NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).

1. Name of Property historic name Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District other names/site number Old Pleasant Hill, 16DS234 & 16DS235

2. Location street & number Near junction of Louisiana State Highways 175 and 177 NA not for publication city or town Between the towns of Pelican and Pleasant Hill, Louisiana X vicinity state 031 & 71065 Louisiana code LA county DeSoto & Sabine code 085 zip code

3. State/Federal Agency Certification

As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination _ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X_ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: x national x statewide x local

Phil Boggan, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Signature of certifying official/Title Date Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.

Signature of commenting official Date

Title State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is:

entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register

determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register

other (explain:) ______

Signature of the Keeper Date of Action

5. Classification

Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) (Check only one box.) (Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)

Contributing Noncontributing x private building(s) 1 8 buildings public - Local x district district public - State site 2 1 site public - Federal structure 11 structure object object 3 20 Total

Name of related multiple property listing Number of contributing resources previously (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing) listed in the National Register

N/A 0

6. Function or Use Historic Functions Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) (Enter categories from instructions.) DOMESTIC: town site AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: agricultural field DEFENSE: battle site LANDSCAPE: park FUNERARY: cemetery LANDSCAPE: forest AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE: agricultural field RECREATION & CULTURE: monument/marker

7. Description

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Architectural Classification Materials (Enter categories from instructions.) (Enter categories from instructions.)

Battlefield: No style foundation: BRICK/CONCRETE/WOOD: Log O’Pry/Elam House: OTHER: Louisiana vernacular dogtrot house walls: WOOD: Weatherboard

roof: Metal: Tin

other:

Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, setting, size, and significant features.)

Summary Paragraph:

The Battle of Pleasant Hill occurred on April 9, 1864 in and around the rural village of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana during the American Civil War’s Red River Campaign. This nomination seeks to propose for listing on the National Register of Historic Places a historic district consisting of the entirety of the known battlefield and the historic town site, containing in total approximately 1,010 acres. The battlefield is located in southeastern DeSoto Parish and extends just inside the Sabine Parish line. The boundary for the battlefield was chosen based on an extensive review of primary sources including maps, participant/witness diaries, after-action reports and surveys of the terrain and extant cultural features of the land itself. Much of the original town was damaged or burned as a result of the battle. Later, in 1881, the town officially relocated to Sabine Parish. The site today is still very rural, characterized by approximately one-third open pasture and grassland, separated by a few barbed wire fences and natural features and the remainder largely vegetated in mixed hardwood and deciduous growth. Despite some minor intrusions of a limited number of contemporary domestic and commercial buildings, the Pleasant Hill battlefield and town site retain substantial integrity for the purposes of inclusion upon the National Register of Historic Places. There are 3 contributing (including one building and two archaeological sites) and 20 non-contributing resources/elements within the boundaries of the battlefield.

Narrative Description:

To a casual observer –say a motorist passing through the site via LA HWY 175 at 55mph, Pleasant Hill Battlefield would seem an almost ordinary north Louisiana rural landscape. However, this landscape played an important role in our nation’s history. The battlefield contains identifiable fighting positions including numerous in situ rifle pits, or hastily completed defensive entrenchments, at various positions throughout the site. Within the context of the greater battlefield lie vestiges of the abandoned town despite years of plowing and cultivation, timber harvesting, nearby petroleum and natural gas exploration, and historic periods of desertion and neglect. Within the historic town site one original building remains, the O’Pry/Elam dogtrot house. There are numerous in situ archaeological features from the historic town site such as brick cisterns, roadbeds and surface scatters of

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archaeological material such as brick and ceramics. Additionally, the original town cemetery is largely preserved. Old Town Cemetery is included in this nomination despite Criteria Consideration D because it represents an important tangible vestige of the now abandoned town of Old Pleasant Hill.

It might seem difficult to imagine that this serene place was once home to a bustling and prosperous community of diverse individuals, ranging from aristocratic planter to the backwoods pioneer. Or too, that this ground hosted a brief but chaotic Civil War battle which left some 3,000 Americans as casualties of war in just four hours time.1 It is likewise hard to imagine that an entire community, faced with the hard times following war and alienation from the new railroads which were then driving the postwar southern economy forward, could just pick up and move after more than thirty years of rooted existence. It’s when the casual observer abandons the highway and begins to traverse the fields, trudge the old roadbeds, photograph the O’Pry/Elam house and peer down an old handmade brick cistern (which has no business in an active cow pasture) that the historic aspects of this unique place begin to come vividly to life.

The battlefield is adjacent to both sides of Louisiana State Highway 175, which bisects the site, entering from the northwest and exiting to the southeast in adjoining Sabine Parish. The peak in elevation is located roughly on the northwestern edge of the historic town site. A contemporary commemorative park is located just to the south of this rise. The commemorative park is approximately one-acre in size and is where several granite interpretive markers are located. This park is situated very near the heart of the original town’s commercial and educational district.

