Fort Proctor, 1846 (CP No. 38) N 9°52'2.85" W89°40'41.07" 04.26.2015

Fort Proctor of Shell Beach, LA

Sitting at the very bottom of Lake Borgne and near the current fishing community of Shell Beach sits Fort Proctor.  According to Parkerson, the fort's official plans date back to 1846 but actual construction did not begin until 1856.  This gives Proctor the distinction of being the last placement for the defense of NOLA prior to the War Between the States.  Parker continues with "The construction of the fort was under the direction of P.T. Beauregard... who gained notoriety by firing the first shot at Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC, beginning the Civil War in 1861.  His associtation with Fort Proctor caused it to be known locally as Fort Beauregard."

A modified "Martello" tower - Proctor still stands today

Parkeson also notes that Proctor is a modified Martello tower:  Although square as opposed to the more traditional round towers, Proctor was two stories tall and contained "eight guns on the second floor and cannon enbarbette on their roof."  Never completed, the fort captiulated to the Yanks when New Orleans fell under Farragut's command in April, 1862.

Today, Proctor, although still standing, has befallen the same fate of it's sister tower, Tower Dupre, eleven miles to its northwest:  Once built on land, the site is now an island but easily accessible by water.  Portions of the original outlying moat wall are visible, but are submerged.  The fort certainly commands that area of the lake, easily viewable from a distance.

Riveted steel beams help support Fort Proctor's still standing walls

Our visit to Proctor was no less than a half hour of exploring both the inside and outside of the fort.  Proctor boasted new technology in its construction - steel beams.  The beams are massive and have no doubt helped to keep the structure as intact as possible.  While the main componet of the site is brick, we could not help but notice the tons of solild granite used in the fort's construction.  Granite slabs could be seen in nearly all cases of support be it under brick colums, window lintels, or case openings.

Granite slabs, gray in color, form areas of support for colums, case openings, and window lintels 

Obviously, like many of the places listed by Parkerson, Fort Proctor takes effort to visit.  But it's certainly a jewel of the marsh and a must-see for anyone interested in local history.

Today, Fort Proctor silently guards Lake Borgne's extreme south shore

Tower Dupre, 1828 (CP No. 34) N29 56.709 W89 50.123 04.26.2015

A tower no more - Tower Dupre is nothing more than a pile of b

Originally constructed on land and standing two stories tall, Louisian was home to one of only  about a dozen such "Martello" towers in the western hemisphere.  Parkerson states the name as "originating from a round watch tower on Martella Point in the Gulf of San Fiorenzo in the Corsican Islands.  This tower held off the British navy for two days in 1794." Impressed with it's design, the Martello tower became popular due to the small number of hands needed to man the three-gun garrison.  Although modified or improved the tower was copied the world over.  Specific to Dupre, this tower at one time housed as many as a dozen guns.

Solid walls four feet thick were no match for Katrina's wind and surf

Tower Dupre, guarding the inland shore of Lake Borgne, stood as a sentinel for nearly 180 years without seeing any action.  It changed hands during the War of Northern Agression and, like most Martellos, eventually became abandoned - the towers became outdated as military technolgy advanced the power and range of larger guns.

Sadly, like many assets that once protected the NOLA area, Hurrican Katrina destroyed Tower Dupre.  Today, the site is nothing more than an island of breakdown and piles of brick.  The area can use the term island only very loosely - once you step off the brick, you're wet.  Like many of the "must see" places I intended to visit, I waited too late to visit Tower Dupre. 

A possible hub for a rotating cannon?

Inside the pile were a few notable items: a couple of metal bed frames and a steel line for piping gas or water  Of particular interest, and lying just under the water's surface was a large spoked wheel.  After a brief inspection we concluded that perhaps it was part of a hub mount for a rotating gun.

Battery Bienvenue, 1828 (CP No. 35) N29 59.121 W89 52.857 04.26.2015

"Bienvenue", French for "Welcome" serves this placement of defense well:  Sitting at the intersection of the currently named Bayou Villere and  Bayou Beinvenue, the battery was built to "welcome" an opposing enemy's slow moving, single-file fleet and "welcome" it with a barrage from it's reported twenty-five cannons.

Constructed in 1828, Parkerson said the position of the fort was due to "the route taken by the invading British Army only fourteen years earlier when they attacked New Orleans."   The fort was orignally rectangular in design and housed Model 1821, 24-pounder smooth bore cannon.  Parkerson goes on to note that this is the only remaining fortified position built to protect New Orleans that still retains some of its original guns.

Commanding the site today is an impressive outter wall five feet in heigth and reaching 150 yards in length.  The marsh has overrun the area and any other remaining assets are completly camaflouged from site.  Looking east from the fort's position, an observer would have a view over the low marsh grasses from behind the western shore of Lake Borgne.  At only a mile and a half distant, sails would have easily been spotted as ships would make their approach into the city's vicinity.  Like many of the nation's post-War of 1812 positions of defense, Battery Bienvenue never saw any action.

Fort Wood (aka Fort Macomb), 1820 (CP No. 32) N 30° 3'53.54" W 89°48'15.43" 04.26.2015

Situated about 9 mile south of it's sister fortification -  Fort Pike - Fort Wood sits near the confluence of Chef Pass and Lake Borne.  According to Parkerson, this is the same area of a previous fortification, Gen. Jackson's fort at Chef Menteur and Bayou Savage.

Fort Wood aka Fort Macomb as viewed from Chef Pass

Like Pike, Wood is a modified Vauban design and capable of supporting 64 large guns. Parkerson notes the forts part during the Civil War with it's history mirroring that of Pike:  "Like Fort Pike,  Fort Wood was surrendered to the Confederate sympathizers in January, 1861, and later evacuated by the Confederates when Admiral Farragut took New Orleans."   

Prior to it's Civil War action, the fort was renamed in 1851 in honor of Major General Alexander Macomb, a Seminole War Hero.

An interior view shows two levels of embrasures for protected small arms fire

A visit of any means today must be by water.  Unlike the maintained Fort Pike, Fort Wood is gated from the public and in generally poor shape.  The entire peremiter looks to be but a storm or two away from seeing the outter walls collapse into the water.  Boat traffic and currents continually work the base of the walls, eroding the foundation, while the tops are being cracked from the rooted vegetation growing there.  While the canon ports are barred, a closer inspection revealed the bars to be of modern rebar.  Obviously the state is trying to keep visitors out by "barring the windows".

Green on top and wet on bottom - the destruction of Ft. Macomb

A closer view of nature at work on Ft Macomb