FARRAGUTS
FLAG-S
THE OPENING OF THE LOWER
BY DAVID
D.
PORTER, ADMIRAL.
U.
MISSISSIPPI,
S.
N.
most important event of the War of the Rebellion, with the exception
THE
of the
of Richmond,
the
was
capture of New Orleans and the forts
guarding the approach to that city. To appreciate
the nature of this victory, it is necessary to have been an actor in it, and to
be able to comprehend not only the immediate results to the Union cause,
but the whole bearing of the fall of New Orleans on the Civil War, which at
that time had attained its most formidable proportions.
Previous to fitting out the expedition against. New Orleans, there were
eleven Southern States in open rebellion against the Government of the
United States, or, as it was termed by the Southern people, in a state of
secession.
Their harbors were all more or less closed against our ships-ofwar, either by the heavy forts built originally by the General Goverimient for
their protection, or by torpedoes and sunken vessels.
Through f om- of these
seceding States ran the great river Mississippi, and both of its banks, from
Memphis to its mouth, were lined with powerful batteries. On the west side
of the river were three important States, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas,
the White, the Arkansas, and
with their great tributaries to the Mississippi,
the Red,
which were in a great measure secure from the attacks of the
Union forces. These States could not only raise half a million soldiers, but
could furnish the Confederacy with provisions of all kinds, and cotton enough
to supply the Rebel Government with tlie sinews of war. New Orleans was
tlie largest Southern city, and contained all the resources of modern warfare,
having great workshops where machinery of the most powerful kind could bej
l)uilt, and having artisans capal)le of building ships in wood or iron, casting
heavy guns, or making small arms. The people of the city were in no wayf
fall
Jackson and
St. Philip,
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