History

Living Memories Of The Civil War

Civil War buffs and history lovers got a treat in September when Ormond Plantation hosted its second annual Civil War reenactment. Attendees were able to view infantry drill and artillery demonstrations, an execution by firing squad, recital of the rosary in Cajun French, a climactic battle, and hospital nursing demonstrations. Also on view were demonstrations of a spinning wheel, children's songs and games of the Civil War era, a musket demonstration, the everyday life of a soldier and cavalry demonstrations.

To most history concious Southerners, the Civil War respresents the climactic and tragic end to the Old South. The North and South had become two different countries even before the 11 Confederate States seceded from the Union. The agrarian South had a culture and economy which somewhat resembled the feudal systems of Medeival Europe. The North had fully embraced the industrial revolution. The two had gone in very different political and economic directions.

What did the war mean to the East Bank? Jefferson Parish did not see much in the way of actual combat during the Civil War. The area had great strategic value for the defense of New Orleans, however no significant battles took place within the parish.

Jefferson Parish did, however, answer the Confederate call to arms very early in the conflict. On December 13, 1860 the Jefferson Mounted Guards were organized under Captain Guy Dreux. Dreux would serve as captain until the company surrendered at Meridian Mississippi in 1865. Dreux's force was a well equiped cavalry unit of 70 men outfitted at their own expense. The Gaurds were detailed as an escort of General Beauregard and succeeding commanders of the Army of Tennessee.

Jefferson Parish served as the northern defense line for New Orleans throughout the war. Camp Lewis and Camp Parapet were established by the Confederacy on the east bank. Camp Lewis was located below Carrollton and Camp Parapet above.

In April of 1862, New Orleans surrendered when Admiral Faragut led a Union flotilla up the river. Baton Rouge fell into Union hands shortly therafter. In August of 1862 Federal forces converged on Fort Parapet. They strengthened the defenses which had originally been constructed by the Confederates to protect New Orleans. A zig-zag embankment ran along what is now Causeway Boulevard from the River to just beyond Metairie Road. These defenses saw little action, as the Confederates would never manage to mount an effort to retake New Orleans.

The Civil War was the greatest tragedy in our nation's history. More Americans lost their lives in this conflict than in all other wars combined. Both sides fought for a cause they believed in. Union forces fought to preserve the nation and abolish the terrible institution of slavery. The Confederate states fought a desperate struggle for their freedom, their right to self-determination and to defend their homeland from burning and looting invaders from the North. Despite superior leadership and early military successes, the agrarian South could not resist the numerical and material advantages of the North. During the war and in the years of Federal occupation that followed, the South suffered the destruction of much of its culture and identity.

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