Fort Pike, Louisiana

FORT PIKE

27100 Chef Menteur Highway
New Orleans, LA 70129
504-255-9171 or 888-662-5703 toll free
Email: fortpike@crt.la.gov

9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday; closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Entrance Fees: $4 per person; free -- seniors (62 and over) and children age 12 and under.                               Groups are asked to call in advance.

Louisiana State Park

http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/ifortpike.aspx

 

On our quest to visit forts, we discovered Fort Pike named for Zebulon Pike.  Named for Mr. Pike of Pike’s Peak, Colorado fame.  He was a Revolutionary War General and later explorer.  It was begun in 1819 and completed in 1826.  This is rather surprising as there are many forts in the Third System Fortifications, genrally built with brick and masonry.  These forts oft took twenty or more to come to completion.  After the War of 1812 the primary way one could attack the United States was by water.  Most of the of Third System forts were, therefore, coastal or within bays near the coast. 

First (1793 under Henry Knox) System forts  were twenty coastal sites on which were built mostly traditional low walled structures with low sloped earthworks protecting wood or brick walls. The conventional wisdom was that soft earth would cushion the effect of cannon fire against the walls, and that low walls presented less exposure to projectiles. Walls were laid out at angles to each other forming a system of bastions, usually resembling a star, so that enemy forces could not mass against the bottom of a wall beneath the vertical field of fire from the wall; defenders on any wall could see and fire-on the base of the adjacent walls. The angled walls also reduced the chance for more destructive straight-on hits from cannon balls.  These generally were desinged by artillery personnel.

Artillery technology improved.  However, the design for forts remained fairly constant.

Thomas Jefferson looked to add more fortifications.  1808 to 1809 was the genesis for this group.  These became known as Second System Fortifications.  West Point Military Academy was instituted in 1802 separating engineers from artillery. French engineer, the Marquis de Montalembert, advocated a major change in the design of fortresses to address some of the problems created by the star shaped.  His design protected a fort's gunners by placing most of them in covered casemate walls with openings for the guns. By stacking rows of casemates in high walls more guns could be mounted along shorter walls. This was particularly important for seacoast fortifications, which had only a limited time in which to fire at passing enemy ships. Taller forts would need to be built of masonry. 

These could also be made thicker which was needed in order to withstand cannon fire. The Second System was distinguished from the First System by greater use of Montalembert's concepts and the replacement of foreign engineers by engineers graduating from the infant Military Academy. Because of relative peace, funding dried up and forts often were left unfinished. 

Then the War of 1812 came along.  Wake up time!  President Madison ordered new coastal fortifications to be built in strategic coastal locations.  Much of Montalembert’s concepts were used, thick masonry forts along with the Vauban concept, with layers of low, protected-masonry walls.  Many had moats—some dry, some with shallow water.

A total of six forts (For Pike included) were built in Louisiana to protect its coast and the Mississippi River.

I felt a bit sad at seeing Fort Pike.  Seems as though it needed a lot of work.  It had been in the path of Katrina and survived.  I guess that there are many other places that funding is needed.  Maybe like the hope of Fort Jackson to become part of NPS, this could also happen for Fort Pike. It is also on the list of the most endangered US Battlefields from the Civil War Preservation Trust, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C.

“The original armament of Fort Pike consisted of 32-pounder and 24-pounder cannons; the exact number of each type is unknown. At various times the fort held other types of cannons. The wartime garrison was approximately 400 men; in peacetime it varied between one and 80 soldiers.

Fort Pike's role in the military affairs of the United States prior to the Civil War varied considerably. During the Seminole Wars in the 1830s, Fort Pike served as a staging area for many troops en route to Florida, and also as a collection point for hundreds of Seminole prisoners and their black slaves who were being transported to Oklahoma. Cannons were removed from some of the casemates to convert them to cells. At one point in this conflict, only 66 soldiers guarded 253 Indian and black prisoners.

Similarly, during the Mexican War in the 1840s, Fort Pike was a stopover for soldiers bound for Texas and Mexico. In between these wars, Fort Pike was largely abandoned and left in the care of a single ordnance sergeant.

