Mobile Under Siege: Surviving the Union Blockade

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright © 2016 by Paula Lenor Webb

All rights reserved

First published 2016

e-book edition 2016

ISBN 978.1.62585.724.8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938322

print edition ISBN 978.1.46711.847.7

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

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CONTENTS

Foreword. A Thousand Allurements: Mobile in 1861, by Lonnie A. Burnett

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. A Prequel: Rumors of War

2. August 1864: Battle of Mobile Bay

3. September 1864: Siege Begins

4. October 1864: Freedoms Sacrificed

5. November 1864: Denial and Survival

6. December 1864: The Call of Home

7. January 1865: Settle the Contradictions

8. February 1865: Speculations and Spies

9. March 1865: Stubbornness and Spanish Fort

10. April 1865: The Bitter End

11. After the War: Union Occupation

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

Foreword

A THOUSAND ALLUREMENTS

Mobile in 1861

One cannot fault the enthusiasm shown by many residents of, and travelers to, nineteenth-century Mobile. Local writer Thomas Cooper DeLeon’s 1861 description of the port city was fairly typical:

Located at the head of her beautiful bay, with a wide sweep of blue water before her, the cleanly-built, unpaved streets gave Mobile a fresh, cool aspect. The houses were fine and their appointments in good, and sometimes luxurious taste. The society was a very pleasure-loving organization, enjoying the gifts of situations, of climate, and of fortune to their full.¹

Likewise, a popular antebellum southern periodical noted that, in Mobile, the fine climate, the suburban attractions, and the creation of a thousand allurements, that cluster around social life, have operated much in her favor. One resident summed up the prevailing attitude by claiming that there is no more delectable city on all the Gulf of Mexico than Mobile.²

Although locals could rightfully boast of Mobile, praise came from outside sources as well. William Howard Russell, a British correspondent of the Times, visited Mobile in 1861. Exploring Mobile’s social scene, he found (probably much to the chagrin of the religious establishment) a city that abounds in oyster saloons, drinking houses, lager beer and wine shops, and gambling and dancing places. Charmed by the cosmopolitan nature of the city, he approvingly pronounced Mobile the most foreign looking city I have yet seen in the state.³ William Tecumseh Sherman—certainly not known for his love of southern cities—had been briefly stationed at Fort Morgan in the 1850s. In a letter to his sister, he gave his impression of the area:

On the river it resembles any other business city but as you leave the wharves and go back, you find beautiful streets of hotels, stores, and shops, etc., all as graciously ornamented as at New York. A little further back the streets are ornamented with trees and in front of the houses a little garden bed now and then shows a profusion of roses and shrubs—a little further and they begin to assume a beauty neatness and comfort I never elsewhere beheld.⁴

By 1861, the city of Mobile had already compiled more than a century and a half historical record that included relocation, a period of colonial rule, deadly disease, financial struggles and several natural as well as man-made disasters. Originally settled by the French at Twenty-Seven-Mile Bluff in present-day north Mobile County, the inhabitants moved the city to its current site on the northwest shore of Mobile Bay in 1711. The outpost was governed successively by the French (1702–63), British (1763–80) and Spanish (1780–1813) before falling under United States’ jurisdiction. Mobile entered the Union as part of the new state of Alabama in 1819. After the United States finally got possession of the area, the size and makeup of the city’s population went through a marked change. An 1840 population of 13,621 had grown to nearly 30,000 by 1860. As the cotton kingdom expanded into what was then known as the Old Southwest, Mobile emerged as an important financial and transportation center of the cotton trade.⁵

Indeed, Mobile did have many allurements that appealed to the religious, charitable, educational, literary, social and entrepreneurial needs of its inhabitants. Guest or transient residents of the port could choose from several hotels—most notably the just completed Battle House. Three banks, including the Bank of Mobile, served the needs of commerce and credit. Government business could be transacted at the U.S. Customs House, while international concerns could be handled at one of thirteen foreign consulates. Nine insurance companies as well as six post office branches served the businessman and private citizen alike. Those in physical need could seek out one of three public hospitals or one of the several private institutions. Certainly the population did not suffer from a lack of social and cultural diversions. Religious denominations—Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian and African—flourished. Their meetinghouses ranged from stately cathedrals to Federal-style structures that would be creditable to any of our larger cities and a floating chapel anchored in Mobile Bay for the many transient seamen. Those so inclined could participate in any number of civic/social organizations, including the Masons, Odd Fellows, Franklin Society, Sons of Temperance, Temple of Honor, mystic societies, fire companies and military units. The reading public was served by four partisan daily newspapers—the Register, the Advertiser, the Tribune and the Mercury. Mobile’s youth had the opportunity to attend the first public school system in the state of Alabama. A medical college trained future practitioners in surgery, anatomy, physiology, pathology, obstetrics and chemistry.⁶

