Battle of the Head of Passes 1861
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 12 October 1861 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1861 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Confederate States of America, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 29.1570, -89.2540 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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 deployed 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, running low on ammunition and fuel, ordered the mosquito fleet to withdraw upriver.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Head of Passes (revision 1370600057), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the American Civil War
- Battle of Aquia Creek 1861
- Battle of Arlington Mills 1861
- Battle of Athens (1861) 1861
- Battle of Ball's Bluff 1861
- Battle of Barbourville 1861
- Battle of Big Bethel 1861
- Battle of Blackburn's Ford 1861
- Battle of Bolivar Heights 1861
- Battle of Boonville 1861
- Battle of Camp Allegheny 1861
All 498 battles of the American Civil War →
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