124-670: Arkansas The Red River campaign , also known as the Red River expedition , was a major Union offensive campaign in the Trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War , the campaign taking place from March 10 to May 22, 1864. It was launched through the densely forested gulf coastal plain region between the Red River Valley and central Arkansas towards the end of the war. The offensive
248-445: A pontoon bridge . Smith's Confederates arrived at Jenkins' Ferry on April 30 and repeatedly attacked the retreating Federals in windy and rainy conditions. Steele repulsed the attacks and finally crossed with what was left of his force, destroying the bridge to prevent Smith from following. He was compelled to abandon most of his remaining supply wagons in the swamp north of the river. A badly chagrined Steele finally reached his base at
372-568: A 1,200-man foraging party to gather corn that the Confederates had stored about twenty miles away. After loading the corn into over 200 wagons and proceeding about 5 miles on April 18, Col. James M. Williams 's party was savagely attacked by Marmaduke's and Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Maxey 's Confederates at the Poison Spring . Williams was forced to retreat northward into a marsh, where his men finally regrouped and fell back to Camden, minus
496-615: A cost, however. Resources might have been used more effectively against Porter and Banks while the Union fleet was delayed due to low water on the Red River. Instead, Porter's fleet was able to escape nearly intact. Nine nationally significant historic places in Clark , Cleveland , Grant , Hempstead , Nevada , Ouachita , and Pulaski counties, where events of the Union army's disastrous Camden Expedition occurred, are individually listed on
620-575: A fight. Secretary of State William H. Seward , Captain Montgomery C. Meigs of the US Army, and Porter devised a plan for the relief of Fort Pickens. The principal element of their plan required use of the steam frigate USS Powhatan , which would be commanded by Porter and would carry reinforcements to the fort from New York. Because no one was above suspicion in those days, the plan had to be implemented in complete secrecy; not even Secretary of
744-587: A large, poorly trained, cavalry force would march north toward the middle river. Banks would allow cotton speculators to come along, and Porter was bringing barges to collect cotton as lucrative naval prizes. Senior staff officers of the Confederate States Army were confused as to whether the Red River region, Mobile Bay , or coastal Texas was the primary objective of the Union army spring 1864 campaign. General E. Kirby Smith, commanding general of
868-428: A man of similar temperament to his own, with whom he immediately formed a particularly strong friendship. The other was Major General McClernand, whom he just as quickly came to dislike. Later they would be joined by Major General Ulysses S. Grant ; Grant and Porter became friends and worked together quite well, but it was on a more strictly professional level than his relation with Sherman. Close cooperation between
992-409: A newly created regional department. The expedition was a Union failure, the outcome of which did not have a major impact on the war. Conversely, it may have extended the length of the war by several months, as it diverted Union efforts from the far more important objective of capturing Mobile, Alabama. That event did not occur until 1865, and could probably have been accomplished by June 1864 if not for
1116-582: A plan to attack it to Captain Tattnall. Taking eight oarsmen and the ship's gig, he sounded out a channel on the night of March 22–23, 1847, using the experience he had gained with the Coast Survey. The next morning, Spitfire and other vessels taking part in the bombardment followed the channel that Porter had laid out and took up positions inside the harbor, where they were able to pound the forts and castle. Doing so meant, however, that they had to run by
1240-545: A ridge overlooking Chatman's Bayou. The Confederates pushed forward, but Emory's division repulsed attempts to take this location. However, the Union forces did not have control of the precious water in the bayou. During the night, Banks decided to withdraw back to Pleasant Hill because of lack of water and the desire to unite with A. J. Smith's men. The Battle of Mansfield was over. The Federals suffered approximately 2,400 casualties, almost half of which were from Landram's division – two of his eight regiments were captured in
1364-442: A second assault on the fort. The second assault began on January 13, 1865, with unopposed landings and bombardment of the fort by the fleet. Porter imposed new methods of bombardment this time: each ship was assigned a specific target, with intent to destroy the enemy's guns rather than to knock down the walls. They were also to continue firing after the men ashore started their assault; the ships would shift their aim to points ahead of
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#17327728622731488-704: A ship then under construction. The offer would be effective when she was complete. He would have accepted, but he was delayed in his departure. Before he could leave, war had broken out again. The seceded states laid claim to the national forts within their boundaries, but they did not make good their claim to Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Forts Pickens, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson in Florida. They soon made it clear that they would use force if necessary to gain possession of Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. President Abraham Lincoln resolved not to cede them without
1612-491: A small guard force. Clayton divided his forces and sent part to establish a blocking position to the west near Marks Mill. One hundred picked men under Lieutenants Greathouse and Young were then dispatched to destroy the Confederate pontoon bridge at Longview. On March 29, the lieutenants surprised and captured approximately 250 soldiers belonging to Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Dockery 's brigade at Longview. Confederate forces in
1736-488: A successful mission to capture much of Taylor's cavalry and his outpost upriver from Alexandria at the Battle of Henderson's Hill on March 21. Nearly 250 Confederates and a four-gun artillery battery were captured without a shot being fired. When he arrived at Alexandria, Banks found an important message waiting for him. Two weeks earlier, on March 12, 1864, Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant had been named General-in-Chief of
1860-471: A weakness he was to display many times: he belittled a superior officer [Charles H. Poor]. He often heaped undue praise upon a subordinate, but rarely could find much to admire in a superior." The Army was showing renewed interest in opening the Mississippi River at just this time, and Porter met two men who would have great influence on the campaign. First was Major General William T. Sherman ,
