Fort DeRussy, located south of

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...

, and four miles (6 km) north of Marksville, was 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 ...

earthwork stronghold 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 ...

. It was built in 1862 to defend the lower Red River Valley in Louisiana. Located in

Avoyelles Parish Avoyelles (french: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,07 ...

, the fort, cemetery and water batteries were designated as a state historic site in 1994.Fort DeRussy official website
Friends of Fort DeRussy"Fort DeRussy State Historic Site"
Civil War Trust The fort and the water battery were 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 ...

in 2016. With 14 modern and historic maps and 34 photos The fort was named for Colonel Lewis G. DeRussy, the oldest

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graduate to serve in the Confederate Army. Born in New York City in 1795 to a French family who were refugees from revolutions in Saint-Domingue and France, DeRussy was educated at

West Point Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. He was a career officer in the US Army and engineer, first stationed in Louisiana in 1826, where he lived for nearly 40 years. DeRussy had become a prominent engineer in civilian life after his earlier military service with the US Army, including during the Mexican War. He also had a cotton plantation, and in the 1850s he served in the state house and state senate.

DeRussy service

He returned to military service during the American Civil War, joining the Confederacy. He was the engineering officer in charge of the construction of the first fortifications at the fort. He died at his plantation home of a heart attack in December 1864. In the late 20th century, the remains of the colonel were exhumed from an abandoned grave and reinterred on the grounds of the fort on September 26, 1999.

Battles at the fort

A portion of Rear Admiral David D. Porter's Mississippi Squadron captured the fort on May 5, 1863. areas were destroyed on May 9, 1863, by the . The remnants of the garrison at the fort surrendered to the Union Army, led by General A. J. Smith, on March 14, 1864.

Maps and plans

Drawn under the direction of Captain R. M. Venable, Chief of Topographical Bureau of Western Louisiana and Arkansas:
Map of Fort DeRussy and vicinity

Plans of Fort DeRussy and obstructions of the Red River below Fort DeRussy
1864

Preservation

The property was donated to the City of Marksville so that it could receive a $75,000 grant from the State of Louisiana to improve the site in order for it to be accepted by the State Parks system. The Friends of Fort DeRussy were commissioned to manage the improvements for the city. A grant of $150,000 was received from the Red River Waterway Commission to purchase an additional , and 11 more acres were donated by the City of Marksville, at which time the state agreed to accept the donation of the fort and adjoining . The

American Battlefield Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization ( 501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. Th ...

and its partners have acquired and preserved 80 acres of the battlefield in three transactions since 1999.

"Fort DeRussy Battlefield" webpage. Accessed May 15, 2023.

References

External links

Friends of Fort DeRussy
CivilWarAlbum.com
Webcast Lecture
on ''Earthen Walls, Iron Men'' by Steve Mayeux at the

Pritzker Military Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...