats bombarded the works.
That night
Farragut attempted to pass, but failed, and
Banks returned to
Baton Rouge.
After more operations in
Louisiana,
Banks returned to the
Mississippi and began the investment of
Port Hudson, May 24, 1863.
His troops were commanded by
Generals Weitzel,
Auger,
Grover,
Dwight, and
T. W. Sherman, and the beleaguered garrison
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was under the command of
Gen. Frank K. Gardner.
Farragut, with his flag-ship (
Hartford) and one or two other vessels, was now above
Port Hudson, holding the river, while four other gunboats and some mortar-boats, under Commander C. H.
B. Caldwell, held it below.
On May 27
Banks opened his cannon on the works in connection with those on the
water, preparatory to a general assault.
The attack was made at 10 A. M. by a portion of the troops, but others did not come up in time to make the assault general.
A very severe battle was fought, the Nationals making desperate charges, from time to time, and gaining ground continually.
In this contest was the first fair trial of the mettle of negro troops.
The Confederates were driven to their fortifications, and, at sunset, they were all behind their works.
Close up to them the Nationals pressed, and they and their antagonists held opposite sides of the parapet.
This position the Nationals on the right continued to hold, but those on the left, exposed to a flank fire, withdrew to a belt of woods not far off. So ended the first general assault on
Port Hudson, in which the Nationals lost 1,842 men, of whom 293 were killed.
The Confederate loss did not exceed 300 in killed and wounded.
Banks, undismayed by this disastrous failure, continued the siege.
His great guns and those of
Farragut hurled destructive missiles upon the works daily, wearing out the garrison by excessive watching and fatigue.
Their provisions and medical stores were failing, and famine threatened the brave defenders of the post.
It was closely hemmed in, and so, also, was the besieging force of about 12,000 men by a hostile population and concentrating Confederate cavalry in its rear, while
Gen. Richard Taylor was gathering a new army in
Louisiana, west of the river.
A speedy reduction of the fort had become a necessity for
Banks, and on June 11 another attempt was made, and failed.
This was followed by an attempt to take the fort by storm on the 14th.
At that time the Nationals lay mostly in two lines, forming a right angle, with a right and left but no centre.
When a final disposition for assault was made,
General Gardner was entreated to surrender and
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stop the effusion of blood, but he refused, hoping, as did
Pemberton, at
Vicksburg, that
Johnston would come to his relief.
The grand assault began at dawn (June 14) by
Generals Grover,
Weitzel,
Auger, and
Dwight.
A desperate battle ensued, and the Nationals were repulsed at all points, losing about 700 men. Again the siege went on as usual.
The fortitude of the half-starved garrison, daily enduring the affliction of missiles from the land and water, was wonderful.
Gun after gun on the
Confederate works was disabled, until only fifteen remained on the land side; and only twenty rounds of ammunition for small-arms were left.
Famine was about to do what the
National arms could not effect—compel a surrender—when the garrison was startled (July 7) by the thunder of cannon along the whole line of their assailants, and shouts from the pickets, “
Vicksburg is taken!”
That night
Gardner sent a note to
Banks, asking if the report were true, and if so, requesting a cessation of hostilities.
The surrender of the post and all its men and property was completed on July 9, when 6,408 men, including 455 officers, were made prisoners of war. The little hamlet of
Port Hudson was in ruins.
The loss of
Banks during the siege of forty-five days was about 3,000 men, and that of
Gardner, exclusive of prisoners, about 800.
The spoils of victory were the important post, two steamers, fifty-one pieces of artillery, 5,000 small-arms, and a large amount of fixed ammunition.
Banks reported that his winnings in
Louisiana up to that time were the partial repossession of large areas of territory, 10,584 prisoners, seventy-three great guns, 6,000 smallarms, three gunboats, eight transports, and a large amount of cotton and cattle.
This conquest gave the final blow to the obstruction of the navigation of the
Mississippi River.
On July 16, 1863, the steamer
Imperial, from
St. Louis, arrived at New Orleans, the first communication of the kind between the two cities in two years. Then the waters of the
Mississippi, as
President Lincoln said, “went unvexed to the sea.”
