Fort Jackson, Louisiana, is a classic pentagonal bastioned fort built early in the Third System of Coastal Defense to defend the main approach to New Orleans via the Mississippi River. It was built to work in cooperation with an old Spanish and French colonial fort on the opposite shore; a fort that was to be modernized to act as a supplementary for within the Third System, Fort St. Philip. While the shape is classic, the fort contains a number of features that make its design unique.
In addition to having a unique design, it provides an interesting look at how a battle in the Civil War changed, in a fundamental way, the way that the United States built coastal defenses in the last half of the 19th Century. Because of events at Fort Jackson and Fort Morgan (Mobile Bay), an evolution took place where the fort became less important and the weapon in the fort became more important. This culminated in the late 1880s with the publishing of the Endicott Board Report, 1886, and the construction of open-backed, concrete emplacements that would hold huge, breach-loading, steel cannon.
In this thread I'd like to start a discussion on the design of Fort Jackson, its development immediately prior to the Civil War, and the changes made right after the war - based on wartime events.
Unfortunately Fort Jackson is closed to the public, though it is sometimes possible to visit the fort through special arrangements. It is being maintained by Plaquemines Parish, who own the fort, and the Parish Government hopes to reopen the fort as soon as practical. The fort has a small, but nice, museum just a few miles upriver from the fort. That museum is also closed at this time, but there is also hope that it will be reopened as well.
In addition to having a unique design, it provides an interesting look at how a battle in the Civil War changed, in a fundamental way, the way that the United States built coastal defenses in the last half of the 19th Century. Because of events at Fort Jackson and Fort Morgan (Mobile Bay), an evolution took place where the fort became less important and the weapon in the fort became more important. This culminated in the late 1880s with the publishing of the Endicott Board Report, 1886, and the construction of open-backed, concrete emplacements that would hold huge, breach-loading, steel cannon.
In this thread I'd like to start a discussion on the design of Fort Jackson, its development immediately prior to the Civil War, and the changes made right after the war - based on wartime events.
Unfortunately Fort Jackson is closed to the public, though it is sometimes possible to visit the fort through special arrangements. It is being maintained by Plaquemines Parish, who own the fort, and the Parish Government hopes to reopen the fort as soon as practical. The fort has a small, but nice, museum just a few miles upriver from the fort. That museum is also closed at this time, but there is also hope that it will be reopened as well.