@Old1812
Alright, finally had time to review the details of the Indianola incident. This information comes from the last bits of chapter 3 and most of chapter 4 of "Thunder Across the Swamp" by Donald Frazier. It appears that I was too optimistic on the possibility of Indianola joining the fight at Bayou Teche. Indianola had very badly damaged by the ramming attacks by CSS Queen of the West and Webb. Water continued to flood into the ship's wounds and Indianola was beached on a sand bar near Hurricane Island.
It is uncertain if the Indianola could be patched up for Confederate service in time. If they fail to get the ship floating to Shreveport in time, then Grant's forces will be able to reclaim the wreck a few months later. Interestingly, though
Indianola was burned, the demolition team had actually failed. On March 4, 1863, a Confederate cavalry scout arrived at the banks of Hurricane Bend and found Indianola still lay on the sand bar, half sunk but intact. Most of the boat's usable battery appears to have gone west of the Mississippi and would serve again in the hands of Confederate gunners. Richmond awarded control of the Indianola's hulk to Pemberton, who hoped to raise the boat and put it back in action. He never did.
Hypothetically, if Indianola had surrendered before it was too heavily damaged or was boarded, chapter 4 of "Thunder Across the Swamp" pretty decisively shows that Farragut, not Porter, would try to handle the situation and fail. Farragut informed Porter: "I determined to attempt to pass the batteries at Port Hudson, come up, destroy or recapture the boats you had lost," and succeeding where Porter had failed, "blockade Red River." Part of the West Gulf blockading squadron would go up the Mississippi, run past the batteries of Port Hudson with the oceangoing capital ships, put an end to the petty steamboat give-and-take, and close the mouth of the Red River.
However, passing the gauntlet of Port Hudson proved more difficult than Vicksburg's. USS Mississippi caught fire and exploded, 4 vessels were badly pummeled and unable to pass the guns and only USS Hartford and Albatross made it past Port Hudson, insufficient to take on the rebel fleet. This suggests that a surviving Indianola would have been put to Confederate service due to an inability to run past Port Hudson. Indianola and its heavy guns would have been a welcomed addition to the Confederate Mississippi fleet, especially since most rebel vessels were lightly armed.
The addition of an intact Indianola to the Confederate fleet does enhance Confederate naval strength and would have likely fueled Taylor's desire to counterattack in Louisiana. For reference, Taylor hoped that the Red River flotilla could destroy USS Hartford and Albatross, which blockaded the Red River. Once accomplished, Webb and Queen of the West would join Taylor’s gunboats and transports on Bayou Teche and conduct a land and river assault on Brigadier General Godfrey Weitzel’s base at Brashear City. Once Brashear City was secured, he would defeat Banks' Army of the Gulf in the in the Lafourche District and then face a showdown in New Orleans. Apparently, Weitzel, who received information on this plan from a spy, felt nervous enough that he ordered an evacuation of the Union garrison from Brashear City. Given how easily Brashear City fell to assault in June 1863, Weitzel was right to worried about his position.
That said, a lot of things conspired against Taylor's plans for a counteroffensive. Repairs for damaged ships proceeded quite slowly; the Army of the Gulf was more prepared and concentrated to take the initiative from Taylor and Taylor's army was too small to check a concentrated Army of the Gulf.
