Forgotten Forts Series - Battery Bienvenue (LA)

I'd personally love to go and clean up the battery, but the realities of how the State of Louisiana runs historic sites these days, that and getting the cannons would be an impossibility. (I'm assuming Louisiana owns it.)

Plus the way the ground and water works around there, I'm surprised it ain't already buried under silt like Fort St. Philip.

I may make some inquiries of friends in the know about such things in Louisiana. Who knows what may happen.

Funny how a joke can turn into a genuine question!
Okay, I would be interested in knowing the cost of putting together such an expedition, for actual documentation, removal and renovation.
Lubliner.
 
Okay, I would be interested in knowing the cost of putting together such an expedition, for actual documentation, removal and renovation.
Lubliner.

No clue whatsoever!

Expensive, very expensive is all I could say for sure.

Their big coastal guns, so you'd have to have a decent size trackhoe out there, otherwise the tubes would be too heavy to pick up, which if the prices to rent one are similar to what they are here in NE Texas in New Orleans, it'd probably run between $700 and $1500 per day, (depending on size), and it'd probably take a minimum of two days. If you were to rent it after cleaning out all the foliage, it'd speed things up considerably. You'd need to use a barge to get it out there, so you'd need a big barge, not a small home made one.

(If this were six or seven years ago I could call up an uncle and get a barge from the Texas Gulf Coast, at a discount rate, and we could tow it to New Orleans as he had a factory making them, which would cut costs considerably, but he let a wife get the company in a divorce and took his remaining fortune to go gold mining in Colorado, and is still busy with lawsuits as a man got killed the first day of mining!)

Considering costs to rent a trackhoe and barge, (I've no idea the costs to rent a barge), I would guesstimate it'd take $5,000-$7,000 per day for 2 days. Plus if the number of guns left is the same as in the old photo, we'd need an 18-wheeler to haul them away from wherever in New Orleans we'd haul them to, (probably take 3 or 4 trips to get them all, all the tubes on one barge trip with the trackhoe would be risky), and for the 18-wheeler it'd be two or more trips hauling them, (too much weight to load all of them on one truck), so that would costs money, so all around.....

A lot, it'd cost a lot!

Getting them could cost around $15,000-$25,000 dollars minimum. At least that's my 5 a.m. guesstimating. If I had the connections I used to have it'd be cheaper though, but I know my dirt poor self couldn't afford it. Conceivably, it could be done for a lot cheaper, if one abandoned the idea of backing a barge up to the battery and used a trackhoe, if we moved them the same way they did back in the 1800's, (tripod, chains ropes, and a lot of counterweights), but I'm honestly not sure how that'd be done to be honest. Maybe I'll consult my new period artillerist manual... but it'd involve a lot more backbreaking labor in snake infested waters and grounds, thus making accidents more possible if the area is anything like the legendary snake nightmare that is Fort St. Philip.

As for conservation? Going by the one modern phot, I'd say not really needed. It looks like oil, lot of cheap steel wool, gently used on the tubes to clean off the rust, (I'd be leery of using any power tools to clean rust off anything so old), and a bunch of black paint for when the rust is gone and they'd be like new. The guns look to be remarkably well preserved for guns seemingly abandoned in such a toxic Gulf Coast region.

Sorry for the long post!
 
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Oh and that guesstimating didn't go into insurance and permit costs, big expensive cursed goodies for a project like this. The snake issue would probably make it more expensive! Considering how you'd be forced to have it the whole time your out there cleaning up the battery to move the guns, (good old fashioned labor with chainsaws, and all manner of fun tools), probably a week or two cleaning it all up prepping to move them, one might as well count on it costing another $20,000.

State and insurance companies gonna profit one way or another of someone's good intentions!
 
I'd personally love to go and clean up the battery, but the realities of how the State of Louisiana runs historic sites these days, that and getting the cannons would be an impossibility. (I'm assuming Louisiana owns it.)

Plus the way the ground and water works around there, I'm surprised it ain't already buried under silt like Fort St. Philip.

I may make some inquiries of friends in the know about such things in Louisiana. Who knows what may happen.

Funny how a joke can turn into a genuine question!
Lets mobilize!
 
