Louisiana Forts

American Forts: East

LOUISIANA

Last Update: 25/JANUARY/2019

Shreveport Civil War Defenses
(1864 - 1865), Shreveport
Fort Jenkins, located at the present-day Schumpert Medical Center.
Fort Albert Sidney Johnston, located at present-day Clay and Webster Streets. Remnants may still exist in a small park.
Fort Turnbull, located on East Stoner Ave. at Bayou Pierre (Confederate Memorial Park), near the modern LANG Fort Humbug Armory and the Overton Brooks V.A Hospital. Confederates used charred logs here to simulate cannons. The Union scouts who saw the fort were "humbugged", hence the nickname Fort Humbug (1).
There were 18 detached batteries located between the three main forts.
Battery #1 marker located at the V.A. Hospital flag pole.
Battery #3 and Battery #4 markers located at the Greenwood Cemetery on Stoner Ave..
Battery #5 marker located on Marshall Street at Highland.
Battery #7 marker located on Murphy Street at Texas Ave..
Battery #10 marker located on Clyde Fant Parkway at the Shreveport Convention Center.
Battery #12 marker located at the power plant on Arsenal Hill.

Shreveport Arsenal (1850's ?), a state arsenal, of about 70 acres, located on Arsenal Hill. Workers from the Arkadelphia CSA Ordnance Works in Arkansas were transferred here in the summer of 1863. Taken over by the Union after the war concluded. No remains.
The city was never captured by the Union during the Civil War.

Camp Boggs (2)
(1864 - 1865), Shreveport
A CSA camp guarding a POW camp, located one and one-half miles south of town.

Fort Kirby Smith (Memorial Park)
(1864 - 1865), Bossier City
A CSA defense for Shreveport. Monument on Coleman Street between Monroe and Mansfield Streets, adjacent to Bossier High School, which was built on the site in 1939-40. A small section of the outer wall still exists in the park.

CSA Battery Price was nearby to the west. Upriver from town along the river bank was Battery Walker. Downriver from town, opposite Fort Turnbull, was Battery Ewell. No trace remains of the river batteries.
The town was known as Cane City during the Civil War.

Camp Beach Creek
(1862), near Homer
A CSA camp located eight miles west of town.

Camp Vienna
(1862 - 1864), Vienna
A CSA training camp.

Fort Jesup (State Historic Site)
(1822 - 1848), Fort Jesup FORT WIKI
First known as Cantonment Jesup until 1833. This was the staging area for U.S. troops entering Mexico after Texas' independence. Several buildings have been reconstructed. Admission fee. See also Cane River National Heritage Area
Adjacent to the fort was Camp Wilkins (1844 - 1845).

Camp Sabine
(1836 - 1838), near Many
Located 13 miles west of town along the Sabine River, consisting of a blockhouse and eight storehouses. It was built to project American influence closer to the Texas border during the Texas War of Independence in 1836. The blockhouse was converted after the Mexican-American War into a church. Site now probably inundated by the Toledo Bend Reservoir.
(NOTE: not to be confused with Fort Sabine (1836) located at Sabine Pass, Texas.)

Presidio de Los Adaes (State Historic Site)
(1721 - 1773), Robeline
A reconstruction of a Spanish stockaded fort to defend against the French in Louisiana, formally named Nuestra Señora del Pilar de los Adaes. Also spelled Adais. The fort was hexagonal, about 150 feet to a side, enclosing several adobe buildings used for Officers' quarters, barracks, storehouses, magazines, and a chapel. The Spanish Mission de San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes (1721 - 1773) was one-half league away. The presidio was rebuilt in 1726. This was the capital of Spanish Texas until 1773. The American-Spanish border was fixed by treaty in 1806. See also Handbook of Texas Online || See also Cane River National Heritage Area
Spanish Missions in Louisiana by Kenneth Larson

Fort St. Jean Baptiste (State Historic Site)
(1719 - 1769), Natchitoches FORT WIKI
A 1979 reconstruction of a French fort to defend against the Spanish in Texas. The Indian settlement here at the time was originally garrisoned by a few troops in 1714 to protect traders' huts. This was the first permanent European settlement in present-day Louisiana. The fort was originally located on an island in the Red River, located at about present-day Jefferson Street to the Cane River Lake, and Sibley and College Aves.. It was rebuilt in 1721 due to flooding. Attacked by Natchez Indians in 1731. The post was moved to the mainland in 1732, at about the present-day Old American Cemetery on New Second Street. Known as Fort les Natchitoches (1766 - 1769) under the Spanish. It was later abandoned by the Spanish and fell into ruin by the time of the American Revolution. Admission fee. See also Cane River National Heritage Area

