The Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry, Relative to the Fall of New Orleans (1864) provides a significant primary record of the Confederacy’s most catastrophic early-war defeat. Published by order of the Confederate Congress, and prefaced by President Jefferson Davis, this investigative document serves as a high-stakes post-mortem on the loss of the South's greatest port, peeling back the layers of strategic incompetence and logistical frailty that led to its surrender. Far from a mere bureaucratic record, the proceedings acted as a vital instrument of political exoneration for Major General Mansfield Lovell, proving that he had been systematically scapegoated by the Richmond administration to mask their own failure to reinforce the city.

The testimony within offers a searing "unfiltered look" at a fractured defense, meticulously documenting the catastrophic failures of unified command between competing naval factions and the fatal strategic miscalculation that stripped the city of ten thousand troops on the eve of Admiral Farragut’s assault. By preserving the interviews of military commanders, shipyard operators, and civilian leaders, this volume remains an essential archive for understanding the crumbling industrial state of the Confederacy and the internal friction that doomed the defense of the Mississippi.

[Confederate Imprint] Jefferson Davis [Intro]; James A. Seddon [Intro]. Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry, Relative to the Fall of New Orleans. Published by Order of Congress [C.S.A.]. Richmond. R. M. Smith, Public Printer. 1864. 206pp.

A rather good example of a scarce work; late 20th century 1/4 cloth binding with marbled boards. Text very good with some occasional foxing. Generally crisp and bright.