By: Kevin Ray, Archival Technician

This week, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay, Kevin Ray gives an three-part account of the battle drawn from a combination of secondary sources and the two diaries held in the Division of Special Collections. All images are from these diaries, which were written by Ellsworth Hults and Eston C. Lambert, both of whom belonged to the Union. Read Part I from last Monday and Part II from last Wednesday.

Letter to be read aloud on all ships by David Farragut on August 6, 1864 from Esbon C. Lambert’s papers

Left alone, the powerful iron-clad ram Tennessee engaged in a furious battle with Farragut’s entire fleet. The fighting was brutal, deadly, and, at times, confused. Union guns were largely ineffective against Tennessee’s thick armor, but her guns were devastating against the wooden ships. She fired her guns and tried to ram the Union ships, but her slow speed made this difficult. In turn, Farragut’s ships attempted to ram the ram, which resulted in more damage to the Union vessels than to Tennessee. At one point, two Union ships managed to ram each other. Eventually, the Union Navy was able to inflict serious damage on Tennessee. Her smokestack was shot off, making it difficult to maintain engine pressure. Her exposed steering chains were broken, making it impossible to steer. A number of the gun ports jammed closed. Unable to continue the fight, and with Admiral Buchanan seriously wounded, CSS Tennessee surrendered at around ten in the morning.

The naval battle was over. Within days, Fort Powell was abandoned and Fort Gaines surrendered. Fort Morgan held out until August 23, when it too surrendered. Union forces had control of the entrance to Mobile Bay, but the casualty cost was high, and lopsided. Estimates vary, but the Union Navy lost over 300 men killed or wounded, including over ninety killed on the sunken Tecumseh. The Confederates lost just over thirty. Over 1500 were captured and taken prisoner, including Admiral Buchanan. The Union Navy also captured Tennessee and Selma, and added them to the Union fleet.

Today, Tecumseh and her crew still rest at the bottom of Mobile Bay, just off Fort Morgan. Both of the larger forts, Morgan and Gaines, are now museums. They help to tell the story of the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Map problems on the inside front cover of Ellsworth Hults’s diary

The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library has two important primary source collections from Esbon C. Lambert and Ellsworth Hults that also tell that story in the words of the men who were there. Lambert served on board USS Itasca. His diary gives a brief entry for August 5, 1864, with a short narrative of the battle. His entries for the days before the battle likewise give short descriptions of the preparations that were being made. Hults, the paymaster aboard USS Galena, also kept a diary. Hults’s ntries for the days before, during, and after the battle are longer than Lambert’s, and include more detail. His diary includes two hand drawn maps showing the locations of landmarks, fortifications, and ships. Helpfully, a typed transcript is included with the dairy as well as a handwritten copy of an order from Admiral Farragut, dated August 6, 1864. This order, commending the Union officers and sailors after the battle, was read from the quarterdeck of every ship in Farragut’s fleet that day. These small, but important collections each tell part of the story of the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Bibliography

Bergeron, Arthur W., Jr. Confederate Mobile. Jackson, MS and London: University Press of Mississippi, 1991.

Ellsworth Hults diary. February-December 1864. MSS.3735. University Libraries Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama.

Esbon C. Lambert diary and letters. 1863-1864. University Libraries Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama.

Friend, Jack. West Wind, Flood Tide: The Battle of Mobile Bay. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2004

Hearn, Chester G. Mobile Bay and the Mobile Campaign: The Last Great Battles of the Civil War. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1993.

Smith, C. Carter, Jr., ed. Two Naval Journals: 1864. Southern University Press, 1964.

Waugh, John C. Last Stand at Mobile. Abilene, TX: McWhiney Foundation Press, 2001.

By: Kevin Ray, Archival Technician

This week, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay, Kevin Ray wrote a three-part account of the battle drawn from a combination of secondary sources and the two Union diaries by Ellsworth Hults and Eston C. Lambert. These two diaries are held in the Division of Special Collections. If you need a refresher, Monday’s post contained Part I. Part III will be posted on Monday, August 11, so check back soon!

Farragut had a large advantage in numbers. His fleet totaled eighteen ships. Of these, fourteen were wooden ships and four were iron-clad monitors. His battle plan was to steam past Fort Morgan’s guns and into the relatively deep water at the south end of Mobile Bay. To protect his smaller gunboats, Farragut ordered that each of them be lashed to the port side of one of the larger ships, away from direct fire from Fort Morgan. Thus tied together, the ships would steam into the bay in a line, two by two, following the iron-clad monitors.

