American History in Your Backyard
Have you been to
Port Hudson?
By Madeline Casey
Visitors to Port Hudson State Historic Site just west of Zachary find something far beyond an ordinary nature trail. Winding trails weave through a thick forest just one mile from the Mississippi and even in the hot summer months, the trees protect visitors from the sun.
But rewind almost 150 years, and the terrain changes dramatically.
At the heart of the American Civil War, Port Hudson hosted the longest and bloodiest siege of the entire war. The once busy port city was actually located on the bluffs beside the river, and the forests of today lay chopped to the ground in preparation for the battle that was sure to come.
Port Hudson was known to be an instrument of victory for both the North and South. Whoever captured Port Hudson had complete control over the Mississipi from Natchez to New Orleans. The South needed this in order to secure the flow of supplies from Texas via the Red River, while the North desperately wanted to cut off this important vein for the South.
Ideal Port Hudson
The battles that took place at Port Hudson were a true turning point in the Civil War. It was the South’s last stronghold on the Mississippi and the only port standing between the North’s complete control of the mighty river.
A Federal victory at the Battle of Baton Rouge forced Confederate soldiers to occupy Port Hudson, 22 miles north of Baton Rouge. Meanwhile, Admiral David G. Farragut’s armada took control of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and continued moving up the Mississippi to meet other Union naval forces.
By August 1862, the 160 miles of river between Port Hudson and Vicksburg, Miss. represented the final Confederate advantage in the war.
The geographic makeup of Port Hudson was ideal for Confederate defenses, both on the river and land. A series of 60- to 80-foot bluffs overlooked a sharp bend on the river, giving a perfect view of approaching Union forces.
“ The bluffs along the river are made of soil blown here from the Midwest during the ice ages,” Michael Fraering, curator at the Port Hudson State Historic Site, explained. “These naturally eroded over time, so the bluffs, gullies and ravines worked in favor of the Rebel soldiers.”
Before the siege at Port Hudson, a serious conflict proved the power of the port’s location to Confederate forces. On March 14, 1863, nine Federal ships and 16,000 men on the ground attacked Confederates in an attempt to gain access to the river north of Port Hudson. All Federal vessels ran aground at the bend in the river and after three hours of thunderous cannons and explosions, Federal troops lost 100 men compared to the Confederate’s zero.
May 27 Attack
Following the March 14 attack, Federals brought troops in from the North and South to surround Port Hudson. Defended by General Franklin Gardner and his 6,800 sick and hungry Confederate soldiers low on ammunition, it seemed as if the fort could not last long against the 40,000 Union soldiers.
Outnumbered more than five to one, the Confederates fought one of the best fights of the Civil War, causing the Union to lose four times as many men as the British did at Bunker Hill.
The North launched two major assaults against Port Hudson under command of general N.P. “Nothing Positive” Banks, formerly speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
On May 27, the Federals launched their first offensive, consisting of seven major attacks along the line of Confederate earthworks. The battle lasted 12 hours and recorded 2,000 casualties, most of which were Union troops.
In addition to the breaks between attacks, Confederates had already prepared their terrain for battle. Not only did they use the existing forest for cover, they cut down many trees to give them a better line-of-sight than the enemy.
They also fortified the port by building a 4.5-mile wall made of dirt. Combined with two miles of surrounding river batteries, the Confederates had their entire territory safeguarded against the approaching soldiers.
“ The Rebels didn’t have any wooden or brick forts but they did have dirt walls thick enough to stop a cannon ball,” Fraering said.
This ultimately became a very important advantage since the earthworks were easily rebuilt.
“ Confederate soldiers would work in the safety of night to repair walls almost as easily as they had been broken down,” Fraering said.
Though the Federals eventually retreated from this attack, this battle served as a monumental event for the United States. On May 27, the First and Third Louisiana Native Guards became the first African-American regiments to ever serve in American warfare.
These brave soldiers pushed through to the Confederate front and led the way for more than 180,000 other African-Americans who eventually served in the Union army.
Forty-Eight Day Siege
What eventually became a victory for the North served as a small triumph for the South. For 48 sweltering days and muggy nights, the Confederate forces held off the North’s repeated attacks during that Louisiana summer.
As the Confederates continued to fight, Union forces surrounded the area and blocked all potential entrance or exit of troops and supplies. For almost two months, no fresh Confederate troops, food or supplies entered Port Hudson.
These desperate times called for desperate measures. Records from the siege at Port Hudson declare that these Confederate troops often resorted to eating “mules, horses and rats.”
Fort Desperate
Some of the best-conserved earthworks from the Civil War are those at Fort Desperate, located in the Port Hudson State Historic Site. Aptly named by Confederates who fought in this area, the battles at this site represented the dire situation in which the men were fighting.
The area deemed Fort Desperate made up three-quarters of a mile in the northeast section of the 4.5 total miles of earthworks. It protected the main road to the garrison's arsenal and commissary buildings.
Confederates constructed exterior rifle pits and prepared rat holes, or modern land mines, to slow the progress of the Union approach.
June 14 Attack
The Federal troops regrouped and changed their tactics for their second attack on June 14. Instead of launching seven uncoordinated offensives, Banks and his troops planned only two minor assaults and one major attack on the Confederate center.
Because the Confederate field of fire made it dangerous for the northern troops to approach the Confederate works, the Union dug saps for protection.
Union saps were trails of zig-zag trenches built to protect soldiers from Confederate sharpshooters. Soldiers would open fire with an artillery charge and then “edge the line” with a grenade attack and bayonet charge.
But their grenade attacks were never effective against the Rebels.
“ The grenades never exploded inside the earthworks because Rebel soldiers caught them in blankets like trampolines, then used the grenades against Federal troops,” Fraering said.
The battle on June 14 proved to be another victory for the South, as more than 1900 Federals died in the 5-hour attack.
Fruitless Victories
These previous successes for the Confederate soldiers were fruitless in the end.
On July 7, word reached Port Hudson that Vicksburg had fallen to Union forces several days earlier. Upon hearing this news, General Gardner realized the situation would be hopeless if they continued. Confederates officially surrendered July 9, 1863, ending the longest siege in American military history.
Port Hudson State Historic Site
In 1974, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the Port Hudson battlefield a National Historic Landmark. Today, it features outdoor cannon displays, a picnic area, artifacts and an audio/visual program about the historic battle.
There are also six miles of winding trails through the woods where visitors can journey back to the sites where more than 40,000 Federal and Confederate soldiers fought 150 years ago. In fact, this site is among the best-conserved Civil War battle sites in America.
A museum rests near the entrance to Port Hudson. Inside there are many artifacts, such as letters written by soldiers from the Civil War battle, a Confederate Flag flown in the war and a genealogy database that lists all soldiers present during the siege at Port Hudson.
Finally, the 642 acres of Port Hudson offer a wildlife park for nature lovers. Among the animals spotted are white tail deer, wild turkey, bobcat and even coyote.