Jefferson Davis had utilized every shipbuilder in New Orleans to hastily
construct the beginnings of a Southern navy. Two powerful iron-clad
gunboats, _Louisiana_ and _Mississippi_, were under way but not ready
for service. Eight small vessels had been bought and armed.
To secure the city against the possibility of any fleet passing the
forts at night or through fog, the channel of the river between Forts
Jackson and St. Phillip was securely closed. Eleven dismasted schooners
were moored in line across the river and secured by six heavy chains.
These chains formed an unbroken obstruction from shore to shore.
This raft was placed immediately below the forts.
There was no serious alarm in the city on the appearance of the fleet in
the mouth of the river. For months they had been cruising about the Gulf
of Mexico without apparent decision.
The people laughed at their enemy. There was but one verdict:
"They'll think twice before attempting to repeat the scenes of 1812."
Not only were the two great forts impregnable but the shores were lined
with batteries. What could wooden ships do with such forts and guns? It
was a joke that they should pretend to attack them. Their only possible
danger was from the new iron-clad gunboats in the upper waters of the
river.
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