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Forts Pike, Macomb, St. John

The Battle of New Orleans in 1814-1815, which concluded the War or 1812, highlighted the weaknesses in the coastal defenses of the United States. Determined that the country would be better protected, President Monroe directed that better fortifications be built along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. Among those built were Fort Pike and Fort Macomb (originally known as Fort Wood).

Fort Pike (and a sister fort, Fort Macomb) are two of the forts designed by French engineer Simon Bernard. They both have the same plans, design, and orientation, and serve the same function of protecting Lake Pontchartrain from invasion. It was built to replace another earlier defensive fortification, Fort Petite Coquilles, built by the French.

Fort Macomb overlooks Chef Pass, which is the southern access to the lake from Lake Borgne.

Both were built to defend New Orleans, but neither saw battle, even through the Civil War. Built from 1819-1826, Fort Pike was manned sporadically in the years that followed. In the 1830's, it was used as a staging area during the Seminole Wars, and again during the Mexican War in the 1840's. By 1861, it was in the command of a solitary force of one Sergeant, who was persuaded to surrender the fort to the State of Louisiana, without firing a shot.

The Union troops re-took the fort after the capture of New Orleans, but not before the retreating Confederate soldiers destroyed the guns, and burned the wooden structures. The union forces used it as a training facility, where freed slaves were trained in heavy artillery, before moving on to battle in other areas of the country. "Colored Troops", who later saw battle at Pascagoula and Port Hudson, also staffed Fort Macomb.

Fort St. John, most often referred to as Spanish Fort, was built by the Colonial French to protect New Orleans and Bayou St. John (an important trade route), at Lake Pontchartrain. It was rebuilt by the Spanish in 1779, and later restored by the Americans in 1808.

Brave Defense Of A Proud City

The chronicle of this vital defensive location on the shores of the Rigolets goes back even further than the existing old structure. When General Andrew Jackson was preparing to defend New Orleans from a British invasion during the War of 1812, he sent an urgent message to Captain Francis Newman, Commander of Fort Petite Coquilles (the small wooden fort which was later replaced by Fort Pike). "Defend your fort to the last extreme," ordered the general, "and in case you should not be able to hold out, spike your guns, blow up the fort and evacuate to Post Chef Menteur." None of this became necessary, of course, because Jackson's force won the decisive battle at Chalmette on January 8, 1815.

Although the United States survived the War of 1812, the British destruction of our nation's capital and their attack on New Orleans emphasized the weakness of our country's defense. To prevent a foreign invasion from occurring again, President James Monroe ordered the placement of an extensive coastal defense system. These new fortifications, together with existing ones, stretched along the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts and protected strategic ports and rivers such as New Orleans and the Mississippi. Forts Pike and Macomb (also called Fort Wood) were two of six new masonry forts built in coastal Louisiana at this time. Together with Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the Mississippi River and Fort Livingston on Barataria Bay, these fortifications protected New Orleans from a seaborne invasion.

The Fortress Pike

Begun in 1819 and completed in 1826, Fort Pike was named for the explorer and soldier General Zebulon Montgomery Pike (1779-1813) whose name is also attached to Pike's Peak in the Rocky Mountains. The fort was designed to withstand attack from land or sea. Pointed bastions (fortified areas) flank the land facade of the structure and a curved wall faces the waters of the Rigolets. (The name Rigolets comes from the French word "rigole," meaning trench or gutter, and aptly describes this narrow passage between the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain.) The fort originally featured two protective moats, crossed by bridges, around the main structure and a glacis or slope with a covered way between the moats.

The citadel, in the center of the fort, began as a one-story building designed to serve as a stronghold in case the walls were stormed. Used as a barracks, it was renovated in the 1850s, and a second floor was added to catch cool breezes from the lake. The citadel burned twice - first when retreating Confederate troops torched it in 1862 and again in 1887 - leaving the present brick shell.

Also within the fort were the officers' quarters and service areas, such as a bakery and sutler's store, but later many of the service buildings were located outside the fort. These included a carpenter's shop, clothing store, ordnance and sutler's store, a blacksmith shop, bakery, commissary, and mess hall. The hospital stood about 3/4 mile away at the site of old Fort Petite Coquilles. None of these outside structures remain today.

The original armament of Fort Pike consisted of 32-pounder and 24-pounder cannons; the exact number of each type is unknown. At various times the fort held other types of cannons. The wartime garrison was approximately 400 men; in peacetime it varied between one and 80 soldiers.

Fort Pike, 1819-1861

Fort Pike's role in the military affairs of the United States prior to the Civil War varied considerably.

During the Seminole Wars in the 1830s, Fort Pike served as a staging area for many troops enroute to Florida, and also as a collection point for hundreds of Seminole prisoners and their black slaves who were being transported to Oklahoma. Cannons were removed from some of the casemates to convert them to cells. At one point in this conflict, only 66 soldiers guarded 253 Indian and black prisoners.

Similarly, during the Mexican War in the 1840s, Fort Pike was a stopover for soldiers bound for Texas and Mexico. In between these wars, Fort Pike was largely abandoned and left in the care of a single ordnance sergeant.

Civil War Occupation

In 1861 the silence of Fort Pike was broken. Before the actual start of the Civil War, the Louisiana militia captured the fort. Confederates held it until the Union forces took New Orleans in 1862, whereupon the Southerners evacuated Fort Pike. Federal forces then reoccupied the fort and used it as a base for raids along the Gulf coast and Lake Pontchartrain areas and as a protective outpost for New Orleans. In spite of all this activity, not a single cannon ball was ever fired in battle from Fort Pike.

Experts thought the fort was impregnable when built, but it became obsolete with the development of larger caliber and higher velocity artillery. This was demonstrated by the destruction of Fort Sumter late in the Civil War. Fort Pike was again left to the care of an ordnance sergeant from 1871 until it was officially abandoned in 1890.

Fort Pike was an essential step necessary for the defense of a young American nation.

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