Battle of Fort Fisher

Fort Fisher

After many Union expeditions against the south, there was only one major port still in Confederate hands – Wilmington, North Carolina. In December, 1864 the Federals set out to close it, but first they had to capture Fort Fisher. A Union squadron under Rear Admiral David Porter was sent, along with an army under Benjamin Butler. The navy bombarded the fort on December 23, but it did little damage. Fort Fisher was built out of dirt, which absorbed the shock of the balls much better than masonry forts like Fort Sumter. Two days later Butler's army landed and began preparing to assault, but the entire expedition was called off when news arrived that a division of Confederate reinforcements was coming, and Butler called off the expedition, in direct disobedience to orders.

Butler

Grant and Lincoln were upset by Butler's failure. Butler was a Democrat politician. Since Lincoln had just won reelection to the presidency he no longer needed the worry about the repercussions of punishing Butler. Therefore Butler was removed from command. 9,000 Federal troops were sent back to Fort Fisher, this time under the command of Major General Alfred Terry, who had experience in this type of warfare from the siege of Charleston. By this time the garrison of Fort Fisher was 1,900 strong. The 6,400 man strong division under Robert Hoke was stationed just north of the fort. These were all under the command of Major General W. H. C. Whiting. On January 13 the Federal infantry landed between Fort Fisher and Hoke's forces, which did not attempt to stop the landing.

Porter on one of his ships

On January 15, 150 years ago today, the attack on the fort began. Terry and David Porter had developed a plan with good coordination between army and navy. The fight began with Porter's ships bombarding the Confederate works. They successfully silenced most of the Confederate guns. The a force of 2,000 sailors and marines landed it assault the fort's seaward face, while Terry's infantry attack and the land side. The assault of the navy troops was a failure. The plans for the marines to lay down a covering fire were not executed, and all of the Federals tried charging toward the fort's Northeast Bastion. From there the Confederate drove them back with heavy casualties.

Navy sailors attacking the fort

This attack did draw the defender's attention away from the landward side. At 2:00 pm the Union division under Adelbert Ames charged forward. An advance part used axes to cut through the obstacles around the fort, while the rest of the troops followed close behind. Although many soldiers fell, shot by snipers on the wall, the Federals pushed forward and gained the interior of the fort. The fight, however, was still not over. Confederates still continued to resist, and the remaining guns on the seaward side were turned on the wall which had fell into Yankee hands. Whiting himself gathered some Confederate defenders and personally led a counterattack. It was driven back, and Whiting himself badly wounded. He would later die after the battle.

Federals attacking Fort Fisher

The Federal assailants continued to push forward, driving back Confederate resistance. They were ably supported by Porter's ships, which continued to lob shells int o the fort. However, after hours of fighting, they still had not secured the fort. Both sides were behind defensive positions and the fighting raged on after sunset. Colonel William Lamb, the Confederate who was directly responsible for the fort's defenses, gathered what survivors he could to try to make a united counterattack, but he himself fell wounded. During the battle, Whiting had been send messages to department commander Braxton Bragg begging for more troops. Bragg did not believe the fort was in serious trouble, and instead sent Alfred Colquitt to relieve Whiting.

Soon after Colquitt landed at the fort, the situation began to deteriorate rapidly. The Federlas were determined to win the fort that night, and the Federals sent a flanking party outside the wall to strike the last pocket of Confederate resistance. This pressure was too much to bear. Colquitt and his staff realized what was happening, and hurried to escape in their rowboats. The rebels in the last traverse raised a white flag to announce the fort's surrender. At 10:00 pm the fort was officially turned over to the Federals.

A cannon in Fort Fisher, whose mussel was shot away during the battle

This fort was one of the most fiercely contested during the entire Civil War. The casualties were high, but the number was increased even further when the fort's magazine exploded the next day, killing and injuring 200 Federal soldiers and Confederate prisoners sleeping on its roof. The losses from this battle were 1,341 Federals and 583 Confederate killed and wounded, with the rest of the garrison falling prisoner. With Fort Fisher in Union hands, Wilmington fell a month later. All of the major sea ports were now Federal hands.