American Fort Claiborne (1804 - 1819) was located nearby, also known as Post at Natchitoches or Post on Cane River. It was originally named Camp Claiborne (1). It was a palisaded work with two barracks and a two-story blockhouse. A government Indian Factory (Caddo Indian Agency) was established here in October 1805, relocated to the Sulphur Fork of the Red River in present-day Arkansas in 1818. The so-called Fort Claiborne Guest House (built 1810 ?) at 801 Second Street was once located just outside the former stockade, but was perhaps not originally a military structure.
(Natchitoches is pronounced "nak-i-tosh")

Fort Charles ?
(Beau Fort Plantation)
(1760's), Natchitoches
The plantation house was built in 1790 on the site of the old fort or redoubt. The fort's cisterns still exist on the grounds. Located south of town, now a local bed & breakfast establishment.

Camp Butler (2)
(1860's), Natchitoches ?
A CSA camp of this name is thought to have been located in the area (possibly at Grande Écore ?).

Fort Seldon
(1820 - 1822), near Grande Écore FORT WIKI
Short-lived Headquarters of the Western Dept. of the U.S. Army. Originally named Camp Ripley. Site located on Bayou Pierre two miles above town. The post was moved to Fort Jesup when the international boundary with Mexico (Texas) was officially re-aligned.

Grande Écore Battery
(USACE - Grande Ecore Visitor Center)
(1863 - 1864), Grande Écore
A temporary CSA gun battery was located here. Also known as Fort DeRussy (2). Occupied by the U.S. Navy during the 1864 Red River Campaign. Earthworks still exist. Site maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Visitor Center located at 106 Tauzin Island Road.

Camp Salubrity
(1844 - 1845), near Natchitoches
A temporary Federal camp located three miles northwest of town, in preparation for the Mexican-American War.

Fort Bon Dieu Falls
(1712), near Montgomery
A French fort on the Red River.

Fort Miró
(1790 - 1804), Monroe
A Spanish fort at the village of Prairie des Canots (1785), now present-day Monroe (renamed 1819). Site is located on or near South Grand Street, between Calyso and Oak Streets.

The American log stockade Post at Ouachita (1804 - 1808) was actually located about 400 yards south of the Spanish fort, which was considered private property at the time.

Camp Butler (3)
(1863 - 1864), Lake Providence
A Union camp.

Camp at Young's Point
(1863), near Mound
A temporary Union encampment on the Mississippi River near Milliken's Bend, following the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou (December 1862). Attacked by the CSA in June 1863. Still in use by the Union during the Vicksburg Campaign.

Winter Quarters Encampment (State Historic Site)
(1863 - 1865), Winter Quarters
A Union encampment on the grounds of the Winter Quarters Plantation near Lake St. Joseph. This was the only plantation house in the area that remained standing (out of 15) after the Union army left. Admission fee to park.

Camp Bruin
(1861), St. Joseph
A CSA training camp.

Fort Necessity ?
(1860's ?), Fort Necessity
The town's name was changed from Boeuf Prairie. Origin of name undetermined. There may have been a CSA fort here.
(thanks to Marshall Sitrin for info)

Pritchard Landing Battery
(1863), near Harrisonburg
A CSA gun battery was supposedly located on top of a still extant 40-foot high ancient Indian mound located here, on the west bank of the Ouachita River opposite Sicily Island, about four miles north of town. Private property.

Fort Beauregard (2)
(1863), Harrisonburg
One of four Confederate forts guarding the Ouachita River. It was a casemated earthen redoubt. Unsuccesfully attacked by four Union gunboats in May 1863. Attacked again in September 1863, then abandoned. State marker located

Jonesville Fort
(1863), Jonesville
A Confederate fort or battery was located here on top on an old 80-foot high Indian mound (Troyville Archaeological Site) at the junction of the Little and Black Rivers. One of the four CSA forts guarding the Ouachita River to Harrisonburg. The mound was removed in 1931 to provide fill for the nearby LA 124 bridge approach.

Fort San Luis de Natches
(1767 - 1769), Vidalia
A Spanish fort built to counter the British presence in Natchez across the Mississippi River. It was abandoned after the British withdrew from the region.

Concordia Post
(1801 - 1804), Vidalia
A Spanish palisaded blockhouse and barracks.

Vidalia Redoubt
(1864 - 1865), Vidalia
A Union six-gun square redoubt with bastions located by the river. The ironclad U.S.S. Benton provided added protection.

