Figure 1: Sepia wash drawing of USS Varuna by R.G. Skerrett, 1904. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: "Panoramic View of the United States Fleet passing the Forts on the Mississippi, on its way to New Orleans, April 19th, 1862." Contemporary line engraving published in The Soldier in our Civil War, Volume I. It depicts the federal ships shortly before they began the passage of the forts, with the Confederate gunboats waiting upstream. Individual US Navy ships (as identified in text below the engraving) are: John P. Jackson, Mississippi, Pensacola, Hartford (flagship), Iroquois, Westfield, Cayuga, and Varuna. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: "The Splendid Naval Triumph on the Mississippi, April 24th, 1862.” Colored lithograph, published by Currier & Ives, 1862. It depicts Admiral David G. Farragut's fleet passing Forts Jackson and St. Phillip, below New Orleans, Louisiana. USS Varuna was in the middle of the battle to pass the Confederate forts and capture New Orleans. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: Sepia wash drawing of CSS Stonewall Jackson by R.G. Skerrett, 1904. This ship is an example of a "cotton-clad" gunboat, which was a wooden Confederate gunboat “protected” by large bales of cotton that were placed around the most vulnerable parts of the ship. CSS Stonewall Jackson and CSS Governor Moore both attacked USS Varuna during the battle at Forts Jackson and St. Phillip. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: Sepia wash drawing of CSS Governor Moore by R.G. Skerrett, 1904, depicting the ship during her brief service as a Confederate cotton-clad gunboat on the lower Mississippi River. CSS Stonewall Jackson and CSS Governor Moore both attacked USS Varuna during the battle at Forts Jackson and St. Phillip. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure
6: “Farragut's fleet passing Forts Jackson and
St. Philip.” Line engraving published in Virtue,
depicting the battle which took place on the lower Mississippi River during the
night of 24 April 1862. A key to the forts and specific US and Confederate
ships is given at the bottom of the illustration. The ships include USS Varuna (being attacked by two
Confederate gunboats), USS Brooklyn,
USS Pawnee (which was not present at
the battle), USS Hartford (Admiral Farragut's
flagship, with a fire raft alongside), USS Pensacola,
USS Mississippi, CSS Louisiana (exploding), CSS Manassas, and federal mortar vessels. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click
on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: "Engagement
between the US Gunboat Varuna and the
Confederate Ram Breckinridge and
Gunboat Governor Moore." Line
engraving published in The Soldier in Our
Civil War, Volume I. It depicts USS Varuna
in the center, being rammed by a Confederate ship identified as General Breckinridge (at left) while engaging CSS Governor Moore (at right) during the battle off Forts Jackson and
St. Philip, 24 April 1862. The side-wheel steamer identified here as Breckinridge (General Breckinridge), is really CSS Stonewall Jackson. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on
photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: "Fight between the
Varuna and the Governor Moore." Line engraving published in Harper's Weekly, 1862, depicting USS Varuna sinking at right, after she was
rammed by CSS Governor Moore during
the battle off Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 24 April 1862. Governor Moore is shown at left, beached
and burning after being severely damaged by the Union fleet. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click
on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: "The Last Broadside of the Varuna." Line engraving, published
circa the 1860s, depicting USS Varuna
continuing to fire at Confederate forces as she sank during the battle off
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below New Orleans, Louisiana, on 24 April 1862. US Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: William McKnight,
former Coxwain, USN. Halftone image published in Deeds of Valor, Volume II, page 18, by the Perrien-Keydel Company,
Detroit, Michigan, 1907. Coxwain McKnight was awarded the Medal of Honor for
his conduct in action on board USS Varuna
during the battle off Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on the lower Mississippi
River, 24 April 1862. US Naval Historical
Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after a
Sanskrit god, the 1,300-ton Varuna
was a civilian merchant ship that was originally intended for travel between
New York and New Orleans, Louisiana. The ship was purchased by the US Navy for
use as a gunboat during the Civil War in late December 1861, while she was
still under construction at the Mallory Yard at Mystic, Connecticut. After
being converted into a gunboat, the vessel was commissioned as USS Varuna in February 1862. Varuna was approximately 218 feet long
and 34 feet wide, had a top speed of 11 knots, and had a crew of 157 officers
and men. The gunboat was armed with eight 8-inch guns and two 30-pounder
cannons.
On 6 March
1862, Varuna was assigned to Rear
Admiral David G. Farragut’s West Gulf Blockading Squadron in the Gulf of
Mexico. Admiral Farragut then spent several weeks preparing his ships and crews
for the historical Union assault on New Orleans. The attack finally took place
on the night of 24 April 1862.
Farragut’s
plan to take New Orleans was a bold yet simple one. He ordered his ships to
make a daring nighttime dash past the Confederate fortifications guarding the
mouth of the Mississippi River below New Orleans (Fort Jackson and Fort St.
Philip) and then take the city itself. But the small Confederate States Navy
was waiting for him and as soon as the Union warships reached the two forts on
24 April, the southern warships attacked.
At the height
of the battle, Varuna was rammed
twice by the Confederate steamer CSS Governor
Moore and struck twice again almost simultaneously by the cottonclad ram
CSS Stonewall Jackson (which was
identified in one contemporary illustration as CSS General Breckinridge). After ramming Varuna, the commander of Governor
Moore, Lieutenant Beverly Kennon, saw that his gunners could not depress
their guns far enough to fire on the Union warship. So Kennon had his gunners
shoot a hole through the bow of his own ship and used the resulting hole as a
gun port to fire additional shots at Varuna.
Although
fatally damaged, Varuna backed away
from the Confederate warships and continued firing at them. Varuna’s accurate cannon shots severely
damaged her two attackers, but the Union warship couldn’t take any further
punishment and sank. The gun captain on board USS Varuna, Coxwain William McKnight, continued firing his guns until
the ship literally sank beneath him. For his heroism during the battle,
McKnight was awarded the Medal of Honor.
After the
loss of Varuna, the other ships in
Farragut’s squadron pounded the Confederate warships. Governor
Moore and Stonewall Jackson were
both sunk during the battle. Farragut’s plan was a tremendous success and the
rest of his ships took New Orleans.
