Ship Island

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Ship Island, Mississippi was obviously an important point for the Confederates to hold because doing so would deny the Union the best anchorage in the Gulf. This anchorage was subsequently used to stage the attack on New Orleans as well as supporting the blockade squadron in the Gulf.

Problem is, the island seems indefensible. It's a small, low-lying island more than 10 miles offshore. The fort there wasn't complete at the start of the war, but the Confederates occupied it and improvised emplacements for their cannon. The Confederates evacuated Fort Twiggs on September 16, 1861 and it was immediately occupied by the Union, who renamed it Fort Massachusetts.

It seems like the island would have been easy to blockade, thus starving out the garrison. Port Royal also demonstrated the Union Navy had the capability of defeating small forts. They might have also been able to land heavy rifled artillery on nearby undefended Cat Island and shell the fort into surrender, ala Fort Pulaski. Of all the forts the Union faced, Ship Island would have probably been the easiest to overcome as it was on an island that could be surrounded. They didn't have to overcome strong currents, harbor defenses, multiple fortifications with interlocking fields of fire, or large earthen emplacements (which were nearly immune to bombardment - see Fort Fisher).

Thoughts?

 

[DaveBrt]

Ship Island, Mississippi was obviously an important point for the Confederates to hold because doing so would deny the Union the best anchorage in the Gulf. This anchorage was subsequently used to stage the attack on New Orleans as well as supporting the blockade squadron in the Gulf.

Problem is, the island seems indefensible. It's a small, low-lying island more than 10 miles offshore. The fort there wasn't complete at the start of the war, but the Confederates occupied it and improvised emplacements for their cannon. The Confederates evacuated Fort Twiggs on September 16, 1861 and it was immediately occupied by the Union, who renamed it Fort Massachusetts.

It seems like the island would have been easy to blockade, thus starving out the garrison. Port Royal also demonstrated the Union Navy had the capability of defeating small forts. They might have also been able to land heavy rifled artillery on nearby undefended Cat Island and shell the fort into surrender, ala Fort Pulaski. Of all the forts the Union faced, Ship Island would have probably been the easiest to overcome as it was on an island that could be surrounded. They didn't have to overcome strong currents, harbor defenses, multiple fortifications with interlocking fields of fire, or large earthen emplacements (which were nearly immune to bombardment - see Fort Fisher).

Thoughts?

Its loss cut the water route from Mobile to New Orleans (a bit over 100 miles). The replacement RR route was almost 1,000 miles long (shorter if you were willing to haul by wagon part way).

 

[redbob]

One big thing that it had going for it was that it had a deep water harbor and if you are looking for an off the beaten path Civil War site, this is certainly it.

 

[bdtex]

Sorry to bump an old thread but looking for a book recommendation. I've read about Ship Island in bits and pieces in some books and articles mostly about the Civil War along the Gulf Coast obviously. If anyone knows about a full length book or one with a chapter or 2 about Ship Island it'd be appreciated.

 

[John Hartwell]

Sorry to bump an old thread but looking for a book recommendation. I've read about Ship Island in bits and pieces in some books and articles mostly about the Civil War along the Gulf Coast obviously. If anyone knows about a full length book or one with a chapter or 2 about Ship Island it'd be appreciated.

I have not read it, but:

may fill the bill, though it concentrates more on the island's role as a POW camp.

"Ship Island was used as a French base of operations for Gulf Coast maneuvers and later, during the War of 1812, by the British as a launching point for the disastrous Battle of New Orleans. But most memorably, Ship Island served as a Federal prison under the command of Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler during the Civil War. This volume traces this fascinating and somewhat sinister history of Ship Island. The main focus of the book is a series of rosters of the men imprisoned. Organized first by the state in which the soldier enlisted and then by the company in which he served, entries are listed alphabetically by last name and include information such as beginning rank; date and place of enlistment; date and place of capture; physical characteristics; and, where possible, the fate and postwar occupation of the prisoner." [per Amazon book blurb]​

 

[trice]

Union Soldiers on Ship Island During the Civil War by James G. Hollandsworth Jr. at Mississippi History Now, April 2006.

Sources and suggested reading at the end of the article.

 

[trice]

Ship Island was also one of the destinations for the heavy artillery then-Secretary of War John B. Floyd tried to send South just as he resigned (under a dark cloud of fraud and embezzlement) in late December 1860. That would be immediately after just before Anderson moved to Fort Sumter (which happened immediately after Floyd had been asked to resign by the Buchanan administration).

ORDNANCE OFFICE, WAR DEPARTMENT,​

Washington, D.C., January 18, 1861.​

Hon. JOSEPH HOLT, ​

Secretary of War:​

​

SIR: In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th instant, as to "whether any of the arms of the United States at any of the arsenals or armories have recently been removed or ordered to be removed, and, if so, by whose orders, and for what reasons," I have to state that there have been no removals of arms since the 115,000 muskets and rifles which were ordered in January, 1860, from the armory at Springfield, Mass., and the arsenals at Watertown, Mass., and Watervliet, N.Y., to be deposited in the arsenals in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana (other than to meet the regular requisitions of the Army, the requisitions of the States for their yearly quotas, and such as have been sold), except the pieces of heavy ordnance ordered on the 22d ultimo from the Allegheny Arsenal, near Pittsburg, Pa., viz, twenty-one 10-inch and twenty-one 8-inch columbiads and four 32-pounder guns, ordered to Ship Island, Miss., for a fort in course of construction there, and twenty-three 10-inch and forty-eight 8-inch columbiads and seven 32-pounder guns, to Galveston Harbor, Tex., for a fort to be erected at that place, but the removal of which columbiads and guns was stopped by your order.​

​

The removal of the muskets and rifles and the intended removal of the columbiads and guns, as well as the sale of the arms, was in obedience to orders from the Hon. John B. Floyd, late Secretary of War.​

​

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,​

H. K. CRAIG, ​

Colonel of Ordnance.​

In the normal course of events, these heavy guns would not have been shipped to the site for years. The forts did not even have places to store them yet in 1860.

 

[trice]

Historic Research Study, Ship Island, National Park Service, by Edwin C. Bearss:
http://www.topsfieldhistory.org/images/todd/Ship_Island_Research_Study.pdf

 

[bdtex]

Historic Research Study, Ship Island, National Park Service, by Edwin C. Bearss:
http://www.topsfieldhistory.org/images/todd/Ship_Island_Research_Study.pdf

Thank you for all the sources. Ship Island is currently closed for repairs. I think Hurricane Ida did some damage. I hope to take the day cruise out there one day in the next couple of years and read a little more about it before I go.

 

[Ptarmigan]

Sorry to bump an old thread but looking for a book recommendation. I've read about Ship Island in bits and pieces in some books and articles mostly about the Civil War along the Gulf Coast obviously. If anyone knows about a full length book or one with a chapter or 2 about Ship Island it'd be appreciated.

I would look at "Defending the Arteries of the Rebellion" by Neil Chatelain, he has a full chapter on the naval operations around Ship Island and it describes pretty much all there is to know.

 

[DixieRifles]

I have been to Ship Island several times, mostly as a sun bather. That was many years ago. I never considered it of any value to the War except as a prisoner of war camp. I will check out Bearrs' article.