The Port Hudson Campaign, 1862–1863

by Edward Cunningham

The determination with which the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson, Louisiana, held out―for seven weeks, fewer than five thousand Confederate troops fended off almost thirty thousand Yankees―makes it one of the most interesting campaigns of the Civil War. It was, in fact, the longest siege in United States military history.

In The Port Hudson Campaign, 1862-1863, Edward Cunningham tells for the first time the complete story of the Union operation against this Confederate stronghold on the Lower Mississippi. The initial phase was the costly attempt by the Union fleet to run the Port Hudson batteries―the naval engagement in which the historic warship Mississippi was lost. The second phase was the even more costly effort by General Nathaniel P. Banks to take the stronghold from the landward side. The third and final phase, the siege itself, culminated in surrender, less than a week after the capture of Vicksburg.

Cunningham has unearthed in his research a greater abundance of sources and more information on the campaign than most historians thought existed. The resulting dramatic story of Port Hudson, told with great clarity and verve, reveals the importance of that campaign to the course of the Civil War.

Genres: Civil War, History

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hard book to rate. It is readable if dry account. It is not long and the analysis is a bit light, but what arguments Cunningham makes mostly hold up. As it is, there is no definitive account of Port Hudson, but this one is better than Hewitt simple because it covers events after the May 27 attack.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Port Hudson Campaign, 1862 - 1863” by Edward Cunningham was interesting on a number of fronts. This is a short little book…barely 125 pages of text…and covers a single series of battles during the U.S. Civil War. The author’s reason for writing the book was to bring some attention to a campaign that had been virtually overlooked and overshadowed by the much larger Vicksburg Campaign of General US Grant. While the book at times comes off more as an academic tome and its mass of details might be a bit of overkill, the tale highlights a very interesting set piece from the American Civil War.

Port Hudson was a promontory overlooking the Mississippi River roughly 40 miles downstream of Vicksburg. Its importance was in that it guarded the southern river approaches to Vicksburg, thus making Vicksburg virtually unconquerable from the river as it blocked any attack coming from New Orleans or Baton Rouge. Port Hudson also guarded access to the Red River. Port Hudson itself was similar to Vicksburg in many respects.

In the end, the Union effort to take Port Hudson by river failed, and the follow on effort to take Port Hudson from the landward side also failed. The Confederate soldiers in Port Hudson were essentially starved out and left with no support when Vicksburg fell. The South defended Port Hudson with roughly 7,000 men, while the North assailed it with about 35,000. For every Confederate casualty in the campaign, seven Union soldiers were taken out of battle. So while it was a Union victory, it certainly can’t be considered a Confederate failure.

[Jordan Grove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent insight into the siege of Port Hudson that provides a clear look at conditions inside the fort before and during the siege, army machinations and why the Union attacked how they did, intricacies behind trench building, and how the Union army almost disintegrated. Cunningham has talent with clear, forward prose and is unsubtle in describing certain conditions. This is a fast, easy read that offers a strong foundation for anyone with an interest in the subject.

[Bob R Bogle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing to know about this book is its greatest deficit, so often paralytic and devastating to books about the American Civil War, which is this: the maps are entirely unsatisfactory and inadequate. This is an artifact of the era of its publication, which was in 1963. There is only one major battlefield map in this short book, which only appears on page 63, very long after much of the battle action narrative has already occurred. When the map does appear it is much too crowded with information and the printing is much too minute to be useful to the reader. Clearly the broad map begs to be cut up into smaller sections which can be enlarged to facilitate the reader's ability to follow the story in space and time more vividly and with more accuracy and precision.

And yet, as far as a concise history of the all but forgotten Port Hudson campaign of 1862-1863 goes, this may well be the best book we've got. It's true that to appreciate it you'll either have to photograph and expand the map on page 63 or find other maps elsewhere on you own. But if you do make that effort, this book is an excellent resource for appreciating the action that took place at Port Hudson as the Federals under Major-General Nathaniel P Banks faced off against the Confederates under Major-General Franklin Gardner even as that other important matter (the siege of Vicksburg) was happening upstream on the Mississippi.

We don't get a lot of character analysis in this book, but the story that emerged for me was a clearer picture of the dysfunctional managerial style of Nathaniel Banks, which resulted in unfortunate infighting and chaos throughout his divisions and regiments. Moreover, Banks was an indecisive leader with little or no grand strategic vision. His orders to attack defensive works seemed to reflect an instinct to "do something" rather than to do something specific toward obtaining strategic goals. Discipline in his army was lax. There are reasons why the names of the officers serving under Banks remain so unfamiliar to most students of the Civil War. They were never inspired to excel; they were never part of an organization in which excelling was possible. Operations against Port Hudson were a major Civil War event, and the only similarly forgotten crucial battle that I can think to compare it to is that of Champion Hill, fought between Grant and Pemberton on the way to Vicksburg. Students of the Civil War should be far more familiar with both of these events than many are.

If nowhere else, the siege of Port Hudson is at least remembered in Louisiana. Consequently, its stories almost always have a decidedly Southern slant. Another weakness of Cunningham's book is its Southern bias, but then, Northern writers prefer to forget the embarrassing case of Banks, and there is no competing Northern version of the story that measures up. I prefer to defer judgment, for example, concerning some of the stories Cunningham tells about the black troops fighting in Banks' army.

Edward Cunningham's The Port Hudson Campaign, 1862-1863 is only 174 pages long, including about 50 pages of endnotes. It is an important volume for those interested in the Trans-Mississippi theater, with which it is closely linked, and really ought to be among the volumes on your shelf devoted to the Vicksburg campaign.

[J. L. Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the last defenses of the invasion of Louisiana. The bravery and valor of the men of the Confederate forces defending the important, but seldom recognized, position on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Vicksburg is here related.
A succinct yet compelling book relating the last Confederate defense on the Mississippi River. The soldiers of Port Hudson, Louisiana held their position despite overwhelming odds and only surrendered their position when Vicksburg fell to the hands of U. S. Grant and it was obvious that there would be no reinforcements from Gen. Johnston. At that point the invading forces could simply wait and starve them out. In order to save the lives of the soldiers under his command, Gen. Gardner capitulated to Banks and surrendered Port Hudson to the invaders.
Well written and interesting read. From every demographic the Confederates won the battle at Port Hudson. But as one of the soldier's shouted to the invaders, "You couldn't take us by fighting. You had to starve us out." Because the Union army was at the brink of breaking down and not able to withstand another bloody repulse morale was extremely low. Had the weather not delayed the Union assault planned for July 7th, or the news of the fall of Vicksburg been delayed, the outcome may have been much different along the Mississippi river just north of Baton Rouge.
It's available at AMAZON.
A must read for any Louisiana History buff.