ONE HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS AGO – The only
serious attempt by Southern forces to retake Baton Rouge ended in a Confederate
defeat on August 5, 1862.
The Union forces captured New
Orleans on April 26, 1862, about which time Louisiana leaders decided to
abandon Baton Rouge. It was occupied on
May 29.
The Confederates considered the
capital city as a key first step to retaking New Orleans, and therefore planned
the attack. The assault initially
succeeded in driving back the Union troops, until their retreat brought them
within range of the guns of the ships anchored in the Mississippi River. Those ships were to have been driven off by
the Confederate ironclad Arkansas,
but it broke down and never arrived.
Without any reasonable prospect of overcoming the naval support, the
Confederates retreated.
From August 5, 1862 until the end of
the Civil War, Baton Rouge was safely under Union occupation and control.
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