In 1861, the silence of Fort Pike was broken. Before the actual start of the Civil War, the Louisiana militia captured the fort. Confederates held it until the Union forces took New Orleans in 1862, whereupon the Confederates evacuated Fort Pike. Union forces then reoccupied the fort, using it as a base for raids along the Gulf coast and Lake Pontchartrain area and as a protective outpost for New Orleans. The Union also used Fort Pike as a training center, where former slaves were taught to use heavy artillery. These troops became part of the United States Colored Troops, who played an important role in the outcome of many battles, including the siege at Port Hudson. Yet, in spite of all this activity, not a single cannonball was ever fired in battle from Fort Pike.

Fort Pike was again left to the care of an ordnance sergeant from 1871 until it was officially abandoned in 1890. In 1972 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.”  Quoted from the Web Site.

We never saw the ranger or other staff member.

Reference and resources were Wikipedia and Fort Pike State Park Information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seacoast_defense_in_the_United_States

To roll cannon to top of fort.  The one area that has been restores!

Fort Jackson on the Mississippi, Louisiana

On the Trail

http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/la001.htm

FORT JACKSON

Fort Jackson and its sister fort, Fort St. Philip were of particular interest to me as a Civil War historian.  My great- grandfather Sam wrote a letter home indicating that he could hear the mortar fires from David Porter’s fleet of mortar ships.  He was at Ship Island, off the coast of Mississippi.  (This is the answer to the question asked in the prologue—Fort  Massachusetts is located on Ship Island, Mississippi).

Fort St. Philip, located just upstream from Fort Jackson on the east bank, was built in 1795 by the Spanish. Its cannons prevented the British from reaching New Orleans in 1815 in the Battle of New Orleans.

 

Fort St. Philip, on the east side of the river can only be reached by boat.  No roads.  It is privately owned.  The owner has no plans for rennovation/restoration.


Both forts were badly hit by water surge from Katrina.  They are two of the top ten endangered battlefield listing for the United States, as of January 2008.  I do not know if its status has changed. The list was complied by the Civil War Preservation Trust, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C.

Fort Jackson, on the other hand is on the West side of the Mighty Mississippi which was exceedingly high when we visited.  The Fort was extremely easy the access and get to…right off the main highway Route 23. The Fort is owned by Plaquemines Parish, officially in the town of Buras, but the locals are hoping that it will become part of NPS in the future.  We drove from New Orleans on a Saturday morning to find that it was locked tight.  However, we did walk around it.  Several other cars pulled in, including a local family. She mentioned that she was going to bring up at the next council meeting that it should be open on weekends.  It was, however, Easter weekend, so maybe that was the reason that it was closed.  The other reason it may have been closed was that they were preparing for a reenactment later in April.  I gathered that she had some influence as her maiden name was that of the next town north of the fort.  The family, particularly the Mom, shared lots of local information including the fact that part of the land for the fort was the football field for nearby schools.  My disappointment in not being able to see the interior was more than balanced by this woman’s ongoing conversation.

The road continues to the bottom of the delta…the end of the world, as the locals say...in the town of Venice.  We thought we would follow it to its end for two reasons:  we used to live in Venice, FL and it is the end of the world...dropping off into the Gult. But we could not as major portions of the road were under water due to the overflowing river.  It was still a good experience, however.

We did spend quite some time at the fort, watching the boat/ship traffic on the river.

The importance of these forts was the protection of New Orleans. Control of New Orleans was control of a huge trading locale and a very big economy.  And it would take one more port away from Rebel control. No one believed that any enemy could possibly get past these two fortifications.  New Orleans had no other protection, but then no one believed they needed it.  No one told US Flag Officer David Farragut, however, with his twenty-four ships or US Commander David Porter, who commanded the fleet of nineteen mortar boats that it was impossible to capture New Orleans by by-passing the two forts.

The capture of New Orleans was supposed to be a combined land/sea effort with General Benjamin Butler in command of the land operation.  For all intents and purposes, however, the battle was completed almost entirely by water. 

Command of the Confederates over these two forts were Brig. Gen. Johnson K. Duncan and Cdr. John K. Mitchell [CS]

The battle took place April 16-28, 1862.  My great grandfather, Sam, was part of the Thirteenth Connecticut.  They were the last regiment to land on Ship Island before the battle started.  Therefore, they were not to be part of the land forces.  So while camped on that island, the gun mortars of Porter’s echoed down the river.

