Battle of Island Number Ten

Battle of Island No. 10
Part of the American Civil War
Bombardment and Capture of Island Number Ten on the Mississippi River, April 7, 1862
Date February 28, 1862 (1862-02-28) – April 8, 1862 (1862-04-08) Location New Madrid, Missouri and Lake County, Tennessee 36°27′32″N 89°28′15″W / 36.4588°N 89.4708°W / 36.4588; -89.4708Coordinates: 36°27′32″N 89°28′15″W / 36.4588°N 89.4708°W / 36.4588; -89.4708 Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
John Pope Andrew H. Foote	John P. McCown William W. Mackall
Units involved
Army of the Mississippi Western Gunboat Flotilla	Garrison of New Madrid Garrison of Island No. 10
Strength
6 gunboats 11 mortar rafts	~7,000
Casualties and losses
78 total (23 killed 50 wounded 5 missing)	7,000 surrendered 30 killed & wounded

The Battle of Island Number Ten was an engagement at the New Madrid or Kentucky Bend on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, lasting from February 28 to April 8, 1862. The position, an island at the base of a tight double turn in the course of the river, was held by the Confederates from the early days of the war. It was an excellent site to impede Union efforts to invade the South by the river, as ships had to approach the island bows on and then slow to make the turns. For the defenders, however, it had an innate weakness in that it depended on a single road for supplies and reinforcements. If an enemy force managed to cut that road, the garrison would be isolated and eventually be forced to surrender.

Union forces began the siege in March 1862, shortly after the Confederate Army abandoned their position at Columbus, Kentucky. The Union Army of the Mississippi under Brigadier General John Pope, made the first probes, coming overland through Missouri and occupying the town of Point Pleasant, Missouri, almost directly west of the island and south of New Madrid. Pope's army then moved north and soon brought siege guns to bear on New Madrid. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John P. McCown, decided to evacuate the town after only one day of heavy bombardment, moving most of his troops to Island No. 10, abandoning his heavy artillery and most of his supplies.

Two days after the fall of New Madrid, Union gunboats and mortar rafts sailed downstream to attack Island No. 10. Over the next three weeks, the island's defenders and forces in the nearby supporting batteries were subjected to a steady bombardment by the flotilla, mostly carried out by the mortars. At the same time, the Union forces at New Madrid were digging a canal across the neck of land east of the town to bypass Island No. 10. Several transports were sent to the Army of the Mississippi when the canal was finished, which provided the army with a way to cross the river and attack the Confederate troops on the Tennessee side.

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Wikipedia