Camp Parapet
Jefferson Parish, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Marker Inscription
Camp Parapet. In 1862 Confederate and Louisiana authorities laid out Camp Parapet as a part of the defense lines of New Orleans. The works were designed to protect the city against an attack from the north. After the Federals, coming up from the south, captured New Orleans, Camp Parapet became an important part of the Union defenses. It served also as a training camp for Northern soldiers.
The Story
In 1862 Confederate and Louisiana authorities laid out Camp Parapet as part of the northern defenses of New Orleans, expecting an attack from upriver. Instead the city fell to a Union fleet coming up from the Gulf, and the fortifications passed into Federal hands, serving as a Northern training camp for the rest of the war.
Why it matters
Its reversal of fortune mirrors the fall of New Orleans itself — the Confederacy's largest city, lost early and turned into a Union stronghold.
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Related events
- · Capture of New Orleans (1862)
Themes & tags
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