USS Mahopac

Battle of Fort McAllister

March to the Sea

As Sherman's army marched across Georgia, through November and December, destroying southern property along the way, they encountered only very feeble resistance. All the Confederate troops in arms were needed where they were stationed, and they could not be spared to resist this invasion. Several thousand Confederate cavalry under Joseph Wheeler did harass the Federal's march, but they could not hope to defeat the entire column. The Georgia militia tried to make a stand, but the small force, many of whom were young boys or old men, were easily defeated by Sherman's veterans.

The Union troops approached Savannah, their destination on December 10. A Union fleet under Admiral John Dahlgren floated just off the town with supplies for the army, but the town and its fortifications were still in Confederate hands. Sherman deployed his men to surrounded the town's works. He decided to attack Fort McAllister. He believed his infantry could capture it, and then they would have access to the Ogeechee River, which led to the sea.

Fort McAllister

On December 13, 150 years ago today, 4,000 Federals, William Hazen's division, which happened to be Sherman's old command, advanced toward the fort, held by only 230 Confederates. Sherman, who watched the attack, later wrote:

[W]e saw Hazen's troops come out of the dark fringe of woods that encompassed the fort, their lines dressed as on parade, with colors flying, and moving forward with a quick, steady pace. Fort McAllister was then all alive, its big guns belching forth dense clouds of smoke, which soon enveloped our assaulting lines. One color went down, but was up in a moment. On the lines advanced, faintly seen in the white, sulfurous smoke; there was a pace, a cessation of fire; the smoke cleared away, and the parapets were blue with our men.... Fort McAllister was taken....

The assault had taken only 15 minutes. The army met ships from the fleet, and the March to the Sea was officially over. Sherman's men turned without delay to their next task – the siege of Savannah.

Union troops in Fort McAllister

Mobile Bay Falls

In the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5^th, David Farragut ran his ships past the forts and sunk the Confederate flotilla, but he still had to deal with three Confederate forts. Forts Gaines and Morgan guarded the entrance to the bay, and the smaller Fort Powell was positioned inside. Powell was the first to fall. Lt. Col. Williams, her commander had been ordered to hold out as long as possible, but, “when no longer tenable, save your garrison.” It did not take Williams long to decide it was untenable. Without even undergoing heavy pressure from the Federals he spiked his guns, blew up his powder and waded to the mainland with his men.

Fort Gaines

Fort Gaines was under the command of Colonel Charles Anderson. He had 818 troops in the garrison while Major General Gordon Granger had 3,300 troops besieging him. The fort had also been badly positioned. The sand dunes on the island offered cover for the Union troops to approach very close to the walls. Brigadier General Page, the Confederate commander in Mobile, ordered that the fort not be surrendered, but Anderson ignored him. He sent out a flag of truce, and surrendered to Granger and Farragut on August 8^th.

Fort Morgan

After Fort Gaines surrendered the Federal infantry was moved to face the last Confederate fort – Fort Morgan. It was an old massonry force garrisoned by 618 men under General Page himself. The Federals began a formal siege with regular lines of approaching trenches. Meanwhile, several of the monitors bombarded the fort, along with the Tennessee, which had been repaired and assimilated into the Federal fleet. On August 22 cannon and mortars on land joined the ships, and the fort was subjected to a day long bombardment. Page was afraid that the Union balls would hit his magazines, so he ordered them to be flooded. The next day he decided that further resistance was useless. He spiked his guns and raised the white flag.

Page

After Page surrendered he was arrested by the Federal forces. They accused him of violating the laws of war by destroying the guns and ammunition of the fort after he surrendered. A court of inquiry was formed in New Orleans to investigate. They found him not guilty, determining that he had destroyed the equipment of the fort before its surrender,.

