Fort Jackson-- Part 2: A Mutiny, Prison and 'Infested With Snakes'

Not to be confused with the Old Fort Jackson at Savannah, Georgia.

After Farragut sailed past the forts and New Orleans fell, the forts continued to battle Union forces.  Then, there was a mutiny by the garrison of Fort Jackson against their officers and conditions which caused the surrender of the forts.

Later, Fort Jackson was used a s a Union prison.  It was here that the French champagne magnate  Charles Heidsieck was held  for seven months on charges of spying.  (After reading about this gentleman, I am going to have to write about him.)

On November 9, 1927, the State of Louisiana sold Fort Jackson as surplus government property to Mr. and Mrs. H.J. Harvey, who later donated the property to the Parish of Plaquemines in 1960 in hopes that the fort and 82 acres of land it sits on, would be restored.

That same year, the fort was declared a National Landmark and it was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1967.

The Plaquemines Parish began  renovations of the fort in 1961.

However, the National Park Service declared that "the Fort area had become a jungle with mud-filled tunnels infested with snakes and flooded with water."

--Old B-Runner

CSS/USS Diana-- Part 5: Retaken By Confederates and At the Battle of Fort Bisland, Louisiana

The Diana was then towed up the Teche, the Diana was repaired and taken into the Confederate  River Fleet on April 5, 1863, to support the troops at Camp Bisland in Louisiana.  On April 11, under Lieutenant  Nettles of the Velverde Battery (who showed great skill in commanding his gunboat), the Diana's guns helped drive Union troops back on Bayou Teche and away from the vulnerable Camp Bisland.

Nettles' command of the Diana, however, proved to be very short.  Taken suddenly ill with  fever, he was relieved  on 13 April 1863 by Captain Oliver Semmes (Hmmmn, Semmes, I wonder) of the Artillery Unit.

The day he took command, thousands of Union troops moved in with their own gunboat support and launched a violent attack on Bayou Teche and Camp Bisland (also called Fort Bisland).  This engagement lasted until sundown.

I'd never heard of this Semmes fellow or Fort/Camp Bisland.  Perhaps some more research will be necessary.

--Old B-Runner

CSS/USS Diana-- Part 2: Captured at New Orleans, Then Recaptured in Louisiana

The Diana, a sidewheel merchant steamer was captured by the U.S. Navy  17 April 1862 at New Orleans, Louisiana, and turned over  on 7 May  to General Benjamin Butler, the Union Army commander in New Orleans.  She was used by the Union Army as a transport until November 1862, then returned to naval service, Acting Master Weeks in command.

During her short career in the U.S. Navy, the Diana assisted in the capture of two vessels with sugar and molasses on board on 6 December 1862.  Later, it took part in an attack on Confederate forces  in Bayou Teche, Louisiana, and the destruction of  the CSS J.A. Cotton 14 January 1863.

For the remainder of her Union service,the Diana assisted other Union gunboats and Army detachments in Berwick Bay, Louisiana,, until 28 March 1863, when she was recaptured by the Confederates while on a reconnaissance of Grand Lake and Atchafalaya River in Louisiana.

I know that it was at Galveston when it helped John N. Maffitt and his CSS Owl escape.

--Old B-Runner

March 28, 1864: Sailors Baling Cotton

MARCH 28TH, 1864:  The versatility of Union gunboat crews was continually tested.  Crewmen from the USS Benton, Lieutenant Commander Greer, had hone ashore on the 27th near Fort De Russy (Louisiana) and taken some 13 bales of cotton from an abandoned plantation.

They returned this date, Greer reported, and "got 18 bales from the same place, which they baled themselves, using an old awning for the purpose."

More Prize Money for Everyone.  --Old B-Runner

Donaldsonville, La.-- Part 3: No Good Confederate Rangers

"A citizens' committee met and decided to ask Governor Moore to keep the [Confederate] Rangers from firing on Federal boats.  These attacks did no real good and brought only crude reprisals against the innocent and helped to keep the Negroes stirred up."

A citizen complained that the Rangers were useless and lawless, and unable or unwilling to protect Confederate property.  The citizen added  that the Confederate people "could not fare worse were we surrounded by a band of Lincoln's mercenary hirelings.  Our homes are entered and pillaged of everything that they [Rangers] see fit to appropriate for themselves."

Union forces established a base at Donaldsonville for their occupation of river parishes.  They took over some plantations, running them as U.S. government plantations to supply the  forces and produce cotton.

--Old B-Runner

Donaldsonville, La.-- Part 2: Destroyed By Farragut

After the war, in 1868, people of Donaldsonville elected Pierre Caliste Landry mayor, the first Black elected to be a mayor of a U.S. city.

