The Battle of Mobile Bay
August 5, 1864

On 19 April 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, acknowledging that insurrection existed in seven states of the Lower South, proclaimed a naval blockade of the seaports in these states. Later when Virginia and North Carolina seceded the closure decree was extended to those waters. By the Summer of 1861, the U.S. Navy's interdiction efforts against southern shipping were well underway. Three years later (Summer of 1864) all but two of the South's major blockade-running ports had been effectively closed by Federal squadrons. Only the heavily protected, deep-water harbors of Wilmington, NC on the Atlantic coast and Mobile Bay, AL on the Gulf coast remained fully operational. In early August 1864 a Union fleet (4 ironclad, shallow-draft monitors and 14 wooden warships - RADM David Glasgow Farragut, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans - April 1862, commanding) approached the three mile wide entrance to Mobile Bay - the city of Mobile, AL lay 30 miles north, up the bay. Three forts, shallow channels, impassable obstructions, and submerged mines (then called torpedoes) served as the bay's outer defenses. There was only one channel open to Farragut's deep-draft wooden vessels. This narrows ran along the eastern edge of the minefield, opposite a spit known as Mobile Point. At the end of the point stood massive Fort Morgan (47 heavy cannon - BG Richard L. Page, cousin to GEN Robert E. Lee, commanding) guarding this one navigable deep-water passage. If Farragut successfully ran the fortifications, he would next encounter a small but dangerous Confederate flotilla (1 large ironclad ram and 3 gunboats - commanded by RADM Franklin Buchanan, the Confederacy's senior admiral and commander of the C.S.S. Virginia on the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads - March 1862). RADM Buchanan's flagship was the newly completed ironclad ram C.S.S. Tennessee (6 rifled guns - CPT James D. Johnston, commanding). This huge Confederate ram was rumored to be the most powerful ironclad afloat. In fact, although heavily armed, Tennessee was woefully underpowered - too slow and too unwieldy for coastal-waters combat. At dawn on 5 August, the Federal battle line got up steam with the shallow-draft monitors to the front, U.S.S. Tecumseh (2 guns - CDR Tunis Craven, commanding) in the lead. By 7:15 AM the Union fleet and Fort Morgan were heavily engaged. Farragut, in order to better direct his battle plan, had himself lashed to the mainmast rigging of his flagship, U.S.S. Hartford (CPT Percival Drayton, commanding). Soon the lead monitor Tecumseh was sunk (90+ of the 113 sailors lost) by a mine (torpedo), and the first wooden screw-sloop (U.S.S. Brooklyn) stalled, slowing the line of battle and causing confusion below Morgan's heavy guns. At this juncture in the battle Farragut, still high above Hartford's decks, was reported to have yelled, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" The Union fleet, now led by the flagship, steamed through the minefield unscathed - and the admiral's bold command became legend in the growing traditions of the U.S. Navy. Upon entering the bay, the Union warships pounded and rammed the out-numbered, out-gunned, and out-maneuvered Confederate flotilla. Near the end of the action, Tennessee foolishly took on the whole Federal fleet single handedly. This engagement lasted until the big ram's steering and gun-port mechanisms were disabled, and she was forced to surrender. By mid-morning, the northern fleet controlled the bay. The two remaining Confederate forts gave-up on 8 August (Gaines) and 23 August (Morgan). Now only the Atlantic blockade-running seaport and stronghold of Wilmington, NC, on the Cape Fear River and protected by the heavy batteries of Fort Fisher remained to be shut down. Fort Fisher would eventually fall to a combined army-navy operation on 15 January 1865. The U.S. Navy's dramatic victory at Mobile Bay virtually closed the entire Gulf coast east of Texas to southern shipping. Furthermore, when viewed within the context of Sherman's conquest of Atlanta (September) and Sheridan's success in the Shenandoah (October), Farragut's triumph took on additional political significance, bolstering the spirits of the Republicans and Lincoln supporters just prior to the Fall Presidential Election of 1864. Estimated Casualties: Union - 315 and 4 captured; Confederate - 32 and 270 captured.

Notes:

  1. Numbers in parentheses reflect estimated strength of armies or units.

  2. Estimated casualty figures are totals for killed, wounded, missing in action, and taken prisoner.

  3. Alternative names of battles and campaigns appear in parentheses.

  4. Military and naval rank abbreviations in text: LT - Lieutenant, CPT - Captain, MAJ - Major, LTC - Lieutenant Colonel, CDR - Commander (Navy), COL - Colonel, BG - Brigadier General, MG - Major General, RADM - Rear Admiral (Navy), LTG - Lieutenant General, VADM - Vice Admiral (Navy), and GEN - General.

  5. Army Organization: Although authorized and actual strength and the rank of the commanding officer often varied, the standard military unit during the War was the infantry regiment (1,000 men, COL commanding) which was comprised of 10 companies (100 men each, CPT commanding). 3-4 Regiments = 1 Brigade (3,000-4000 men, BG commanding). 3 (sometimes 4) Brigades = 1 Division (9000-12,000 men, BG or MG commanding). 2-4 (usually 3) Divisions = 1 Corps (18,000-24,000+ men, MG - North and MG or LTG -South commanding). 2 or more Corps = An Army (usually 20,000-100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding). 2 or more Armies = An Army Group (usually 100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding).

Sources:

Photographs courtesy of The Generals of the American Civil War Website.

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