Camp Parapet was a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

fortification at

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Jefferson Parish (french: Paroisse de Jefferson; es, Parroquia de Jefferson) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 440,781. Its parish seat is Gretna, its largest community is Metairie, and its ...

, a bit more than a mile upriver from the current city limits of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

History

The fortification consisted of a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

defensive line about a mile and 3/4 long stretching from the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

northward to Metairie Ridge. (The area farther north from the ridge to

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

was at the time

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

land.) This was intended to protect the city of New Orleans from

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

attack from upriver. As the Union fleet took the city by sailing in from below, the fortification was never used. After the

capture of New Orleans The capture of New Orleans (April 25 – May 1, 1862) during the American Civil War was a turning point in the war, which precipitated the capture of the Mississippi River. Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union was u ...

, U.S. forces garrisoned and expanded the fortifications to defend against a

counter-attack, which never came. Under Union control, the Camp lay in the district of Brigadier General

Thomas W. Sherman Thomas West Sherman (March 26, 1813 – December 31, 1879) was a United States Army officer with service during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. While some contemporaries mistakenly identified him as the brother of the more f ...

. In late-September 1862,

Halbert E. Paine Halbert Eleazer Paine (February 4, 1826April 14, 1905) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He served as a Union Army general during the American Civil War, and after the war was elected to three terms in the United States House of ...

, captain of the

4th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment The 4th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, primarily in the Western Theater. It was later mounted and became the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment. History The 4th Wis ...

, assumed command of the camp.

George H. Hanks George H. Hanks ( – October 23, 1871) was an abolitionist and civil rights activist and colonel in the US Civil War. Biography Hanks was married before the war, and was a resident of Hartford, Connecticut.Return Home Of George H. Hanks. ''Hart ...

, a lieutenant in the

12th Connecticut Infantry Regiment The 12th Connecticut Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 12th Connecticut Infantry Regiment was organized at Hartford, Connecticut, beginning November 19, 1861, and m ...

was detailed as aide-de-camp for Sherman for the superintendence of the many

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

arriving at the camp. He organized six colonies at Camp Parapet each led by a non-commissioned officer and directed black labor in the repair and fortification of the camp and surroundings. This scheme was expanded under Hanks to become the Bureau of Negro Labor, which was one of the organizations which would eventually become the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

. Companies C and H of the 42nd Regiment Infantry Massachusetts Volunteers, serving on engineer service, were assigned to Camp Parapet on January 15, 1863 under Senior-Captain Leonard and Major D. C. Houston, chief engineer, Department of the Gulf (XIX Corps). Steps were taken in March to begin organizing and enlisting men from Camp Parapet to form the 1st Regiment Louisiana Engineers. The regiment was mustered into service April 28, 1863 and consisted of 12 companies of sixty men each in three battalions under command of Colonel Justin Hodge. Thirteen enlisted men of the 42nd Mass. Vols. were promoted to officers a month later after receiving their commissions. The 1st Regiment Louisiana Engineers would later be split in two to form the 1st and 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique (95th and 97th U.S.C.T.).

Remains

Powder magazine

The only remaining structure of the fortification is the powder magazine, of brick enclosed in an earth mound. It is located off Causeway Boulevard near the American Legion Post 267, preserved in a small park and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on May 24, 1977. wit
two photos and a map
With .

Cemetery site

Nearby is the historic

Shrewsbury (Camp Parapet) Cemetery Shrewsbury Cemetery, historically known as Camp Parapet Cemetery , is an old burial ground near New Orleans, Louisiana, on the site of a Confederate military camp during the American Civil War. The cemetery is the burying ground of Ross Chur ...

, the site of the camp's cemetery, where 7,000 Union bodies were once interred before being moved to

Chalmette National Cemetery Chalmette National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located within Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Chalmette, Louisiana. The cemetery is a graveyard adjacent to the site that was once the battleground of the Ba ...

References

External links