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