et upon the forts and its successful passage has
been fitly called the battle of New Orleans, for the fate of the city
was there decided. Enclosed between the swamps and the Mississippi,
its only outlet by land was by a narrow neck, in parts not over
three-quarters of a mile wide, running close by the river, which was
at this time full to the tops of the levees, so that the guns of the
fleet commanded both the narrow exit and the streets of the city. Even
had there been the means of defence, there was not food for more than
a few days.

At noon of the 25th, the fleet anchored before the city, where
everything was in confusion. Up and down the levee coal, cotton,
steamboats, ships, were ablaze, and it was not without trouble that
the fleet avoided sharing the calamity. Among the shipping thus
destroyed was the Mississippi, an ironclad much more powerful than the
Louisiana. She was nearing completion, and had been launched six days,
when Farragut came before the city. His rapid movements and the
neglect of those in charge to provide tow-boats stopped her from being
taken to the Yazoo, where she might yet have been an ugly foe for the
fleet. This and the fate of the Louisiana are striking instances of
the value of promptness in war. Nor was this the only fruit snatched
by Farragut's quickness. There is very strong reason to believe that
the fall of New Orleans nipped the purpose of the French emperor, who
had held out hopes of recognizing the Confederacy and even of
declaring that he would not respect the blockade if the city held out.

Captain Bailey was sent ashore to demand the surrender, and that the
United States flag should be hoisted upon the public buildings. The
rage and mortification of the excitable Creoles was openly manifested
by insult and abuse, and the service was not unattended with danger.
The troops, however, being withdrawn by the military commander, the
mayor, with some natural grandiloquence, announced his submission to
the inevitable, and Captain Bailey hoisted the flag on the mint. The
next day it was hauled down by a party of four citizens; in
consequence of which act, the flag-officer, on the 29th, sent ashore a
battalion of 250 marines, accompanied by a howitzer battery in charge
of two midshipmen, the whole under command of the fleet-captain. By
them the flags were rehoisted and the buildings guarded, until General
Butler arrived on the evening of May 1st, when the city was turned
over to his