Siege of Port Hudson

Other Names: None

Location: East Baton Rouge Parish and East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

Campaign: Siege of Port Hudson (1863)

Date: May 21-July 9, 1863

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks [US]; Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner [CS]

Forces Engaged: XIX Army Corps, Army of the Gulf (30,000–40,000) [US]; Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, Port Hudson (~7,500) [CS]

Casualties and losses: 12,208 total (US 5,000; CS 7,208)

Result(s): Union victory

Brief Description:

In cooperation with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's offensive against Vicksburg, Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. On May 27, after their frontal assaults were repulsed, the Federals settled into a siege which lasted for 48 days. Banks renewed his assaults on June 14 but the defenders successfully repelled them. On July 9, 1863, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson surrendered, opening the Mississippi River to Union navigation from its source to New Orleans. The surrender and that of Vicksburg gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River and its major tributaries, severing communications and trade between the eastern and western states of the Confederacy.