Pierson, Michael D. Mutiny At Fort Jackson: The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans. University of N. Carolina Press. Ill. Map. Notes. Bib. Index. 264p. ISBN 978-0-8078-3228-8. $30. Jan. 2009.
The story of the fall of New Orleans in May of 1862 has been not much more of than a Civil War footnote, overshadowed by the Vicksburg campaign occurring the following year – with the exception perhaps, of the attention given to General Benjamin “Beast” Butler and his governance of the city under martial law. In Mutiny At Fort Jackson, the heretofore untold account of a politically divided city at war with itself is presented in a well-written and well-organized fashion, using contemporary sources – diaries, letters and newspaper accounts. The incident at Fort Jackson, the largest mutiny to occur during the Civil War, is the focus of this book but it is only a part of the tale. The rest of the story uncovers a heavy-handed Confederate government and a wage-earner citizenry reluctant to go to war.
New Orleans was the Confederacy's largest city, both in terms of population and industry. In 1860, it was four times larger than Charleston, South Carolina, the next largest, with 168,675 people and more than 140,000 of those white. Its industries included large woolen and cotton mills, a shoe manufacturer and two steam driven plants producing rifles and artillery, not to mention the shipyards. When the city's potential as a recruiting center is factored in, New Orleans was of almost inestimable value to the Confederate war effort. Yet the city remained Confederate for only one year – so what happened?
What happened was the complete failure of the Confederate experiment in New Orleans. As Pierson points out, the Confederate government had done nothing to encourage middle class and poor white men to take a place in the new nation. In fact, class consciousness was practically rampant throughout New Orleans society. The most loyal Confederates were to be found in the upper class, who were mostly slave owners, while a large percentage of the population were German and Irish immigrants and mostly discriminated against. Thus, there was a strong undercurrent of Unionism, (or at least dissatisfaction with the new nation), which rose to the top at about the same time that the Union Navy arrived in the vicinity. Atrocities committed against these Unionists certainly sealed the fate of the Confederacy in New Orleans.
All of these factors played a part in the mutiny at Fort Jackson. The subsequent military occupation of the city was a direct result of that event. Pierson's reassessment of Butler's administration of New Orleans certainly changes the historical perspective in that Butler has the support of the majority of white Unionists in the city, making for a more peaceful transition than many historical and contemporary accounts admit to.
Michael Pierson makes an original ands significant contribution to Civil War history. The book brings to light the relationship between the home front and the battle front and improves understanding of the impact of one on the other. It also clears a path through erroneous historical interpretation of these events and fills a gap in the historiography of the war.
David Lee Poremba
