HELP a question

[Captain Robert Darksoul]

I noticed during the end of the GAoP that Memphis was

Memphis History: A Chronology

c. 1541

Indians living near present-day Shelby County encounter the Hernando De Soto expedition.

1739

French explorers build Fort Assumption on Memphis site.

1795

Fort San Fernando de las Barrancas built by the Spanish.

1797

The U.S. gains control of the area; Fort Adams erected.

a few different forts would it have been possible for an ocean going vessel to sail up the Missippi from the gulf and attack Memphis?

[Mission]

I'm not sure why you asked the same question in two forums, but since it really belongs here I deleted the post in the Shipyard so this one would get all the attention. It's better to have all the info collect in a place where people would expect to find it, especially since I don't think you'll get more traffic by posting it both here and in the Shipyard.

[Daniel]

I wouldn't say it was impossible, but it would be extremely difficult. Borderline insane, in fact.

The Mississippi is four miles wide at Memphis and 200 feet at its deepest, so a sloop or even a full rig ship could theoretically stand off the city without grounding. But the current would make progress very slow, maybe 1.5 knots average, and you wouldn't dare sail at night in such constricted waters. Any ocean ship, even a sloop, is too big to practically pole or tow. So you're looking at a month or two to get up to the Memphis area.

The other major problem is that the Mississippi is extremely prone to sandbars, mud banks, and other hazards to which deep-keel ocean vessels are particularly vulnerable. Until the steamboats came, virtually all the traffic on the Mississippi was flat-bottomed barges and Indian canoes.

Besides that, the GAoP is usually considered as ending in 1730 at the latest, before Fort Assumption was built. So what is the ship going to attack? The Indian encampment?