1984-425: A week later. Constant cavalry and naval skirmishing had been going on since March 21. On April 2, Brigadier-General Albert L. Lee 's division of Union cavalry collided with 1,500 arriving Confederate Texas cavalrymen. These Confederates would continue to resist any Union advance. Union intelligence, meanwhile, had determined that there were additional forces besides Taylor and the cavalry up the road from them. All of
2108-474: Is almost too new in history to make a great impression, but the time will come when it will loom up as one of the greatest of man's achievements, and the name of Abraham Lincoln — who of his own will struck the shackles from the limbs of four millions of people — will be honored thousands of years from now as man's name was never honored before. [...] The scene was so touching I hated to disturb it, yet we could not stay there all day; we had to move on; so I requested
2232-708: The 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment , the only regiment from the Keystone State to fight in this campaign, on a route up the Bayou Teche (in Louisiana, the term bayou is used to refer to a slow moving river or stream ), where they would be met by 15,000 troops sent down from Major-General William T. Sherman 's forces in Vicksburg, Mississippi , and under the command of Brigadier-General Andrew J. Smith . Smith's forces were available to Banks only until
2356-475: The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry and Steele retreating to Little Rock. Smith left Taylor with one infantry division and the cavalry with which to continue to harass Banks. Learning that some of Taylor's 5,000 men had gotten south of him and that the fleet had left for Alexandria, Banks ordered a retreat from Grand Ecore. At the Battle of Monett's Ferry on April 23, some of Banks' forces crossed the Cane River on
2480-504: The Battle of Pleasant Hill suffered roughly equal casualties of 1,600. It was a tactical victory for the Federals, but a strategic Confederate one because the Union army retreated following the battle. More than 2,000 Union soldiers were captured during the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, many of whom were marched to Camp Ford near Tyler, Texas, where they were held until their release during subsequent prisoner exchanges between
2604-572: The Little Missouri as it moved toward Washington. As a supporting effort, to help fix Confederate forces at Monticello, Arkansas , prevent them from opposing Steele's march to Camden, Arkansas , Col. Powell Clayton conducted a raid on Longview, Arkansas, a port on the Saline , southwest of Monticello. Clayton's cavalry force crossed the Saline at Mount Elba, Arkansas, after sweeping aside
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#17327728622732728-532: The Little Rock Arsenal on March 23, 1864, with the objective of joining forces with Maj. Gen. Banks at Shreveport . Confederate forces in Arkansas were directed from Washington , where the Confederate government of the state relocated after the fall of Little Rock . Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price ordered Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke to harry the Union column and to prevent it from crossing
2852-737: The Republic of Haiti in 1844, and the United States State Department needed to determine the new nation's social, political, and economic stability. The suitability of the Bay of Samana for U.S. Navy operations was also of interest. To find out, Secretary of State James Buchanan asked Porter to undertake a private investigation. He accepted the assignment, and on March 15, 1846, he left home. He arrived in Santo Domingo after some unexpected delays and spent two weeks mapping
2976-400: The U.S. National Register of Historic Places . They were collectively designated a national historic landmark on April 19, 1994. 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
3100-543: The War of 1812 . David Porter was named to the rank of commodore. The younger David was one of 10 children, including six boys. His youngest brother Thomas died of yellow fever at the age of ten, contracted when traveling with his father for the Mexican Navy. The surviving five sons all became officers, four in the U.S. Navy: His uncle John Porter and his wife did not have as many children, but their son Fitz John Porter
3224-585: The garrison for that city after its capture. This plan was ready to be set in action in early March 1864, after somewhat belated communication initiated by Banks to inform Sherman and Porter of their roles in Halleck's strategy. Banks sent Sherman, Halleck, and Porter a report prepared by Major David Houston clearly showing the near impossibility of maintaining an occupation in Shreveport and east Texas without major resources. Most of Banks' men, accompanied by
3348-523: The Armies of the United States, replacing Halleck. In Grant's message, he told Banks it was "important that Shreveport be taken as soon as possible," because A. J. Smith's command must be returned to Sherman by the middle of April, "even if it leads to the abandonment of the main object of your expedition." Kirby Smith had nearly 80,000 men to call upon, but was undecided where to move them to counter
3472-528: The Armies of the United States. A diversion from Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant 's plan to surround the main Confederate armies by using Banks' Army of the Gulf to capture Mobile , it was characterized by poor planning and mismanagement, and led to bitter enmity between Major-General Richard Taylor and his immediate superior, Kirby Smith, after Smith ordered Taylor to send half of his army to north to Arkansas , rather than south in pursuit of Banks, following
3596-552: The Army and Navy was vital to the success of the siege of Vicksburg. The most prominent contribution to the campaign was the passage of the batteries at Vicksburg and Grand Gulf by a major part of the Mississippi River Squadron. Grant had asked merely for a few gunboats to shield his troops, but Porter persuaded him to use more than half of his fleet. After nightfall on April 16, 1863, the fleet moved downstream past
3720-597: The Confederate capital of Richmond was captured by U.S. forces, Porter toured the city on foot, accompanying U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with several armed bodyguards. He fondly recalled the events in his 1885 book, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War , where he described witnessing scores of many freed slaves rushing to get a glimpse of Lincoln. They admired the president as a hero and credited him for their emancipation; they were kissing his clothing and singing odes to him: Twenty years have passed since that event; it
3844-708: The Confederate flank and forced a division of Confederate cavalry under Brigadier-General Hamilton P. Bee to flee. The rest of the march to Alexandria was unremarkable, but Porter ran into a delaying ambush at the mouth of Cane River after he tarried to blow up the stuck USS Eastport . At Alexandria, relations between Banks and many of the others deteriorated further. Each side sent exaggerated accounts to friendly newspapers and supporters. Major-General John A. McClernand arrived with reinforcements from Texas, and he had also previously had poor relations with A. J. Smith and Porter. Smith obeyed only those orders he wanted to obey. Porter could not get many of his ironclads over