In keeping with its historic appearance, each vista across the landscape terminates at a line of dense pine and intermittent hardwood growth. Much of the open surface of the landscape dips in a rather gentle slope moving towards the center of the battlefield in the area just south of the old village site. The main rise which comprises Pleasant Hill proper peaks around the Old Town Cemetery towards the northeast corner of the landscape. Upon entering the northern and northeastern tree lines, the terrain alternately dips and rises in a series of deep ravines and intermittent creek bottoms full of natural sandstone rocks and clays. These ravines mark historically important boundaries for the historic village and currently (as in bygone days) divide the cultural landscape from nature’s realm. The open pasture expanse is covered grasses and hayfields. This terrain is broken up occasionally by planted shrubbery, flowering and ornamental trees such as crepe myrtles, which are planted among the interpretive spaces within the commemorative park. The woodland, which bounds the landscape from every vantage point, is predominantly forested with pine growth, thick in areas and supplemented with some deciduous and hardwood species typically found along the dips between the deep ravines and creek bottoms. In the western edge of the landscape, several somewhat linear rows of Pecan trees comprise a small pecan grove associated with the remaining historic (dogtrot) house. Overall, this current landscape virtually mirrors one combatant’s recording of the locale:

The ground which [the Union forces] have chose to stand upon, is of much advantage to them. It is an old thrown out farm of about four hundred acres, bordered on all sides by thick woods, the field is in some places slightly overgrown with pine bushes; the greater portion of the ground lies in a cove of a valley, and is approached from our side from a high hill thickly overgrown with heavy timber.2

1 Gary Joiner, Through the Howling Wilderness. (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006) 107. 2 H. C. Medford Letter, Original in the collection of Mansfield State Historic Site, Mansfield, Louisiana.

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Although the highway that bisects the site is intermittently busy during the day with logging trucks and occasional passenger vehicles, only a few to no contemporary structures are readily visible from any given angle to starkly remind a visitor of the passage of time. Pleasant Hill battlefield is as rural today as it ever was.

Contributing Elements:

The Pleasant Hill Battlefield (Contributing Site, 16DS234)

The historic battlefield of Pleasant Hill was plotted based on field surveys, archaeological finds, and a thorough review of historic maps and written primary and secondary accounts of the battle. The battlefield stretches over portions of Sections 7, 8, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Township 10 North Range 11 West of the Northwestern District of Louisiana. As a whole, the site measures in excess of 1,010 acres (see appended maps). Investigations into the overall archaeological site identified as Pleasant Hill battlefield (16DS234) by Dr. Hiram (Pete) Gregory and a few fellow researchers in 1984 have delineated three primary artifact loci identified as the following: the Federal Right, the Federal Center and the Federal Left. The latter includes the Federal Headquarters (or the Childers House site) and a portion of the ineligible Federal Hospital site (16DS236) to the south. The locations for each of these loci are detailed below.

The boundary established for 16DS234 during the 1984 initial site investigation needs to be expanded to include all combat areas and the initial fighting positions of the battlefield units, according to current National Park Service standards of battlefield documentation. Nonetheless, previous investigations into 16DS234 suggested that the site is likely to yield an excellent research potential, although Dr. Gregory made no initial determination of National Register eligibility.3 Since that time advances in technology, battlefield survey methodology and additional information gathered through the years of investigation into the site for the purpose of this nomination and other works affirm a strong research potential and eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places based on Criterion D.

The Federal Right encompasses much of the former village site and beyond. The area begins near the present junction of LA 175 and LA 177 and extends westward into Section 18 and northward to the edge of the former village site. In 1984, Dr. Gregory and his team of investigators reported “100- 200+” rifle pits within the area known as the Federal Right.4 Pedestrian reconnaissance in this area conducted in 2008 located precisely twenty of these features and recorded their positions with a sub- meter backpack GPS device. A rifle pit, in Civil War-era terminology, is a short, shallow trench large enough to afford some protection for one or a few more men.5 These features were irregular, and measured between eight meters in length and three meters in width. The deepest of the entrenchments measured less than two meters below grade.

The rifle pits were identified over the course of two pedestrian surveys and were mapped as they became visible to the researcher, without reference to historic or contemporary maps to avoid false or

3 Hiram F. Gregory et. al, A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs. (Natchitoches: Northwestern State University, 1984) n.p. 4 Ibid. 5 Webb and Cheryl Garrison, The Encyclopedia of Civil War Usage. (Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House, 2001), 214.

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biased conjectures of where features should be located or what should and should not represent a rifle pit. The results of the survey were compared to historic and secondary battlefield maps where it was interpreted that the entrenchments are likely the remnants of a defensive perimeter established by the soldiers of Union General William Dwight’s brigade. Gregory’s 1984 survey also noted the 6 presence of a “connecting trench feature” in this area. This feature was located and mapped in line form. It appeared to be located in a position consistent with supporting an additional linear representation of rifle pit features.7 The larger rifle pit or “connecting trench” was approximately 12 meters in length and two meters in width. Its depth, following the passage of 146 years, is understandably shallow. The feature probably began as a series of rifle pits which were expanded into a trench-like feature as conditions and opportunity allowed. The plotting of these rifle pits changed the interpretation of General Dwight’s (Union) brigade during the battle. Previous contemporary battlefield maps commonly showed Dwight’s brigade formed in a classic “fishhook” defensive position. The newly mapped entrenchments seem to indicate a much more linear formation (which in hindsight agrees well with the natural topography).

