Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria is a city in Louisiana, U.S.A.; it is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 46,342.

History

Alexander Fulton, a Pennsylvania businessman, received a land grant from Spain in 1785 and the first settlement was made at that time. In 1805. Fulton laid out the town plan and named the town either after himself, or after his infant daughter who died around that time. It was first incorporated as a town in 1818 and received a city charter in 1882.

Related Topics:
Spain - 1785 - 1805 - 1818 - 1882

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The Civil War

In the spring of 1863 a Union fleet under Admiral David D. Porter, operating on the Red River, co-operated with land forces under General N. P. Banks in pushing the Confederates westward. Alexandria was occupied on May 7, 1863, but the troops were soon withdrawn for the Port Hudson attack. On March 19, 1864 it was again occupied by the Union forces, who made it the point of concentration for another land and naval expedition against E. Kirby Smith and Shreveport. After the check of this expedition and its abandonment, Alexandria was again vacated on the 12th-13th of May, when the city was almost entirely burned. The Union gunboats, which had passed up the river toward Shreveport at high water, were caught in its decline above the falls at Alexandria, but they were saved by a splendid piece of engineering (a dam at the falls), constructed by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey (1827-1867), who for this service received the thanks of Congress and the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers.

Related Topics:
1863 - Admiral David D. Porter - Confederates - May 7 - Port Hudson - March 19 - 1864 - E. Kirby Smith - Shreveport - Dam - Joseph Bailey - 1827 - 1867 - Brevet

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