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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, assembling a makeshift flotilla, and launched a surprise attack on the enemy vessels. Neil P. 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.
The Battle of the Head of Passes on October 12 marked th Civil War's first major fleet engagement. The Southern privateer ironclad ram Manassas rammed USS Richmond, and as the Federals retreated toward the Gulf, 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 Abraham Lincoln's blockade. The battle quickly became mired in confusion and conflicting accounts. Outdated technologies - sailing ships, fire rafts, and rams - collided with modern innovations like screw-propelled steamers, telegraph communications, and ironclads. The fog of war led officers and enlisted men to misinterpret orders, as many historians have misinterpreted the facts. Some commanders excelled and earned promotions; others faltered, appeared drunk, or suffered breakdowns.
Lingering questions persist: 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 Confederates withdraw yet claim victory? And why does this seemingly minor, often-overlooked engagement matter?
Award-winning historian Neil P. Chatelain's Ironclad Ambush scrutinizes every previous account of the battle, firsthand archival material, and period newspapers. Drawing on voices from all sides - including ship captains, junior officers, enlisted sailors, lighthouse keepers, and civilians across southeast Louisiana - he unravels the complexities and contradictions of early Civil war coastal and riverine naval operations. Everyone with an interest in naval warfare will find this book invaluable.
"Neil P. Chatelain provides the first detailed, full-length account of the action at the Head of Passes on the Mississippi River in October 1861, a battle previously relegated to the margins of Civil War naval history. He not only corrects many oft-reported factual inaccuracies about the engagement but reframes the battle as central to understanding the early naval dimensions of the war, the evolution of the Union blockade, and the Confederacy's response to protecting its most important port city, New Orleans. Chatelain offers a careful analysis of the naval buildup on both sides and explores in detail the interaction between Louisiana civilians and the Confederate navy which drove the creation of a maritime defense force for the city. Chatelain demonstrates that the battle was no minor skirmish but a crucial test of Lincoln's blockade and a defining moment in naval innovation which saw the first wartime use of ramming tactics by an ironclad in North America. Loaded with relevant images and excellent maps, Ironclad Ambush challenges conventional wisdom about this overlooked engagement and uncovers an important story that changes how we understand the early naval history of the Civil War."
Samantha Cavell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Military History, Southeastern Louisiana University
"Neil Chatelain's book on the 1861 naval engagement at the Head of Passes leading into the Mississippi River is a remarkable achievement. Just when you think that every important Civil War story has been told and retold, Neil comes along with yet another well-written and thoroughly researched account of a fascinating naval battle that most readers will never have even heard of.
Why is the "Head of Passes" battle at the mouth of the Mississippi worth studying? To begin with, it happens so early in the war that it is full of "firsts." It is the first fleet action of the Civil war, the first Confederate naval victory of the war, and the first use of an ironclad warship in North America. It is also the first serious attempt to challenge the Union blockade that President Lincoln ordered in attempt to strangle the Confederacy's ability to wage war.
Neil Chatelain's book is not only an interesting story about an interesting battle. Calling it the most misunderstood naval engagement of the war, Neil wades through a host of confusing and often contradictory accounts of the action in order to paint the clearest picture possible of what actually happened and why. In addition to unraveling a number of previously unresolved mysteries, the book provides readers with an interesting and rewarding journey through a subject that has never received the full attention it deserves."
Edward T. Cotham, Jr., Author of The Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine
"Ironclad Ambush is a needed volume on the Civil War's first major naval battle. Like Bull Run, it was a Confederate victory that boosted Southern morale but also forces the Federals to improve their operations. Events before the battle are covered in great detail, which is important given the novel technology involved as well as the social and political dimension. The battle narrative is well written and clear. The maps are excellent, and the images include the familiar and the obscure. The work also builds on the excellent Defending the Arteries of Rebellion and therefore Chatelain's growing reputation as one of the foremost scholars of the Civil War's naval history."
Sean Michael Chick, Author of Dreams of Victory: General P.G.T. Beauregard in the Civil War
