Forts Jackson and St. Philip LA001

disputedunresolved Duncan says that no fire barge was sent down on the night of April 23, that the river remained in complete darkness, and that the gunners could aim only at the flashes of the enemy's guns; he judges that the dash was not part of the enemy's original design. Mahan says Caldwell's boat sounded the breach on the night of the 23d and signalled that nothing barred the passage, and that orders to attack were issued that day.

Attributed knowledge from an interested report and a history. Whether the passage was planned or improvised is disputed; no fleet orders or signal logs were inspected.

supportedunresolved Duncan says requisitions for heavy guns had been ignored, that the garrison lost most of its clothing and blankets in the fire, and that the forts' shot fell short partly from inferior powder. Mahan says the Confederacy was badly off for cannon and that the Louisiana left the city with workmen still on board. The selected passages give no supply statement for the Union squadron.

Supply statements from an interested report and a history; not returns.

supportedunresolved NPS gives the Union aim as entering the river and ascending to capture New Orleans; Mahan says mortar fire would not reduce the forts and it was necessary to pass above. Duncan wanted the Louisiana used as a battery below the raft to dislodge the mortar boats; Mahan says Mitchell declined.

Stated aims from a summary, a history and an interested report.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Union victory and the live result Union Victory. NPS says the garrisons surrendered on the 28th, cut off and surrounded. Duncan and Mahan say the Fort Jackson garrison mutinied at midnight on the 27th and that Duncan then accepted Porter's terms; Mahan says three gunboats of the rear column failed to get by.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. The fleet's passage on April 24 and the surrender on April 28 are different phases of this record.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 1,011 total (US 229; CS 782), and the live field agrees. Mahan gives the garrison's loss as 14 killed and 39 wounded, and ship losses of 8 killed and 24 wounded on the Iroquois and 3 killed and 8 wounded on the Pinola. Duncan says he had no means of ascertaining the enemy's damage and that the Louisiana's explosion killed one man at Fort St. Philip; about one-half of the Fort Jackson garrison left after the mutiny.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. The frozen Confederate total's basis (killed, wounded, captured or paroled) is not stated in the inspected passages. Mahan's 14 killed and 39 wounded follows his paragraph on the state of Fort Jackson when taken possession of; whether it covers Fort St. Philip is not stated.

supportedunresolved Mahan says Duncan had general charge of the exterior works, Higgins commanded both forts and Porter the mortar flotilla, and that the River Defence Fleet's captain refused Mitchell's orders; Duncan says everything afloat was turned over to Mitchell on April 22 by the department commander's direction. Mahan says Farragut changed his plan from two columns abreast to a single line. The frozen commanders are Brigadier General Johnson K. Duncan, Commander John K. Mitchell and Flag Officer David G. Farragut; the live page gives Farragut as Admiral and does not list Mitchell.

Command roles from a history and an interested report; divided army and navy control is described by both. The listed commanders do not receive automatic sole credit, and the live rank is not adopted.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads West Gulf Blockading Squadron [US] and the garrisons of the two forts and the crews of various ships [CS]; the live force field reads zero. NPS says Farragut assembled 24 of his vessels and Porter's 19 mortar schooners. Mahan lists seventeen vessels in the squadron carrying 154 guns, besides twenty mortar-schooners with six gunboats, and counts 109 guns in the two works, including sixty-two in Fort Jackson proper and forty-two at Fort St. Philip commanding the river, with four Confederate navy vessels, two State vessels and six of the River Defence Fleet. Duncan says thirteen of twenty-three enemy vessels got by and that the mortar fleet had twenty-one schooners; he gives about 125 sharpshooters, the Chalmette Regiment of about 500 men at the quarantine, and 150 men lent from the forts to the Louisiana. No inspected passage gives the garrison's numbers.

Vessel, gun and detachment counts with different scopes and dates; the vessel and mortar-schooner counts disagree. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live zero is not measured absence.

disputedunresolved Mahan places the two permanent works at Plaquemine Bend, Fort St. Philip on the left bank and Fort Jackson on the right, with the woods below Jackson cleared nearly to the extreme range of its guns, and describes the obstruction of seven or eight schooners chained across the river after the raft broke in a four-knot current. Duncan says high water had submerged the parade plain and casemates of Fort Jackson three to eighteen inches deep. Mahan places the bend twenty miles from the Head of the Passes and ninety below New Orleans; NPS places the forts approximately seventy miles below New Orleans.

Ground, works and water described by a history and an interested report; no map verification. The works and the flood predate the bombardment, but the obstruction was placed and repaired by the defenders, so the phase is left unresolved. The distances below New Orleans differ (Mahan ninety miles, NPS approximately seventy) and are not reconciled.