Part of Dr. Gregory’s research design called for the partial cataloging of artifact collections related to the battlefield. In 1984 a total of 3,852 individual artifacts were accounted for in private collections from the area designated as the Federal Right. Of that figure, 3,206 were representative of small arm projectiles with the remainder represented by bayonets, artillery projectiles, buttons, buckles, gun parts and miscellaneous other Civil War-era artifacts and personal effects.8 Gregory’s site form completed in the 1980s details the Federal Right as extending slightly further south than the boundaries proposed within this nomination. This nomination defines the battlefield using a technique which includes only those areas where direct combat obviously occurred. After conducting extensive reviews of the historic record and conducting lengthy mapping processes, it seems clear that no fighting took place below Section 18. Therefore, this nomination does not include this area.

The Federal Center is located largely below LA 175 and just reaches into Sections 19 and 20. Some of these extreme lower areas were probably not involved in the direct combat of the battle and are likewise not included in this nomination. Gregory’s report made note of rifle pits and a historic roadbed leading back toward the former town running through this area.9 It is unclear what, if any, cultural features were identified in Sections 19 and 20. Recent field surveys related to this nomination re-located the historic road track, now known as the Antioch Church Road No. 1. Dr. Gregory’s original site boundary for 16DS234 covered a short distance further southwest than the proposed site boundary. The original boundary probably stretched to include more of the extant portion of the historic roadbed, as it is clear from the historic record that no fighting took place this far southwest (behind the initial Confederate lines). Dr. Gregory’s catalog inventory reported a total of 2,789 artifacts accounted for in private collections from this area, 2,532 of which were reportedly small arm projectiles with the remainder comprised of “various military issue artifacts.”10

The Federal Left begins along the DeSoto/Sabine Parish line and runs past (east of) LA 175 until it reaches the Childers House site. Once again this portion of the battlefield landscape is marked by rifle pits. Gregory reports a total of 2,789 individual artifacts accounted for from this segment of the

6 Gregory et. al, A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs, n.p., 1984. 7 William Ryan Smith, “Long Years to Come”: Developing a Cultural Resources Inventory and Management Plan for the Stewards of Old Pleasant Hill. Master’s Thesis. (Natchitoches, Louisiana: Northwestern State University, 2009), 141. 8 Gregory et. al, A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs, n.p., 1984. 9 Gregory et. al, A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs, n.p., 1984. 10 Gregory et. al, A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs, n.p., 1984

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battlefield, with all but 266 of them representative of small arm projectiles. The Childers’ House site (used as a Confederate hospital) and the former site of Pierce and Payne College (used as the primary Union field hospital and a part of Gregory’s site 16DS236) are also located within the Federal Left. Private collections inventoried included a total of 1,649 individual artifacts from the hospital site alone, including a cache of 110 U.S. Infantry buttons recovered from one collector’s excavation.11 Of course the details of this excavation are vague as the investigation was conducted for individual benefit and without the assistance of systematic methods or analysis. However, it is theorized that such a cache may represent an area where injured combatants’ uniform items were discarded (and possibly burned in place) prior to medical treatment. Following his investigations in the mid-1980s Dr. Gregory determined that the Union hospital site was not likely eligible for the National Register due to heavy disturbance from a variety of previous cultural activities. Realizing that archaeological site integrity cannot realistically get better with the passage of time, and after conducting a brief site visit, there seems little reason to dispute the finding. Although the Federal Hospital site is directly related to the battle, the archaeological site has not been included within this nomination as a contributing feature under Criterion D.

There is one other related, non-contiguous site nearby. Representative of a large Union campsite prior to the battle, 16DS237 does not by NPS American Battlefield Protection Program (ABBP) standards, fit within the definition of a battlefield. According to the ABBP a battlefield is a site “where armed conflict, fighting, or warfare occurred between two opposing military organizations or forces recognized as such by their respective cultures.”12 This nomination seeks to detail the battlefield only and not any potentially associated sites. Therefore, the site is not included within this nomination.

Initial Confederate positions ran diagonally from astride present LA 175 near the western side of Section 18, Township 10 North, Range 11 West on the western edge of a large field which likely existed before the initial occupation of the town. This area is labeled as an “Open Field” on the Federal Patent Survey for Township 10 North, Range 11 West, completed in the 1830s.13 Most of this field remains as pastureland today with minimal change including cross fencing and the inclusion of five barn and cattle corral structures constructed onsite. These structures appear to have been built within the past fifty years. Stretching across the open field toward the southeast, the extreme right of the Confederate line (comprised of Colonel William P. Hardeman’s cavalry brigade) initially occupied a position slightly south of the DeSoto/Sabine Parish line but the brigade was probably not engaged until they crossed into Section 17 just north of the Parish boundary. Opposite from this position, on the extreme Confederate left flank, Colonel Walter P. Lane’s cavalry brigade initially occupied a position just inside Section 7, Township 10 North, Range 11 West. Likewise, this brigade was probably not engaged until sometime after it crossed into Section 18.14 Following an extensive review of all known historic and secondary depictions of the battlefield it is evident that all of the physical combat of the battle occurred in Sections 17 and 18, Township 10 North, Range 11 West.