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3968-528: The Little Rock Arsenal on May 3. The Camden Expedition was perhaps the greatest Federal military disaster in Arkansas throughout the war. Union forces suffered over 2,500 casualties, lost hundreds of wagons and failed to take Shreveport or Texas. Confederate forces freely roamed rural Arkansas, while the Federals stayed in their fortifications at Fort Smith , Pine Bluff, Helena , and Little Rock. Confederate success in Arkansas did not come without
4092-502: The Mississippi, an engagement at Mansura on May 16 was fought with almost no casualties. Yellow Bayou , the final conflict of the campaign, took place on May 18 with significant casualties in a burning forest. Transport ships were lashed together to allow Union forces to cross the wide Atchafalaya River . General Banks, on arrival near the Mississippi, was met by Brigadier-General Edward Canby , who had been named Bankss superior in
4216-499: The Navy Gideon Welles was to be advised. Welles was in the meantime preparing an expedition for the relief of the garrison at Fort Sumter. As he was unaware that Powhatan would not be available, he included it in his plans. When the other vessels assigned to the effort showed up, the South Carolina troops at Charleston began to bombard Fort Sumter, and the Civil War was on. The relief expedition could only wait outside
4340-589: The Navy Department began to develop plans to open the Mississippi River. The first move would be to capture New Orleans . For this Porter, by this time advanced to rank of commander, was given the responsibility of organizing a flotilla of some twenty mortar boats that would participate in the reduction of the forts defending the city from the south. The flotilla was a semi-autonomous part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron , which
4464-455: The Navy's control of the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. When it finally fell on July 4 (1863), Grant was unstinting in his praise of the assistance he had received from Porter and his men. For his contribution to the victory, Porter's appointment as "acting" rear admiral was made permanent, dated from July 4. After the opening of the Mississippi, the political general Nathaniel P. Banks , who
4588-451: The Navy. Borie had no knowledge of the navy and little desire to learn, so he leaned on Porter for advice that the latter was quite willing to give. In a short time, Borie came to defer to him even on routine matters. Porter used his influence with the secretary to push through several policies to shape the navy as he wanted it; in the process, he made a new set of enemies who either were harmed by his actions or resented his blunt methods. Borie
4712-547: The Red River campaign. The failure of the expedition effectively ended the military career of Banks, and controversy surrounding his retreat, the presence of cotton speculators and the use of military boats to remove cotton dogged his early postbellum congressional campaigns. Admiral Porter realized a substantial sum of money during the expedition from the sale of cotton as prizes of war. The Confederates lost two key commanders, Mouton and Green, and suffered casualties they could not afford. Perhaps more importantly, relations between
4836-488: The Red River on March 14, capturing 317 Confederate prisoners and the only heavy guns available to the Confederates. This signaled the beginning of the expedition. Admiral Porter was then able to remove a giant raft blocking the river without much difficulty. Taylor was forced to retreat, abandoning Alexandria , and ceding south and central Louisiana to the Union forces. A. J. Smith's force arrived at Alexandria on March 20, 1864, intending to rendezvous with Banks' forces, under
4960-683: The Trans-Mississippi Department, nevertheless started moving many of his troops to the Shreveport area. The Union order of battle at the start of the campaign was as follows: The Confederate order of battle at the start of the campaign was as follows: Major-General William B. Franklin , commanding the advance divisions of Banks' Army of the Gulf , began his march from southern Louisiana on March 10. Meanwhile, A. J. Smith and his two corps detachments traveled via boat from Vicksburg down to Simmesport . After an all-night march, Smith's men surprised and captured Fort DeRussy on
5084-508: The U.S. Navy through his grandfather, US Congressman William Anderson . The appointment was dated February 2, 1829, when he was sixteen years of age; this was somewhat older than many midshipmen, some of whom had been taken in as boys. Due to his relative maturity and experience, greater than that of most naval lieutenants, Porter tended to be cocky and challenge some of his superiors, leading to conflict. Except for intervention by Commodore James Biddle , who acted favorably because Porter's father
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5208-404: The Union and Confederate armies, or until their deaths there from disease or malnutrition. On the river, the Confederates had diverted water into a tributary, causing the already low Red River level to fall further. When Admiral Porter, slowly heading upriver, learned that Banks was retreating, he followed suit. There was a brief engagement near Blair's Landing on April 12, in which General Green
5332-399: The Union army was in disarray and would not attack. Around 4 p.m., Taylor ordered the attack to begin. Mouton led his infantry across an 800-yard wide field and attacked the Union right, formed behind a rail fence. While Mouton's assault was repulsed by Landram's infantry, Taylor advanced the rest of his entire line, including Walker's division, against the Union left. Walker's men brushed aside
5456-419: The Union cavalry obstructed the road, resulting in the loss of artillery which could not be extracted in the retreat. However, Confederate soldiers halted to loot some of the Union wagons, giving Banks' troops needed time to fall back. As Confederate command and control was reestablished for the pursuit, the men ran into a third Union force, under Brigadier-General William H. Emory , about 5,800 men sitting atop
5580-400: The Union flank, but it was actually the center. Confederate cavalry also miscalculated positions and suffered heavily from flank fire. Churchill's men did succeed in collapsing this Union center position, but this also brought his men into the middle of a U-shaped position, with A. J. Smith's unused divisions forming the base of the "U". Though part of the advanced Union right had also collapsed,
5704-472: The Union forces as they were trying to cross the river. The Federals were able to fend off both of these attacks and then cross the river. The outnumbered Confederates were forced to withdraw, and Maj. Gen. Price established a defensive position, lightly fortified by earthworks, on the road between Elkin's Ferry and Washington at the western edge of the sparsely-populated Prairie d'Ane, a roughly circular area of prairie surrounded by woodlands. After waiting for
