Mississipi delta and the defense of New Orleans

[andatiep]

Is it normal that union oceanic ships can attack directily New Orleans, without crossing in front of the 2 forts in the south, just turning those positions mounting up on the west river of the mississipî's delta et going down ?

I don't know enough about the size of mississipi at this period, but it seems strange.

[tagwyn]

Monsieur: It really happened! Forts were by-passed by Navy and were abandoned by Rebs. Now Athena has Gen. Bragg defending NO with some substantial troops! Adieu. t

[Mickey3D]

Union fleet has to cross in front of the two forts but put a leader like Farragut and damages will be reduced by 35%.

Moreover I wonder if the heavy guns in these forts are at full strength from the beginning ?

As explained by Tagwyn, this is historical : Farragut made a damn good job slipping through the southern defense. And he did it again in the bay of Mobile later in the war.

[Jim-NC]

There are several possible reasons this could happen. Most likely, they ran the guns of the forts. The fort's artillery units could have been understrength/weak, the ships could have gotten lucky (evaded combat), or they were attacked and sailed by (taking damage). Usually, a fort does not stop ships, only damages/slows them down (this refers to any fort like Island #10, or Fort St. Phillip). Ocean ships can easily move up the Mississippi River to outside New Orleans. Playing as the CSA, that is the major port for repairs of my gulf blockade runners. If you are willing to suffer the losses, you can always go by forts.

[andatiep]

Monsieur: It really happened! Forts were by-passed by Navy and were abandoned by Rebs. Now Athena has Gen. Bragg defending NO with some substantial troops! Adieu. t

Are you saying that in the latest patches there is now some forts added in the north ouest to protect News Orleans from the back ?

Well, in any case, thank you both, i will have anyway to reinforce this sector. My PBEM opponent is to vicious so that i let it like this...

[TheDoctorKing]

I wonder about that "back door" to the Mississippi, too. This sounds like a good question for Grey Lensman - what makes you think that that bayou was passable by ocean-going ships in the 1860s?

[TheDoctorKing]

And furthermore, has anybody ever thought of building a fort at the mouth of that bayou? They are expensive but maybe worth it to hold NO.

[Jabberwock]

I wonder about that "back door" to the Mississippi, too. This sounds like a good question for Grey Lensman - what makes you think that that bayou was passable by ocean-going ships in the 1860s?

A discussion including this topic was started back around 1.07:
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=5905

[Comtedemeighan]

I wonder about that "back door" to the Mississippi, too. This sounds like a good question for Grey Lensman - what makes you think that that bayou was passable by ocean-going ships in the 1860s?

Isn't Vicksburg the Strategic upper River fort That protects the "back door" to New Orleans.

[Gray_Lensman]

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[Chertio]

The Red was navigable from Vicksburg to Shreveport though in the Red River campaign Porter's fleet got stranded at Alexandria and some serious engineering was needed to refloat it. I gather from the various sources I've looked at that the low water was a seasonal and also intermittent thing (in this case, late April and early May).

Atchafalaya ("White" Lake & Western Branch on the map):

The Union forces wanted to open up the Red River which was an important source of supply for the Confederacy. On April 20, 1863, Opelousas and Washington fell to the Union forces. Earlier during the year there had been a Federal operation with gunboats on the Atchafalaya River. Several times during that year, Port Barre area was center of skirmishes. One was the attack of the Federal steamer, LaBelle, at Barré's Landing. There also was a heavy skirmish along Bayou Courtableau on May 22, 1863 , which was the result of the Union Army hauling off a boatload of captured bales of cotton from Washington. Further down Bayou Teche, Butte La Rose had been captured by the Union Forces and Opelousas fell to General Banks on April 22, 1863.

Both were navigable, though from other sources I gather not in winter (here the reference is to November) and in periods of low water - winter and the dry season, with intermittent interruptions as well.

Vicksburg guarding the back door:

The Confederate leaders also recognized the strategic importance of the "Hill City" of Vicksburg, where the railhead provided a two-way supply route into Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana to the eastern Confederacy. Supplies from the Gulf of Mexico ports could also move up and down the Atchafalaya and Red Rivers.

[Edit] Boating season on the Red River...

Navigation on the Arkansas and Red rivers was difficult and dangerous due to snags and frequent low water. Boats often attempted to go upstream almost year round, but the usual "boating season" ran from January to June. Although seasonal, high freight rates made steamboat operations on these streams economically attractive.

Seems the same applied on the Atchafalaya, with some boat captains getting mules to haul their boats through the mud rather than wait for the next high water.

I think from all this (and more) that the Atchafalaya should start freezing in the autumn (October) and start to unfreeze in very early spring (January, when the Mississippi starts to rise) to simulate the effects of winter and - to some extent - low water periods.

[Chertio]

More Atchafalaya stuff here (image of page attached), the boating season through these complex and difficult waterways being approx January to June, maybe rather later for the Atchafalaya itself.

(Civil War map 1863 of the river system here).

[Gray_Lensman]

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[Chertio]

And not navigable at all in winter (actually late summer to January).

[Chertio]

And not navigable at all in winter.

[Gray_Lensman]

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