This book contains the transcribed journals and reports of a war correspondent for the Boston Journal covering the campaign that captured New Orleans in 1862. Hills' journals begin in November 1861 and describe the Union preparations for the main assault and subsequent move up the Mississippi river, the attack on forts Jackson and St. Phillip, and his impression of the captured city. His observations from Union vessels in the Gulf Squadron as he covered the war in the Gulf are also included. His articles for the Boston Journal have herein been set near timely journal entries along with other notes to help the reader understand the context of what was going on in the war at the same time. A narrative of Hills' life using available records and family documents is included.