5828-417: The advancing troops. The bombardment continued for two more days, while Terry got his men into position. On the 15th, frontal assaults on opposite faces by Terry's soldiers on the land side and 2000 sailors and marines on the beach vanquished the fort. This was the last significant naval operation of the war. By April 1865, the Civil War drawing to a close, U.S. victory in the war was all but guaranteed. After
5952-473: The aggressive Taylor and cautious Smith were permanently damaged by their disagreement over Smith's decision to remove half of Taylor's troops following the Battle of Pleasant Hill. The lost opportunity to capture the entire Union fleet as it lay helpless above the falls at Alexandria haunted Taylor to his dying day; he was certain that Smith had robbed him a chance to cripple the Union forces. The arguments between
6076-404: The area were now alerted to the presence of Clayton's raiders in the area and attempted to cut off Clayton's command by attacking their bridgehead at Mount Elba on March 30, 1864. Clayton was successful in re-crossing the Saline, defeating Confederate forces at the Battle of Mount Elba and returned to Pine Bluff, Arkansas , with over 260 prisoners. The first Union actions of the Union expedition
6200-447: The arrival of reinforcements, Maj. Gen. Steele advanced on April 9, but was stopped at Prairie D'Ane , a series of encounters that ended on April 12. Price's Confederates returned to Prairie D'Ane on April 13, falling upon Steele's rearguard under Thayer. After a four-hour battle, Price disengaged, and Steele's column continued to Camden. Steele made a feint toward Washington, but then withdrew to Camden, in order to resupply his army, which
6324-520: The batteries. Only one vessel was lost in the ensuing firefight. Six nights later, a similar run past the batteries gave Grant the transports he needed for crossing the river. Now south of Vicksburg, Grant at first tried to attack the Rebels through Grand Gulf, and requested Porter to eliminate the batteries there before his troops would be sent across. On April 29, the gunboats spent most of the day bombarding two Confederate forts. They succeeded in silencing
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#17327728622736448-432: The battle, and both of his brigade commanders were wounded and captured. The Confederates suffered about 1,000 casualties, including Mouton, who was killed leading his men in the opening charge. Taylor did not learn of Banks' retreat until dawn the next day; he then ordered an immediate pursuit with Brigadier-General Thomas Green 's cavalry. When they came upon Banks' line of battle near the town of Pleasant Hill, Taylor had
6572-519: The battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill . The Union had four goals at the start of the campaign: Union strategists in Washington thought that the occupation of east Texas and control of the Red River would separate Texas from the rest of the Confederacy . Texas was the source of much needed guns, food, and supplies for Confederate troops. Other historians have claimed that the campaign
6696-462: The bluffs were too high to be reached by the guns of his fleet, so he ordered Porter to bring his mortar flotilla up. The mortars suppressed the Rebel artillery well enough that Farragut's ships could pass the batteries at Vicksburg and link up with a Union flotilla coming down from the north. The city could not be taken, however, without active participation by the army, which did not happen. On July 8,
6820-517: The bombardment ceased when Porter was ordered to Hampton Roads to assist in Major General George B. McClellan 's Peninsula Campaign . A few days later, Farragut followed, and the first attempt to take Vicksburg was over. In the summer of 1862, shortly after Porter left Vicksburg, the U.S. Navy was extensively modified; among the features of the revised organization were a set of officer ranks from ensign to rear admiral that paralleled
6944-418: The cavalry retreat a mile and wait for the infantry to arrive, which started arriving shortly after noon. Since the infantry had marched forty five miles in thirty-six hours, Taylor let them rest for two hours before ordering an attack. At 4 p.m. the next day, Confederate Brigadier-General Thomas J. Churchill 's arriving infantry started the attack on the Union forces. Churchill thought he was sending them into
7068-517: The coastline. On May 19, he began a trek through the interior that left him without communication for a month. On June 19, he emerged from the jungle, bitten by insects, but with the information that the State Department wanted. He then discovered that while he was away the United States had gone to war with Mexico. Mexico did not have a real navy, so naval personnel had little opportunity for distinction. Porter served as first lieutenant of
7192-548: The cooperation of the army, and the troops were taken from the Army of the James. It was expected that Brigadier General Godfrey Weitzel would command, but Major General Benjamin F. Butler , the commander of the Army of the James , exercised one of the prerogatives of his position to take over as leader of the expedition. Butler proposed that the fort could be flattened by exploding a ship filled with gunpowder near it, and Porter accepted
7316-404: The cotton, many speculators at Alexandria were disappointed. Taylor attempted to fool the Union command into believing many more men were present, but he did not try to stop the dam construction. He did shut down the lower river by attacking boats. Yet though General Taylor had promised to prevent the escape of the Federals, he could not do so. He blamed Kirby Smith for lack of support. En route to
7440-463: The decision to bypass the forts on the night of April 24. The fleet successfully ran past the forts; the mortars were left behind, but they bombarded the forts during the passage in order to distract the enemy gunners. Once the fleet was above the forts, nothing significant stood between them and New Orleans; Farragut demanded the surrender of the city, and it fell to his fleet on April 29. The forts were still between him and Porter's mortar fleet, but when
7564-450: The direction of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton , had developed a very strategic goal to reassert Union control over Arkansas, Louisiana , and Texas . This was part of a much larger effort to move simultaneously against Confederate forces in a number of theaters. Separate Union columns were to destroy the remaining Confederate troops in south Arkansas and northern Louisiana, then join for an all-out push into Texas, essentially ending
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#17327728622737688-582: The end of April, when they would be sent back east where they were needed for other Union military actions. Banks would command this combined force of 35,000, which would be supported in its march up the Red River towards Shreveport by Rear-Admiral David Dixon Porter 's fleet of gunboats . At the same time, 7,000 Union troops from the Department of Arkansas under the command of Major-General Frederick Steele would be sent south from Arkansas to rendezvous with Banks in his attack on Shreveport, and to serve as
