Customer Reviews

Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River

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Much too often, so called historians/authors take the lazy way out of writing, particularly as it applies to the War for Southern Independence. They frequently cite the writings of other so called historians/authors for validation of their facts. The problem with this is that many of the other writings they cite are based on incorrect information or out right lies. The result is that incorrect history becomes accepted fact. Mayeux refreshingly starts from scratch in his book on Fort DeRussy. He does fresh leg work, getting to the real facts of what occurred there and the surrounding events as accounted for by both sides in the conflict. As a result, he uncovers many inaccuracies in other histories pertaining to the events surrounding the fort, and he clearly documents why these previous writings are incorrect. If one is interested in learning the no nonsense facts about Fort DeRussy and this period in our history, this book is highly recommended. It is lively and entertaining reading.

A unique book about a little known place that was extremely important in 1863 and 1864. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Red River Campaign, the Civil War in Louisiana or the Trans Mississippi Theater. Fort DeRussy seldom merits mention is most accounts of the Civil War. This book was not a rehash of old material. The author is able to draw on a wealth of local information as well as primary and secondary sources. Steve Mayeux gives us the story of the fort which was supposed to defend the Red River Valley from Union gunboats from its beginning to the end of the War. It captured the Queen of the West, provided troops to man the boats that captured the Indianola and defeated another gunboat attack before falling to a Union army that captured the fort without naval assistance. Fort DeRussy then served as an important Union station during the disastrous Red River campaign. I liked the author's easy folksy style, including his personal feeling and experiences in the text and footnotes. I also appreciated the footnotes on the page for easy access. It is in the footnotes that we discover more and more about how his ancestors owned the land, his great grandmother was born there just before the union army arrived and how he and others worked to restore the fort and have it protected as a Louisiana State Park.

There's a lot to like in Mayeux's book. His involvement with a preservation and restoration effort for DeRussy puts him in a unique position to get feedback from sources most historians might miss. The good things start with the cover - a blow-up drawing with artistic merit that appears to have been executed by someone who was actually present during the May, 1863 clash between the fort, two Confederate cotton-clads and a Union navy gunboat squadron. Prior to this useful depiction I'd never picked up on why the Fort's guns had been positioned relative to the first Red River raft. To attempt to run past the fort (a favorite Union tactic on the rivers), an attacking vessel was required to move upstream against the current, make a sharp turn to starboard, face a "raft" obstruction, after breaking through the raft, advance down a straight waterway toward the fort under fire for the whole process. All things being equal - DeRussy should have held them. Read the book to see why it didn't. From Board postings on the internet, it is clear that Mayeux has a wide knowledge of events along Red River during "the late unpleasantness". He shows admirable restraint by confining himself to his primary topic. The appendices are useful in terms of identifying individuals on both sides of the conflict serving in the DeRussy area. Amazingly, he includes a list of contracted slaves working on the fort and river obstructions that died. As such it is a unique tribute to a small portion of the vast number of Negro workmen who labored to execute the designs of the Confederate Army Engineer Department. I suspect that there will eventually be an update to this book. When it appears, I think it might be useful to add 2 or 3 pages on the kinds of ordnance used at the fort in its various incarnations and the tactical implications. Good job. Well worth the price.

As a native of Avoyelles Parish, Steve Mayeux really has one leg up when it comes to the study of the Civil War in Central Louisiana. As such, he was able to provide details that another historian might well miss. Leaving no stones unturned he researched such obscure sources as articles appearing in the "Marksville Pelican", a local newspaper that was published contemporaneously with the events as they were occuring, as well as the observations of the Mother Superior of the Daughters of the Cross, whose letters, written in French back to her family, but translated and published by Avoyelles teacher Sister Dorothea McCants, shed great light on what it was like to have actually lived during the Civil War years in Avoyelles. Such first person accounts bring great life to the reconstruction of this moment in history. For those of you whose eyes glaze over at the thought of another book filled with complicated analyses of battle strategies and "dry as a bone" statistical studies, be advised that this book is NOT in that genre. Mayeux has truly captured the "soul" of this conflict. It is significant, no doubt, that the author, whose family has lived in the parish for generations, has a deep connection, both emotional and familial, to the events and people portrayed in this book. Mayeux spent years doing an incredible amount of research on both the Union and Confederate sides, as well as countless hours and dollars spearheading the effort to preserve the Fort DeRussy Historical Site. But what sets this book apart from so many others is that it was written from the heart by a man whose ancestors lived and died in the context of this very story.

The author, with local and family roots, covers Fort DeRussy from construction to destruction and current efforts to preserve and maintain the site. There is in-depth background on the fort, the area around it, and its role in the Red River campaign of Banks and Porter against the Confederacy. Excellent commentary on the role of cotton and its confiscation for the North's war effort, on the local black and white population's involvement with the Fort, on naval aspects of the Western theater - all increase knowledge of the scope of the Civil War.

The Red River Expedition of 1863-64 was, to be generous, a less than successful effort on the part of the Union. One of the few victories by the North was the capture of Fort DeRussy, located near Barbin's Landing, a few miles north of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish -- but even that came after a lengthy siege that helped delay and perhaps even crippled the enemy's advance. After Fort DeRussy's capitulation to overwhelming force, it became a footnote in the history of the War until excavations began in 1994 to recover the remains of the fortifications. The author is an amateur military historian, not an academic, but he appears to know central Louisiana's history thoroughly and obviously possesses strong research skills, and the result is a well-thought-out study of this corner of the western theater of the Civil War. He avoids what he calls "tourism history" -- what one might wish had happened, featuring the gallant actions of one's own always-brave ancestors -- in favor of "real history": Not what we know happened, because that's almost never attainable, but what we can best determine happened. That means compromises, but Mayeux seems to have made all the right ones. The footnotes and bibliography are extensive, making this an excellent starting place for further research, as well as enjoyable reading for Civil War buffs and students.

This book is exactly what I have been looking for...an answer to the many questions I've had about the battle for
Fort DeRusy, Louisiana. Thank you for writing this book, Mr. Mayeaux.

I have read hundreds of Civil War books, and to my mind the best are the ones where the author weaves a narrative told by those who were there. This is such a book. Mayeux not only gets us closely in touch with the strategic and tactical issues in central Louisiana (and connects them to larger issues) but excells in putting you in the shoes of General and private (and sailor), citizen and slave and lets you see the story through their eyes. By the end of the book, you really want to know how their lives went after the war...and he thoughtfully weaves that in at the end. I was sorry to reach the end of the book. My faith is renewed that real ground level history, always a compromise of competing eye witnesses, can be done through serious digging and thorough analysis. But you still have to tell a great story - and here it is. Steve Mayeux makes you stand up and cheer the story of the side show on the Red River, and especially those Americans north and south, who lived it. Well done!!

This is must read for Louisiana Civil War History. Mayeux is an excellent story teller who makes the history of Fort DeRussy come to life

This was an excellent story of the building and the fight around Ft. DeRussy. There could have been a few more maps and some mention of other actions going on during the time the fort was is use. Very good writing and a good story. Worth the money for a little known action in Louisiana.