Location and Construction of Forts at Plaquemines Bend, Louisiana

Fort Jackson,
1822-1832

Fort Jackson is situated 32 nautical miles from the Gulf of Mexico, 22 miles from the lighthouse at the head of the passes of the Mississippi River, and 65 miles in a southeasterly direction from New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in Section 50 of Township 20 South, Range 30 East, Southeastern District of Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

Built in a regular star-shaped pentagon, the Fort's walls are 25 feet above the water line of the wet ditch (moat) which completely surround it. These walls are constructed of red brick 20 feet thick. The gun foundations are reinforced with red and gray granite. Two curtains facing the river were casemated for 8 guns each. In the center of the fort there was a diagonal-shaped defensive barracks which was intended as a bomb-proof shelter accommodating 500 men.

The foundations of Fort Jackson were made of three layers of cypress logs topped by cypress 2 x 4's used as a leveling device. The device was made airtight by being submerged in water.

Fort St. Phillip, 1792

Fort St. Phillip is located diagonally upriver from Fort Jackson on the opposite east bank of the Mississippi River in Section 11 of Township 19 South, Range 17 East on the east bank of the river.

It followed an older pattern of fort construction. Originally, the section toward the river was bastioned terrace. This was eventually enclosed. Parapets 20 feet thick rose 17 feet high from the bottom of the ditch.

The original Fort St. Phillip made provisions for 20 heavy guns bearing on the river and 12 guarding the approaches by land. Two external batteries with 20 feet thick parapets held twenty-two heavy guns and six 24 pounders.

Fort Bourbon, 1792

Fort Bourbon was located on the upper edge of the Fort Jackson reservation, approximately 1500 toises from the present location of Fort Jackson. It was situated in the original Section 4 of Township 20 South, Range 30 East, Southeastern District of Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi. Fort Bourbon was merely an earth and timber breastworks. It was the first armed defensive site in this area. The original location of this fort is now submerged under the river. 

History of Fort Jackson

Fort Jackson was born of necessity. Because of the proximity of Spain, sometimes friend, sometimes foe, many Louisianans felt the need for stronger fortifications to protect the lower Mississippi River Delta. It was true that Fort St. Phillip, located on the east bank of the river, had repulsed the British Fleet after a nine-day bombardment in 1815 and had prevented the British Fleet from joining British General Pakenham's land forces attacking New Orleans on the plains of Chalmette, Louisiana. But could this single fort protect New Orleans and keep the river secure in the future? General Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans, in his report to United States Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, strongly emphasized the need of additional fortifications to protect the mouth of the river from possible Spanish attack. It was largely because of General Jackson's recommendations that the U. S. Government began the construction of Fort Jackson in 1822.

Fort Jackson was not the first fortification to be constructed on the west bank of the river. Earthen and timber breast works dated back to the middle 1700's. Among the earliest references to fortifications at Plaquemines Bend is one dated 1746, when this site was recognized by Lenormant, French intendent commissary in Louisiana, as ideal for defenses. Sailing vessels, compelled to tack to negotiate the huge Plaquemines Bend in the river and sailing against a four mile current, would be an easy target for land batteries.

Later, in 1792, Baron de Carondelet, Spanish Governor of Louisiana, constructed Fort St. Phillip, then called Fort San Felipe. On the opposite, or west bank, he erected a redoubt that he named Fort Bourbon, which became the cornerstone of the west bank fortification from which Fort Jackson eventually evolved. Fort Bourbon was destroyed by a hurricane in 1795 and Governor Carondelet ordered it rebuilt.

The British attempt to reach upriver to New Orleans in the War of 1812 demonstrated the need of a major fort on the site previously occupied by the highly vulnerable Fort Bourbon.

Construction of Fort Jackson, named after Andrew Jackson, began in 1822 and was completed and occupied in 1832. The total cost of construction was $554,500. It was then garrisoned by a small force until February 9, 1842, when it was declared a military reservation by executive order of President John Tyler. With the coming of the Mexican War, it was imperative that the Forts, St. Phillip and Jackson, be prepared for any emergency. On June 1, 1846, Governor Isaac Johnson of Louisiana ceded the lands to the National Government. Fortunately, these defenses were not needed during the Mexican War.

Both forts remained garrisoned with only a few soldiers until seized by the State of Louisiana on January 8, 1861 and ultimately turned over to the Confederate States of America when the new government was formed.

Fort Jackson and St. Phillip were important defenses of Confederate New Orleans and with their surrender, after Union Admiral Farragut had reached the city, the control of the lower Mississippi was in Federal hands.

By 1861 modern fast steam vessels were now in use and it was evident that some sort of barrier across the river would be necessary to defend the Forts and New Orleans properly, as slow sailing ships having to tack in front of the Fort's guns were no longer the targets. Additionally there were no other established fortifications between the mouth of the river and the city. Most of Confederate attention had been directed to the northern land defenses of New Orleans.