Rapides Post
(1766 - 1769), Pineville
A Spanish garrison was located here at the head of navigation for the Red River. The main settlement was later moved to the south bank of the river in 1797, which became Alexandria in 1805.

Alexandria Civil War Defenses
(Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site)
(1864 - 1865), Pineville
Two Confederate earthworks were built to defend against an expected third Union Red River Campaign in October 1864, which never came. These were:
Fort Buhlow, located on the east bank of the Red River, just north of the present-day US 71 bridge.
Fort Randolph, located on the east bank of the river about 500 yards south of Fort Buhlow, south of US 71, on the grounds of Central Louisiana State Hospital (1906).
A third fort was planned to be located on the west bank of the river, but was never built.

Camp Buckner (1864), located somewhere outside of Alexandria.

Camp Beauregard (3) (State Military Reservation)
(1917 - present), near Pineville
A Federalized National Guard training encampment and demobilization center for the 39th Division. Originally briefly named Cantonment Alexandria. Located five miles northeast of town at the former site (ruins) of the Louisiana State Seminary and State Military Academy (1859 - 1869), which later became Louisiana State University. The reservation reverted to state ownership in 1920 and was briefly renamed Camp Hunter (2), but the former name was restored soon thereafter. The camp was Federalized again in 1940 for training purposes, with much new construction and land acquisition. The Army's 1940-41 "Louisiana Maneuvers" took place in the general area around the post and nearby communities. Reverted back to state ownership in 1947. Currently the headquarters of the state National Guard. The North Post includes a portion of the former Camp Livingston. The Louisiana Maneuvers and Military Museum is located on post at 409 "F" Street.

Officially renamed Louisiana National Guard Training Center - Pineville in 2023.

Other Army posts established in the vicinity in 1940 included:
Camp Livingston (47,000 acres now part of Kisatchie National Forest);
Camp Claiborne (3) southwest of town, most of the former post is now part of Kisatchie National Forest. Originally established in 1930 as Camp Evangeline, a state guard training center;
Esler Army Air Field (named in 1941, now the Alexandria - Esler Regional Airport);
Alexandria Army Air Base (built in 1942, renamed England USAF Base in 1955, closed in 1992), now the Alexandria International Airport;
Pollock Army Auxiliary Air Field (1942), now Pollock Municipal Airport.

Camp Stafford
(Alexandria V.A. Medical Center)
(1905, 1916 - 1917), Pineville
A Louisiana National Guard summer encampment. Used again to mobilize troops for the Mexican Border Crisis in 1916, and again briefly used before Camp Beauregard (3) was built nearby. The Camp Beauregard Post Hospital was located here from 1917 - 1919, which later became the Alexandria V.A. Hospital in 1920.

Camp Blanchard (1)
(1862 - 1863), Lecompte
A temporary CSA camp.

Camp Boggs (1)
(1864), near Lecompte
A temporary CSA camp located five miles from town.

Camp Boeuf
(1863), near Cheneyville
A temporary CSA camp.
(NOTE: this may or may not be the same as CSA Camp Bayou Boeuf (1862), located on Bayou Boeuf south of Alexandria.)

Camp Cotton
(1863), near Cheneyville
A CSA camp.

Fort DeRussy (1)
(1862 - 1864), near Marksville
Also known as Camp DeRussy. This was a 100-square yard earthen redoubt with ironclad casemates, built to prevent Union gunboats from proceeding upriver to Alexandria. Occupied by the US Navy in 1863. Reoccupied and rebuilt by the Confederates during the winter of 1864. The US Army captured the fort again in March 1864. Once again occupied by the Confederates by the summer of 1864. Located on the Red River north of town, the main redoubt still exists but the water batteries do not. Two Confederate gunboats defeated three Union gunboats here in 1863.
(info provided by Steve Mayeux of The Friends of Fort DeRussy.)

Marksville (State Commemorative Area)
(500 - 1400), Marksville
A Woodland Period to early Mississippian Culture temple mound complex located east of town along the banks of Old River Lake (La Vieille Rivière). The site was surrounded by a semi-circular 3,300-foot long and 10-foot high earthen embankment with an outer moat. Two large temple mounds still exist. Admission fee.

Camp Custer
(1927), Marksville
An Army encampment during the Flood of 1927.

