o New Orleans.

Above the boom of hulks and logs was a fleet of fifteen Confederate
vessels, including the ironclad ram _Manassas_, and a partly completed
floating battery armored with railroad iron, and known as the
_Louisiana_. It has been stated that the ironclads of those days were
only partly protected by armor.

The naval and military expedition which sailed for New Orleans in the
spring of 1862 consisted of six sloops of war, sixteen gunboats, five
other vessels, and twenty-one mortar-schooners, the last being under
charge of Captain David D. Porter, while Commodore David G. Farragut had
command of the fleet. The troops, mostly from New England, were
commanded by General B.F. Butler.

Farragut crossed the bar, April 8th, and spent several days in making
his preparations for bombarding Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The
bombardment began April 27th, 1,400 shells being thrown in one day.
Farragut then called his captains together and told them he had resolved
to run by the forts. The only question, therefore, was as to the best
means of doing it. It was decided to make the attempt at night. The
darkness, however, was of little benefit, since the enemy's huge
bonfires on both shores lit up the river as if it were noonday. Previous
to this, Lieutenant C.H.B. Caldwell, in the gunboat _Itasca_, had
ascended the river undiscovered in the darkness and opened a way through
the boom for the fleet.

Farragut arranged the fleet in two columns, his own firing upon Fort
Jackson, while the other poured its broadsides into Fort St. Philip. The
flagship _Hartford_ led the way under cover of Porter's mortar-boats and
the others followed. There was a furious fight between the fleets, but
every Confederate was either captured or destroyed.

Farragut steamed on to the city, silencing the batteries along the
banks, and, at noon, a messenger was sent ashore with a demand for the
surrender of the city. General Lovell was in command of 3,000 troops,
intended for the defense of New Orleans, but he fled. The mayor refusing
to haul down the secession flag, the Union troops took possession,
raised the Union banner over the mint, and placed the city in charge of
General Butler. The citizens were in such a savage mood that Commodore
Farragut had to bring them to their senses by a threat to bombard the
city.

General Butler ruled with great strictness, and virtually held New
Orleans under martial law. A Confederate won the applause of his