Brown left Lieutenant Henry K. Stevens with orders not to move Arkansas while repairs continued. Major General Earl Van Dorn nevertheless assigned the ship to support Major General John C. Breckinridge's attack on Baton Rouge, and the junior Stevens could not prevent it. Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory declined to intervene despite his earlier involvement in the vessel's affairs. The ship also sailed without its regular engineer, replacing him with an army volunteer unfamiliar with this type of machinery. The decision placed a damaged vessel, an acting commander, and an inexperienced engineer into an operation whose objective was less valuable than preserving the ironclad at Vicksburg.
Chapter · 41:01-42:49
The Baton Rouge order overrules ship readiness
With Brown ill and Arkansas ordered to remain under repair, Van Dorn sends the damaged ironclad to Baton Rouge over her acting commander's objections.