Port Hudson, Louisiana
Port Hudson | |
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CDT) | |
Area code | 225 |
Port Hudson is an unincorporated community in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States. Located about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Baton Rouge, it is known primarily as the location of an American Civil War battle, the siege of Port Hudson, in 1863.
Geography
Port Hudson is located at 30°40′41″N 91°16′08″W / 30.678056°N 91.268889°W, and is along the east bank of the Mississippi River.
History
In 1833, one of the first railroads in the United States was built from Port Hudson to Clinton. Clinton was the entrepôt for the produce of much of the region, which, sent by rail, was transferred to steamboats at Port Hudson. Old Port Hudson was incorporated as a town in 1838.[1]
During the American Civil War, the area was the scene of bitter fighting as the Confederacy and Union struggled over control of the Mississippi River (see Siege of Port Hudson). Location of the tracks and the old town can be seen at the bend of the Mississippi River (view 1864 map).[2] The rails and crossties of the track were removed before 1920.[3]
What were then called the 1st and 3rd Regiments of the
Port Hudson National Cemetery was established in the area, first as a place of burial of Union dead.
Landmarks
A portion of the battlefield site is maintained by the state as a park and museum, called the Port Hudson State Historic Site (in adjacent East Feliciana Parish).
In 1930 the Louisiana Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected the Confederate Soldiers monument at the site; it is an 11,000-pound obelisk, dedicated to the defenders' memory. In 2007 the monument was moved to the yard of one of Port Hudson's few surviving buildings from the time of the siege.[5][6]
In 1974 the
In 2009, it was designated among the first 26 featured sites of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.[8]
Representation in culture
"The Black Brigade at Port Hudson" is a poem by John A. Dorgan, anthologized in The Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Poetry and Incidents.[9]
"The Black Regiment: Port Hudson, May 27, 1863", poem by George Henry Boker (1823-1890).[10] was originally published as a broadside by the Union League, it was included in The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, Poetry.[11] The poem was translated into German and published as a broadside, a copy of which has been preserved in the Black Soldiers Collection of the Historic New Orleans Collection at the Williams Research Center in New Orleans.
Events
A Civil War reenactment is held annually at the Port Hudson State Historic Site.
References
- ^ Maurice Thompson (1888), The Story of Louisiana, p. 316.
- N. P. Banksunder the direction of Major D. C. Houston, Chief Engineer, Department of the Gulf and Captain Peter C. Hains, Corps of Engineers, 1864
- ^ Milledge L. Bonham, Jr. (1917), "Man and Nature at Port Hudson," in The Military Historian and Economist, Volume II, Page 372.
- ^ Terry L. Jones (2012-10-19) "The Free Men of Color Go to War" - NYTimes.com. Opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com, Retrieved on 2012-12-18
- ^ George Morris, "UDC monument no longer hidden," The Advocate, 7 December 2007.
- ^ Confederate Soldiers monument photograph circa 1940s, State Library of Louisiana.
- ^ "Port Hudson". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. June 24, 2008. Archived from the original on March 8, 2011.
- ^ Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Archived February 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (Plantation Country).
- ^ The Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Poetry and Incidents, Volume 7, ed. Frank Moore
- ^ "The Black Regiment". www.civilwarpoetry.org.
- ^ The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, Poetry, ed. Frank Moore, p. 3
External links
- Map of Port Hudson and its Defences (with structure names and land description), Captain L.J. Fremaux, Chief Engineer, October 30, 1862.
- Photographs of Louisiana during the Civil War. Compiled by Sgt. Marshall Dunham of the 159th New York Regiment. Select Search items in this Collection and enter Port Hudson in the exact phrase option: photograph collection, Louisiana Digital Library
- Port Hudson Driving Tour, CivilWarAlbum.com, May 2000.