Rosalie Mansion is a historic pre-Civil War

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

and

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

. Built in 1823, it served as the architectural inspiration for a large number of Natchez's grand

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

mansions, and was a major influence on

Antebellum architecture Antebellum architecture (meaning "prewar", from the Latin '' ante'', "before", and '' bellum'', "war") is the neoclassical architectural style characteristic of the 19th-century Southern United States, especially the Deep South, from after the b ...

in the greater region. 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 served as Union headquarters for the Natchez area from July 1863 on. It was designated 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 ...

in 1989.

Description

Rosalie is located southwest of Natchez's downtown area, overlooking 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 ...

at the junction of Orleans and South Broadway Streets. It is a basically cubical three-story brick building, with a truncated hip roof encircled by a low balustrade. Its front facade has a monumental four-column Tuscan portico, with entablature and a gabled pediment with a semi-oval window at its center. Broad entrances in the center bay provide access to the house on the ground floor and a balcony on the second; both have double-leaf doors, sidelight windows, and semi-oval transom windows. A five-column portico extends across the center of the rear elevation, although it is covered by a flat roof without entablature.

History

Rosalie, Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi

Rosalie Mansion was built for Peter Little, a wealthy cotton broker, in 1823 on the bluff overlooking the

. It is on a portion of the site of the Natchez Indians' 1729

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

of the French at Fort Rosalie. On July 13, 1863, a week after the

Battle of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Missis ...

, General Grant took possession of Rosalie to use as Union Army headquarters. On August 26, 1863, General Walter Gresham took command of Union Army troops at Natchez. His headquarters remained at Rosalie. Gresham had much of the owner's furnishings stored in the attic and put under guard to prevent theft or destruction. Union army tents covered much of the property surrounding the mansion. Union Army soldiers were placed in position in the

widow's walk A widow's walk, also known as a widow's watch or roofwalk, is a railed rooftop platform often having an inner cupola/turret frequently found on 19th-century North American coastal houses. The name is said to come from the wives of mariners, who ...

on top of the mansion.

Historic house museum

Rosalie Mansion has been owned, operated, and maintained as a

by the Mississippi State Society

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, for more than seventy years. It was declared a

in 1989. and Photography is not allowed inside the mansion.

Gallery

File:Side view of Rosalie Mansion IMG_6969.JPG, Side view File:Flower garden at Fort Rosalie, Natchez, MS IMG_6972.JPG, Flower garden File:The gounds at Rosalie Mansion, Natchez, MS IMG_6968.JPG, Greenery abounds in wet months

References

External links

Rosalie Mansion website

U._S._Dept._of_the_Interior,_Historic_American_Buildings_Survey
_report,_photos,_and_detailed_floor_plans_of_Rosalie,_1934.html" ;"title="Historic American Buildings Survey">U. S. Dept. of the Interior, Historic American Buildings Survey
report, photos, and detailed floor plans of Rosalie, 1934">Historic American Buildings Survey">U. S. Dept. of the Interior, Historic American Buildings Survey
report, photos, and detailed floor plans of Rosalie, 1934 {{Natchez, Mississippi Museums in Natchez, Mississippi Plantation houses in Mississippi Historic house museums in Mississippi American Civil War museums in Mississippi 1820s architecture in the United States National Historic Landmarks in Mississippi Antebellum architecture Greek Revival houses in Mississippi Houses in Natchez, Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Natchez, Mississippi Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Mississippi 1823 establishments in Mississippi Houses completed in 1823

Description

History

Historic house museum

Gallery

See also

References

External links