Obviously, some alterations have occurred to the landscape since the time of the battle. Most of what was left of the village of Pleasant Hill moved about 17 years following the battle; however when the village’s former location is considered as an archaeological site its degree of integrity is very strong. A

11 Ibid. 12 American Battlefield Protection Program, Guidelines [on-line] ; available from http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/grants/battlefieldgrants/2011grants.htm#forms. 13 Louisiana State Land Office Online Documents [database on-line]; available from http://1webfn.doa.la.gov/slodocs/SLO/hist_records.htm. 14 Tom J, Terry G. and H.G. Waxham. Battle of Pleasant Hill, La., Map

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power highline bisects the battlefield, entering near the midpoint of the northern boundary and traversing the battlefield along a 150 degree azimuth, exiting the battlefield at its southeast corner. This highline is approximately 20 meters (about 22 yards) in width and runs about 2,700 meters (about 2,950 yards) across the battlefield. The highline is only visible crossing LA 175 and a portion of the former town site. (This power line is not substantial in size and scale when considered against the background of the large battlefield.

Overall, very little of the historic setting has changed within the boundaries of the battlefield. The area remains rural, and most of the battlefield landholdings remain in large tracts. Historic patterns of land use remain, although pine forest plantations have become increasingly common. Only a relatively few contemporary structures are within the proposed battlefield boundary. These structures cause very little visible impact from public access points, with several not visible at all. Essentially, the integrity of likely 80% or more of the battlefield is unquestionably sound.

In addition to the aforementioned battlefield entrenchments, the battlefield as a whole contains each of the below listed contributing and non-contributing elements:

Old Pleasant Hill Town Site (Contributing Site, 16DS235)

Pedestrian surveys, surface collections and geophysical investigations conducted during 2008 and 2009 demonstrated that Old Pleasant Hill (16DS235) and the Pleasant Hill battlefield (16DS234) enjoy a strong degree of cultural resource integrity. Investigations at the former village site (16DS235) have thus-far yielded four identifiable former domestic or commercial cultural occupation feature loci within the historic village landscape.

The former village site (16DS235) is located entirely within the SW corner of the South half of Section 17, and the SE corner of the south half of Section 18, Township 10 North, Range 11 West. Besides the closely outlying cemetery, the town site is literally bounded by these legal definitions according to the historic plats and the many courthouse records which were reviewed. The cemetery is located within the SE corner of the South half of Section 17, and is connected to the town site by a short pathway. The site covers a portion of the center and northeastern portion of the proposed National Register boundary. Previously conducted investigations have determined 16DS235 as “likely eligible” for the National Register.15 This nomination strongly concurs with the assessment of eligibility. However, it is clear that the site boundaries need to be expanded to include the extant O’Pry/Elam House and the John Pipes House site. It is not clear why the original site boundaries did not include these significant elements.

The first identified locus is the extant domestic site, the O’Pry/Elam House site. As before mentioned, the site is representative of Lot 12 of the former village of Pleasant Hill, marked primarily by the existing ca. 1860-1864 O’Pry/Elam House. Besides the extant historic structure itself, the lot features an associated in situ cistern and a light scatter of domestic cultural material. As would be expected, the majority of the artifacts observed were representative of the nineteenth to early twentieth century occupation of the lot. Ceramic scatters, typically of non-decorated whiteware, fragments of clear and colored vessel glass, machine cut nails and bone and cupreous buttons were recently observed.16

15 Gregory et. al, A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs, n.p., 1984. 16 William Ryan Smith, “Long Years to Come,” 130.

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The next feature identified at Old Pleasant Hill is characterized from the surface by a low-fired brick surface scatter covering about 15m² which is almost certainly representative of the architectural remains of historic improvements to Lot 17 of the former town site. Lot 17 was acquired by John Pipes in 1860.17 Pipes, whose occupation was listed on the 1860 census as “Minister of [the] Gospel” was a well-known local reverend who moved from Mansfield to minister in Pleasant Hill that same year. Conveyance records contain no mention of existing improvements on the lot prior to 1860; it may be surmised that the Reverend Pipes had a suitable home built after his arrival. Furthermore, historic maps suggest that at least one building was found on the lot at the time of the battle. While collecting GPS data of the domestic site brick scatter, a substantial piece of rusted metal was observed on the surface of the ground. A GPS coordinate was taken for this artifact and it was collected. It is likely associated with the Pipe’s home site of Lot 17 and is perhaps a hinged door from a cast-iron stove. The artifact should prove more diagnostic given additional study as there is a prominent emblem in the shape of a clover-topped heart embossed on the surface of the metal.

Another former village feature is also largely represented by a low-fire brick scatter, more substantial than the former, which is evidently related to Lot 7 of the former village. Lot 7 was occupied before the Civil War by the Pleasant Hill Female Academy. Primary accounts record that the Academy burned as a result of the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9, 1864. However, by 1871 an Erastus P. Hill 18 had erected a blacksmith’s shop on this lot. More investigation is needed to determine whether this brick scatter is associated with the Female Academy, Hill’s blacksmith shop, or represents the mixed former architectural elements of both buildings.