In the summer of 1862, the city was bombarded by the Union navy.  Gunboats were sent to town to  warn residents that  if shots were fire from the town, that the area from nine miles north to six miles south would have every structure destroyed.

Admiral Farragut, after ordering its inhabitants to leave, destroyed much of the city and put Ascension Parish under martial law.  According to Louisiana historian John D. Winters, the citizen:  "...left their homes and went to the bayou....a detachment of Yankees went ashore with fire torches in hand."

The hotels,  warehouses, dwellings, and some of the most valuable buildings of the town were destroyed.  Plantations were bombarded and set afire.

Mean Ol' Farragut.  --Old B-R'er

Donaldsonville, Louisiana-- Part 1: Former State Capital and Fort Butler

From Wikipedia.

Abner Read was mortally wounded in a fight with Confederates near here on July 7, 1863.  He died the next day.

I'd never heard of this town before or its role in the Civil War.

It was the former capital of Louisiana (1829-1831), moved from New Orleans as English-speaking people in the state wanted to get the capital away from all the French people on New Orleans.

Union forces attacked and occupied the city in 1862.  Fort Butler was built to protect the city and it was successfully defended on June  28, 1863,  against a Confederate attack.  This marked the first time that free blacks and fugitive slaves fought as soldiers on behalf of the Union Army.  The fort is listed on the NRHP.

--Old B-Runner

The Huntress, Last Slave Ship to Leave the Congo in 1865

From Wikipedia.

The Huntress was out of New York and was a hermaphrodite schooner that transported slaves.  It is the last slave ship to leave the Congo of Africa after buying slaves from the Africans.

In March 1865, the Huntress left with a capacity of 200  slaves headed for Louisiana.  When the slave trade ended in 1808, slave readers turned to fast ships, largely topsail schooners and brigs, to outrun the vessels of Britain's West Africa Squadron and the American Navy's African Slave Trade Patrol.

"Negro Island" in the Mermentau River is thought to be the location where the Huntress' cargo died under horrible conditions.  However, records show a Huntress-type vessel landed a cargo of slaves in Cuba in 1864.

--Old B-Runner

'Skull Island' on the Mermentau River: Remains of the Last Slaves From Africa?

In the last post, I mentioned the USS Eugenie/USS Glasgow going on an expedition to Mermentau Lake in Louisiana.  Wikipedia made no mention of the lake, but did of the river.

It is located in the western part of the state.

The Mermentau River has the infamous "Negro Island"  (also known as "Skull Island") near the tiny village of Grand Chenier. In March 1867, countless skeletons, skulls and leg bones were found still shackled by rusting leg irons.

It is thought that with the Civil War over, a slaver ship, fearful of being caught violating the 1820 U.S. law on Slave Trade would be charged with piracy and hanged.

It is believed that this gruesome discovery might be the human cargo carried by the slaver  schooner Huntress which is known to be the last slave ship to leave the Congo with a cargo of 200 slaves.

A Horrible Story.  --Old B-Runner

USS Glasgow-- Part 2: Mermantau Lake and the Name Change

The Eugenie was sent on an expedition to Mermentau River/Lake, Louisiana, on 22 December 1863 for the capture of two British blockade runners, the schooner Derby was captured, but had to be burnt  because of heavy enemy shore fire on the attacking party.

RENAMED

The Eugenie was renamed USS Glasgow on January 21, 1864. after a week of repairing in New Orleans.  In early February it was back on station wit the blockading fleet near Mobile, Alabama.

Serving mainly as a dispatch boat, the Glasgow aided in the destruction of the blockade runner Ivanhoe under the fire of Fort Morgan 30 June 1864.

--Old B-Runner

September 12, 1863: Steamer Alabama Captured By USS Eugenie

SEPTEMBER 12TH, 1863:  USS Eugenie, Acting Master's Mate F. H. Dyer, captured steamer Alabama odd Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana.

The Chandeleur Islands are on the easternmost part of Louisiana.  They are barrier islands.

--Old B-Runner

November 3, 1862: Action At Bayou Teche-- Part 3: Between the CSS Cotton and Union Ships in Louisiana.

Actually, there had been an engagement a month earlier between the same ships.

NOVEMBER 3RD, 1862:  The CSS Cotton, Lt. Edward W. Fuller, and shore batteries engaged the USS Calhoun, Kinsman, Estrella and Diana in Berwick Bay, Louisiana.  In this close and spirited action against heavy odds, Captain Fuller caused considerable damage to the Union squadron until exhaustion of cartridges forced the Cotton to retire.

