Fort Jackson Louisiana

Andrew Jackson is one of my least favorite criminals to have ever held the office of President of the United States. Whenever I get on a tirade about Jackson's criminal exploits, my good friend Kurt (a staunch conservative) always interjects with a chuckle, "but he won the battle of New Orleans." Indeed he did; in 1815 then General Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the battle of New Orleans after the war (1812) had already ended. In waging that battle Jackson came to realize the strategic need to fortify the mouth of the Mississippi. In 1822 work began, and in 1832 Fort Jackson was completed.

During the Civil War, Fort Jackson was the site of a decisive victory for the Union. In 1862 Farragut besieged the fort and, after a ten day exchange of artillery, he succeeded in moving his force up river where they captured New Orleans.

The original fort still stands and is remarkably intact. It was restored to some extent in 1898 and during the First World War it was used for military training. It's a fascinating place to visit because you can see so much of the original structure. There is a museum on the grounds that is also worth a stop.

Once a year, the first weekend in December, Fort Jackson is the host site of the Plaquemines Parish Orange Festival. A Civil War re-enactment is also held here.

Just a few yards south of Fort Jackson, and accessible via the road that leads into the Fort, is a wonderful monument to La Salle. If you don't know it's there you'll miss it, as there is no signage on the road to indicate its presence. It is one of the more beautiful and inspiring monuments I have seen--a soaring cross lifted high in the air on a ribbed column. It's worth a visit. (I'm sorry I do not know the name of the artist who created this work, please, if anyone reading this knows the artist's name, forward that information to me.) In 1682 Robert Cavalier Sieur de la Salle was the first European to discover the mouth of the Mississippi. DeSoto had stumbled on the river all the way back in 1541 and, in 1673 Marquette and Joliet traveled most of the Mississippi's length from its confluence with the Wisconsin to its confluence with the Arkansas. The Europeans hoped that the Mississippi would take them across the continent and empty into the Gulf of California. The Marquette expedition fairly well settled that question, but the river's complete course remained a mystery. It was La Salle who finally completed the journey down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. La Salle wasn't looking for the Pacific Ocean. He was rather intent on colonizing the land he claimed as New France. In 1682 La Salle placed a cross on the river bank and claimed the Mississippi valley and all its tributaries for Louis XIV King of France. Louisiana, as you should know, is named after King Louis XIV. Here's what LaSalle said:

In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by the grace of God King of France and of Navarre, Fourteenth of that name, I, this ninth day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two, in virture of the commission of his Majesty, which I hold in my hand, and which may be seen to all whom it may concern, have taken, and do now take, in the name of his Majesty and of his successors to the crown, possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the nations, peoples, provinces, cities, towns, villiages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams, and rivers within the extent of the said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great river St. Louis, otherwise called the Ohio, . . . as also along the river Colbert, or Mississippi, and the rivers which discharge themselves thereinto, from its source beyond the country of the Nadouessioux . . . as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, and also the mouth of the River of Palms, upon the assurance we have had from the natives of these countries, that we are the first Europeans who have descended or ascended the said river Colbert; herby protesting against all who may hereafter undertake to invade any or all of these aforsaid countries, peoples, or lands to the prejudice of the right of his Majesty, acquired by the consent of the nations dwelling herein. Of which, and of all else that is needful, I hereby take to witness those who hear me, and demand an act of notary here present.

Four years later La Salle returned to the Gulf intent on founding a permanent colony along the Mississippi. He brought colonists and supplies in four or five ships, but unfortunately miscalculated the river's location. The expedition landed on the Texas cost. Unable to find the Mississippi, and with constantly worsening physical conditions, the morale of the colonists collapsed. In 1687, only five years after his triumphant discovery of the river's mouth, La Salle was murdered by one of his troop.

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