Booknotes: Ironclad Ambush

New Arrival:

• Ironclad Ambush: Confederates Strike Lincoln's Mississippi River Blockade at the Head of Passes, October 12, 1861 by Neil P. Chatelain (Savas Beatie, 2026).

I was excited to read news of this title's upcoming release. I've always been interested in the CSS Manassas, from its ungainly appearance resembling a surfaced whale to its managing to achieve that rarest of Confederate ironclad feats, fighting an offensive battle on its own terms (at Head of Passes) and achieving some success with it. Readers can find decent accounts of the battle in the literature, but Neil Chatelain's Ironclad Ambush: Confederates Strike Lincoln's Mississippi River Blockade at the Head of Passes, October 12, 1861 "is the first book-length treatment of this pivotal naval action."

From the description: "In early October 1861, United States warships entered the Head of Passes, where the Mississippi River’s multiple entrances converge into a single channel. The occupation simplified the blockade by enabling a handful of ships to seal off the “father of waters” and cut off supplies to New Orleans. Confederate Capt. George N. Hollins recognized the danger, assembled a makeshift flotilla, and launched a surprise attack on these enemy vessels."

Given the typical result of Civil War clashes between Union and Confederate squadrons, few of which were even-matched, the outcome was an embarrassment to the early-war U.S. Navy. More from the description: "The Battle of the Head of Passes marked the Civil War’s first major fleet engagement. The Southern privateer ironclad ram Manassas smashed into USS Richmond, and as the Federals retreated toward the Gulf of Mexico, two blockaders ran aground and crews abandoned ship as Confederate gunboats closed in. The clash represented the Confederacy’s first major naval victory, the first use of an ironclad in North American waters, and the first direct challenge to President Lincoln’s blockade."

Ironclad Ambush seeks to address persistent questions related to the battle at Head of Passes, among them: "Why did U.S. forces initially enter the Head of Passes? Why did Hollins seek to counter them? Which ships were involved? Why did two blockading crews abandon their vessels mid-battle? Why did the Confederates withdraw yet claim victory? Why does this seemingly minor and often overlooked engagement matter?" Moving beyond the battle, Chatelain's study also "unravels the complexities and contradictions of early Civil War coastal and riverine naval operations and places them within the context of the war."