Greenwell Springs at War: 150th Anniversary of Battle of Baton Rouge

On Aug. 4, 1862, Central Served As Staging Area For CSA Forces

by Woody Jenkins, Editor

GREENWELL SPRINGS — In July 1862 — 150 years ago — Confederate Major Gen. Earl Van Dorn planned an expedition to capture Baton Rouge from Union troops, who had burned much of the city and looted the rest.

He sent Major Gen. John C. Breckinridge and 6,000 soldiers to accomplish the mission.  Many rode troop trains from Jackson, Mississippi, to Camp Moore in Tangipahoa Parish near Amite.

But most of the soldiers were sick, poorly armed, and poorly equipped.  Only about 2,800 were able to leave Camp Moore on a forced march to reach Baton Rouge on Aug. 5 — an all-important date.

Only a few months before, Breckinridge had been a member of the United States Senate and until March 1861 had been Vice President of the United States.

Breckinridge worried about the bridge over the Amite River at Grangeville but his men were able to cross it.  On Aug. 4, they arrived at Greenwell Springs.  People came out of their houses to offer food and water to the sick, exhausted soldiers.  One officer commented, “Only their rifles were shiny and clean.”

They marched so hard to meet the Confederate ironclad, the Arkansas, which was fighting its way down the river to Baton Rouge.  A large Union fleet was in the river, providing artillery cover to Union troops in the city.  If the Southern troops captured Baton Rouge, they would only be able to hold it if the Arkansas dispersed the Union fleet and drove them away from the city.

At 2 p.m. on Aug. 4, Breckinridge’s Confederate soldiers rested on the banks of the Comite River and drank its cool, clear water.  That evening, they marched to the northeastern edge of the City of Baton Rouge.

In the early morning hours, the fog hung low.  A cavalry unit, led by Col. Ben Helm crossed Ward’s Creek and encountered Union pickets near Magnolia Cemetery.  The Union troops fired, and the cavalry unit returned toward the Confederate lines near Greenwell Springs Road to report the Yankees’ position.  Unfortunately, the Confederate pickets, hearing the gunshots from the direction of the Union troops and assuming that the riders were Union, opened fire.

Young Confederate Lt. Alexander Todd, 21, was killed and Col. Helm was badly injured.

Todd was the brother of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, who had five brothers fighting for the South.

His death brought tragedy to the Lincoln White House.

Helm was a brother-in-law to Mrs. Lincoln.  He was killed in battle one year later, causing more heartbreak for the Lincoln family.

Throughout the morning, the Southern and Northern boys engaged in vicious combat, sometimes hand to hand. The Magnolia Cemetery was the scene of some of the fiercest and most deadly fighting.

The battle was a series of mini-battles with the North winning some and the South others.  But ultimately the Yankees were driven back to the site of the present State Capitol.

Unfortunately, the Arkansas encountered serious engine problems and broke down time and again.  It could not reach Baton Rouge in time for the ground assault.  When a space had opened between the Union and Confederate forces, Union spotters on top of the Old State Capitol were able to direct artillery fire from ships on the river onto the Confederates.

The Arkansas never arrived and it ultimately was sunk by its crew to avoid it being captured.

Left without artillery cover, the Confederate troops were forced to retreat.  They had pushed the Union troops back to the river but they could not hold the city.

Each side lost 84 killed and hundreds wounded.  After the battle, the surviving Confederate soldiers returned to the grounds of the Greenwell Springs Hotel, which was converted to a hospital.  Over the next few weeks, both Confederates and Union soldiers were treated there.

For the people of what is now Central, the war had become very real, and they were able to see its effects on their own lives and on the lives of the young men of both the North and South whose bodies and very lives were shattered by the hostilities.

Central was at war — 150 years ago.