Battle of the Head of Passes

Battle of the Head of Passes
Date October 12, 1861 (1861-10-12) Location Head of Passes, Mississippi River Delta, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Result Confederate States victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
John Pope	George N. Hollins
Strength
3 sloops-of-war 1 schooner 1 gunboat	1 ironclad 6 gunboats 3 fire rafts
Casualties and losses
none 2 sloops-of-war damaged 1 schooner damaged	none 1 ironclad damaged

Coordinates: 29°09′25″N 89°15′14″W / 29.157°N 89.254°W / 29.157; -89.254

The Battle of the Head of Passes was a bloodless naval battle of the American Civil War. It was a naval raid made by the Confederate river defense fleet, also known as the “mosquito fleet” in the local media, on ships of the Union Blockade squadron anchored at the Head of Passes. The mosquito fleet was supported by three fire rafts, which were ignited and followed the ironclad ram CSS Manassas into the action. The attack occurred after moonset in the early hours of October 12, 1861, and routed the Union fleet, which fled in disorder down the Southwest pass of the delta. After sunrise Commodore George N. Hollins ordered the mosquito fleet to withdraw upriver.

Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861. A navy department was established by the newly created Confederate government by February 21, 1861. Commodore Lawrence Rousseau was sent by Confederate Naval Secretary Stephen Mallory to manage the naval defense of New Orleans. His efforts were undercut by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who authorized the distribution of letters of marque and reprisal to the general population of the new Confederacy. These documents allowed the holder to capture union shipping for prize money from the Confederate government, insuring that everything that would float in Louisiana was snapped up by private investors hoping to make a profit. Rousseau was left to wallow in the wake of citizens eager to make up for revenue lost by the Confederate embargo on cotton, the former main export of New Orleans. He was only able to purchase six civilian riverboats for conversion into a makeshift navy. Mallory then replaced the hapless Rousseau with George N. Hollins, a former navy veteran who was promoted to Commodore and sent to New Orleans on July 31, 1861. Hollins organized the haphazard collection of six armed riverboats and christened it the “mosquito fleet”. His efforts to achieve more were impeded by Mallory’s ironclad projects intended to produce two mighty warships, the CSS Louisiana and CSS Mississippi. These projects, and others authorized by Mallory tied up most of the resources useful to construction of more vessels for the mosquito fleet. Mallory was able to purchase two more civilian vessels for duty on Lake Pontchartrain. He received little support from Mallory, and seemed to be in competition with anyone else in New Orleans commanding aspects of its defense.

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