Estimated casualties were 1,011 total (US 229; CS 782).  Since this was still near the beginning of the War and seemingly long before so much blood was later shed, many thought this was a high number.  Unfortunately, both sides would soon learn that these numbers would be barely notable.

The forts were near and just above the various ship passages from the Gulf.  The forts were approximately seventy miles south of New Orleans.  Dividing the Confederacy was paramount in the hopes of winning the war.

Plans were put in place as early as January using the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.

Porter’s mortars started shelling the forts on April 16 and continued for one solid week.

The Confederacy had plans of their own.  The crossfire of the armaments was supposed to stop any ship traffic.  They also had a fleet of their own, including two ironclads.  In addition, all kinds of obstructions and chains were placed into and across the river.  The Fort did not give up despite the constant bombardment. 


But on April 22, some of Farragut’s ships broke through.  By the 24^th all of his ships were north of the forts.  Farragut sailed north and eventually accepted the surrender of this very important city.  A Union victory.  The forts were surrounded and surrendered on April 28.  New Orleans was garrisoned with Union soldiers, including my g-g Sam.

more pics later

Coming Soon

Forts--Barrancas
   Gaines
Lighthouses--Barrancas
  St. George Island
Monuments--Kensington, CT--1st known CW monument in the country (1863)
   Unionville, CT
    Farmington, CT

Hampton National Cemetery

Hampton National Cemetery

After having had so much success at Chalmette National Cemetery in finding many members of the 13^th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, I thought that I would visit another National Cemetery.

I had been looking for my Great Grand-father Samuel for thirty years.  After the Civil War, he went home, fathered another child and disappeared.  The trail went to West Virginia and then ended.  According to county and state records, he had not died in West Virginia.  A few years ago I was shopping at a church yard sale and found one man with a name tag.  It was my maiden name spelled in a different variation.  We chatted.  He was part of a group that did a lot of family history in all its variations.  He suggested to me that he may have died in Virginia at an Old Soldiers Home or General Hospital.  I googled his name and “Virginia.”  And, lo and behold, his name popped up.  He was buried at the National Cemetery in Hampton.  Plot number 5305.

I put information on the back burner for a time.  Recently, I had to make one more trip to New England.  I thought that I would make a slight detour to visit that cemetery.  My GPS was not working.  So, I tried map quest.  That worked OK, but…..

I drove around Hampton, Virginia and could not find the cemetery.  Finally, I placed a call to them.  They gave me excellent directions.  It just so happens that the National Cemetery is smack dab in the middle of the Hampton University campus.  One must stop at the gatehouse and then go through its gates to get to the cemetery.

I was able to find him fairly quickly.  What amazed me is that there were one low government stone and then a tall one, another low, the next one tall…row after row.  I was amazed to find that Sam was buried next to a Viet Nam soldier.  It seemed strange.  It seems that most National cemeteries, people from any given war are sort of buried together.  Another words, American Civil War veterans are in one area, WWI in another, WWII, in another.  But at Hampton, they are all mixed together.

Building in rear part of college campus

There was a smithering of family monuments as well.

I had found one head stone memorial for a Navy man from the ill-fated Scorpion sub at Chalmette.  I was very surprised to find a memorial headstone for a second member of that crew.

This visit sort of brought some sort of closure for me.  I wish I had this information when my Dad was still alive, but it was good to find it now.  Although it gave me one answer, it opened up a can of worms for other questions, which I will pursue.

April 2012

 

After this visit, I went to Virginia OES Grand Chapter.  I sat with Betty at a luncheon.  She mentioned that she and her family were going to put the Memorial Day flags at a cemetery.  She mentioned that she had not done this before, but the Boy Scouts had.  As we yakked a bit more, I discovered that the flags she would be placing were at Hampton National Cemetery.  After he day of doing this duty, she sent me an email with pictures.  She had been the one to place the flag on Sam's grave.  It sent chills up and down my spine.  An OES sister taking care of my biological family.

 

May 2012