Red River Dam, View From The Deck Of Mound City

I’m new to this site and didn’t get to read all ur post yet. I’m gonna try to tonight. Just wanted to say I’m not far from where the dam was. At Ft Randolph there is a big piece of wood from the dam that was recovered from a friend of mind when the water was low I think in the 70’s. Also I know where the signal, Covington and John Warner we sunk by the Rebs, I have permissions to detect the area. I recently found a whole 30 pound parrot shell that was shot off the Uss Signal
 
I’m new to this site and didn’t get to read all ur post yet. I’m gonna try to tonight. Just wanted to say I’m not far from where the dam was. At Ft Randolph there is a big piece of wood from the dam that was recovered from a friend of mind when the water was low I think in the 70’s. Also I know where the signal, Covington and John Warner we sunk by the Rebs, I have permissions to detect the area. I recently found a whole 30 pound parrot shell that was shot off the Uss Signal
Welcome to the forums from another Red River enthusiast!
 
Joseph Bailey and wife .Photo taken at Kilborne City now Wisconsin Dell's by Gates Photography who was somewhat famous himself .General Order 211 War Department where the President Lincoln, Congress and Senate thanking Bailey for saving the RedRiver flotilla.

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@JPK Huson 1863

Ma'am - and anyone else who knows...looking at the first illustration of this thread got me thinking. I wonder how accurate it is. The folks right up at the edges of the open dam...one side slip by a vessel and crashing into it or just the rush of water degrading the foundation of the dam, they're gone too.

I guess excitement is where you find it...
1840

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
@JPK Huson 1863

Ma'am - and anyone else who knows...looking at the first illustration of this thread got me thinking. I wonder how accurate it is. The folks right up at the edges of the open dam...one side slip by a vessel and crashing into it or just the rush of water degrading the foundation of the dam, they're gone too.

I guess excitement is where you find it...
1840

Cheers,
USS ALASKA


Bet it's not accurate at all- although you probably can't always determine things by how intelligently onlookers behave. We tend to lose our collective minds en mass, you know? Always makes me wince when say, there's a fire- how many onlookers have be shooed away, actually confined behind police tape for their own safety and not to impede emergency crews? Just thought of another example ( speaking of how amazing it is the human race is still around ). 1972, Hurricane Agnes shredded things around the Susquehanna. I was just a kid but remember people going to the banks of what was a raging river, right before all heck broke loose. Crazy stuff.

Then there are the weather reporters standing in the middle of the latest hurricane, giving us updates on how dangerous it is to be there... . Unhelpful.

Still, guessing you're right. Read accounts where bands played there and crowds gathered but no one said how close they were.
 
Used to live in Pineville - that's on the east side of the river. Louisiana has built a nice battlefield park there where two forts were located and have been preserved. One spot features an overlook of the spot where the upper dam was located.
 
For those of you interested in "dams" across the Red River during the War, there were two near Fort DeRussy. The first, in 1863, was simply a raft that was built from one side of the river to the other. It could be untied from one side and opened up when necessary to let Confederate shipping through. Otherwise, it was covered by fire from the fort and served as a barrier to keep Union boats from running willy-nilly up the river. It worked well when Albatross, Arizona and Estrella tried to get past the fort.
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The real dam was built during the winter of 1864, several miles below the fort. Bailey's Dam was nothing compared to this one. Built under much tougher circumstances, without near the manpower or supplies available to Bailey, with much higher, and colder, water. But, there were no newspapermen around to sing it's praises, and no photographers to photograph it, so no one has ever heard of it. This dam was not protected by batteries, so when the US Navy finally did arrive, they just tore it up and went on their way.

For details on these dams, get a copy of Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River, by Steve Mayeux, from The University of Tennessee Press. It's out in paperback now and should be available.
 
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