Fort Beauregard (5)

Fort Beauregard (5) (1862-1863) - A Confederate U.S. Civil War Fort established in 1862 along the Ouachita River near Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Captured and destroyed in 1863. History Fort Beauregard was a Confederate enclosed casemated earthworks fortification situated on a hill behind Harrisonburg in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Fort Beauregard was one of four forts stretching for two miles below the town and more than a mile above, designed to protect Monroe, Louisiana from Federal gunboats coming up the Ouachita River. At the time of its capture in 1863, the fort was armed with four large 32-pounders, four 6-pounders brass cannons, three 3-inch rifled cannons, and one 12-pounder howitzer. The fort was planned and built under the supervision of Lt. Buhlow. On 10 May 1863, four Union gunboats appeared on the river south of the fort and anchored within sight but out of range of the fort's guns. The Union flotilla under Commodore C.E. Woodworth demanded unconditional surrender, and when that was refused by the fort commander Lieutenant Colonel George W. Logan, they began shelling the fort. At the end of the day, the gunboats withdrew but they returned the next day to continue the bombardment. After expending some 150 shells the only damage to the fort was to some parapets and the flotilla withdrew. Casualties in the fort included Lieutenant Carter who was mortally wounded by a large fragment of shell and three wounded enlisted members. Fire from the fort was described as most effective, striking the boats repeatedly and exploding rifled shells in their midst. Union losses were described by the Confederates as eight killed and thirty or forty wounded. On 4 Sep 1863, a Union column led by Brigadier General Marcellus M. Crocker advanced on the fort but found that it had been evacuated that morning by the garrison under Lieutenant Colonel Logan. Working through the night, the Confederates had destroyed the casemates, supplies, and larger guns, and withdrew with their horses, mules, wagons, 3-inch guns, and the 12-pounder howitzer. As they left they set fire to what remained. Union troops entering the fort found it still burning and they continued the destruction, spiking the four 32-pounders and the two 6-pounders and taking two other 6-pounders with them. The name of this Fort Beauregard disappears from the Official Record after September 1863. The loss of the Fort so weakened the Confederated defenses of the Ouachita Valley that Union forces occupied the valley in 1864 without opposition. Current Status Roadside Marker. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Maps & Images Lat: 31.77118 Long: -91.82232 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: ?' GPS Locations: 31.77118, -91.82232 Roadside Marker 31.77378, -91.82180 Fort Beauregard Memorial Park See Also: 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 330. Mitcham, Samuel W. "Fort Beauregard, Louisiana: Confederate Strongpoint on the Ouachita." Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 22, no. 2 (1981): 183-87. Accessed November 5, 2020. JSTOR. Links: North American Forts - Fort Beauregard Visited: 3 Nov 2020