These amenities notwithstanding, Mobile’s primary importance came from its status as a leading cotton port and as an emerging rail center. Alabama was the second-largest cotton-producing state in the nation, and most of its bales were sold in and transported through Mobile. The port’s $3,670,183 in exports was second among southern ports only to New Orleans. The Tombigbee and Alabama River systems gave Mobile a connection to the interior of the state, while Mobile Bay gave access to the Gulf of Mexico and the world markets. Additionally, Mobile was served by two railroads. The Mobile & Ohio connected the city with Columbus, Kentucky. At Corinth, it crossed the east–west Memphis & Charleston, and at Meridian, it connected with the Alabama & Mississippi River line. The Mobile & Great Northern Railroad was opened in November 1861. It ran from Tensas landing to Pollard, Alabama, where it linked with the Alabama & Florida—giving Mobile access to Montgomery and Pensacola. During the war, the largest single Confederate troop movement by rail (twenty-five thousand men) would come through Mobile.⁷ The importance of Mobile’s rail and water transportation was not lost on one Union general, who later noted that [h]aving communication the year round by river as well as by the railroads into the heart of Alabama and Mississippi, it [Mobile] was regarded as one of the keys to the Confederacy.⁸

Considering all these facts, it is easy to understand why Mobile’s residents were somewhat optimistic about their future. One writer spoke for many when he stated that [w]e now venture the prediction that the city of Mobile in three years more of the toil, industry, public spirit and enterprise of its citizens, enter upon a new career of prosperity and development.⁹ However, the events in the next four years—during which the United States would go through its most severe trial—would send the people of the port city along a very unpredictable course.

–LONNIE A. BURNETT

PREFACE

It has been more than 150 years since the events you are about to read took place in the old port city of Mobile, Alabama. Cotton was king in those days, and the city was still under Confederate charge. In many ways, the people who lived here thought differently about everything: slavery, women and their place in the home and what was considered good and right. Since it was among the last of the cities taken by Union forces, it experienced the greatest amount of change in the shortest amount of time.

Mobile has always been a uniquely southern city. To a large degree, this is a book about the people who lived in Mobile and their stories and experiences in one of the most turbulent times in its existence: from August 1864 to April 1865. While the history of this beautiful city is exhaustive, I can only focus this book on these eight months and the events surrounding them. It is my hope that this mixture of actual events and historical narrative will result in a solid academic base in which to begin a new conversation in research about the Civil War era. You will discover, like I did, the life and times of those who existed in a very troubled Mobile, Alabama.

The idea for this literary journey happened in the most unique fashion. I was digging though clippings files at the Minnie Mitchell Archives, located at Oakleigh Place in Mobile, Alabama, about three years ago. At least one brave archivist had collected a good amount of local information and organized it according to subject in standard gray filing cabinets. One would normally ignore such a feature in today’s digital world, but the current archivist, Bob Peck, asked me to go through them. Like any good volunteer, I began opening each drawer and scanned the contents.

My training as a librarian kicked in, and my curiosity was piqued. There was so much wonderful data about Mobile and the surrounding area in newspaper clippings, letters and photos. There were folders containing information about streets, long-destroyed buildings and even the old trolley cars that use to run up and down Royal Street. It was quite amazing to see so much information in such a place. I have always loved history—why else would I volunteer at the archives?—but this collection was so much more than it seemed.

One day I came across a folder that interested me more than the others. It contained letters, newspaper clippings and original manuscripts on stories about Mobile. The stories in that manila folder were so personal and gave a new perspective on the Civil War experience. Why were they not published anywhere? Why were they hiding in this drawer, when they contained a fresh perspective on the war?

When I began reading the contents, I realized that they were mostly about the time after the Battle of Mobile Bay. This led me to a new question: Mobile did not fall at the Battle of Mobile Bay? I discovered that Mobile still remained in Confederate hands eight more months after that significant fight. Actually, Mobile fell to Union forces on April 12, 1865. This only led to more questions: What happened in the city during those solitary eight months? Why did it take so long? How important was Mobile to the Confederate and Union governments during this time?

As I began my research into this period, I soon discovered that a lot of things happened in the city of Mobile during this siege. I learned that while the city was in this odd holding pattern, it still contained whites, freed blacks, slaves,