Oh I'd keep one or two for myself and a friend's museum, (nothing says "Stay the h*** off my property!" better than one of these on the proper carriage in an earthen battery), the others I'd disperse to where they'd do the most good. CW sites like Fort Derussy in Marksville, LA, and so on, places that are forgotten and could use a big gun to draw in the visitors and ensure they be seen and enjoyed by the public.

Oh and I would have to take the best one and fire it! At least 10 times....

And I'm being a hundred percent honest of what would happen if I ended up with them.

Good, I like that kind of honesty. :wink:
 
Battery Bienvenue in Louisiana.
Battery Bienvenue as seen on Google Maps
Battery Bienvenue_Google Maps.JPG
 
Some of the forts I post about are fully restored or remembered with markers or monuments but not Battery Bienvenue in Louisiana.

View attachment 371607

Battery Bienvenue, located outside of New Orleans, is located along a strategic waterway leading to the city from Lake Borgne. Its origins can be traced back to the War of 1812. In the decades following the war the battery was expanded and its armament increased. The finished product was a 600 foot masonry battery mounting a number of 24 pounders complimented with mortars. The battery was protected by a moat and also featured masonry barracks, officers quarters and a magazine.

View attachment 371608

Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, Colonel Joseph Totten recommended that Battery Bienvenue be garrisoned by 100 men however this action was never taken and with the beginning of the war the battery was garrisoned by Louisiana troops. When P.G.T. Beauregard arrived in New Orleans after resigning his commission with the U.S. Army he suggested to state military commanders that 10 of Battery Bienvenue's 24 pound guns be redeployed to Fort St. Philip on the Mississippi River to strengthen what he surmised would be the likely route an invading navy would take.

View attachment 371609

It does not appear that Battery Bienvenue took part in any hostilities during the Union offensive to take New Orleans and its garrison withdrew as the city fell along with the nearby garrisons from Forts Pike and Macomb and I could find no documentation that it was utilized by Union forces. The battery survived the war but was finally abandoned 1872.

Today Battery Bienvenue's crumbling walls still stand in Bayou Bienvenue along with ruins of some of its supporting structures. Some guns remain mounted in the brush growing on and around the fortification. It is accessible by boat and appears to be a popular destination for history buffs with the means to access the fortification.

View attachment 371611
I've been there a couple of times. The primary ramparts facing Bayou Bienvenue and Bayou Villiere is in quite good shape, but the closing walls are only remnants. I've attached an aerial photo that I enhanced to show the battery more clearly. It is based on a photograph in National Archives, College Park, MD, and colorized by me. This picture is taken from A Legacy in Brick and Stone.

15-4 Bienvenue Aerial Enhanced.jpg
 
Honestly, I've got a Piper Comanche ready to make a trip south from Louisville to pitch in with a buddy or two who appreciate this kinda stuff as much as you and I do. Would probably bring my pro photographer friend as well. Gives me an excuse to take some of my vacation days.

That said, I agree with you in regards to Louisiana. Fort Macomb, Fort Proctor, Fort Livingston, etc (a few of which you can find in this Forgotten Forts Series) have not been cared for at all nor has there been any recent effort to preserve them.
I'm ready to sign on! I took aerials of Forts Morgan, Gaines, Pike, and Macomb about 20 years ago, but am certainly ready to take more! Incidentally, we have a group that is trying to open up Fort Pike, but it's an uphill battle. The state appears to think it will be more trouble than it's worth. Very sad. Fort Jackson belongs to the Parish. I testified before a panel of Federal Magistrates last year in an attempt to get FEMA funding to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina. We only received one tenth of what was asked for, but the Parish is doing what it can with their limited resources. While the fort is closed, the Parish is good about allowing special visits - I've been inside a couple of times recently.
 
Probably hard to get to. I imagine there be some alligators and snakes there.
I wore my snake boots going out there, but the footing is treacherous. At least once I fell flat on my face and thought, If I run into Mr. No-shoulders now my expensive snakeproof boots won't do me any good! LOL
 
Forts Pike and Macomb are interesting for their small casemate entrances, later Third System casemates have much larger openings and some are practically open air. These large openings were sometimes a problem during the war and had to be covered with timbers lest overshots and breaching shots enter the caemates from the rear, such as at Fort Pulaski.

I took some excellent photos of pre Katrina Fort Pike some years ago but the laptop they were on was stolen.
 
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