Fort St. Philip

Fort St. Philip (1792-1922) - A Coastal Fort first established in 1792 by the Spanish as Fort San Felipe and taken over in 1808 by American Troops as a part of the Louisiana Purchase Territory (1803-1804) and renamed Fort St. Philip. Located on the Mississippi River at Plaguemines Bend, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Abandoned in 1922.

Spanish Period

The Spanish Governor of Louisiana began construction of Fort San Felipe at the strategic Plaguemines Bend in the Mississippi river in 1792 and completed it in 1795.

Louisiana Territory

The Louisiana Purchase became effective in 1804 giving the America control over a vast territory that included all of Louisiana. American forces occupied the Spanish fort and, in February 1808, began to improve the post. Over two million bricks were ordered for the construction around the old fortification. The construction was essentially completed by 30 Jun 1810.

War of 1812

The fort was involved in the British invasion of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and was bombarded by five British ships for nine days in January 1815. The fort withstood the bombardment and the British ships did not pass. Over 1000 shells were fired at the fort but the 366 man garrison suffered only two dead and seven wounded. Construction of Fort Jackson across the river was begun in 1814 to strengthen the defense of the river.

U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

Part of the Harbor Defense of the Mississippi.

On 8 Jan 1861, just before the start of the U.S. Civil War, Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip were seized from their Federal garrisons by Louisiana forces. Louisiana troops occupied both Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson until an epic battle with Union Admiral David Farragut's fleet of gunboats in April 1862 at Plaquemines Bend. Farragut's mission was to seize control of the Mississippi and split the Confederacy in two. In April 1862 Farragut's fleet engaged both forts and attempted to destroy them with a six-day bombardment. The bombardment failed to destroy the forts and Farragut was forced to make a run past both forts with 17 wooden ships at 2 AM on 24 Apr 1862. In the ensuing Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 13 of the ships made it past the forts, and Farragut went on to New Orleans which surrendered to him on 29 Apr 1862. Both forts gave a good account of themselves and in the end it was probably the lack of enough cannon that enabled the fleet to get by. Fort Jackson was designed for 93 gun emplacements but had only 69 guns emplaced while Fort St. Philip had only 45 guns. The Union gunboats were able to send a total of 8,100 rounds against both forts. Both forts were surrendered to Union forces on 28 Apr 1862 and then garrisoned by them until the end of the war.

Endicott Period (1890-1910)

Fort St. Philip Endicott Period Battery (edit list)

Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Pike	2	10"	Disappearing	1895-1898-1898-1918	$ 224,335
Battery Forse	2	8"	Disappearing	1897-1899-1899-1917	$ 100,000
Battery Merrill	2 2	6" 6"	Pedestal Pedestal	1901-1907-1907-1918 1901-1907-1907-1921	$ 97,328	To Fort Monroe
Battery Ridgely	2	4.72"	Pedestal	1898-1898-1898-1913	$ 7,000	To Fort Ruger
Battery Scott (1)	2	3"	Masking Parapet	1898-1900-1901-1920	$ 24,279
Battery Brooke	2	3"	Masking Parapet	1900-1900-1904-1920	$ 9,817
Source: CDSG

Fort St. Philip Plan

Current Status

Private property, access by boat with permission, in very dangerous condition. No period guns or carriages in place.

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Location: Fort St. Philip, Triumph, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Maps & Images Lat: 29.3624847 Long: -89.465425 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 7'

Sources:

• Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 352-353

Links:

• First Bombardment of Fort St. Philips
• Second Bombardment of Fort St. Philip
• North American Forts - Fort St. Philip
• Wikipedia - Fort St. Philip
• NPS - Fort St. Philip
• CDSG

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