One extant in situ cistern and two probable cistern “scars” were recorded within the former commercial district of the historic townscape representing the commercial district feature locus. The cistern “scars” were identifiable as concave, circular low points within the ground surface which typically retain moisture during all seasons and feature a limited concentration of surface vegetation. The cistern scars each featured a small associated surface brick scatter. Although they were not tested below surface, these features are referred to as cisterns due to their close proximity or direct association to former historic domestic or commercial occupations. Cisterns typically require the influence of rainwater directed into them from a nearby building’s roof structure. Additionally, most historic accounts refer to the town “cisterns” during Civil War accounts as being important sources of water for the soldiers (they were actually exhausted before the battle). Their possible village lot and structural affiliations were traced. A careful overlay of the 1871 town plat of the former village and a later battlefield map indicates that the in situ cistern was probably affiliated with either Lot 4 or Lot 5. Both were designed as commercial lots fronting 39ft on Main Street and running back some 184ft on Academy Avenue. Lot 4 left no located record of development. Lot 5 however, was improved by J. E. Whitters, where he built and kept a storehouse before the Civil War.19 Separating the in situ cistern from one cistern “scar” is a narrow length of property (about 25ft wide) likely representative of the alleyway between Lots 1 through 5 and Lot 6. A careful analysis of several maps indicates that the northern cistern “scar” is most likely associated with Lot 6 of the former town. Lot 6 was reportedly 20 owned by a William Fanley at the time of the battle. It is unknown which, if any building occupied this lot, though the presence of a cistern suggests probable historic improvements to the property.

17 DeSoto Parish Conveyance Record Book J, Page 175. 18 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 3; DeSoto Parish Conveyance Record Book N,Page 497. 19 DeSoto Parish Conveyance Record Book J, Page 43. 20 DeSoto Parish Conveyance Record Book J, Page 649; Tom J, Terry G. and H.G. Waxham. Battle of Pleasant Hill, La., Map.

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The second cistern (or perhaps well) “scar” (located just southeast of the in situ cistern) is interesting in that it appears to have been located within the bounds of the historic village’s Main Street. It is possible that this feature was considered communal property, and thus may have actually been a well and not a cistern. A cistern would have required the influence of directed rainfall to stay full; it is possible that the feature’s location within the public road may suggest a more independent functionality. There hasn’t yet been enough work at the site to confirm its identity.

Due south of the aforementioned cistern locus near present LA 175, a substantial surface scatter of historic ceramic sherds (whiteware) was observed around a portion of recently disturbed soil where a marked telecommunications cable had evidently been freshly buried. GPS points were collected to mark this location and later analysis revealed that the surface scatter may have been associated with the Chapman home located on Lot 23 of the former village.21 Records indicate Dr. B.F. Chapman purchased the property from Emily Rembert in June 1860.22 Judging from these records it is almost certain there was a residence located on Lot 23 at the time of the battle.

The original town cemetery is located northeast of the town commercial center, occupying the highest rise in elevation around the immediate landscape. The “Old Town” Cemetery is still somewhat in use and the graves of many of the original settler families are tranquilly marked with sometimes elaborate tombstones in the form of obelisks, carved pedestals, basals and even crude hand-carved native stone markers. The property is accessible through the Poimboeuf driveway only (the historic location of the town’s First Street); however, cemetery visitors are given instructions on readily visible signs on how to proceed at the entrance gate. The road leading directly from the Poimboeuf drive to the cemetery is clearly an extension of the former alley separating Lots 7 and 8 of the historic village. The fenced portion of the cemetery covers a little more than two acres, though less than half of the space appears used, or at least marked with stones. The oldest marked graves date to 1851, during the initial settlement period for the town. Approximately half of the known graves date to the nineteenth century.23 Family plots are common, and vary from ornately fenced and raised areas to relatively unbounded and dissimilar clusters of stones bearing only identical surnames. The majority of the graves face due east. The W. D. Atkins family plot is enclosed in a particularly ornate cast iron Victorian-era fence and gate. There are no longer any marked or obvious foot paths between the stones, and organized rows of graves sometimes appear incomplete from the surface.

During the battle at least one regiment of federal soldiers retreated through the cemetery as they were pressed by the advancing Confederates through the town.24 It is possible then that the elevated landscape leading up to the cemetery served as a high water mark for the Confederate advance and a rallying place for the Union lines. The Union forces evidently retreated no further than the outskirts of the town and around the cemetery. Still, the cemetery was curiously not plotted on any known historic map of the battle or town. However, it appears that on several of the historic maps the area around the town cemetery was wooded at the time of the battle and thus out of site of most casual or prospective battlefield cartographers. Although the cemetery does mark a high vantage point on the landscape today, its military value would have been lessened (especially from an artillery standpoint) by the presence of an impenetrable forest. This may account for its omission from historic battlefield maps.

21 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 9; Tom J, Terry G. and H.G.Waxham. Battle of Pleasant Hill, La., Map. 22 DeSoto Parish Conveyance Record Book J, Page 200. 23 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 10-12. 24 Tom J, Terry G. and H.G. Waxham, Battle of Pleasant Hill, La., Map.

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In the 1960s Amos Barron, the late local historian cited numerous times during this nomination, accumulated a list of no less than 130 known burials, whether they were still marked or not.25 Since that time, some burials have been added. Included amongst the interred are four former owners of Lot 12 (John Jordan, David Blackshear, Elizabeth Atkis and James O’Pry) as well as another known occupant of the O’Pry/Elam House (Mary O’Pry). Of the marked civilian burials, 16 date to the 1850s, 10 date to the 1860s, 9 date to the 1870s, 31 date to the 1880s and 12 date to the 1890s. Therefore, there are at least 78 marked nineteenth century civilian graves.

