 When Porter daringly raced his gunboats down the Mississippi past the batteries at Vicksburg, Admiral Farragut decided to leave the river and turn his attention back to the blockade of the gulf coast.On the morning of 8 May, he left his flagship, "Hartford", and embarked on "Sachem" for passage back down the Atchafalaya to Brashear City, La., where he boarded a train for New Orleans.