With a river obstruction and a cooperating fleet, it was felt that Fort St. Phillip and Fort Jackson could safeguard the river approaches to Confederate New Orleans from the South. The New Orleans' Daily Picayune newspaper expressed the prevailing sentiment of many Orleanians and most Southerners in an editorial: "...By land we are impregnable and the coast and river's assailable points are susceptible to a degree of defense that floating wood or iron cannot make an impression."

New Orleans own homegrown hero Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, however, warned the local authorities that the forts were vulnerable to attack from the new technology of iron hulled ships under steam power and recommended further improvements to their defenses. Unfortunately for the Confederate defense his suggestions were largely ignored.

Fort Jackson was the site of the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Phillip from April 16 to April 28, 1862 during the American War Between the States. The Confederate controlled fort was besieged for 12 days by the fleet of Union Admiral David Farragut. Fort Jackson finally surrendered on April 28 after the Federal fleet bombarded it for six days 24 hours a day and then sailed past its guns. A later mutiny against the Union Officers occupying the Fort caused by bad living conditions then occurred after the fort fell to the Union, however control was restored. Union forces went on to capture New Orleans.

After the Civil War, use of the Forts at Plaquemines Bend was an on-again off-again matter. Fort Jackson was used as a prison and later as a minor training base. Gradually, much of the reservation was abandoned. During the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Fort was repaired and modernized and two large coastal guns were installed. Today these "Span-Am" fortifications are prominently preserved and may be toured.

During World War I (1917-1918), the Fort was again used as a training base. After the war, both Forts Jackson and St. Phillip were declared surplus property and eventually sold to private owners.

Fort Jackson was purchased on November 9, 1927, by Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Harvey of New Orleans. In 1960, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey donated the land to the Parish of Plaquemines. The donated portion of the reservation site was acquired for the purpose of completely renovating the Fort and surrounding grounds into a public park.

In 1960, the U. S. Department of the Interior classified Fort Jackson, and its sister Fort St. Phillip, as National Historical Monuments. Later in 1961 the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council, through its president, Judge L. H. Perez, began the restoration program to transform the abandoned Fort Jackson and its 82 acre reservation, which had become a veritable jungle with mud-filled tunnels infested with snakes, into an historical mecca for tourists and a recreational center. Huge celebrations of the 4th of July with Fireworks and activities were held here. The Local Orange Festival celebrating the Citrus industry is held in December on the Fort's grounds.

In 1961 a protection levee was built to ring the Fort and protect it against high waters of the Mississippi River, then an automatic pumping station was installed which drained the water and created a recreational lake. The mountains of slush were removed; the area cleared and an access road was built to the Fort, plus a 300 square foot parking area. This was followed by the repairing and replacing of brick walls and restorations of guns and gun placements, replanking bridges and walkways and the opening of the original Fort moats and drains.

Several Historic Monuments of note are included on the grounds of the Fort. A large Monument topped by a cross commemorates the early French Explorer De la Salle's claim of the lands at the mouth of the Mississippi River for France in 1700. Another nearby Monument remembers the first celebration of the Catholic Mass in the Louisiana Territory.

On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina passed over the Fort and brought over 20 feet of flood waters which remained over the Fort for weeks. Although the old Fort had endured dozens of Storms over its 183 years of existence this greatest natural disaster in United States history caused the closing of the Fort to the public while its' grounds became a collection point for tons of storm debris from surrounding communities. At a point when the clearing of debris allowed the consideration of the Fort's re-opening another historic disaster attacked the Fort, the 2010 BP Horizon Oil Spill in the nearby Gulf of Mexico Oil Field. The Fort was used to treat oily birds in the early weeks of the Oil Spill. The treatment facility was moved on July 4, 2010, north to Hammond, Louisiana in order to make it less vulnerable to hurricanes.

A full restoration and cleaning has finally been finished and the Fort was re-opened to the public in January, 2011 just in time to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the great Battle of the American War Between the States at the Fort that allowed Union forces under Admiral Farragut to capture New Orleans, Louisiana. On April 20-22, 2012 a large Battle re-enactment and varied activities are planned for this 150th Anniversary

So that tourists may learn more about the Fort a permanent relic and souvenir exhibit has been established and a program set up to recover (by electronic equipment), more of the war relics within the boundaries of the Fort.

Plans are being discussed to transfer Fort Jackson from Parish Control to the National Park System in order to fully preserve the entire area and both Forts.

As a result of the restorative work, the glory of Fort Jackson lives again and one of America's greatest landmarks is preserved for posterity. Come and visit us for the 150th Anniversary of one of the greatest and most important Battles in American History on April 20-22, 2012.

Fort Jackson is on Louisiana SH-23 approximately 70 miles south of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The park is open year-round during daylight. The museum and gift shop are open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily.