Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf captures the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, opening the waterway to Federal commerce and cutting the Confederacy in two.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf captures the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, opening the waterway to Federal commerce and cutting the Confederacy in two.
Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf finally begins advancing on the Confederate stronghold of Port Hudson, Louisiana, after conducting a series of ancillary operations.
David G. Farragut tries running his Federal naval squadron past the Confederate batteries at Port Hudson in an effort to move up the Mississippi River to Vicksburg.
The famed Confederate commerce raider C.S.S. Alabama engages Federal warships trying to reinstate the blockade of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico.
Nathaniel P. Banks receives orders assigning him to command the Federal Department of the Gulf, operating mostly in Louisiana and Texas. Banks would eventually succeed the controversial Benjamin F. Butler.
Federal army-navy forces occupy one of the most important points on the Texas coast.