Forty-six years after the British attack on New Orleans the scene at Chalmette once more hosted military activity. At the outbreak of the Civil War Confederate authorities in Louisiana saw great need in protecting the port city from an invasion by Union troops and early in they began formulating defensive plans for that purpose.
But while events unfolded in the East, defenses along the Mississippi were generally neglected, despite the admonitions of prominent officers like Brigadier General Pierre G. The fortifications around the city constituted what authorities termed the outer and inner lines of defense. The former consisted of Forts Jackson, St. The inner line, started in July, , comprised mostly temporary earthworks thrown up at strategic points along the waterways and at railheads closer in to New Orleans.
Under Lovell's direction this system was refined mostly in the area of the swamps and bayous adjoining both sides of the Mississippi. Erected according to the tenets of field fortification, the earthworks stretched for broad distances at right angles to the stream, generally terminating at the water's edge in large batteries each capable of mounting several heavy cannon.
It was resumed at the various points of firm ground on the railroad, canal, and roads, when they issued through the swamp in rear of the city, towards Lake Pontchartrain. Above the city it also extended from the swamp to the left bank of the river again, and from the opposite side it ran along the Barataria Canal from the bank of the river to the swamp above Algiers.
The total length of the intrenchments on this line was more than 8 miles, and, when completed, it, in connection with the swamp, put New Orleans in an impregnable position so far as regarded any attack by land. John and New Orleans. Several smaller works were planned but never commenced. The line at Chalmette represented the major Confederate defensive position between the lower river forts and New Orleans. Begun soon after General Lovell assumed command, the Chalmette line touched the Mississippi at a point immediately below the present national cemetery where a breakwater was erected to protect the bank from erosion.
