Buchannan @ the Battle of Mobile Bay: Should he or shouldn't he?

flyfisher

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Once the Federal Fleet was past Fort Morgan there was a brief lull in the fighting. The men on both sides were served breakfast and it was assumed the fighting was over temporarily.

Instead Admiral Buchannan sailed for the Federal Fleet and, singlehandedly, took on the entire fleet.

Good idea or bad idea? I know it's easy to second-guess him after the fact (Auburn University had a football coach named Pat Dye who one said, "Hindsight is 50-50" :eek:) but do you think he should've regrouped or did he do the right thing to press the action immediately?
 
I would have to figure the enemy was tired and at least partially disorganized so I might as well take a chance regardless of the odds.
 
I believe Adm. Franklin Buchanan would have tried to position himself in the channel close to Ft. Morgan in order to slow or prevent a run past the fort; slowing the Federal movement while keeping them under the guns of Ft. Morgan. This resulted in his being surrounded and under fire by nine Federal vessels and receiving the pummelling of his career.
 
Buchannan fleet was gone after the first action was complete and Farragut was pass Ft. Morgan. He new the outer forts would fall if the Union navy controlled the Harbor. It was an act of desperation by him. a Hail Mary Pass....

I found a good short narrative on the battle....During the break, Buchannan order Breakfast for the crew and the only successful use of Bayonet in naval action happen there as well....A link...

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefield...-history-articles/****-the-torpedoes-the.html
 
In Confederate Admiral: pages 213-14
After the initial fight, The Tennessee withdrew to the relative safety of the shoal waters near Fort Morgan, along with the C.S.S. Morgan. As they head for Fort Morgan, Buchanan orders a damage inspection, and finds the armored casemate undamaged, the engines sound and there were no serious casualties.
Because they had gone into the fight without eating, (Capt James D.) Johnston ordered the crew to breakfast. While they ate, Buchanan assessed his circumstances.
At this point, only the Tennessee was in a condition to fight.
Much later Buchanan tells a fellow officer (possibly Mallory) that at this point he was considering the fate of the "Virginia" After its fight with the Monitor, the Virginia had remained inactively in port until it had to be destroyed by its own crew and he was unwilling to allow the Tennessee to suffer the same fate, to be trapped "like a rat in a hole".
In his subsequent report he wrote that he "renewed his attack with the hope of sinking some of them with our prow". {Something he would have had better chances at if he had waited till dark. }
Another ..."factor at work here was his recollection of the long and frustrating summer when the local papers had been filled with questions about why Buchanan's mighty ironclad remained inactive day after day. What would the public say now if he remained anchored under the guns of Fort Morgan with the enemy squadron in plain sight on a clear day? Very likely, in his mind, there was no excuse that an honorable gentleman would accept for not renewing the action at once."
 
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