The surrender of Fort Morgan marked the completion of the Federal capture of Mobile Bay. With Union ships holding the mouth of the bay, they could stop the flow of blockade runners coming too and fro. The town itself was still in Confederate hands, and would remain so until the next year.

Fort Morgan Today

Battle of Fort Sanders

Ambrose Burnside, having gotten ahead of the pursing army of James Longstreet at the Battle of Campbell's Station, arrived in the works around Knoxville, Tennessee on November 17. The Confederates came up as well, and began to consider an attack. Longstreet decided that Fort Sanders was the most vulnerable point on the Yankee line. It was west of the town, positioned at a salient in the earthworks. It was 70 feet high and surrounded by an 8 foot ditch.

The Confederate positions were 2,400 yards from the fort. Longstreet's attack plan called for three brigades to be used. No artillery bombardment would be made, to avoid alerting the Federals of the attack, but this advantage was lost anyway because skirmishers were deployed long before the actual attack was made.

The southerners attacked at dawn on November 29th, after a cold night, with rain and snow falling. Moving out, they encountered obstacles made of telegraph wire which strung to trip the men. Alerted to the attack, the Federals opened fire and began shooting the rebels down. Eventually the Confederates made it to the fort, and jumped down into the ditch. But here they were confronted with a problem. Looking through binoculars at the position, Longstreet saw a Union soldier walking across the ditch. Not realizing that the man was on a narrow plank, he concluded that the ditch was very shallow and that scaling ladders would not be needed. But down in the ditch, the Confederates discovered the truth was much different. It was nearly impossible to climb out of the ditch onto the wall, especially slippery frozen as it was. The Confederates fruitlessly tried to dig footholds in the earth, as the Federals poured musketry into the packed men and stabbed with their bayonets, even tossing down artillery shells as hand grenades. Some southerners made it to the parapet by standing on each others shoulders. Several flags were planted on the top, but no breakthrough was made.

Union engineers on the battlefield

After 20 minutes Longstreet recalled his men. It was one of the most disastrous attacks of the entire war. The attack had been badly planned, and victory was nearly impossible without ladders. The Confederates lost 813 men, the Federals only 13. This reverse. Combined with the defeat of Bragg at Chattanooga, ended the Siege of Knoxville, and the Confederate's attempt to gain control of East Tennessee.

Battle of Fort Wagner Video

150 years ago today the Union army attacked Fort Wagner outside of Charleston South Carolina. Leading the charge was the black regiment the 54th MA. Their brave and bloody attack was seen in the film Glory.

Second Attack on Fort Wagner

The Federals, not convinced by the failure of their attack a few days before, again attacked Fort Wagner, outside of Charleston, South Carolina 150 years ago today. The regiment chosen to spearhead the attack was the 54th Massachusetts, a regiment of United States Colored Troops commanded by Colonel Robert Shaw. They would be supported by two additional brigades. The ground over which they had to pass was narrow, and halfway to the fort became flat, giving a good field of fire.

Colonel Robert Shaw

To soften up the fort for capture, Union guns fired on them from land and sea throughout the day. The infantry stepped out about sunset and the guns fell silent. As the Confederates sighted them they opened a rapid fire with their artillery, and as the Federals rushed forward, closing the range, a heavy musketry fire was poured into them from the parapet. The 54th Massachusetts hesitated under the terrific fire, but Colonel Shaw shouted, "Forward, Fifty-Fourth, forward!"and led them towards the fort.

