Fort St. Philip

Infobox_nrhp | name =Fort St. Philip
nrhp_type =nhl

---

caption = Fort St. Philip used as a prison camp during the Civil War
nearest_city= Triumph, Louisiana
locmapin = Louisiana
area =
built =1746
architect=
architecture=
designated= December 19, 1960cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=261&ResourceType=Structure
title=Fort St. Philip |accessdate=2008-02-01|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
refnum=66000380

Fort St. Philip is a decommissioned masonry fort located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, about 40 miles up river from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. It formerly served as military protection of New Orleans, Louisiana, some 80 miles up river, and the lower Mississippi.

The first fort on this location "San Felipe", was constructed in the 18th century during the Spanish control of Louisiana.

The fort served a role in protecting the United States from the British invasion in the War of 1812, seeing 9 days of battle in January 1815.

The current fort was constructed along with Fort Jackson on the river's western bank as a coastal defense for New Orleans and the Mississippi, on urging of Andrew Jackson.

The fort was the site of a twelve-day siege in April 1862 by the Union army during the American Civil War.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/la/Fort%20St.%20Philip.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Fort St. Philip] |506 KiB |date=1978 |author=Patricia Heintzelman |publisher=National Park Service] |32 KB and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000380.pdf "Accompanying 6 photos, aeriel photos from 1935 and others, undated."] |1.45 MiB ]

Fort St. Philip is currently privately owned and in a state of bad deterioration. It was heavily damaged in hurricanes Katrina and Rita. According to the National Park Service, the owner reported that only concrete structures from the time of the Spanish-American war remain.

The site frequently floods under waters from the Mississippi and is accessible only by boat now. [http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=261&ResourceType=Structure National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL) ] ]

References

External links

* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/_Texts/LHQ/2/2/War_of_1812*.html First Siege of Fort St. Philip (1815)] — eyewitness accounts, as published in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly.
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/New_Orleans/_Texts/KENHNO/15*.html Second Siege of Fort St. Philip (1862)] — Chapter 15 of Kendall's History of New Orleans