7812-493: The examination for passed midshipman , and soon after was assigned to duty in the Coast Survey. There, his pay was such that he could save enough to marry. Porter and Georgy Patterson were married on March 10, 1839. Of their four sons, three had military careers, and their two surviving daughters married men who had military service or were active officers. In March 1841, Porter was promoted in rank to lieutenant, and in April of
7936-403: The falls at Alexandria, which was covered with mines because the river had failed to achieve its seasonal rise in water level. Porter had also spent time gathering cotton in the interior, and Banks had conducted an election in the interim. Taylor now stationed himself 25 miles northwest at Pleasant Hill, still with fewer than 20,000 men. Once Banks had assembled more supplies, he continued advancing
8060-414: The falls at Alexandria. Colonel Joseph Bailey designed Bailey's Dam , to which Banks soon gave night-and-day attention. Several boats got through before a partial dam collapse. An extra upriver dam provided additional water depth, allowing the march to resume. When the Federals left Alexandria, the town went up in flames, the origins of which are disputed. Because the Confederates had already burned most of
8184-662: The first man to attain the new rank of admiral , instituted by the U.S. Congress after the American Civil War. After a reprimand for an 1824 incident, Commodore David Porter decided to resign from the navy rather than submit. He accepted an offer from the government of Mexico to become their General of Marine – in effect, the commander of their navy. He took with him a nephew, David Henry Porter, and his sons, David Dixon and Thomas. The two boys were made midshipmen. Thomas died of yellow fever soon after arriving in Mexico; he
8308-414: The forces of Smith and Mower next launched a counterattack and, joined by neighboring regiments, they routed Taylor's men from the vicinity of Pleasant Hill. Some cannon were recaptured. Short of water and feed for the horses, not knowing where his supply boats were, and receiving divided opinions from his senior officers, Banks ordered a rapid retreat downriver to Natchitoches and Grand Ecore. Both sides at
8432-399: The forts, which was contrary to the orders of Commodore Matthew C. Perry . Perry sent signals ordering the vessels to break off the bombardment and return, but Tattnall ordered his men not to look at the commodore's signals. Not until a special messenger came with explicit orders to retire did Maffitt cease firing. Perry appreciated the audacity shown by his subordinates, but did not approve of
8556-498: The harbor. The expedition had little chance to be successful in any case; without the support of the guns on Powhatan , it was completely impotent. The only contribution made by the expedition was to carry the soldiers who had defended Fort Sumter back to the North following their surrender and parole. Lincoln did not punish Seward for his part in the incident, so Welles felt that he had no choice but to forgive Porter, whose culpability
8680-531: The head of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron , Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee , was inadequate for the task, so he at first assigned Rear Admiral Farragut to be Lee's replacement. Farragut was too ill to serve, however, so Welles decided to switch Lee with Porter: Lee would command the Mississippi River Squadron, and Porter would come east and prepare for the attack on Fort Fisher. The planned attack on Fort Fisher required
8804-621: The idea; if successful, the scheme would avoid a protracted siege or its alternative, a frontal assault. Accordingly, the old steamer USS Louisiana was packed with powder and blown up in the early morning of December 24, 1864. This had, however, no discernible effect on the fort. Butler brought part of his troops ashore, but he was already convinced that the effort was hopeless, so he removed his force before making an all-out assault. Porter, enraged by Butler's timorousness, went to U. S. Grant and demanded that Butler be removed. Grant agreed, and placed Major General Alfred H. Terry in charge of
8928-498: The immediate command of Franklin. However, Franklin did not arrive at Alexandria until March 25, 1864, and Banks himself, travelling separately from his troops, did not arrive at Alexandria until March 26, 1864. Banks' failure to arrive in a timely manner for his rendezvous with Smith was the first of many logistical miscues that caused much acrimony between Banks and his subordinates during the expedition. While he waited for Banks to arrive, Smith sent Brigadier-General Joseph A. Mower on
9052-507: The joint assaults on Fort Fisher , the final significant naval action of the war. Porter worked to raise the standards of the U.S. Navy in the position of Superintendent of the Naval Academy when it was restored to Annapolis . He initiated reforms in the curriculum to increase professionalism. In the early days of President Grant's administration, Porter was de facto Secretary of the Navy. When his adoptive brother David G. Farragut
9176-555: The lack of monitoring of the position of the rear elements. Taylor kept moving back toward Shreveport. Heavy cavalry fighting, often dismounted, had continued on April 7 at Wilson's Farm and Tenmile Bayou. On April 8, Lee boldly charged a small force of Confederate cavalry at the Moss Plantation, three miles south of Mansfield, Louisiana , and pushed the Confederate horsemen off Honeycutt Hill. Taylor had stationed one infantry division (led by Brigadier-General Alfred Mouton ) in
9300-424: The latter again began to pummel Fort Jackson, its garrison mutinied and forced its surrender. Fort St. Philip had to follow suit. Surrender of the two forts was accepted by Commander Porter on April 28. Following orders from the Navy Department, Farragut took his fleet upstream to capture other strongpoints on the river, with the aim of complete possession of the Mississippi. At Vicksburg, Mississippi he found that
9424-440: The lone cavalry brigade, sweeping in behind the rest of the Union forces. Banks had called for additional reinforcements, but they were too late. The Union line collapsed and a significant number of men from Landram's division were captured. A few hundred yards down the road, the reinforcements – Cameron's division – set up a second line, but this line also broke when faced with Taylor's superior numbers. The wagon train of
9548-412: The lower of the two, but the upper fort remained. Grant called off the assault and moved downstream to Bruinsburg , where he was able to cross the river unopposed. Although the fleet made no major offensive contributions to the campaign after Grand Gulf, it remained important in its secondary role of keeping the blockade against the city. When Vicksburg was besieged, the encirclement was made complete by
9672-487: The men who could have replaced Davis were either less suitable or were unavailable because of other assignments, so finally Secretary Welles decided to appoint Porter to the position. He did this despite some doubt. As he wrote in his Diary , Thus Commander Porter became Acting Rear Admiral Porter without going through the intermediate ranks of captain and commodore. (He was one of only three US Navy admirals to have been promoted to rear admiral without having first served in