It seems certain that a number of unmarked historic civilian graves are present, and probable that the cemetery or immediate area contains the interred remains of possibly hundreds of battlefield casualties within one or more mass burials. On January 30, 2009 a team from Northwestern State University of Natchitoches’ Cultural Resource Office conducted a geophysical survey of an arbitrarily gridded surface area located within Old Town Cemetery in search of potential unmarked graves and/or mass burials using a Potassium Magnetometer. The cemetery grid covered 35 x 35m and was designed to encompass a multitude of known burials and associated headstones, as well as a large expanse of unmarked ground. This area also contained a large apparently artificial, rectilinear rise within the cemetery, bordered at least partially by a low brick wall. The rise was initially hypothesized as representative of one of two cultural features: an unmarked (and possibly unused) large family plot, or the location of a mass burial. The geophysical survey produced some interesting results. First, in comparing the subsurface magnetic anomalies at marked graves with a number of similar anomalies not marked on the surface, it seemed clear that there were indeed a number of unmarked burials present. Second, the artificial rise appeared to contain one unmarked grave. Elsewhere, there were two large, unmarked, anomalies (the largest containing approximately 10m²) which left a highly magnetic signature. Because no subsurface testing was conducted, the nature of these anomalies remains the object of speculation.26

The O’Pry/Elam House (Contributing Building)

Located within the Federal right flank is the last remaining in situ building of the original town of Pleasant Hill. Following the relocation of the town in the 1880s, the majority of the structures were disassembled and carried off to rebuild a new and promising beginning that coincided with the arrival of the railroad to the area.27 This building, an escapee of the exodus, is a Louisiana vernacular dogtrot cabin, four pens square, and from a distance it appears as though it might have been only recently deserted.

The O’Pry/Elam House was built in a frame timbering construction utilizing lap siding, mortise-and- tennon, treenails, and machine cut nails common to early vernacular architecture of upper Louisiana.28 Architecturally, the O’Pry/Elam House represents a rare Louisiana dogtrot house. It is of framed construction (as opposed to the more typical log construction), was originally constructed with four interior living spaces (as opposed to the more typical two-room dogtrot) featured interior

25 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 10-12. 26 William Ryan Smith, “Long Years to Come,” 252, 254. 27 Amos J Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana: Featuring the Battle of Pleasant Hill, April the 9th, 1864, as Told by a Seventeen Year Old Girl. She Was There. (Natchez, MS: by the author, 1968), 13. 28 Mills Lane, Architecture of the Old South: Louisiana. (New York: Abbeville Press, 1990), 81- 82. Unlike many surviving extant Louisiana dogtrot homes, no evidence exists to suggest the home was originally built of hewn logs or employed in use of log construction.

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chimneys (as opposed to the much more common exterior, side gable chimneys) and historically featured a large open gable front porch quite uncommon to the typical dogtrot style.29 As was typical to dogtrot style houses, the building was constructed with a central passage or breezeway separating two sets of adjacent rooms, for a total of four enclosed living spaces, or “pens.” The central breezeway likely also doubled as a sheltered outdoor living space. The building’s primary façade faces south. In the 1920s the front porch was modified from its original appearance. The overall dimensions for the footprint of the house, excluding the front porch, are approximately 46 × 40 feet. Originally, each wing of the building included a brick chimney positioned centrally along the shared wall of each of the sets of rooms. This construction method allowed for a working fireplace in each of the four indoor living spaces. Because the chimneys were centrally located, this also suggests the house was originally constructed to include all four rooms and not only two living spaces, as is most common with Louisiana dogtrot homes.30 In other words, the house has not been subject to room additions. A survey of the floor structure and framing underneath the house affirmed this hypothesis.

The house is positioned on the original Pleasant Hill town Lot 12, situated at the northwestern edge of the village.31 The lot is given the dimensions 419ft x 337ft on a town plat dated 1871.32 No document has been recovered which records the original construction date for the building, however a James O’Pry sold the lot and house to David A. Blackshear in 1867. As this record notes the house was built by a J. B. Skinner.33 There is no record of any Skinner owning the property, which probably suggests he served as the contracted builder. According to the 1850 De Soto Parish Census, John Skinner was a 22 year-old overseer living within the vicinity of Pleasant Hill. From that conveyance record onward to the early twentieth century the lot is repeatedly referred to as the “O’Pry Lot,” or “O’Pry Place.” James (1821-1867) and Mary (1837-1909) O’Pry may be found in the 1860 De Soto Parish Census and both are buried in Old Pleasant Hill cemetery, located about one-half mile east of the house.34 However, neither James nor Mary are acknowledged as property owners in the 1860 census, indicating the O’Pry’s likely acquired the lot and constructed the house after 1860. Two primary maps of the battle clearly indicate an extant building on Lot 12 of the town site. The house is also named after John Waddell and Lottie Elam, who purchased it in 1888. The earliest known photographic image of the house was captured during the occupation of the house by Lottie Elam, ca 1895.35

