JULY 24TH, 1862: Rear Admiral Farragut's fleet departed its station below Vicksburg, as the falling water level of the river and sickness among his ships' crews necessitated withdrawal to Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Farragut's return to the lower Mississippi made abundantly clear the strategic importance of Vicksburg for, although the Navy held the vast majority of the river, Confederate control of Vicksburg enabled the South to continue to get supplies for her armies in the East from Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
To prevent as much of this as possible, Rear Admiral Davis and Major General Samuel R. Curtis provided for combined Army-Navy expeditions along the banks of the Mississippi River from Helena, Arkansas, to Vicksburg.
Though supplies continued to move across the river, this action prevented the Confederates from maintaining and reinforcing batteries at strategic points, an important factor in the following year's operations.
--Old B-Runner
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