As the troops from the 54th fell back, they encountered the next regiments and disorientated their ranks. The next two brigades pressed forward, but they were confused in the darkness and most fled to the rear before they reached the parapet. A surviving officer of the 54th Massachusetts wrote in his report:

In this formation ... as the dusk of the evening came on, the regiment advanced at quick time, leading the column the enemy opened upon us a brisk fire; our pace now gradually increased till it became a run. Soon canister and musketry began to tell upon us. With Colonel Shaw leading, the assault was commenced. Exposed to the direct fire of canister and musketry, and, as the ramparts were mounted, to a like fire on our flanks, the havoc made in our ranks was very great. Upon leaving the ditch for the parapet, they obstinately contested with the bayonet our advance. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the men succeeded in driving the enemy from most of their guns, many following the enemy into the fort. It was here, upon the crest of the parapet, that Colonel Shaw fell; … here also were most of the officers wounded. The colors of the regiment reached the crest, and were there fought for by the enemy; the State flag then torn from its staff, but the staff remains with us. Hand-grenades were now added to the missiles directed against the men. The fight raged here for about an hour.

Although the colored troops demonstrated their valor, they were unable to break into the fort. Colonel Shaw fell, hit with seven Confederate bullets. Sargent William Carney of the 54th was awarded the Medal of Honor for planting the Union flag on the parapet of the fort and then carrying it back to Union lines. When he made it back from the assault, he reported to the other men, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!" He was the first black recipient of the medal of honor. The good fight of the 54th improved the Union soldiers's views of the fighting qualities of their black comrades.

On one portion of the line the 6th Connecticut attack gained some success. The 31st North Carolina, which had been captured as a unit earlier in the war, fled from the parapet, and the Federals were able to climb up, set foot on the rampart, and seize control of a portion of the line. The Confederate tried to counterattack, but twice their charges were beaten back. But the Federals were receiving no reinforcements, and a fresh Confederate regiment, the 32nd Georgia, rushed forward and was able to secure the lines. The fight was over by 10 pm. Many of the high ranking Union commanders had fallen, along with more than 1,500 of their men. The Confederates lost 174. After this costly defeat, the Federals turned to a traditional siege of the fort.

Attack on Fort Wagner

Ruins of Fort Sumter

Charleston, South Carolina was one of the most important cities of the south. A hot bed of secession fervor, it had seen the first battle of the war in the attack on Fort Sumter. 150 years ago the Union navy had decided to make the capture of the town a priority. The city and harbor had many defenses. Beside the forts which had been built by the Federal government before the war, the Confederates under the command of P. G. T. Beauregard had strengthened many works and built new ones.

General Gillmore

The Federals making the assault were under the command of Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore, commander of the Department of the South. Gillmore had experience in this area, as he had captured Fort Pulaski the year before. His plan was to begin by capturing Morris Island, and then he would place artillery there to assist the navy in bombarding Fort Sumter, which guarded the entrance to the harbor.

Union ships bombarding

The Union troops attacked the southern portions of Morris Island on July 10th. Within three hours they were able to capture most of the island and push to within 600 yards of the main fortification, Fort Wagner. Hoping to follow up on their success, the Federals advanced on Fort Wagner at daylight the next day, July 11th. As soon as they were sighted by the Confederates, they rushed forward with a shout. They pressed forward through very heavy fire from the fort. Rushing to the foot of the parapet, they tried to climb over. But the Confederate fire was too heavy, and although they bayoneted two of the fort's defenders, they were forced to fall back.

The attackers lost over 150 men, the jubilant Confederates only 12. The Yankees had been driven back for the moment, but it wouldn't be long before they made another attempt on Fort Wagner.

Battle of Fort Anderson

Hill

After the Confederate victory at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December and the failed Mud March in January, Lee detached half of his army under General James Longstreet and sent them south to gather supplies and protect the supply lines in North Carolina. Longstreet, commanding 45,000 men, sent D. H. Hill, a North Carolina native, with 12,000 men to recapture New Bern. Hill planned a three pronged attack to regain control of the town. He encountered the Federals on March 13, 150 years ago today. Meeting eight miles outside the town, the Federals were pushed back through Deep Gully to Fort Anderson.

