Port Hudson State Historic Site

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Port Hudson State Historic Site
Map showing the location of Port Hudson State Historic Site
Map showing the location of Port Hudson State Historic Site
Map of the United States
Location East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
Nearest city Jackson, Louisiana
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Governing body Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism; Office of State Parks

The Port Hudson State Historic Site is located on the Mississippi River north of Baton Rouge in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, just outside the limits of Port Hudson and in the vicinity of Jackson. The site is the location of the longest siege in American history,[1] during the American Civil War from May 23 through July 9, 1863. The state of Louisiana maintains the site, which includes a museum about the siege, artillery displays, redoubts, and interpretive plaques. Living history re-enactments are held each year.

Port Hudson National Cemetery is located about six miles south, in East Baton Rouge Parish.

National Historic Landmark

Port Hudson was designated a National Historic Landmark on May 30, 1974.

New housing developments and utility lines within the landmark are damaging both surface features (trenches and earthworks) and subsurface archaeological resources.[2]

Addition

An addition to this historic site includes 256 acres (1.04 km2) where African American troops made their first major assault in the Civil War. This addition was made possible by The Conservation Fund using its Battlefield Revolving Fund established by grants from The Gilder Foundation and contributions from a number of partners.[3]

Archaeology surveys

Port Hudson & Vicinity, 1864.

A survey of Union Siege Battery 8 was conducted by archaeology students from Louisiana State University. Goals of the survey included locating the exact boundaries of the battery and finding evidence of a zigzag trench, or sap, that historical accounts say the Union troops dug from the battery to a short distance from the Confederate lines. The project will also produce a digital topographical map of the area so that park staff may overlay with historical maps.[4]

Battery 8 is located in the northeast portion of the Union Siege lines (view 1864 map).[5]

Gallery

  • Confederate siege gun mounted in the river fortifications, 1863.

  • View of Fort Desperate from the observation tower.

  • Outside the Fort Desperate earthworks looking west.

  • Fort Desperate, July 1863.

  • Foster Creek below Artillery Ridge looking west toward Fort Babcock.

  • Foster Creek west of the Alabama-Arkansas Redoubt looking north toward Artillery Ridge.

  • Port hudson battery.jpg

    Captain Bainbridge's Battery A, 1st U.S. Artillery, 1863.

  • US Army 20-Pounder Parrott Rifle Model 1861.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ National Historic Landmark Database
  3. ↑ The Conservation Fund
  4. ↑ James Minton, Advocate Baker-Zachary Bureau, Students Dig Port Hudson History, October 6, 2009, Page 1B.
  5. ↑ Map of Port Hudson and vicinity Prepared by order of Major General N. P. Banks under the direction of Major D. C. Houston, Chief Engineer, Department of the Gulf and Captain Peter C. Hains, Corps of Engr's. 1864.

External links

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