"The Battle of New Orleans" was fought from April 25 to May 1, 1862. It wasn't so much a battle as it was the capture of New Orleans, because the city did not put up any true resistance. The result of that capitulation is that New Orleans escaped the destruction visited upon many of the battle sites from the Civil War.
The city fell under the command of Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler. His heavy handed rule and a reputation for corruption would keep the city in Union hands, but would raise serious questions about his competency. Perhaps most damning to his standing was the negative response engendered by his treatment of the local women. Due to their open hatred of him, on May 15, 1862 Butler issued General Order No. 28:
"As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation."
The reaction was immediate and negative, erupting in a storm of protest at home and abroad. The incident was just one of many that factored in the decision to remove Butler from his governing post in New Orleans, culminating in his dismissal on December 16, 1862. Even then, hatred for him ran high. Years after the Civil War, his picture could be found at the bottom of many chamber pots throughout the former confederacy.
-Professor Walter
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