Bombardment of Fort St. Philip (1815)

In August 1814, Vice Admiral Cochrane had finally convinced the Admiralty that a campaign against New Orleans would weaken American resolve against Canada, and hasten a successful end to the war. The Royal Navy had begun the Louisiana Campaign to capture New Orleans. The shallow coastal waters around New Orleans were protected by gunboats. The approach to New Orleans via the Mississippi was defended by Fort St Philip. The existing structure had been constructed in 1795 by the Spanish. Fort St. Philip was described as 'an irregular work, the body a parallelogram. Approaches to it are nearly impracticable.' (Today, the fort is only accessible via boat or helicopter.) The fort mounted twenty-nine 24-pound cannons, a 6-pound cannon, two howitzers (of 5.5-inch and 8 inch calibres) and a 13-inch mortar. Additionally, two 32-pound cannons were mounted on a level with the water, in a covert way. Thirty-five pieces in all were used. A US Navy gunboat lay offshore. In October 1814 the gunners repaired the worn-out U.S. artillery carriages and moved some to other batteries in the fort. The Americans built a signal station three miles below the installation and an earthen redoubt to defend the fort's rear side. In addition to mounting a battery for a mortar in the fort, it was suggested to construct a battery on the opposite side of the Mississippi, which would support the aforementioned two 32-pound cannons; the defence of both sides of that passage of the river being complete. Whilst overseeing the defences in December, General Jackson ordered the construction of a battery on the other side of the river, besides increasing the strength of the fort with a mortar battery. The riverside battery was not finished though by the time the British flotilla arrived and was abandoned during the engagement. Major Latour of the US Corps of Engineers was involved with the improvement of the fort's defences, but was not here during this engagement, being resident at New Orleans, and participating in the fighting there. They also erected overhead cover above the fort's gun batteries to prevent shell fragments from hitting the gun-crews. They destroyed the old powder magazine, replacing it with several additional magazines that they built, which had wood and dirt piled on top to protect them. The idea being that if one powder magazine was destroyed, the others would still be usable. At the request of Jackson, at the start of December a picket was placed on duty at Fort de la Balize at the mouth of the Mississippi, who were captured by a boarding party landed by HMS Herald. Around December 15, Major Walter H. Overton was appointed as the commander of Fort St Philip. The fort was reinforced with a further company of the 7th Infantry, and by 30 volunteer free men of color militiamen. The American garrison were primarily infantry - of whom 84 militia, 163 were regulars - supported by 117 artillery men to man the fort's cannon and mortar. On January 1, 1815, Overton was warned of an approaching British flotilla. On the morning of January 8, a look out boat arrived, to warn of the imminent approach of the flotilla. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, these were classified as 'unrated' vessels. They had been ordered to sail up the Mississippi, and to create a diversion, with the bombardment of the fort by launching exploding bomb shells from the bomb vessels' mortars. These boats had originally been accompanied by the fifth rate , but it was too large to traverse the shallow waters of the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi. The brig and the schooner have been mis-labelled as HMS Sophia and HMS Tender in Lossing's book. This is yet another case of mistaken identity on his maps, which is unquestioned and reproduced by Remini. ==Bombardment==

The five British boat types were visible, and clearly identified, at 10:15am. Although they drove the bumboats back, eventually arriving back at the flotilla at 3:00pm, the garrison had revealed the maximum range of their solid shot cannons. At midday, in preparation for engaging the vessels, the fort's furnace was lit for heated shot. At 1:00 pm, the signal station was abandoned by the American soldiers. At 2:00pm on January 9, a British landing party occupied the signal station. That morning, the flotilla had moored south of the fort, a distance of two and a quarter miles, On the morning of the 17th, Latour claims a less intense bombardment of the fort was commenced by the British at 10:00am. In the evening, the fort's mortar was ready, and it started a counter bombardment against the British bomb vessels. At some point one of the British bomb vessels was struck by an American mortar shell which put the boat out of action for five minutes. (There is nothing in British sources to support this assertion made by Latour.) In response, a more intense bombardment was continued into the night. The mortar duel continued during the night of the January 17 and just before daylight on the 18th; several shells were lodged in Fort St. Philip's parapet; one burst passing through a ditch and into the center bastion. These were the last shots the fort received. At 6:00am the vessels headed south down the river. On the afternoon of January 22, the vessels had crossed the bar and had exited the Mississippi. ==Aftermath==

In a despatch sent to the Secretary of War, dated January 19, Jackson states 'I am strengthened not only by [the defeat of the British at New Orleans]... but by the failure of his fleet to pass fort St. Philip.' Remini believes this was preventing the British moving their fleet up the Mississippi in support of the land attack. Roosevelt, as a naval historian, does not share Remini's theory. He observes that the British disengaged once the fort's mortar was resupplied and was able to return fire on January 17, the engagement being described as 'unsuccessfully bombarding' the fort by the British. The engagement is briefly mentioned in Roosevelt's naval history of the conflict and is dismissively summarized by one sentence. The physical impossibility of Cochrane's fleet being able to overcome the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi does rule out the notion that the fleet could have sailed up the river. Most of these ships were in excess of 1,000 burthen tons, Cochrane's flagship being 2,281 tons, whereas the heaviest boat to have taken part in the engagement against the fort was 430 tons, being HMS Herald. For similar reasons, the Union attack on the fort in 1862 was made by schooner- and raft-mounted mortars that could negotiate the bar without beaching. The lack of any tangible sized amphibious landing does not support the idea the British wanted to capture the fort. The British were happy enough to be a 'diversion' estimated by Latour to be seventy tons of munitions. It has not been possible to corroborate that claim with daily expenditure from British sources, but the commanding officer of the Volcano has echoed Overton's comment. After the bombardment ended, the Americans discovered that over 100 enemy shells lay buried within the fort, unexploded. Nearly all of the buildings were in ruins and the ground for a half mile around the fort was littered with bomb craters. Two American soldiers were killed and seven were wounded while sustaining severe damage to their fort. Neither the name of the commander, nor if the British had suffered casualties were recorded in contemporary sources, as the engagement was not considered significant enough for coverage. British historians have shown little interest in this engagement, with the exception of one pair of regimental historians in the 1920s. In addition to Jackson's despatch of January 19 mentioning the engagement, the part played by Acting Lieutenant (navy) Cunningham was mentioned in the despatch of Master Commandant Daniel Patterson to the Secretary of the Navy dated January 27. Three currently active Regular Army battalions (1-5 FA, 1-1 Inf and 2-1 Inf) perpetuate the lineages of two American units (Wollstonecraft's Company, Corps of Artillery, and the old 7th Infantry) that were present at Fort St. Philip during the bombardment. The incomplete battery opposite the fort was replaced with a larger structure, Fort Jackson. This and Fort St Philip were besieged in the American Civil War. ==See also==

Notes Citations ==References==