Farragut Seizes New Orleans: Union Controls the Mississippi
Admiral David Farragut's fleet of 24 Union vessels ran past two Confederate forts on the lower Mississippi under heavy fire on the night of April 24, 1862, arriving at New Orleans on April 25. The city, the Confederacy's largest with 170,000 inhabitants and its most important port, surrendered without a land battle on April 29. General Benjamin Butler occupied the city with 15,000 troops and imposed harsh martial law that earned him the nickname "Beast Butler." Women who insulted Union soldiers were ordered treated as prostitutes. The capture of New Orleans severed the Confederacy's connection to international trade through the Gulf of Mexico. Combined with Grant's campaign at Vicksburg, Union control of the Mississippi would eventually split the Confederacy in two.
April 29, 1862
164 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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