Siege of Fort St. Philip (1815)
| Siege of Fort St. Philip | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of battle of New Orleans and War of 1812 | |||||||
Fort St. Philip, overgrown in the mid 20th century | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Kingdom | United States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Hugh Pigot | Walter H. Overton | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1 sloop-of-war 1 brig-of-war 1 schooner 2 bomb vessels 2 bumboats |
406 35 artillery pieces 1 gunboat | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
2 killed 7 wounded | ||||||
The siege of Fort St. Philip was a ten day long distance bombardment of exploding bomb shells - by two Royal Navy bomb vessels, mounting a total of four mortars - against the American garrison of Fort St. Philip. The fort was unable to retaliate at the start, as the bomb vessels were out of the range of its solid shot cannon, and its mortar did not have ammunition. This was remedied by supply boats, whereby the fort counter-attacked the bomb vessels with its mortar on January 17, and the British duly withdrew. This riverine engagement took place during the concluding hostilities of the War of 1812.