Captain Fuller reported that the legs of the men's pants were cut off to use as improvised cartridge bags to fire parting shots as he withdrew.

--Old B-Runner

Action at Bayou Teche-- Part 2: Still Fighting

Over the next two days, two other fights took place between the Union ships and the CSS J.A. Cotton and each time the Cotton won.

That night, the Union ships captured the A.B. Seger, a small Confederate Navy steamer used as a dispatch boat.  Five days later, the USS Kinsman and the A.B. Seger captured and burned the steamers J.P. Smith and Osprey in Bayou Cheval.

--Old B-R'er

Action at Bayou Teche, Louisiana, November 3-5, 1862-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Bayou Teche is a 125-mile long waterway in Louisiana which was originally the course of the Mississippi River.

During the Civil War, two gunboat engagements took place here.  I wrote about one on Wednesday regarding the USS Diana.

The first occurred November 3-5, 1862, when the USS Kinsman, Calhoun, Estrella and Diana, mounting 24 cannons, passed obstructions placed by Confederate General Alfred Mouton and engaged the CSS J.A. Cotton near Cornay's Bridge for one and a half hours.

The CSS Cotton, a wooden steamboat modified with a casemate of timber and cotton bales and a small amount of railroad iron along its sides was struck several times, but managed to escape.

--Old B-Runner

USS Diana-- Part 2: Recaptured By Confederates

The USS Diana had a short career.  It captured two vessels on December 6, 1862, near Vicksburg as I wrote about on Wednesday.  It also took part in the attack on Bayou Teche, Louisiana, that resulted in the destruction of the CSS J.A, Cotton on 14 January 1863.

Next, it served with Navy and Army detachments in Berwick Bay, Louisiana, until 23 March 1863, when it was recaptured while on a reconnaissance mission to Grand Lake and Atchafalaya River in Louisiana.

A book has been written about this ship:  "Gunboat Named Diana, A, And Other Exciting Stories of Civil War Battles Which raged in the Bayou Country of Louisiana" by Raphael Morris.

--Old B-R'er

June 2, 1862: Action in Florida and Captures in Louisiana

JUNE 2ND, 1862:  A boat from the USS New London, Lt. A. Read, captured yachts Comet and Algerine near New Basin, Louisiana.

**  Eleven men in two boats under Acting Master Samuel Curtis from the USS Kingfisher, while on an expedition up the Aucilla River, Florida, to obtain fresh water, were surprised by Confederate attackers; two were killed and nine were captured.

--Old B-Runner

May 4, 1862: Gloucester Point and Fort Pike Captured

MAY 4TH, 1862:  Boat crew from the USS Wachusett, Commander W. Smith, raised the United States flag at Gloucester Point, Virginia, after General McClellan's troops occupied Yorktown; two Confederate schooners were captured.

**  The USS Calhoun, Lt. Joseph E. DeHaven, captured sloop Charles Henry off St. Joseph, Louisiana, and raised the United States flag over Fort Pike, which had been evacuated.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Livingston, Louisiana-- Part 2: Built On a Pirate Hideout

In the early 19th century, Grand Terre Island was the home to pirates under Lafitte.

The fort was begun in 1834, but work soon stopped.  It resumed in 1841 under the direction of Major P.G.T. Beauregard, U.S. Army.  A lighthouse was added in 1856.  Construction was stooped by the Civil War and never resumed after that.

It was occupied temporarily by Confederates and used to protect blockade runners using the Barataria Pass..  At one time, the fort had four companies, comprising 300 men along with 15 cannons.  It was abandoned after the fall of New Orleans to Farragut.

Most of the fort was destroyed by a hurricane in 1872 and most of its guns removed in 1889.  One whole side is gone and it is only accessible by boat.

--Old B-R'er

Fort Livingston, Louisiana-- Part 1: Named for Edward Livingston

On April 27, 2017, I posted about the surrender of this fort in Louisiana on April 27, 1862. .  I had never heard of it before.  I was familiar with Forts Jackson and St. Philip, but not this one.

From Wikipedia.

Fort Livingston is a 19th century coastal defense fort located at Grand Terre Island in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.  It was named for Edward Livingston, one-time mayor of New York City, U.S. senator from Louisiana and U.S. Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson.

It was listed on the NRHP in 1974.

Today, part of the fort still stands but is mostly in ruins.

--Old B-Runner

April 27, 1862: Fort Livingston in Louisiana Surrenders

APRIL 27TH, 1862:  Fort Livingston, Bastian Bay, Louisiana, surrendered to the Navy.  Boat crew from the USS Kittatinny raised the United States flag over the fort.

--Old B-Runner