Johnson Kelly Duncan Sold at Auction Prices

JOHNSON KELLY DUNCAN

(1827 - 1862) Confederate brigadier general, originally an officer in the U.S. Army, later commanded the Confederate forts defending New Orleans during the Union Navy's successful attacks that led to the fall of the South's largest city. Exchanged after being taken prisoner by Farragut, Duncan was assigned to the staff of General Braxton Bragg, becoming Chief of Staff. Died of malaria. GIVING THE MOVEMENT OF UNION GUNBOATS Very rare, historic content A.D.S., 1p. oblong 8vo., Fort St. Phillip, April 5, 1862, in dark pencil to Gen. Mansfield Lovell (1822-1884), Confederate major general and military commander of New Orleans when the city capitulated, ruining his reputation. Duncan informs Lovell of the movement of Union warships near the city, in full: 'Six gunboats lying behind the wooded point below Fort Jackson. Only one so far has come out from under cover, at which we fired three very fine shots when she retired. We are waiting for their next move. The Louisiana should be hurried down to make a sure thing of it...' Expertly inlaid to larger sheet, very fine condition. The Louisiana was a Confederate ironclad present nearby for the defense of the forts. The Confederates did not think federal forces would attempt an attack on New Orleans from the south, and because of this most city defenses were built up on the northern side. Forts Jackson and St. Phillip in addition were not garrisoned as well as they should have been with experienced soldiers. In February of 1862, the leader of Union naval forces, David Farragut, began the campaign of sailing ships across the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi to move into position near the city. Once this was done, his strategy was to gauge the defensive strength of the forts by feigning attacks to sense their gun range, as well as the depth and nature of any obstructions in the waters. This is clearly what Duncan reported in this dispatch. When the Union forces were finally prepared for action, on April 18th they commenced a series of bombardments on both enemy ships and the forts. After a week, almost every Confederate ship was sunk, and Southern troops evacuated New Orleans. The fall of the largest city in the Confederacy to the Union shocked the South and cemented Northern dominance of the Mississippi.