9796-439: The naval part of the war was essentially over. In Washington again following the war, Porter saw little chance for professional improvement and none for advancement. In order to gain experience in handling steamships, he took leave of absence from the Navy to command civilian ships. He insisted that his crews submit to the methods of military discipline; his employers were noncommittal about his methods, but they were impressed by
9920-419: The navy under Porter did little to cooperate, and instead often became rivals in a race to seize cotton. Confederate opposition under Major General Richard Taylor succeeded in keeping them apart by defeating Banks at the Battle of Mansfield , following which Banks gave up the expedition. From that time on, Porter's primary task was to extricate his fleet. The task was made difficult by falling water levels in
10044-457: The next objective of his fleet should be to capture Mobile, but he received direct orders from Washington to cooperate with Banks. After considerable delays caused by Banks's attention to political rather than military matters, the Red River expedition got under way in early March 1864. From the start, navigation of the river presented as great a problem for Porter and his fleet as did the Confederate army that opposed them. The army under Banks and
10168-621: The next year he was detached from the Coast Survey. He had a brief tour of duty in the Mediterranean, and then he was assigned to the U.S. Navy's Hydrographic Office. In 1846, the era of peace was coming to a close. The United States had annexed the Republic of Texas, and the islands of the Caribbean seemed to be likely targets for further expansion. The Republic of Santo Domingo (the present-day Dominican Republic ) had broken off from
10292-518: The patriarch to withdraw from about the President with his companions and let us pass on. A few weeks after his visit to Virginia, Lincoln was assassinated. Porter was greatly upset by the news, as he admired Lincoln greatly. Porter said Lincoln was the best man he ever knew and ever would know. He stated that he felt some responsibility for Lincoln's death, feeling that had he been with him that night, he might have prevented his murder. The U.S. Navy
10416-435: The qualities of abundant energy, recklessness, resourcefulness, and fighting spirit needed for the trying role ahead. Porter was assigned the task of aiding General John A. McClernand in opening the upper Mississippi. The choice of McClernand, a volunteer political general, pleased Porter because he felt that all West Point men were 'too self-sufficient, pedantic, and unpractical.'" Winters also writes that Porter "revealed
10540-475: The rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G. Farragut , Porter helped improve the Navy as the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy after significant service in the American Civil War . Porter began naval service as a midshipman at the age of 10 years under his father, Commodore David Porter , on the frigate USS John Adams . For the remainder of his life, he was associated with
10664-660: The rank of captain. The others being Richard E. Byrd and Ben Moreell .) He was assigned to command the Mississippi Squadron and left Washington for his new command on October 9, 1862, and arrived in Cairo, Illinois , on October 15. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton considered Porter "a gas bag ... blowing his own trumpet and stealing credit which belongs to others." Historian John D. Winters , in his The Civil War in Louisiana , describes Porter as having "possessed
10788-532: The ranks in the Army. Among the new ranks created were those of commodore and rear admiral. According to the organization charts, the persons in command of the blockading squadrons were to be rear admirals. Another part of the reorganization transferred the Western gunboat flotilla from the army to the navy, and retitled it the Mississippi River Squadron . The change of title implied that it
10912-480: The results. They asked him to stay in Australia, but his health and the health of his eldest daughter Georgianne persuaded him to return. Back in the United States, he moved his family from Washington to New York in the hope that the climate would benefit his daughter, but she died shortly after the move. His second daughter, Evalina ("Nina"), also died in the interwar period. Once again on active duty, he commanded
11036-554: The river, but he ultimately got most out, with the help of heroic efforts by some of the soldiers who stayed to protect the fleet. By late summer 1864, Wilmington, North Carolina , was the only Atlantic port open for running the Union blockade , and the Navy Department began to plan to close it. Its major defense was Fort Fisher , a massive structure at the New Inlet to the Cape Fear River. Secretary Welles believed that
11160-402: The road in the middle of the day. The arrival of Walker's division gave Taylor a numerical edge – he had about 9,000 men; Banks had about 5,000 men. More significantly, the Union deployment was aligned to its right, facing Mouton, with only a cavalry brigade holding the left wing. Taylor had hoped to provoke Banks into attacking him, but following an artillery duel, he became convinced that
11284-527: The sea. Porter served in the Mexican War in the attack on the fort at the City of Vera Cruz. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was part of a plan to hold Fort Pickens , near Pensacola, Florida, for the Union; its execution disrupted the effort to relieve the garrison at Fort Sumter , leading to Sumter's fall. Porter commanded an independent flotilla of mortar boats at the capture of New Orleans . Later, he
11408-402: The senior Union officers expressed doubts that there would be any serious Confederate opposition, except for the naval flotilla. Banks' army followed Taylor and the cavalry into a dense pine forest area away from the river, probably to keep them in their front. Approaching Pleasant Hill , the Union army was excessively strung out due both to the existence of only a few camping areas with water and
11532-444: The sidewheel gunboat USS Spitfire under Commander Josiah Tattnall III . Spitfire was at Vera Cruz when General Winfield Scott led the amphibious assault on the city, which was shielded by a series of forts and the ancient Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. Porter had spent many hours exploring the castle when he had been a midshipman in the Mexican Navy, so he was familiar with both its strengths and its weaknesses. He submitted
11656-532: The small Mexican Navy. Off the coast of Cuba on February 10, 1828, she encountered a flotilla of about fifty schooners, convoyed by Spanish brigs Marte and Amalia. Captain Porter elected to attack, and soon forced the flotilla to seek refuge in the harbor at Mariel , 30 miles (48 km) west of Havana. The Spanish 64-gun frigate Lealtad put to sea. Guerrero was able to break off the action and escape, but overnight Captain Porter decided to circle back and attack
