The Fall Of New Orleans
In late April, 1862 the Confederate City of New Orleans fell to a large Union flotilla moving up the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico under the command of David Farragut, a native of New Orleans. New Orleans was the Confederacy's largest city and the largest exporting port in the United States. The loss of New Orleans early in the Civil War was a blow from which the South never recovered. It was indeed, as the title to this new book (2021) on the fall of New Orleans states, "A Mortal Blow to the Confederacy."
Historian Mark Bielski wrote this outstanding and eloquent study for the Emerging Civil War Series. Bielski received his PhD in history at the University of Birmingham, England. He resides in New Orleans where is the director of a company offering historical tours of the area. This is Bielski's second book on the Civil War, following an unusual study of nine Polish immigrants who fought in the conflict, "Sons of the White Eagle in the Civil War: Divided Poles in a Divided Nation."
Bielski's study of the fall of New Orleans is particularly welcome because it has not been written about as extensively as other critical events of the Civil War. His study is lucidly and dramatically written and will appeal both to readers with varying levels of background and interest. The study sets the stage well with a discussion of Union and Confederate naval capabilities at the outset of the War and of the importance of New Orleans and its shipping and resources to the South. Bielski writes: "The Confederacy's largest and greatest city, the South's dynamic commercial center, the key to the Mississippi River, and control of the Gulf of Mexico fell with what most military analysts would characterize as 'minimal resistance'". His book explores how and why this happened.
Bielski discusses the Confederacy's lack of resources but his focus in understanding the fall of New Orleans is on the Confederacy's divided command structure, the squabbling and in-fighting among its leadership, and on the leadership in Richmond, which badly underestimated the threat posed from the Gulf. The Confederate leadership was more concerned about an attack from the north of the Mississippi River and sent away men and ships to meet this threat. One immediate consequence was the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862. The fall of New Orleans later in the month was the primary consequence of the failure to take seriously enough the threat from the Gulf.
Bielski examines well and fairly the military activities leading to the fall of New Orleans with emphasis on the Confederacy's decision to abandon a small island, Ship Island, which would serve as the launching site for Farragut's fleet and on the fighting at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Phillip, 70 miles below New Orleans. When Farragut's fleet passed the forts with minimal losses, the fall of New Orleans was assured.
The book discusses the many leaders on both sides, including Farragut, Porter, and Butler for the Union and Jefferson Davis, Beauregard, and Lovell for the Confederacy. But, as Professor Gerald Prokopowicz writes in his Foreword, the City of New Orleans is "itself the main character of this book." Bielski writes with unmistakable love and understanding for his adopted city. He brings New Orleans and its people and places to life, both before the Civil War, during the occupation, and thereafter. His text is enhanced with many photographs of the city, including places that are now iconic and landmarks and places little known and off the beaten path. The book offers a brief overview of New Orleans' history together with a discussion of Jefferson Davis' connection with the city. This storied American city comes alive in what might otherwise be an excellent but conventional work of military history.
I have only visited New Orleans once, for a day or two, and felt in this book an author in love with his subject. The book made me want to see the city again in addition to teaching me a good deal about the 1862 fall of the city. Readers with an interest in New Orleans or in Civil War history will enjoy this book. Savas Beatie the publisher, kindly sent me a review copy.
Robin Friedman