Hawgwild
Full Member
Thought this may interest some of you CW history buffs.....don't think I'll be able to MD on the actual grounds of the fort as there is a National Guard armory and VA Hospital there now, but should be able to go around the park area surrounding the area to the east. The site is just a few hundred yards from the Red River so hopefully may find some stuff around there maybe. To have a closer look of the area you can go to google earth : 510 E Stoner Ave, Shreveport, LA
Northeast corner of that intersection is basically where the old fort was and to the right or east of that are some parks and the Red River.
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Ft. Humbug
With a lack of equipment or skilled labor, three forts and twelve batteries were quickly constructed in the area. Federal spies reported that Shreveport was heavily armed with cannons, and Admiral Porter and General Nathaniel Banks, who believed this, turned around. Of course, Fort Turnbull, the original name of the fort, was nothing but felled trees, cut and fashioned to look like cannons. General John Bankhead McGruder was correct when he described it as nothing but a “humbug.”1 And the name stuck.
Fort Humbug was the last stronghold of the Confederacy in Louisiana.
Reuben N. McKellar, Commissioner of Streets and Parks, first saw the sixty-five acres of Fort Humbug as a possible park in 1927.3 He stated that the earthworks of the fort were still visible.4 He and his men began to clear the land. On June 3, 1927, Confederate Memorial Day, the Fort Humbug Confederate Memorial Park was dedicated, with the Shreveport Chapter 237 taking the responsibility of the park’s upkeep.5
Ft. Humbug and other northwest Louisiana history.
History
Northeast corner of that intersection is basically where the old fort was and to the right or east of that are some parks and the Red River.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ft. Humbug
With a lack of equipment or skilled labor, three forts and twelve batteries were quickly constructed in the area. Federal spies reported that Shreveport was heavily armed with cannons, and Admiral Porter and General Nathaniel Banks, who believed this, turned around. Of course, Fort Turnbull, the original name of the fort, was nothing but felled trees, cut and fashioned to look like cannons. General John Bankhead McGruder was correct when he described it as nothing but a “humbug.”1 And the name stuck.
Fort Humbug was the last stronghold of the Confederacy in Louisiana.
Reuben N. McKellar, Commissioner of Streets and Parks, first saw the sixty-five acres of Fort Humbug as a possible park in 1927.3 He stated that the earthworks of the fort were still visible.4 He and his men began to clear the land. On June 3, 1927, Confederate Memorial Day, the Fort Humbug Confederate Memorial Park was dedicated, with the Shreveport Chapter 237 taking the responsibility of the park’s upkeep.5
Ft. Humbug and other northwest Louisiana history.
History
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