Fort
Bisland, LA
April 12-13, 1863
Battlefield,
looking west, at the Confederate line.
Bayou Teche at Franklin, looking downriver.
The boilers are not visible to me but the Diana is somewhere along
the shoreline. Fort Bisland is a
short distance downriver.
Photos
and captions by Dave Comeau, October 1997
State historical markers at the site:
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Battle of Bisland
April 12-13, 1863
Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks' Union army
attacked Gen. Dick Taylor's Confederate forces entrenched at Fort
Bisland. Confederates repulsed each attack, but post evacuated when
Union flanking force landed at Irish Bend.
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The Gunboat Diana
Embedded in the banks of Bayou Teche to
the east of this site and visible from here are the boilers of the
gunboat Diana. Originally a Federal vessel operating on the lower Teche,
it was captured by the Confederates. During the Bisland campaign, under
the command of Oliver J. Semmes, son of the Confederate raider, Admiral
Raphael Semmes, the Diana effectively harassed the attacking Federals.
Damaged in the fighting, the ship was fired by her crew to prevent
capture.
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