Pettigrew

Fighting resumed the next day, and after opening fire on the fort for a few minutes, General Pettigrew, Confederate commander in the area, sent forward a flag of truce to demand the fort's surrender. Lieutenant Colonel Hiram Anderson, instead of answering, asked for a truce to confer with general Foster in New Bern. Ignoring warnings of a trap, Pettigrew agreed. The ceasefire gave time for Union gunboats to arrive and move into position. Pettigrew, seeing his mistake, ordered his troops to open fire. However, when the gunboats arrived and opened fire, he was forced to retire. Although he had failed to recapture New Bern, D. H. Hill had been successful in filling his wagons with supplies for the army in what had been Union controlled territory.  

Battle of Fort McAllister

The Nahant

One of the goals of the Union high command was to capture Charleston, South Carolina. Not only was it an important port, its capture would also be a severe moral blow to the Confederacy, as it was a hotbed of secession fervor, and the war had begun with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in the harbor. It was clear that the new ironclads would be used, but many questions remained about them. Largely new inventions, the Union naval officers did not know how effective they would be on fortifications.

The Fort today

Therefore, as a training run for the more formidable task of capturing Charleston, three ironclads, the Patapsco, Passaic and Nahant were sent to the small three gun battery of Fort McAllister, Georgia. Over the next few weeks the ships would bombard the fortification several times, training the men for harder fights ahead and testing the new equipment. A handful of casualties were suffered on both sides in this fighting. Although some damage was done to both the fort and the ironclads, neither was destroyed and the fort did not fall. Although it was proved that ironclads alone were not guaranteed to destroy a land fort, the men would be better trained for their next battle. 

Turret of the Passaic

The Passaic

Farragut's Fleet Runs the Forts

Mortar Boat

 This is part of a series of posts on the capture of New Orleans. Seem them all here. 

The Federals began their attack with a bombardment from Porter's mortar boats. They opened on April 18th and began firing steadily for the next few days. The mortars were a failure. Porter at thought the boats would complete their work in 48 hours, but in six they had not finished their work. The big shells at first scared the garrison, but they soon realized that although terrifying, the projectiles caused few casualties and little serious damage. The mortar crews themselves had even harder work, with the terrible concussion of firing the huge mortars every few minutes. The fire was finally stopped as the mortar crews were completely worn out, and it seemed useless to continue.

Mortar Boat

With the first part of the plan having failed, Farragut decided to try with his wooden ships. He had sent two of his ships forward, and they had been able to open a gap in the chain boom across the river. The ships would advance in two columns and when the forts opened fire, they would answer them, but their main focus would be to get past them as fast as possible. In preparing the ships chains were brought up to cover the critical parts, protecting them from Confederate shot, fire brigades were trained and the ships were covered with mud so that they could advance as far as possible without being seen. As was customary in sea battles, the decks were covered in sand so that the sailors would not slip in their comrade's blood.

The fleet set off at 2 am on April 24th, 150 years ago today. They were undetected until they reached the boom. At that moment the forts opened on the ships with tremendous noise, and the Federal ships soon replied. "Imagine all the earthquakes in the world, and all the thunder and lightnings together in a space of two miles, all going off at once." Farragut said the bombardment was "as if the artillery of heaven were playing upon earth." Farragut's ships were sucessfully making it through the gap in the chain, but they suffered under the fire from the forts. John Bartlet captain of the Brooklyn, wrote,

"As we came to the obstruction the water-battery on the Fort Jackson side opened a most destructive fire, and here the Brooklyn received her first shot. We gave the water-battery a broadside of grape. With our own smoke and the smoke from the vessels immediately ahead, it was impossible to direct the ship, so that we missed the opening between the hulks and brought up on the chain. We dropped back and tried again; this time the chain broke, but we swung alongside of one of the hulks, and the stream-anchor, hanging on the starboard quarter, caught, tore along the hulk, and then parted its lashings. The cable secured us just where the Confederates had the range of their guns, but somebody ran up with an axe and cut the hawser, and we began to steam up the river. ... There were many fire-rafts, and these and the flashing of the guns and bursting shells made it almost as light as day, but the smoke from the passing fleet was so thick that at times one could see nothing ten feet from the ship. While entangled with the rafts, the Brooklyn was hulled a number of times; one shot from Fort Jackson struck the rail just at the break of the poop and went nearly across, plowing out the deck in its course. Another struck Barney Sands, the signal quartermaster, and cut his body almost in two."

