Fort DeRussy was a Civil War engagement fought in Louisiana, 1864. It was a Union victory.
The Union launched a multi-purpose expedition into Rebel Gen. E. Kirby Smith's Trans-Mississippi Department, headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana, in early 1864. Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks and Rear Adm. David D. Porter jointly commanded the combined force. Porter's fleet and Brig. Gen. A.J. Smith's XVI and XVII Army Corps detachments of the Army of the Tennessee set out on March 12, 1864, up the Red River, the most direct route to Shreveport. Banks with the XIII and XIX Army Corps advanced by way of Berwick Bay and Bayou Teche. After removing various obstructions that the Rebels had placed in the river, the major impediment to the Union expedition was the formidable Fort DeRussy, an earthen fortification with a partly iron-plated battery designed to resist the fire of Union ironclads that might come up river. Union Brig. Gen. A.J. Smith's command had embarked on transports at Vicksburg and then disembarked at Simsport, on the 12th, about thirty miles from Fort DeRussy. Smith sent out some troops on the morning of the 13th to determine if any enemy was in their path. This force dispersed and chased an enemy brigade, after which, Smith set his men in motion up the Fort DeRussy road. They did not proceed far before night. Early the next morning, the 14th, they continued the march, discovering that a Confederate division threatened their advance. Always mindful of this threat, Smith had to place part of his command in a position to intercept these Rebel forces if they attacked. Upon arriving at the fort, the enemy garrison of 350 men opened fire. Smith decided to use Mower's division, XVI Army Corps, to take the fort and set about positioning it for the attack. Around 6:30 pm, Smith ordered a charge on the fort and about twenty minutes later, Mower's men scaled the parapet, causing the enemy to surrender. Fort DeRussy, which some had said was impregnable, had fallen and the Red River to Alexandria was open.
In early 1864 Union forces pushed into the Trans-Mississippi Department that Confederate general E. Kirby Smith commanded from his headquarters at Shreveport, Louisiana, aiming to accomplish several objectives at once. Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks shared command of the operation with Rear Adm. David D. Porter. On March 12, Porter's gunboats along with the XVI and XVII Army Corps detachments from the Army of the Tennessee, led by Brig. Gen. A.J. Smith, began moving up the Red River, since this offered the quickest path toward Shreveport. Meanwhile Banks took the XIII and XIX Army Corps on a separate approach through Berwick Bay and Bayou Teche. Rebel forces had planted obstacles in the waterway, and once these were cleared away, the Federals still faced their toughest obstacle in Fort DeRussy, an earthwork fortified with a battery partly covered in iron plating and built specifically to withstand fire from any Union ironclads venturing upriver. Smith's men had boarded transport vessels at Vicksburg before landing at Simmesport on the 12th, roughly thirty miles distant from the fort. The following morning, the 13th, Smith dispatched troops to scout for enemy presence along their route. These soldiers scattered and pursued a Confederate brigade they encountered, and afterward Smith moved his main force forward along the road leading to Fort DeRussy. Darkness fell before they could cover much ground.
On the morning of March 14, the column resumed its march and soon learned that a Confederate division stood ready to oppose them ahead. With that danger in mind, Smith found it necessary to detach part of his force to guard against a possible strike from these Confederates. When the troops reached the fort, its defenders, numbering 350, began firing on them. Smith chose Mower's division of the XVI Army Corps to lead the assault and busied himself arranging the men for the attack. At roughly 6:30 in the evening, he gave the order to charge, and within about twenty minutes Mower's soldiers had climbed over the parapet, forcing the garrison to give up the fight.
Fort DeRussy, once considered unconquerable by some, had finally been taken, clearing the Red River all the way to Alexandria.
Among the ordnance seized by Smith's Union forces were two 9-inch Dahlgren guns, one rifled 32-pounder, one smoothbore 32-pounder, two 32-pounder carronades, two 24-pounder long guns, and two iron 6-pounder guns.
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