Buchanan’s ships lined up just north of Mobile Point. Their battle plan was simple: attack any Union ships making it past the torpedoes and Fort Morgan’s guns. As the ships moved in, the Confederate artillery at Fort Morgan began firing. It was around seven in the morning.

Map of Mobile Bay drawn by Esbon C. Lambert

Almost as soon the fighting started, the Union fleet found itself in a near calamity. The faster wooden ships were catching up to the slower iron-clad monitors in front. The lead monitor, USS Tecumseh, moved too far to the western end of the channel and into the torpedoes. As the Union line of battle slowed and began to pile up, Tecumseh hit a torpedo and sank within minutes, with the captain and most of the crew aboard. In the chaos, Admiral Farragut made a crucial, but risky decision. He gave orders to steer his flagship USS Hartford, and the gunboat USS Metacomet which was lashed to it, around the stalled ships in front of him. The new course went into the torpedoes. The ships behind followed the admiral. All risked destruction, but all made it through safely. Farragut’s command is usually rendered as “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” Those may not have been his exact words, but the quote does express the sentiment of the moment. Farragut already had received intelligence reports that the torpedoes in the bay were largely defective, probably due to wet powder. It was still a risk to cross through them, but at that moment the only other options were to retreat or to stop in range of Fort Morgan’s guns. Farragut needed to keep moving.

Detail from map drawn by Esbon C. Lambert

Having made it past the torpedoes and Fort Morgan, the Union fleet entered a small area in the lower bay where the water was deep enough to accommodate the larger ships. Upon entering the bay they were met by Buchanan and his four ships. The three smaller Confederate gunboats were soon attacked by Union gunboats and taken out of action. CSS Gaines was damaged and began to take on water. She tried to make it to Fort Morgan, but was grounded and eventually sank. CSS Selma was pursued by Metacomet, overtaken, and finally surrendered. CSS Morgan eluded destruction and surrender, and made a daring run that night from the lower bay to Mobile and safety.

By: Kevin Ray, Archival Technician

This week, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay, Kevin Ray gives an three-part account of the battle drawn from a combination of secondary sources and two diaries held in the Division of Special Collections. All images are from Ellsworth Hults and Eston C. Lambert’s diaries. Both men belonged to the Union navy. Parts II and III will be posted this Wednesday and next Monday.

Ellsworth Hult’s diary entry from August 5, 1864

In the early morning hours of August 5, 1864, Rear Admiral David Farragut ordered his fleet of United States Navy ships into battle against the Confederate forces defending the entrance to Mobile Bay. This moment was the culmination of two years of planning and anticipation. In April, 1862, Farragut had led the U.S. Navy up the Mississippi River and captured New Orleans. The fall of New Orleans left Mobile, Alabama, as the South’s only major port of entry on the Gulf Coast. Blockade runners, bringing badly need supplies into the South, made use of Mobile. Mobile’s railroad connections added to its strategic importance for the Confederate war effort. Farragut advocated attacking Mobile Bay, and perhaps even the city itself, since the fall of New Orleans. But he had to wait for two years. In Washington, there were always more pressing objectives.

While Farragut waited, Confederate forces around Mobile Bay prepared. A naval invasion of the bay would be difficult under normal conditions. It was shallow, especially at its northern end, and would not accommodate a fleet of large ships. In addition, numerous obstacles had been placed in the bay by the Confederates. More hazardous, however, were the torpedoes. These were mines that had been laid in strategic areas. The entrance was defended by two large forts, along with one smaller fort. Fort Morgan stood at Mobile Point, on the eastern side of the entrance. Fort Gaines, on Dauphin Island, occupied the western side of the entrance. The smaller Fort Powell was on a little island between Dauphin Island and the mainland. The only opening available to an invading navy was a narrow channel to the west of Fort Morgan and to the east of where the torpedoes had been laid.

Ellsworth Hults’ diary entry detailing the lineup of ships into Mobile Bay

A small Confederate fleet under the command of Admiral Franklin Buchanan waited in the lower bay, just above the entrance at Mobile Point. The fleet consisted of only four ships. Three of the ships, CSS Selma, CSS Morgan, and CSS Gaines, were small side-wheel gunboats. The remaining ship, CSS Tennessee, was Admiral Buchanan’s flagship and perhaps the most powerful vessel in either navy. Tennessee was a large iron-clad ram, so called because of the iron protrusion at her bow that was used to ram enemy ships. She was heavily armored with iron platting up to six inches thick. In spite of her great power, Tennessee had two serious weaknesses: she was very slow and her steering chains were partly exposed. Still, she could wreak havoc on the Union fleet.

Come back on Wednesday to read what happened next!