29Terry G. Jordan and Matti Kaups. “Folk Architecture in Cultural and Ecological Context.” Geographical Review, vol. 77, no. 1 (Jan. 1987) : 52-53; Mills Lane, Architecture of the Old South: Louisiana, 82; F. Lester Martin and Louisiana Tech University, Folk and Styled Architecture in North Louisiana: The Hill Parishes, Vol. 1. (Lafayette: The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1989), 28; Jessie Poesch and Barbara SoRelle Bacot, eds., Louisiana Buildings, 1720-1940: The Historic American Buildings Survey. (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1997), 78. 30 Mills Lane, Architecture of the Old South: Louisiana, 82; Poesch, Louisiana Buildings 1720-1940, 78. 31De Soto Parish Conveyance Record Book 1, Page 605; Heriot, D. M. Plat Map of Pleasant Hill, 23 September 1871, map, J. Fair Hardin Collection, Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 32 D. M. Heriot, 1871 town plat of Pleasant Hill, La. 33 De Soto Parish Conveyance Record Book L, Page 350. 34 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 12. 35Oral History, C. C. Hayley; De Soto Parish Conveyance Record Book # 2 Page 630; See Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War (1879), page 169. Confederate General Richard Taylor notes a Mr. J. T. Williams, the local sheriff, as scouting for his forces during the battle of Pleasant Hill. The 1860 De Soto Parish Census confirms William’s occupation as sheriff and indicates that John W. Elam served as a constable for the Parish prior to the war. As such Mr. J. T. Williams (Taylor’s scout) as sheriff would have essentially been young Elam’s boss. It bears to reason Elam would have accompanied Williams on these missions. Thus, the Elam/Hayley family tradition that John W. Elam served as a confederate scout during the Red River Campaign appears valid.

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The O’Pry/Elam House is located within the Federal right flank, a core area of the battlefield. However, the house was likely spared from direct lines of fire during the engagement. The soldiers of Union General William Dwight occupied the territory around the house. They were positioned mostly in front of the building and were largely spared from the brunt of the Confederate assault; they were not forced to retreat from their position until after the battle was finished.36 Oral tradition indicates the building was used as a temporary field hospital following the battle, though no primary documents have thus far been located to either dispute or to verify this claim. However, it is recorded in several primary accounts that many of the buildings of the town were indeed used as temporary hospitals following the battle.

As would be expected, the O’Pry/Elam House has undergone some alterations throughout its approximately 150 year existence. The front porch in particular has undergone a substantial transition from the earliest known existing photograph of the structure. The nineteenth century photograph features a large gable front porch. Architectural evidence remains of the former locations of the timbering for this porch in both the standing frame and sill underneath the house. Subsequent photographs taken in the twentieth century additionally document two distinct porch styles. This evidence suggests the original gable front porch was altered prior to 1930. Additionally, some time prior to the ca. 1930 photograph, the western chimney was removed from the home. This was likely done to coincide with the conversion of the northwestern room of the home into a “modern” kitchen. Stamped manufacturing dates on two porcelain glazed iron sinks inside the structure suggest an installation after 1926. The 1930 photograph of the building appears to feature only one chimney.37 The interior void left by the removal of the chimney was then utilized as new storage or pantry space connected to the kitchen. By the 1930s the original wood shingle roof had been replaced by corrugated metal; this identical roof remains today. Other minor alterations are extant including the addition of board and batten style shutters to the windows where no shutters are known to have existed beforehand.

Overall, the O’Pry/Elam House is currently in poor to fair condition. It will remain structurally stable as long as the primary piers hold up. The house is currently not occupied. Several of the historic brick piers supporting the structural framing are failing or have already failed. Some have been replaced with various materials including cast cement blocks, modern brick, wood beams and even cypress tree stumps. The plank flooring throughout the home is typically sound with few weak places inside the interior of the home. Most of the weatherboarding of the house appears at least original to the late nineteenth century if not to the time of the home’s initial construction. Some boards have been replaced; a few are broken or missing, exposing in places the interior framing system. The interior walls are typically sound. Non-historic wooden shutters protect most of the sash windows which are visible in a ca. 1895 photograph. The ca. 1930s-installed corrugated metal roof leaks in places, mostly around the chimney, and is corroding but was sound enough to survive the recent hurricanes and storms that have plagued the state of Louisiana and local area.

These alterations and deterioration are unfortunate, but do not totally jeopardize the integrity of the building. Additionally, some of the alterations have arguably become historically significant in their own right, as they were completed while the building was still a lived-in residence some eighty years ago. The losses of the original gable front porch and the western chimney are regrettable, but ultimately do not alter the appearance of the structure beyond recognition. Architecturally, the building

36 Gary D. Joiner, Through the Howling Wilderness, 100-106. ; See Figures 36 and 42 on pages 139, 145 for maps detailing the building’s position in relation to the battle. 37 Upon closer examination of the 1930 photograph, it is evident the western chimney was drawn in with a ballpoint pen.

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retains the important elements of vernacular architecture (its dogtrot form and floor plan) that make it important. Historically, there is no doubt that any person from the historic period would recognize the house were he to return to the area today. Additionally, no living person would remember the original appearance of the building and documentation is limited to a photograph taken some forty-five years after it was constructed. Thus, despite these modest losses and deterioration of some of the historic fabric over time, the O’Pry/Elam House remains eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Non-Contributing Elements:

The American Legion Hall (n=1, non-contributing building)

An American Legion Hall is located on the south side of LA 175, approximately 210 yards southeast of the O’Pry/Elam House. The building was constructed in two parts, one of framed metal and sheathed in a metal panel siding, the other portion of brick veneer. The building is perhaps the most visually obtrusive feature of the battlefield and former village’s historic landscape. However, the eastern, southern and western portions of the property are surrounded by thick pine forest. Only some 50 yards or so of frontage on LA 175 are cleared. As a result, the American Legion Hall actually is not visible from most publicly accessible points on the battlefield. Additionally, the original sign associated with the building has been removed leaving only an abandoned post to mark its former presence.

