TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Category: Dan O’Connell’s Campaign Series

  • Mississippi Marine Brigade – Part 3

    Early Missions On March 13th, 1863 four of the Mississippi Marine Brigade boats, Autocrat, Adams, Baltic, Diana, departed St Louis to report to Admiral Porter at Milliken’s Bend. The Raines remained behind with the Woodford to continue recruiting efforts and to tend to a outbreak of small pox that further depleted the Brigade numbers. The […]

  • Mississippi Marine Brigade – Part 2

    Forming the Brigade The concept of a mobile force of mixed combat arms troops borne by modified river boats belonged to BG Alfred W. Ellet Jr. The commander of the Union’s brown water ram fleet had grown disenchanted with the routine duties that were assigned to the surviving rams by the end of 1862 and […]

  • Mississippi Marine Brigade-Intro

    The Mississippi Marine Brigade – Introduction Guerilla and partisan warfare played a significant role in the Civil War. While much of this type of conflict was between the Union and Confederate sympathizers of the Border States there was also a concentrated effort made against standard Union military operations in areas controlled by Federal forces as […]

  • Chickasaw Bayou (13)

    Conclusion and Assessment The Confederate defense of Chickasaw Bayou was ultimately successful for a number of reasons: 1. The choice of landing area for the Federal forces was poor, probably as a result of inadequate terrain knowledge. The rush to depart left little time to conduct a thorough reconnaissance. Dependence on the naval reports after […]

  • Chickasaw Bayou (12)

    December 29 – Indian Mound At Indian Mound the Federal commander decided on a different tactic. Ordered to force a crossing, COL Giles Smith, opted away from the blunt force trauma of a massed assault in favor of a more precise approach. The 57th Ohio and the 13th U.S. Infantry were deployed on the sides […]

  • Chickasaw Bayou (11)

    December 29 – Lake House Road Sherman was determined to force a crossing of the bayou before the Confederates could further reinforce their position. He envisioned a simultaneous attack across the entire front by all his forces. Once again Morgan’s Third Division would spearhead the attack on the Lake House Road supported by Blair’s brigade […]

  • Chickasaw Bayou (10)

    December 29 – Another Option Arises BG George Morgan, conducting a reconnaissance on December 28th, discovered what he believed to be an undefended portion of the Confederate line. He was determined to bridge the Bayou at this point and assault the enemy from the center. To bridge the bayou he called upon Patterson’s Kentucky Engineer […]