The Confederates were launching fire rafts, attempting to set the wooden vessels on fire. The flag ship ran aground, and a fire ship rammed into her. For a few minutes it appeared, that Farragut, the ship, and the entire crew would be engulfed in flames, but the crew was finally able to blow up the fire raft and get the ship afloat.

Fort Pulaski Captured

150 years ago today, Fort Pulaski, near Savannah, Georgia, surrendered to the Federals. Fort Pulaski was built by the United States before the war to defend the seacoast. It was begun in 1830, and finished fifteen years later. It was named after Casimir Pulaski, who had come over to America from Poland to fight in the Revolution. He served gallantly as a cavalry officer, dieing in the Battle of Savannah, and was granted honorary American citizenship. It was occupied by the Confederates, and for a time Robert E. Lee oversaw the the work on its improvement when he was in command of the southern defenses. It was thought to be impregnable, and the Joseph Totten, US army engineer, said "you might as well bombard the Rocky Mountains." The Federals determined to attack it none the less, as part of their efforts to recapture and close Southern blockade running ports, and to provide a base for the blockading squadron. The Northern advance began in earnest on November 24th, 1861. They began a regular siege of Pulaski, completely surrounding it, building batteries, and preparing a 10,000 man force to storm the walls if necessary.

On the morning of April 10th, 150 years ago yesterday, David Hunter, Union commander, sent a message to the fort's commander, Colonel Olmstead, requesting his surrender. Olmstead replied, “I am here to defend the fort, not to surrender it.” The Federal bombardment opened at 8:00, focusing their fire on the southeast corner, and the Confederate batteries replied. The bombardment continued throughout the day. The Federal fire was from rifled guns and mortars. Rifled guns, with their longer range and greater accuracy, were a rather new innovation in siege warfare. The fire from these guns were very effective. By nightfall a breach was beginning in the wall, and many of the Confederate guns were damaged.

The firing was resumed at 7:00 on the morning of April 11th, 150 years ago today. Olmstead rose the white flag over the fort at 2 PM. A large breach had been made in the walls, exposing the powder magazine. If the battle had continued much longer, the Union shots would have hit the magazine, resulting in a catastrophic explosion, probably demolishing the fort.

The Federals had built splinter-proof shelters which worked very well. Although the Confederate fire was fairly accurate, they only inflicted 1 killed and a handful wounded. The Confederates casualties were not very high either, but all of the approximately 400 men of the garrison of the fort were surrendered, as well has many guns.

The mortars were found to be not useful in destroying the structure of the fort, although they could be effective in destroying the troop's morale. Only 10% of the mortar shots hit the fort. The rifled guns however were very satisfactory. It was found that they could easily destroy a brick fort at 2,500 yards. The success of the rifled artillery was very surprising to the commanders on both sides. The Federals had spent many months in preparations that were completely unnecessary, and the Confederates expected that the fort could hold out until they ran out of provisions.

Union general David Hunter said,

"The result of this bombardment must cause, I am convinced, a change in the construction of fortifications as radical as that forshadowed in naval architecture by the conflict between the Monitor and Merrimac. No works of stone or brick can resist the impact of rifled artillery of heavy caliber."

As Hunter, guess, rifled artillery would revolutionize fort design. After the Civil War, forts were no longer built of brick, instead earthworks were used.

Although Savannah would not fall until many months later when Sherman captured it at the conclusion of the March to the Sea, the capture of Fort Pulaski made the harbor useless to the Confederacy. The South had lost the use of an important port for blockade running, and the North had gained a base to continuing their blockade of the rest of the forts.

