Fort Jackson is a historic masonry

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

located up river from the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of 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 ...

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Plaquemines Parish (; French language, French: ''Paroisse de Plaquemine'', Louisiana French: ''Paroisse des Plaquemines'', es, Parroquia de Caquis) is a Parish (subnational entity), parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a populat ...

. It was constructed as a coastal defense of

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

, between 1822 and 1832, and it was a battle site during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. It is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. It was damaged by Hurricanes

Katrina Katrina or Katrine may refer to: People * Katrina (given name) * Katrine (given name) Meteorology * List of storms named Katrina, a list of tropical cyclones designated as Katrina ** Hurricane Katrina, an exceptionally powerful Atlantic hurrican ...

and

Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...

, and its condition is threatened. It is marked Battery Millar on some maps, for the Endicott era work built nearby it. Fort Jackson Bombardment Damage

Fort Jackson is situated approximately south of New Orleans on the western bank of the Mississippi, approximately south of Triumph, Louisiana. The older

Fort St. Philip Fort St. Philip is a historic masonry fort located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, about upriver from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, just opposite Fort Jackson on the other side of the river. It formerly served a ...

is located opposite of Fort Jackson on the eastern bank; this West Bank fort was constructed after the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

on the advice of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, for whom it is named. The fort was occupied off and on for various military purposes from its completion until after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when it served as a training station. It is now a

and historical museum owned and operated by Plaquemines Parish. Fort Jackson was the site of the

Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip (April 18–28, 1862) was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River south of the city were attacked by a Union Nav ...

from April 16 to April 28, 1862, during the

. The

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 ...

-controlled fort was besieged for 12 days by the fleet of

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

Flag Officer

David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. Fa ...

. Fort Jackson fell on April 28 after the

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 ...

fleet bombarded it and then sailed past its guns. A mutiny against the officers and conditions then occurred and the fort fell to the Union. Union forces then went on to capture New Orleans. Following the engagement, Fort Jackson was used as a Union prison. It was here that the French

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

magnate

Charles Heidsieck Charles Camille Heidsieck (1822–1893) was a French Champagne merchant who founded the Champagne firm '' Charles Heidsieck'' in 1851. He is credited with popularizing Champagne in the United States and was known as "Champagne Charlie" during his ...

was held for seven months on charges of spying.

Modern times

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

in 1960, and and was also listed on 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 ...

in 1967. Plaquemines Parish Commission Council began renovations on the fort in 1961, with the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

stating that "The fort area had become a jungle with mud-filled tunnels infested with snakes and flooded with water". In the 1960s,

Leander Perez Leander Henry Perez Sr. (July 16, 1891 – March 19, 1969) was the Democratic political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district ...

threatened to turn Fort St. Philip into a prison for advocates of

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

("outside agitators") who entered the Parish. The fort site was later opened as a park with only the outside grounds open for visitors. The interior of the fort is open to the public on occasion, The Fort Jackson Museum is open to the public, but it is not at the fort site. It is located approximately southwest from Fort Jackson in Plaquemines Parish's District 9 office at 38039 Hwy 23, Buras, LA 70041.

Storm Damage

Due to the location of Fort Jackson, it is vulnerable to the strong winds, pelting rain, and decimating storm surges from storms ranging from 'rough weather' to 'deadly hurricanes'. The fort was inundated with 20 feet of water from both

Hurricane Betsy Hurricane Betsy was an intense and destructive tropical cyclone that brought widespread damage to areas of Florida and the central United States Gulf Coast in September 1965. The storm's erratic nature, coupled with its intensity and minim ...

, a category 4 storm, in September 1965, and

Hurricane Camille Hurricane Camille was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the United States, behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. The most intense storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, Camille originated as a tropical depression ...

, a category 5 storm, in August 1969. The fort was badly damaged by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

in 2005. Between Katrina and

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...

the following month, much of the fort sat under water for up to six weeks. Many of the historic exhibits in the fort were destroyed, and the fort itself suffered structural damage.

Other Uses

Since 1970, The grounds of Fort Jackson have been the site of both the Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival. The fort was used to treat oily birds in the early weeks of the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

. The treatment facility was moved on July 4, 2010, to

Hammond, Louisiana Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, located east of Baton Rouge and northwest of New Orleans. Its population was 20,019 in the 2010 U.S. census, and 21,359 at the 2020 population estimates program. Ham ...

, in order to make it less vulnerable to hurricanes.

References

External links

Fort Tours: Fort Jackson

Forts Jackson and St. Philip Collection, 1861-1862
a
The Historic New Orleans Collection
{{Authority control Jackson (Louisiana), Fort

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana Museums in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana American Civil War museums in Louisiana Buildings and structures in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

1823 establishments in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places

Modern times

Storm Damage

Other Uses

See also

References

External links