block 2 navy history and heritage the civil war and its aftermath

Despite rumors in the port city of the danger posed by the U.S. In his preparations for an attack on New Orleans, Farragut was reluctant to commit his forces too soon. Plans for attack first centered on the port of New Orleans and its significance to any effort by the U.S. Decisions on where to attack first depended on both the shifting priorities of the U.S. Welles entrusted Farragut with the plans to regain control of all the Confederate-held ports in the eastern half of the Gulf of Mexico, including New Orleans and Mobile. Farragut to split the responsibility between East and West. He retained the squadron’s leader, Flag Officer William McKean, and appointed Flag Officer David G. Less than a year later, Welles split the Gulf squadron into two out of frustration, hoping to improve its efficiency.

Welles assigned the Gulf Blockading Squadron to patrol 1,500 miles of coastline from Key West to the border with Mexico. In May 1861, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles established two squadrons to enforce the blockade and prevent the trade with the South. A small percentage of cotton continued to be exported by Confederate blockade runners. On 19 April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of all Southern ports, designed to prevent the export of cotton or the illegal import of weapons and supplies. They also captured its companion fort, Fort Gaines, which was a work in progress and without a garrison. Eight days before Alabama seceded from the United States, state militia moved in to take control of Fort Morgan, which guarded the main shipping channel leading into Mobile Bay. The state of Alabama seceded from the union in January 1861, and Mobile became the fourth-largest city in a new confederacy. It was the 27th-largest city in the United States prior to January 1861. The city of Mobile, the only seaport in the state of Alabama, exported more cotton than any city in the United States except New Orleans.

Cotton was its chief crop and the most valuable export in the United States. In 1860, the South was a predominantly agricultural society.

Block 2 navy history and heritage the civil war and its aftermath