Bombardment of Island No. 10

The Confederate position at Island No. 10 was critical to their defense of the Mississippi River. The town of New Madrid was at an S curve in the river on the Kentucky, Tennessee border. Three forts at the town covered one bend, while Island No. 10 covered the other. P. G. T. Beauregard wrote, "The fall of Columbus and of Island No. 10, must necessarily be followed immediately by the loss of the whole Mississippi Valley to the mouth of the Mississippi River." After the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson the attention of the North turned to Island Number 10. An army under John Pope laid siege to New Madrid, and captured the place after one day of bombardment.

The naval flotilla under Foote attempted to reduce the batteries on Island Number 10 with a bombardment starting 150 years ago today, March 17th, 1862. He had seven gunboats and and 11 mortar boats, carrying one 13 inch mortar each. High hopes were placed in these boats, but they were failures. Their long range fire inflicted no casualties and caused no damage to the fort. Foote declared that he would not risk running the powerful batteries of the fort, as he was convinced they would blow his ships to shreds. Another way would have to be found to bypass Island Number 10.

Battle of Valverde, New Mexico

Background

When the Southern states seceded the area which now makes up New Mexico and Arizona was organized into a territory called New Mexico territory. The settlers of Southern New Mexico wanted to join the Confederacy, and they assembled in several secession conventions, and began forming into militia companies. On August 1st, 1861 the Confederate government had established what was called the Territory of Arizona, which contained the southern halves of what is now Arizona and New Mexico.

Sibley

Brigader General Henry H. Sibley, a West Pointer who had followed his state Louisiana and left the army, prepared an idea for a New Mexico Campaign. He planned to begin by capturing Nevada and Sante Fe, seize Colorado Territory and the forts in the area, and then turn to capture Nevada and California. This would give the Confederacy access to the large amounts of gold in the area, which would help finance the war effort. Sibley gathered an army of 2,510 men, and marched towards Fort Craig. There were 3,800 Union troops under Edward Canby at Fort Craig. 1,200 of these were seasoned troops, the rest were volunteers. Sibley did not think a direct assault would be successful, so he formed his brigade south of the fort in an attempt to lure Canby to attack him.

Canby

Battle

After waiting for three days Sibley decided to move out, since they were low on supplies, and cut the fort's line of communications with Santa Fe. However, Canby beat him to the Valverde ford of the Rio Grande. Sibley turned over his command to Colonel Tom Green because of illness. Some skirmishing occurred throughout the day as each force waited for all their troops to come up. One Confederate lancer company charged what was thought to be a weak volunteer company. However, it was a company from Colorado, which was able to break the charge, killing twenty lancers and almost all their horses. This was the only lancer charge of the Civil War.

Battle Map

At 4 pm Canby decided to attack the Confederate left. In moving troops to prepare for this, he weakened his center. Green launched a failed attack on the Union right. Then he had 7,050 strike their center. The Southerners fought desperately, as they were very thirsty and the Unions stood between them and water. They were successful, and broke the line and resisted a cavalry counterattack. They continued to advance, capturing six cannons, and breaking Canby's line. After a truce to remove the dead and wounded, Canby was able to reorganize his men enough to retreat back to Fort Craig, having been badly defeated.

Fort Craig Today

The casualties of the battle are not certain, being at least 140 for the Confederates and 260 for the Federals. Sibley decided not to attack the strong fort and instead marched on Santa Fe. Canby did not pursue, instead remaining at the fort to prevent the Confederates from receiving supplies. They moved north, capturing Albuquerque and Santa Fe. However, as we will see, this would turn out to be the high point of the New Mexico campaign.

Battle of Fort Donelson – Breakout

Confederate attack of Grant's line

Even after their astonishing naval victory the previous day, the commanders at Fort Donelson were still pessimistic about their chances for success against Grant's army. They decided to retry the breakout attempt of the day before. General Pillow launched an early morning attack upon the right flank of the Union line. This flank was “in the air.” For a good defensive position, an army's flank must be anchored on a fixed position so that they can not be flanked. Their left was anchored on Hickman's Creek, but the right did not reach all the way to the Cumberland River. This gave the Confederates the opportunity to strike them on the side, where they would be much more vulnerable. The plan was for Pillow to strike the Union right and open sn escape hatch, and throw the Northerns back on their left. Buckner, who commanded the left half of the Confederate line, would strike them in the flank, and then abandon his position and fall back, while guarded by Pillow.