Fort Scurry
(1864), Simmesport
Actually two Confederate works on either side of the road, along the Yellow Bayou at Bayou de Glaize. The troops suffered from boredom, and nicknamed the fort Fort Humbug (2). Also known as Fort #2 on the Yellow Bayou, and also Old Oak Fort or Norwood Plantation Fort. Variously known by the Union as either Fort Lafayette, Morgan (2), Taylor, or Carroll. The Battle of Yellow Bayou was in May 1864. Only the earthworks of the smaller work still exist.

Camp Hamilton
(1804 - 1808), Opelousas
A temporary Federal garrison was located near Bayou del Puent. Also known as Post at Opelousas.

A Spanish garrison may have previously been here (1766 - 1769).

Burr's Ferry Breastworks
(Confederate Memorial Park)
(1863 - 1864), Burr Ferry
CSA breastworks were built here in anticipation of a Union advance up the Sabine River. A small section of the works is preserved in a small park with a monument, located by the river just west of town on LA 8, owned and maintained by the Louisiana Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Camp Barri Croquant
(1863), near Port Barre
A Union encampment located on the north-side of Bayou Maria Croquant, about two and one-half miles south of town.

Camp Atkinson
(1830 - 1832), Lake Charles
A temporary Federal camp located on the Calcasieu River. Also known as Cantonment Atkinson. Site located on South Lakeshore Drive.

Niblett's Bluff Fort
(Niblett's Bluff Park)
(1863), near Vinton
A CSA fortified camp built by slave labor. Remnants of breastworks still remain along the Sabine River.

Jean Lafitte's Fort (2)
(1818 ? - 1821 ?), Calcasieu Lake
A crude shell midden fortification built by Jean Lafitte's crew on Money Hill - Dead Man's Lake (Barb Shellbank) as they were chased by an American warship into Calcasieu Lake. Built sometime between 1818 and 1821 (date uncertain). The remains were reportedly still evident in the 1890's.
See also The Legacy of Jean Lafitte in Southwest Louisiana by W.T. Block

Calcasieu Lake Redoubt
(1861 - 1862), Calcasieu Lake
A CSA two-gun battery. Exact location undetermined.

Camp Davis
(1861 - 1862), Calcasieu Pass
A CSA two-gun battery and troop encampment.

¤ TEMPORARY HARBOR DEFENSES of CALCASIEU PASS

¤ Calcasieu Pass Military Reservation
(1942 - 1944), Cameron FORT WIKI
A two-gun 155mm battery was located here to defend the city of Lake Charles. The Panama mounts and magazines were built, but the defense was never officially activated. Probably located on the west-side of the pass. No remains.

Fort Burton
(1861 - 1862), Butte la Rose
A CSA two-gun fort on Cow Island in the Atchafalaya River. Also known as Fort Butte a la Rose. It was captured by the Union in April 1862 and later destroyed.

Post at Attakapas
(1804 - 1808, 1818 - 1819), near St. Martinville
A Federal garrison was here.

A Spanish garrison may have previously been here (1766 - 1769).

New Iberia Post
(1790's), New Iberia
A Spanish garrison was here.

Camp Pratt
(1862 - 1863), near New Iberia
A CSA training camp located on Spanish Lake five miles north of town. Union POWs were also kept here in 1863.

Camp Misery
(1863), near ?
A Union encampment located somewhere along Bayou Teche.

Camp Bayou Portage
(1863), Lake Dauterive
A CSA camp located just north of the lake on Bayou Portage. Captured by the Union in 1863.

Camp Dauterive
(1862 - 1863), Iberia Parish
A CSA post near Grand Lake.

Camp Hunter (1)
(1863), near Charenton
A Union encampment along the Indian Bend on Bayou Teche.

Camp Emory
(1864), near Franklin
A Union encampment somewhere near town. Possibly located on the "Carlin Plantation" in the Irish Bend area east of town.

Fort Bisland
(1863 - 1865), near Calumet
A CSA earthwork fort, also known as Camp Bisland. Captured by the Union in April 1863. The site is located five miles west of Patterson on Bayou Teche.

Fort Berwick
(1861 - 1863), Wax Bayou
A CSA two-gun moated quadrangular earthwork located four miles from Morgan City, on the north-side of Wax Bayou at the Atchafalaya River. It was abandoned after New Orleans fell to the Union (April 1862), but was briefly re-occupied by the CSA for one month in June 1863.

