Counter-Insurgency Operations on the Upper Mississippi, October 1862

Confederate partisan activity was not limited to Louisiana.  Wherever there was a Union incursion into the Mississippi River, Confederate partisans made themselves present, harassing Union shipping.  These insurgent operations became particularly acute in the Upper Mississippi region, an area allegedly secured earlier by U.S. Naval victories.  At the time, however, civilian shipping was being seized.   Writing to Secretary Welles, Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter suspected that insurgents were secretly supplied from Confederate sympathizers in St. Louis. "The war would never end this way," he commended. 

Thus, Porter developed a three part plan to clear the area of partisans. 

1) What would be later be called in the Vietnam War a "free fire zone," Porter accounted that civilian shipping would only be allowed to dock at authorized points of the river.  Any ship found in an unauthorized landing area would be considered hostile and subject to seizure and arrest. 

2) Ships would be placed at certain locations along the river that were known to be partisan hot spots to keep them clear.  Porter admitted on this part of the plan, "I find it very difficult to comply in all causes with such demands of the squadron."

3) He used the "City"-type ironclads with armed landing parties to conduct raids against suspected partisan strongholds.  He instructed that any partisan found not be treated as a prisoner-of-war and that the partisans be punished ten fold for any stolen property found of them. 

USS Louisville

The ship's company of USS Baron DeKalb carried out one of the first raids under Porter's plan.  The ironclad docked at Hopefield, Arkansas (now called West Memphis) and twenty-five men under the command of DeKalb's carpenter (which was a warrant officer rank in the 19th century Navy) landed.  They "procured" horses from the locals and pursed ten partisans for nine miles in a dramatic running battle. The sailors eventually captured the partisans.  It is not known what was done to them.

USS Louisville carried a similar raid a short time later in relation for an incident aboard the steamer Gladiator, north of Helena, Arkansas.  Earlier, partisans captured the ship and allegedly shot several of the passengers.  Reinforced by 300 soldiers from 11th and 24th Indiana, Lieutenant Commander Meade (nephew of the Army of the Potomac general) led a detachment of sailors in pursuit of the partisans.  These partisans, however, successfully eluded Meade's force.  Either out of frustration or part of a longer term plan, Meade order his men to burn down every house and field with a two mile area.

Partisans continued their raids, in some cases as far up as the Ohio River. The Mississippi River Squadron likewise continued their's.  Porter concluded that this type of aggressive counter-insurgency was necessary.  He wrote, "This is the only way of putting a stop to the guerrilla warfare, and though this method is stringent, officers are instructed to put it down at all hazards."

U.S. Naval Cowboys on the Mississippi-October 1862

In 19th century American history, the long range cattle drive is one of the great icons of the era.  One such drive of 1,500 head of cattle started in Texas in early August 1862.  The Confederate Army purchased the herd and directed the drovers to take the cattle to Camp Moore, the headquarters for local Confederate ground troops in Louisiana.  The drovers succeeded in overcoming the biggest geographic obstacle when they moved the herd across the Mississippi River at Plaquemine, Louisiana.  Here the drovers could finally rest while they waited at the local depot for the New River Railroad to take the herd the rest of the way.

USS Katahdin, one of the four gunboats that seized 1,500 head of cattle

It was then quite unfortunate for the drovers that a U.S. Navy squadron consisting of USS Kineo, Sciota, Katahdin, and Itasca (all "90-day" gunboat-type warships) happened to spot the herd during a patrol.  The squadron's commander, Lieutenant-Commander George Ransom, found Confederate Army purchase orders among the drovers' papers and declared the herd contraband property. 

Ransom, however, was unsure what to do with the cattle, as this was not the usual type of property Naval officers would condemn and send to a prize court for adjudication. He thought about destroying the herd, but then decided that 1,500 head of cattle was extremely valuable and worth saving.  He had to act quickly, as Confederate partisans were extremely active.

Lieutenant Commander
George Ransom, USN

Ransom decided to keep the herd and sent one ship to New Orleans to retrieve five Army transports.  Upon retrieving the ships, Ransom hired several African American men on the spot to help load the herd.  The loading started at 2:30 in the morning on October 3rd.  By noon the next day, 1,300 cattle had been loaded. The rest were considered too wild and the commander instructed his African American labor force to drive the rest south to Donaldsville on the eastern shore of the river.  He assigned Katahdin and Itasaca to stay with this part of the herd at all times.

 The rest of Ransom's gunboats and transports convoyed south towards New Orleans.  As the flotilla approached Donaldsville, Confederate partisans attacked with four batteries of horse artillery.  The squadron returned fire with their XI-inch Dahlgrens and 20-pounder Parrot Rifles.  After a few hours of fighting, the partisans called off their attack.  While the convoy rolled on, the partisans' artillery did cause a significant number of causalities, including the executive officer of Sciota who had a cannon ball bounce off his hip and then exploded on his right hand.  He died two hours later.  His last words to his captain were "Tell my mother I tried to be a good man."

By October 10, the convoy and the 1,300 head of cattle got through to New Orleans. A few days later, Katadhin and Itasca successfully escorted the other 200 to safety. 

Farragut's Punitive Raid on Donaldsonville

If siege craft could be classified as an occurrence where ancient rules of war still applied and honor still existed, guerrilla/partisan activity would be its polar opposite.  The activity tended to bring out the worst in partisans trying to do anything they could to harass an enemy that possessed superior firepower and numbers.  Likewise, the uniformed sailor/soliders' attempts to suppress the partisan activity bore little fruit.  This led to more extreme measures.

One of many such exchanges came to a head in early August 1862 in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.  Located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Donaldsonville once served as Louisiana's state capital in the 1830s.   Farragut's ships and U.S. Army transports frequently passed by the town, moving back and forth from the front lines near Baton Rouge. 

As the Union ships passed by Donaldsonville, a group of "partisan rangers," led by local businessman Captain Phillippe Landry, frequently took pot shots at them. On the evening of August 6, 1862, Landry's men escalated their attacks by firing several volleys of musket and small cannon fire at the Union army transport Sallie Robinson.   A few minutes later, a second group of partisans fired at another ship that they thought was an unarmed transport.  It turned out to be the powerful steam sloop USS Brooklyn.  The warship responded with one shot from her aft pivot IX-inch Dahlgren, but the partisans had already withdrawn. 

Upon being told of these attacks, Farragut issued a short and stern warning to the citizens of Donaldsonville "Every time my boats are fired upon, I will burn a portion of your town." 


USS Hartford

The citizens either didn't receive the message or willfully ignored Farragut.  The partisans attacked the transport St. Charles the following night.  True to his word, Farragut advised Donaldsonville to evacuate all women and children on August 10. USS Hartford and Brooklyn then opened fired.  The ships' gunners specifically targeted Landry's hotel, his private residence, and any other home or business of a known partisan.  Several buildings were destroyed and burned to the ground. Farragut also accepted a dozen slaves seeking freedom and seized several heads of cattle and sheep. 


As uncivilized as it seems, the punitive action worked.  Realizing that they had no effective means of fighting back against such firepower and that future partisan attack would only bring more destruction and loss of property, plantation owners from the parishes of Accession and St. James passed a resolution demanding Governor Thomas Moore do all he could to stop partisans from attacking U.S. Navy ships.  The river raids stopped and so did the Navy's retaliations.  The plantations even swore a loyalty oath to the U.S. Government (so they could keep their slaves).  However, they secretly supported the partisans' ground operations for the rest of the war.