11780-535: The storeship USS Supply in a venture to bring camels to the United States. The project was promoted by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis , who thought that the desert animals could be useful for the cavalry in the arid Southwest. Supply made two successful trips before Secretary Davis left office and the experiment was discontinued. In 1859, he received an attractive offer from the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to be captain of
11904-400: The three Union forces now known to be moving toward Shreveport. Taylor would never fight with more than 18,500 men throughout the entire campaign. By March 31, Banks' men had reached Natchitoches , only 65 miles south of Shreveport. Franklin's men had been delayed most of a week by rain, but it had not mattered because Admiral Porter had a similar delay trying to get his heaviest gunboats over
12028-722: The two generals resulted in Taylor's transfer to command of the Department of East Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama soon after the campaign ended. Camden Expedition Arkansas The Camden Expedition (March 23 – May 3, 1864) was the final campaign conducted by the Union Army in south Arkansas during the Civil War . The offensive was designed to cooperate with Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks ' movement against Shreveport . The U.S. War Department , under
12152-535: The vessels at Mariel. Intercepted by Lealtad , he could not escape. In the battle, Captain Porter was killed, together with many of his crew; the young midshipman Porter was slightly wounded. He was among the survivors who surrendered and were imprisoned in Havana until they could be exchanged. Commodore Porter chose not to risk his son again, and sent him back to the United States by way of New Orleans. David Dixon Porter obtained an official appointment as midshipman in
12276-509: The wagonloads of much needed corn. Steele was relieved on April 20 when a wagon train arrived from Pine Bluff with welcome supplies. One week later, the Battle of Marks' Mills resulted in the capture of 2,000 more of Steele's men and many more wagons. Steele decided to abandon Camden under the cover of darkness and retreated to Little Rock on April 26. Three days later, he reached the Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry and began constructing
12400-467: The war in that region. The Arkansas phase of this Red River Campaign was entitled the Camden Expedition, an effort endorsed by Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant . The plan called for Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele 's force to march to Shreveport, Louisiana , where it would link up with an amphibious expedition led by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks and Rear Admiral David D. Porter , whose force
12524-404: The way they had disregarded his orders. Henceforth, he kept Spitfire by his side. On June 13, 1847, Perry mounted an expedition to capture the interior town of Tabasco . Porter on his own led a charge of 68 sailors to capture the fort defending the city. Perry rewarded him for his initiative by making him captain of Spitfire. It was his first command. It brought him no advantages, however, as
12648-406: The woods along the edge of the clearing just north of Honeycutt Hill and east of the road. Seeing this increase in enemy strength, Lee requested infantry support. Landram's 2,400-man division of the 13th Corps was sent to Lee's aid and deployed to face Mouton. Banks went to the front to see for himself. Meanwhile, Taylor brought up a second infantry division (Walker's) to the woods on the other side of
12772-464: Was 10. David Dixon, age 12, was not affected by the disease. He was able to serve on the frigate Libertad , where he saw little action, and on the captured merchantman Esmeralda for a raid on Spanish shipping in Cuban waters. In 1828, David Dixon accompanied his cousin, David Henry Porter , captain of the brig Guerrero , in another raid. Guerrero , mounting 22 guns, was one of the finest vessels in
12896-461: Was a Union military operation , fought between approximately 30,000 federal troops under the command of Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks , and Confederate forces under General E. Kirby Smith , whose strength varied from 6,000 to 15,000. The Battle of Mansfield was a major part of the Union offensive campaign, which ended in defeat for General Banks. The expedition was primarily the plan of Major General Henry W. Halleck , former General-in-Chief of
13020-652: Was a complete success, but the rest of the expedition would not go as planned. Steele's route was through a thinly populated wilderness with little provisions. He hoped to occupy Camden, a port city on the Ouachita to re-supply. As all the bridges on the Little Missouri were impassable, the Union troops had to ford the muddy river. Steele's men reached Elkin's Ferry before the Confederates, but on April 3, they were attacked by Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby 's cavalry. The following day, Marmaduke's cavalry also attacked
13144-424: Was a hero, his warrant as a midshipman would not have been renewed. Porter's last duty as a midshipman was on the frigate USS United States , flagship of Commodore Daniel Patterson , from June 1832 until October 1834. Patterson's family accompanied him, including his daughter, George Ann ("Georgy"). The two young people renewed their acquaintance and became engaged. After Porter returned home, he completed
13268-618: Was a major general in the US Army at the time of the Civil War. Another son, Bolton Porter, was lost with his ship USS Levant in 1861. His aunt Anne married their cousin Alexander Porter. Their son David Henry Porter became a captain in the Mexican Navy during its struggle for independence (see below). The naval tradition continued into later generations of the family's descendants. In addition to rearing their own children, his parents David and Evalina Porter adopted James Glasgow Farragut . The boy's mother died in 1808 when he
13392-718: Was advanced from rank of vice-admiral to admiral, Porter took his previous position; likewise, when Farragut died, Porter became the second man to hold the newly created rank of admiral. He gathered a corps of like-minded officers devoted to naval reform. Porter's administration of the Navy Department aroused powerful opposition by some in Congress, who forced the Secretary of the Navy Adolph E. Borie to resign. His replacement, George Robeson , curtailed Porter's power and eased him into semi-retirement in 1875. David Dixon Porter
13516-531: Was advanced to the rank of (acting) rear admiral in command of the Mississippi River Squadron, which cooperated with the army under Major General Ulysses S. Grant in the Vicksburg Campaign . After the fall of Vicksburg, he led the naval forces in the difficult Red River Campaign in Louisiana. Late in 1864, Porter was transferred from the interior to the Atlantic coast, where he led the U.S. Navy in
