CSS ''Louisiana'' was a casemate ironclad of the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American ...

built to aid in defending the lower

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

from invasion by the Union

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. She took part in one major action of the war, the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and when that ended disastrously for the Confederacy, she was destroyed by her crew.

Construction

''Louisiana'' was laid down in mid-October 1861 by E.C. Murray in a new shipyard just north of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

abaft the other in a center well. The screws were not intended for propulsion, but were to aid the two rudders in steering in the confined waters and unpredictable currents of the Mississippi. The engines were taken from steamer ''Ingomar'', but two months were needed for their transfer. The

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...

extended her full length, less 25 feet at each end. It was covered by T-rail iron in two courses, while its top was encompassed by sheet iron bulwarks nearly four feet high. Construction was delayed by several circumstances. First was the lack of materials, particularly iron. Always in short supply in the Confederacy, its procurement was made even more difficult by the blockade and by Army demands on the overstrained railroads of the South. The blockade also negated efforts to bring in needed light oak from Florida, forcing the builders to find alternative sources. Labor troubles led to a strike that lost about a week. Even more time was lost to demands of the local militia, which called out the workers for drills, including parades. Competition for skilled workmen with the builders of , an ironclad being built in an adjacent shipyard by Nelson and Asa Tift, also slowed down construction, until Murray and the Tifts agreed to let ''Louisiana'' have first call on the labor force; ''Mississippi'' would go forward only when work on ''Louisiana'' was halted for some other reason. She was not ready to launch until 6 February 1862, nearly four months after the keel was laid.

In battle

Shortly after ''Louisiana'' was launched, the Federal West Gulf Blockading Squadron, under Flag Officer (later Admiral) David G. Farragut had moved into the lower Mississippi River, threatening the Confederate-held Forts Jackson and St. Philip, about 120 kilometers or 75 miles below

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

(later Admiral)

David Dixon Porter David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891) was a United States Navy admiral and a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the U.S. Navy. Promoted as the second U.S. Navy officer ever to attain the rank o ...

, had on 16 April 1862 taken position downstream, and on 18 April they began their bombardment. Brigadier General

Johnson K. Duncan Johnson Kelly Duncan (March 19, 1827 – December 18, 1862) was one of the few generals in the Confederate States Army (CSA) during the American Civil War who was born and raised in the North. An antebellum officer in the U.S. Army, Duncan command ...

, commanding the forts, and his immediate superior officer, Major General

Mansfield Lovell Mansfield Lovell (October 20, 1822 – June 1, 1884) was a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. As military commander of New Orleans when the city unexpectedly fell to the Union Navy in 1862, Lovell was fie ...

, importuned Commander

William C. Whittle William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

, in charge of Confederate naval forces in the vicinity, to bring the ship down to the forts, even though she was not yet complete, and for that reason was still in the hands of her builders. Whittle yielded to their pleas, and on 20 April commissioned the vessel in the CS Navy, with Commander Charles F. McIntosh commanding. At this time, the main engines of ''Louisiana'' had been installed, but those for the screws, needed for steering, had not. Furthermore, the main engines were found to be inadequate; even at dangerously high boiler pressure, she could barely make headway against the river current. Unable to move on her own, she had to be towed down to the forts, with workmen still aboard. There she was tied to the left bank (near, the north side of the river) a short distance above Fort St. Philip. This did not completely mollify General Duncan, who wanted the ship to be positioned below the forts, but Commander Whittle would not risk his vessel, with unarmored deck, against the plunging fire of the Union mortars. She remained at this position throughout the ensuing battle. In assessing the battle-readiness of the ship, the engines are not alone in deserving attention. Many of her gun carriages were found to be either too high or too low, and had to be modified. Because the workmen and their tools occupied much of the gun deck, the gun crews were unable to practice. In addition, the crew was incomplete, as a result of the hasty commissioning; to handle the guns, soldiers had to be transferred from the forts.ORN I, v. 18, pp. 290–293. After nearly a week of bombardment, Farragut concluded that it was ineffective, so he moved his fleet past the forts on the night of 24 April. Because of her position on the river bank, ''Louisiana'' could use neither her stern guns nor those on her port side. The magnitude of her contribution to the ensuing firefight between the forts and the Federal fleet is not known; General Duncan stated that she may have fired as few as twelve shots. On the other hand, testimony from her enemies indicates that she exchanged shots with at least one attacking ship, (misidentified as in the Confederate reports). Three shots from ''Louisiana'' went all the way through the Federal vessel, while the return broadside bounced harmlessly off the Rebel's armor. Indeed, the armor was effective; only three men were killed on ''Louisiana,'' all of them in exposed positions. One of them was her captain, Commander McIntosh.

Destruction

Once the Federal fleet had passed out of range, ''Louisiana'' had no further part in the action. Her fate was henceforth tied to that of the forts, which prepared for an expected attack by the Union army accompanying the fleet, led by Major General

Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...

. However, on the night of 28 April, the enlisted men in Fort Jackson mutinied and forced the surrender of both forts to Commander Porter. The naval officers on ''Louisiana'' were not consulted at any time during the negotiations between Porter and General Duncan, so they considered themselves not bound to respect the truce declared by the two sides. While discussions of terms were going on, they decided not to let their ship fall into enemy hands. ''Louisiana'' was set afire, and her crew went ashore. The flames soon parted the lines that held her to the bank, and she drifted down the river. When she was nearly abreast of Fort St. Philip, the fire reached her magazine, and she blew up with a blast that killed a soldier there.ORN I, v. 18, pp. 298–299.

Assessment

Perhaps to counter charges that the Confederate Navy was responsible, by its inaction, for the failure of the forts to turn back Farragut's fleet, Commander

John K. Mitchell John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, second in command under Commodore Whittle, pointed out several shortcomings of ''Louisiana,'' any one of which would have seriously compromised her fighting ability. :1. The arrangement of the paddlewheels meant that the after wheel was always in the wash of the other, with the result that its power was wasted. :2. The wash also created an eddy at the rudders, making it impossible to steer. :3. The gun ports were too small to allow either elevation or traverse. Consequently, she would have to fight at close range, and furthermore her guns covered only 40 degrees of azimuth. :4. The gun deck was uninhabitable in summer, particularly when the boilers were in use.

Today

The wreckage of the ''Louisiana'' lays at the bottom of the Mississippi River. In November 1981, it was magnetically located by NUMA. The official website of the search i
here

Notes

Abbreviations used in these notes: *ORN I (Official records, navies, series I): ''Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.''

References

* * * ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion,'' Series I, 27 vols.; Series II, 3 vols. Government Printing Office, 1894 - 192

* Scharf, J. Thomas, ''History of the Confederate States Navy from its organization to the surrender of its last vessel, etc..'' Rogers and Sherwood, 1887; reprint, Random House, 1996. . * * *

External links

Hunt For the Lost Confederate Fleet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louisiana 1862 ships Ironclad warships of the Confederate States Navy Louisiana in the American Civil War Louisiana-related ships Naval magazine explosions Maritime incidents in April 1862 Ships built in New Orleans Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River Shipwrecks of the American Civil War