During the days of the bombardment, the exact damage done to the forts could not be ascertained. A deserter from the garrison came to the fleet and stated that Jackson was a complete wreck, but his information was considered rather doubtful. After six days' firing, when the forts showed no disposition to surrender, and when our stock of ammunition was considerably reduced, Captain Porter submitted to the flag officer a plan for passing with the fleet between the forts. The order to pass the forts was given on the 23d of April, and a favorable reference in this order was made to Captain Porter's plan. On the morning of the 24th of April, at three o'clock, the fleet got under weigh. The steam gunboats of the flotilla ran up close to the western fort and engaged the water battery and the rampart guns, and from the mortar vessels a shower of shells was thrown into the besieged work. This bombardment made it impossible for the leaders of the enemy to keep their men on the ramparts. Three times they broke, although they were twice driven back to their guns at the point of the bayonet. From Fort St. Philip a much greater resistance was offered to the ships in their passage up between the works, as that fort had not been (comparatively speaking) so effectively attacked, nor had it suffered previously nearly so much as the other from the mortars of Captain Porter. That the resistance of Jackson was much slighter on this occasion, is further demonstrated, by the fact, that our ships received little injury from the port side (Fort Jackson), while nearly all the shot holes were found to be on the starboard, the Fort Philip side.
After the fleet had thus passed the stronghold of the enemy, and destroyed ten or twelve of his armed steamers, the famous ram 'Manassas' among them, Captain Farragut gallantly ascended the river, took and occupied the quarantine, where he paroled the garrison, and then continued his course for New Orleans. In the mean time, it had been ascertained, that the iron-clad battery Louisiana, fourteen guns, and two or three other armed steamers of the enemy were still unharmed near the forts, and it appeared therefore precarious, for Captain Porter to remain with his mortar schooners (all sailing vessels) quite unprotected and liable to momentary attack from such overpowering structures. He consequently despatched them to the gulf, to watch and cut off in the rear all communication with the forts, while he remained with the few steam gunboats of the flotilla, at the station occupied during the bombardment. The Sachem, commanded by Mr. Gerdes, he had sent east of Fort St. Philip, to aid Major-General Butler in landing troops by the back bayou, leading to the quarantine. This duty was successfully executed by the coast survey party. They sounded the channel, and buoyed it out with lamps, and thus facilitated the landing of about one thousand five hundred soldiers during the night in boats and launches of the transports.
By this time, flag officer Admiral Farragut had successfully silenced the extensive batteries of Chalmette, and finally appeared with his fleet before New Orleans.
List of the Mortar Flotilla, attached to the Western Gulf Squadron, under the command of Com. D. D. Porter.
| STEAMERS. | |
|---|---|
| STEAMER DIVISION. | |
| Harriet Lane, | Lt. Com. J. M. Wainwright. |
| Flagship of Com. D. D. Porter. | |
| Westfield, | Com. W. B. Renshaw. |
| Owasco, | Lt. Com. J. Guest. |
| Clifton, | Act. Lt. Com. Charles Baldwin. |
| Jackson, | Lt. Com. S. E. Woodsworth. |
| Miami, | Lt. Com. A. D. Harrel. |
| Sachem, | Ass't. Coast Survey, F. H. Gerdes. |
| MORTAR VESSELS. | ||
|---|---|---|
| FIRST DIVISION | ||
| Norfolk Packet, | Schooner, | Lt. Com. W. Smith. |
| Oliver H. Lee, | " | Act. Mas. W. Godfrey. |
| Para, | " | Act. E. G. Furber. |
| C. P. Williams, | " | Act. A. R. Langthorn. |
| Arletta, | " | Act. T. E. Smith. |
| W. Bacon, | " | Act. W. P. Rogers. |
| Sophronia, | " | Act. L. Bartholomew. |
| SECOND DIVISION | ||
| T. A. Ward, | " | Lt. Com. W. W. Queen. |
| M. J. Carlton, | " | Act. Mas. Charles E. Jack. |
| Mathew Vasser, | " | Act. H. H. Savage. |
| George Mangham, | " | Act. J. Collins. |
| Orvetta, | " | Act. F. C. Blanchard. |
| S. C. Jones, | " | Act. J. D. Graham. |
| THIRD DIVISION | ||
| John Griffith, | " | Act. H. Brown. |
| Sarah Bruen, | " | Act. A. Christian. |
| Racer, | " | Act. A. Phinney. |
| Sea Foam, | " | Act. H. E. Williams. |
| Henry James, | " | Act. L. W. Pennington. |
| Dan Smith, | " | Act. G. W. Brown. |
| Horace Beal, | Bark, | Act. G. W. Summer. |
| The First Division Commanded by Lt. Com. W. Smith. |
| The Second Division Commanded by Lt. Com. W. W. Queen. |
| The Third Division Commanded by Lt. Com. K. R. Breese. |
| The Steamer Division Commanded by Com. W. B. Renshaw. |
List of Vessels and Officers commanding them, that passed up the river:
| First Division, Capt. T. Baily, Commanding. | |
|---|---|
| Cayuga, | Lt. Com. N. B. Harrison. |
| Pensacola, | Capt. Henry W. Morris. |
| Mississippi, | Com. M. Smith. |
| Oneida, | Com. S. P. Lee. |
| Varuna, | Com. Charles S. Boggs. |
| Katahdin, | Lt. Com. G. H. Preble. |
| Wissahickon, | Lt. Com. A. N. Smith. |
| Second Division, Fleet Captain H. H. Bell, Commanding. | |
| Hartford, | Capt. R. Wainwright. |
| Brooklyn, | Capt. Thomas T. Craven. |
| Richmond, | Com. James Alden. |
| Sciota, | Lt. Com. E. Donaldson. |
| Iroquois, | Com. John De Camp. |
| Pinola, | Lt. P. Crosby. |
| Winona, | Lt. Com. Edward T. Nichols. |
| Itasca, | Lt. Com. C. H. B. Caldwell. |
| Kennebec, | Lt. Com. J. H. Russell. |
When this fact became known to General J. K. Duncan, he accepted terms for the surrender of Forts Jackson and St. Philip to Commodore Porter. While negotiations were progressing on board the 'Harriet Lane,' between our own and the confederate officers, (that vessel, and the Westfield, Clifton, Jackson, and Owasco, were at anchor between the two forts, each carrying a large white flag at the masthead,) the leaders of the enemy's marine forces set fire to the iron-clad battery Louisiana, cast her loose, and sent her adrift straight for our fleet. This dishonorable act on the part of the enemy during a time of truce, and while their own officers were in consultation with the commander of our forces, on board of a United States vessel, might have resulted in a very serious disaster to us, had not the magazine of the Louisiana exploded before she reached the fleet, which it did in full view of our vessels, and not far off. This explosion was succeeded by a crash, presenting a scene such as has been rarely witnessed. After this fearful episode, the capitulation was concluded, and both the forts, the garrison, the armament, ammunition, stock, and provisions, were formally surrendered to Commander Porter, of the mortar flotilla, and transferred by him, on the next day, to Major-General Butler, commanding the United States army in the Department of the Gulf.