13640-881: Was also motivated by concern regarding the 25,000 French troops in Mexico sent by Napoleon III and under the command of Emperor Maximilian . At the time, the Confederates offered to recognize the government of Maximillian in return for French recognition of the Confederacy; the Confederates also hoped to gain access to valuable war goods through this recognition. However, Banks' campaign on the Texas coast during November and December 1863 had satisfied U.S. President Abraham Lincoln , who wrote to Banks, "My thanks for your successful and valuable operations in Texas." Halleck's plan, finalized in January 1864, called for Banks to take 20,000 troops up from New Orleans to Alexandria , including
13764-559: Was born in Chester, Pennsylvania , on June 8, 1813, to David Porter and Evalina (Anderson) Porter. The family had strong naval traditions; the elder Porter's father, also named David, had been captain of a Massachusetts vessel in the American Revolutionary War , as had his uncle Samuel. In the next generation, David Porter and his brother John entered the fledgling United States Navy and served with distinction during
13888-774: Was decapitated by a naval shell. At Grand Ecore near Natchitoches, Banks received confidential orders from Grant to move the army to New Orleans. The river also continued to fall, and all the supply boats had to return downriver. Sensing that they were involved in a perceived defeat, Banks' relations deteriorated with the cantankerous A. J. Smith and the Navy and with most of the other generals as well. General Kirby Smith decided to take three infantry divisions from Major-General Richard Taylor and lead them north into Arkansas to crush Steele's army, despite Taylor's strong protests they should be used against Banks. General Steele would never make it to Shreveport, due to supply difficulties and fights with Confederates. The Camden Expedition ended with
14012-473: Was enforced, and even social graces were taught. An honor system was installed, "to send honorable men from this institution into the Navy." To be sure that his reforms would remain in place after his departure, he brought to the faculty a group of like-minded men, mostly young officers who had distinguished themselves in the war. When Porter's friend Ulysses S. Grant became president in 1869, he appointed Philadelphia businessman Adolph E. Borie as Secretary of
14136-460: Was formally equivalent to the other squadrons, so its commanding officer would likewise be a rear admiral. The problem was that the commandant of the gunboat flotilla, Flag Officer Charles H. Davis , had not shown the initiative that the Navy Department wanted, so he had to be removed. He was made rear admiral, but he was recalled to Washington to serve as chief of the Bureau of Navigation . Most of
14260-462: Was in charge of army forces in Louisiana, brought pressure on the Lincoln administration to mount a campaign across Louisiana and into Texas along the line of the Red River. The ostensible purpose was to extend Union control into Texas, but Banks was influenced by numerous speculators to convert the campaign into little more than a raid to seize cotton. Admiral Porter was not in favor; he thought that
14384-482: Was intended to stop Confederate use of the Louisiana port of Shreveport , open an outlet for the sugar and cotton of northern Louisiana , and to split the Confederate lines, allowing the Union to encircle and destroy the Confederate military forces in Louisiana and southern Arkansas . It marked the last major offensive attempted by the Union in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. The expedition
14508-514: Was less. Later, he reasoned that it had at least a redeeming feature in that Porter, whose loyalty had been suspect, was henceforth firmly attached to the Union. As he wrote, In detaching the Powhatan from the Sumter expedition and giving the command to Porter, Mr. Seward extricated that officer from Secession influences, and committed him at once, and decisively, to the Union cause. In late 1861,
14632-493: Was neglected and underfunded by Congress, with a reputation for producing cadets who were poorly educated on their duties, prone to misbehavior, and lacking the professionalism expected in the Navy. Porter resolved to change that; he determined to make the academy the rival of the Military Academy at West Point. The curriculum was revised to reflect the reality of naval life, organized sports were encouraged, discipline
14756-538: Was rapidly downsized at the end of the war, and Porter, like most of his contemporaries, had fewer ships to command and no clear purpose. Some feared that at sea he might provoke a foreign war, particularly with Great Britain, because of what he saw as their support for the Confederacy. To make use of his undeniable talents, Secretary Welles appointed him Superintendent of the Naval Academy in 1865. The academy, despite having been established to train naval personnel,
14880-497: Was seven, and his father George Farragut , a U.S. naval officer in the American Revolution and friend of David Porter Sr., was unable to care for all his children. Commodore David Porter offered to adopt James, to which the boy and George agreed. In 1811, James started serving a midshipman under Porter in the U.S. Navy, and changed his first name to David. He had a distinguished career as David G. Farragut , serving as
15004-421: Was strongly criticized for his failure to control his subordinate, and after three months he resigned. The new secretary, George Robeson , promptly curtailed Porter's powers. In 1866, the rank of admiral was created in the U.S. Navy. Naval hero David G. Farragut , Porter's adoptive brother, was selected as the nation's first admiral, and Porter became vice admiral at the same time. In 1870, Farragut died, and it
15128-563: Was then on half-rations. Price had stripped Camden of personnel in order to defend Washington, and the Union forces occupied the city on April 15 against no significant opposition, but found no supplies awaiting him. After a two-day wait, Maj. Gen. Steele sent out foraging parties into the countryside and awaited news from Banks. However, Banks was in retreat, having been defeated at the Battle of Mansfield , and now more of Smith's forces were heading into Arkansas to intercept Steele. Dwindling supplies for his army at Camden forced Steele to send out
15252-524: Was to advance up the Red River Valley; once joined, the Union force was to strike into Texas . Steele would garrison Shreveport while Banks forged ahead into northeastern Texas. But the two pincers never converged, and Steele's columns suffered terrible losses in a series of battles with Confederate forces led by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price and Gen. E. Kirby Smith . Steele led a combined 8,500-man Union force of infantry, artillery and cavalry from
15376-464: Was to be commanded by Porter's adoptive brother Captain David G. Farragut . The bombardment of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip began on April 18, 1862. Porter had opined that two days of concentrated fire would be enough to reduce the forts, but after five days they seemed as strong as ever. The mortars were beginning to run low on ammunition. Farragut, who put little reliance on the mortars anyway, made
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