Which Union admiral captured New Orleans in 1862?

Which Union admiral captured New Orleans in 1862? David Farragut. Commanding the Union's West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Farragut led the naval operation that opened the lower Mississippi River and forced New Orleans out of Confederate control.

His fleet bombarded and passed Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the major Confederate defenses below the city, during the spring of 1862. After the forts were neutralized and the Confederate naval forces were defeated or destroyed, Farragut's ships reached New Orleans. The city was captured between April 25 and May 1, 1862.

Farragut did not capture the city alone: General Benjamin Butler's troops helped occupy and administer it. Still, Farragut was the Union naval commander responsible for the breakthrough and the river approach. The victory was strategically important because it gave the Union control of the Mississippi's mouth and isolated Confederate territory farther upriver. David Porter later played important Union naval roles, but he was not the admiral who captured New Orleans.