When the Confederates struck at 5:00 am, Grant was away from his camp. Not expecting to be attacked, he had left to meet on Foote's flagship. He had ordered that no attack be launched, and did not appoint anyone second in command during his absence. The Union troops were not completely surprised by the Confederate attack, as many of the soldiers were awake because of the harsh weather. They were shaken by the high-pitched, rebel yell, but were able to gather and put up a good defense. They “contested the field most stubbornly” in Pillow's words, and it took the Southern troops two hours before they began to make progress against the Union forces. Forrest's dismounted cavalry was instrumental in their flanking attacks. McClernand, the Union commander on the right, requested reinforcements, but the other officers were reluctant to give them because of Grant's orders against an attack. The Federals were beginning to run out of ammunition, but they had not yet broken into a rout.

The fight continued to be hotly contested, and finally by 12:00 the enemy were in the position at which Buckner was to attack them, but Buckner did not. Pillow got Buckner moving, but in the wasted time the Federals had been reinforced from their left. They formed a defensive line on a ridge, and successfully beat back three Confederate attacks. The Federal troops had been driven back two miles, and an escape hatch was opened. But for some reason Pillow and Floyd believed the enemy were being reinforced and decided to fall back to their trenches to reorganize instead of moving forward while they had the opportunity.

By this time Grant had arrived, having galloped seven miles from the gunboats when he received news of the attack. Realizing that an escape was being attempted, he said, “The one who attacks first now will be victorious. The enemy will have to be in a hurry if he gets ahead of me.” Grant moved his troops into the gap left when Floyd fell back, and ordered General C. F. Smith, the commander on the far left, “All has failed on our right – you must take Fort Donelson.”

Afternoon

Smith's two brigades moved out quickly, and reached the outlying Confederate positions before Buckner had reoccupied them. Buckner formed a new defensive line, and repelled two hours of Union attacks. However, the position had been compromised. Floyd had thrown away his opportunity to escape from Donelson, and in the meantime he had his right seized by the Northern troops. The escape hatch had been closed, and it was clear that unless something was done to stop them, in the morning the Federals would use their superior forces to capture Fort Donelson.

Battle of Fort Donelson – Bombardment

Early on the morning of February 14th, a council of war was held by the Confederate command. It was agreed that Fort Donelson was untenable, and that they must attempt to escape the fort. General Pillow was assigned to lead the breakout. As he was preparing to advance, one of his aides was killed by a sharpshooter. Pillow was very unnerved by this. Even though all the troops were gathered and ready to attack, he canceled the breakout because he believed that the Federals knew of the attempt.

Fort Donelson River Battery today

Later in the day the rest of the Union army and navy arrived. Grant convinced Foote to attack at once, even though he had not reconnoitered. Foote agreed, and putting his gunboats in line began to fire on the Confederate position. The Southerns held their fire until the gunboats arrived within 400 yards, and then opened on them. Unlike at Fort Henry where the defensive artillery had little effect, the plunging fire from Fort Donelson was very effective. Foote wounded was in the foot, and the St. Louis, his flagship floated helplessly downstream. The Louisville was disabled and the Pittsburg began to sink. Out of 500 rounds fired by the Confederates, 169 scored hits, a very high number. Eight sailors were killed and 44 wounded. The Confederates had no casualties.

Ironclads firing on Donelson

Foote and Grant had been deceived by the ease of their victory at Fort Henry. The fleet had been severally damaged, and it seemed impossible that they would be able to subdue the fort. But the Confederates were still surrounded by a strong army. If the fort would fall, it would through a siege from Grant's army.