Fort Plaquemine, 1792 (CP No. 13) and Fort St. Phillip, 1793 (CP No. 15) & 1898 (CP No. 55) N29.36272 W89.46541

Sitting atop a concrete bunker, Mike, Axel & Billy explore Fort St. Phillip.

Lying due NW across from Fort Jackson lies Fort St. Phillip.  Parkerson reports that the original structure, likely a log and mud outposts was another fortification established by colonial Spanish Governor Carondolet. A year later, Carondolet would see the site improved as a brick and mortar fort, renaming it "Castillo San Phillipe".  The fort was surrounded by water on every side with it's guns trained on the Mississippi River.

The central lawn of the site is now covered in marsh grasses.

Like Fort Jackson, now owned by the United States following the Louisiana Purchase, the site would see considerable renovations following the onset of war with England in 1812.  Repaired and armed for action, the fort was renamed Fort St. Phillip.  The fort was fired upon for nine days by the English navy in early 1815.  While most of the buildings lay in ruins, the fort stood.  Parkerson's research stated "For a half-mile around, the grounds were cratered from the cannonballs.

The topside gun bases of a concrete bunker.

The fort would again be readied for action during the War with Mexico and the Civil War.  A blockade line, anchored with derelict boats, was ran from the fort and across the river to Fort Jackson.  Following their attack on Fort Jackson, the Union navy turned its attention to Fort St. Phillip.  After four days of intense shelling the fleet finally broke the cable and sailed for New Orleans.

Near the end of the nineteenth century, like it's sister battery across the river, Fort St. Phillip would be modernized:  A number of concrete batteries were installed as well as the disappearing guns.  The fort would see it's final service to the military when it too served as a training facility during WWI.

A bunker housing or arms shelter is now flooded with mud.

Unlike Fort Jackson, a visit to Fort St. Phillip requires travel over water.  This was our second target for the day and it was a short PWC ski across the river from Fort Jackson.  Unlike the west bank, there is no levee on this side of the river.  We exited the river via the bayou just south of the site and then proceeded to the rear via one of the protective ditches.

The original brick and mortar fort wall.  Evidence of the site's sinking is the roofed entrance below waist level.

The first two things we noticed about Fort St. Phillip is 1 - It's very large:  The entire compound is surrounded by a concrete wall that is nearly a half mile long on the rear side.  No. 2 - The whole area is in ruin and is slowly being taken over by the marsh.  The concrete bunkers command the area but the rooms beneath the gun bases are filled with mud - indeed the whole of Fort St. Phillip is sinking into the marsh.

A concrete bunker's entrance and control booth is now below shoulder height.

Pushing northward through the overgrowth we found more bunkers and, near the site's central point, we found the remains of the brick and mortar fort.  The wall, which once have must been a formidable height is now approximately six feet tall; the terreplein on top retains evidence of the guns that once sat there.  Unfortunately, and it addition to the site sinking, the whole area is victim to the river's Spring rise, storms, and the surges they bring.

Brought in from high water, a derelict channel marker sits near the top of a concrete bunker.