Fort St. Philip
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort St. Philip is a decommissioned masonry fort located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, about 40 miles up river from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. It formerly served as military protection of New Orleans, Louisiana, some 80 miles up river, and the lower Mississippi.
The first fort on this location "San Felipe", was constructed in the 18th century during the Spanish control of Louisiana.
The fort served a role in protecting the United States from the British invasion in the War of 1812, seeing 9 days of battle in January 1815.
The current fort was constructed along with Fort Jackson on the river's western bank as a coastal defense for New Orleans and the Mississippi, on urging of Andrew Jackson.
The fort was the site of a twelve-day siege in April 1862 by the Union army during the American Civil War.
Fort St. Philip is currently privately owned and in a state of bad deterioration. The site frequently floods under waters from the Mississippi and is accessible only by boat now.
[edit] External links
- First Siege of Fort St. Philip (1815) — eyewitness accounts, as published in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly.
- Second Siege of Fort St. Philip (1862) — Chapter 15 of Kendall's History of New Orleans