Morgan City Civil War Defenses
(1862 - 1865), Morgan City
Fort Brashear the largest of five earthen forts built by the Union to protect the city, formerly known as Brashear City. They were captured by the Confederates in June 1863, but retaken by the Union after the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi (July 1863). Site is marked on Fourth Street adjacent to Atkinson Memorial Presbyterian Church. Known also as Star Fort (2).
Fort Buchanan (1863 - 1864), a six-gun earthwork located one mile north of Fort Brashear opposite the entrance to Bayou Teche.
Fort Ridley (1863), a CSA fort, either a new work built (June 1863), or a captured Union work.
Fort Weitzel located to the east at Amelia or Boeuf Station.
Berwick City Battery (1863 - 1864) a fortified bridgehead on Berwick Bay, with flanks on the river and enclosing a 20-foot high mound for one gun.
Camp Lovell (1) (1861 - 1862), a CSA camp in Berwick City. Possibly occupied by Union forces after 1862.

Fort Chene
(1861 - 1863), near Amelia
A CSA five-gun moated and stockaded earthwork located on Mossy Point, at the junction of Bayou Chêne and Bayou Shafer at Bateman Lake. Captured by the Union in April 1862. Recaptured by the CSA for one month in June 1863 before abandoned.

Fort Quitman
(1861 - 1862), Grand Caillou Bayou
A CSA two-gun redoubt. Abandoned in May 1862 after New Orleans fell (April 1862). Afterwards occupied by the Union and renamed Fort Butler (1).

Fort les Oumas
(1710's ?), near Plaquemine ? or Donaldsonville ?
A wooden French fort, the first post located above New Orleans on the Mississippi River. Undetermined exact location, on the north or west bank of the mouth of either Bayou Plaquemine or Bayou Lafourche.

Fort Butler (2)
(1862 - 1863), Port Barrow
A Union star-shaped bastioned fort, with a brick-lined moat, it was attacked by Confederates in June 1863. The foundation was excavated in 1996, and a reconstruction is planned in the future. Monument erected in 1999. Located across Bayou Lafourche from Donaldsonville.

Union Camp Weitzel (2) (1863) was nearby.

Camp Hubbard
(1863 - 1864), Thibodaux
A Union encampment.

Camp Stevens
(1862 - 1863), Thibodaux
A Union encampment located at Acadia Plantation, established after the Battle of Georgia Landing (Labadieville) (October 1862). Site now part of the campus of present-day Nicholls State University. (thanks to Craig Rhodes for providing info)

Camp Martin
(1862), Lafourche
A CSA training camp.

Camp Hopkins
(1814), Lafourche Parish
A LA state militia camp located somewhere on the lower Bayou Lafourche. Also known as Bayou Lafourche Camp. A blockhouse and one-gun battery was proposed for Bayou LaFourche to block any British advance, unknown if actually built, or where.

Fort Guion
(1861 - 1862), Lafourche Parish
A CSA two-gun water battery located on the lower Bayou Lafourche. Also known as Bayou Lafourche Redoubt. It was abandoned after New Orleans fell.

Fort Blanc
(1806), Lafourche Parish
A settlers' "fort" on Fort Blanc Bayou at Bay St. Honore. Possibly located on the north side of Camandia (Caminada) Island.
(info provided by Marshall Sitrin)

Cantonment Caminada
(1813), Caminada Island
A LA state militia camp.

Jean Lafitte's Fort (1)
(1808 ? - 1814), Grande Terre Island
Jean Lafitte's base of operations before the War of 1812. The U.S. Army evicted the pirates in 1814 in order to establish their own military post, a planned seven-gun battery with barracks which was never built. The ruins of Lafitte's post supposedly still remained until 1856, as shown on period coast surveys, located on the bayside just north of Fort Livingston. Presumed site is now under water.

Fort Livingston
(1841 - 1893), Grand Terre Island FORT WIKI
Located near Grand Isle, directly across the inlet from Grand Isle State Park. Named in early plans as Fort on Grande Terre Island until 1833. Actual construction did not start until 1841 however. It was built in general plan similar to Fort Barrancas in Pensacola, Florida. A lighthouse was built nearby in 1856. The fort was briefly occupied by Confederates from January 1861 to April 1862, but never saw combat. Union troops occupied the post after October 1863. Placed in caretaker status in December 1866. The guns were removed in 1872. The fort was officially abandoned after hurricanes destroyed most of the structure in 1893 and again in 1915, and was formally transferred to the state in 1923. A light tower was erected on the north wall in 1897. Ruins remain, about two-thirds of the former post not yet lost to coastal erosion. Public access by boat only. State marker located in Grand Isle at the Grand Isle Community Center at 3811 State Highway 1. NCPTT-NPS Field Report - March 2010

NEED MORE INFO: a small Spanish garrison was at Comichi (1803 - 1806), somewhere east of the Sabine River (location ?).

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