The Interpretive Park (n=1, non-contributing site)

A publicly accessible (but privately developed) interpretive park is accessed immediately north from Louisiana Highway 175; the park is entered directly from the highway by means of a paved asphalt drive. This interpretive space is appropriately situated near the former town’s commercial district. Although there is parking for no more than six or so vehicles, the area is well afforded with outdoor eating tables, cooking pits and other park-like amenities. The main focus of the park is as a passive interpretive and commemorative space for the battlefield and historic town site of Old Pleasant Hill. The property for the park was provided by the local Poimboeuf family. This is the primary location of many of the elaborate interpretive markers which were erected at private expense. Almost without exception, the markers have been erected by either the local Poimboeuf, Bayard or Breaux families. Overall, the public park is probably not much larger than one acre, if it makes an acre. Flagpoles flying various Civil War era banners greet the visitors. Guests are encouraged to sign the guest book located inside a mailbox on site. One interpretive marker in particular, records a well written interpretive passage which recalls the chaotic scene the village must have endured during the battle. The marker notes to the visitor that they are standing approximately at the corner of First and Main Streets (the marker indeed is actually located very near this historic position) and requests the visitor to reflect what the scene might have looked like from the identical vantage point on April 9, 1864. Additionally, nearly every marker has sources of information cited directly on them, something not often seen in any interpretive space, whether publicly or privately funded. This interpretive space is subject to Criteria Consideration F regarding commemorative areas and for the purpose of this nomination the interpretive park is considered a non-contributing element.

The Former Moore Residence (n=1, non-contributing building)

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The Moore residence is a post 1950s slab on grade, brick ranch style house of frame construction located on the former Lot 15 of the historic village, or across LA 175 from the O’Pry/Elam House. The building does not appear to be occupied. The historic view shed disturbance caused by the intrusion of the house is limited because it is hardly visible from public access points along LA 175. Further, the house is surrounded on three sides by a thick pine forest, similar to the situation with the American Legion Hall.

The Middleton Storehouse (n=1, non-contributing structure)

A sheet metal sided structure is located on the property of Jack Middleton about 100 yards northeast of the LA 175 and LA 177 intersection. The structure appears to be currently housing a number of tools and equipment for oil and gas industry work and is possibly a leased site. The structure is only visible from the extreme western portion of the landscape, situated at a lower elevation and behind a tree line from Old Pleasant Hill.

Old Town Liquor (n=1, non-contributing building)

Old Town Liquor is the only commercial property located within the 1,010 acres of the proposed battlefield. The store is located past the eastern edge of the former village site along LA 177 just north of its intersection with LA 175 and is near the edge of the Federal center and left flank. The building is a wood frame construction with few windows and modest detailing. No freestanding signage is associated with it. As with all of the non-contributing elements found on the expansive battlefield, the building is not visible from many (if not most) view sheds. The presence of a single commercial structure on the battlefield is unfortunate, but does not diminish the overall integrity of the site to such a degree that it is not recognizable or is irreversibly damaged. The store appears to be closed.

The Peacock Farm (n=1, non-contributing building; n=4 non-contributing structures)

The Peacock residence is the hub of an active but very small rural horse farm. The main house is a ca. 1930s-1940s bungalow influenced single story modest building. There are four modest metal sheds or barn structures (all but one smaller than the house) associated with the property in a tight cluster. The Peacock farm is located at the southern end of former Lot 24 of the village. Much of the property is not visible from public access due to topographic conditions and vegetation and the non- contributing resources have a minimal visual impact on the historic view shed of the former town site.

The Petty Place (n=1 non-contributing building, n=1 non-contributing structure)

The Petty residence consists of a trailer house and a small metal storeroom. The property is surrounded on all sides by dense pine growth and is visible only briefly to travelers down LA 175 south of Old Pleasant Hill. The Petty place is located at the extreme rear of the former Union lines.

The Poimboeuf Place (n=3, non-contributing buildings)

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The Poimboeuf family residence, a white-columned, red brick, slab on grade mid-twentieth century building, stands at the northern edge of the former village site to the north of Highway 175. The Poimboeuf family owns the majority of the former town site. The residence and its associated garage and barn are the hub of an active but relatively small rural cattle farm. The historic view shed disturbance caused by the intrusion of the house is limited because it is located at the very northern edge of the battlefield. It is not likely that the Poimboeuf residence or associated structures cover closely contested ground within the battlefield as they are located toward the rear of the former Union positions.

The San Patricio Cattle Company (n=5, non-contributing structures)

Within the open field described in the context of the Confederate left flank and center there is a modest cluster of structures (five) such as barns, corrals and store rooms associated with corralling cattle and maintaining the active cattle farm of what is known as the San Patricio Cattle Company. This corporation owns most of Section 18, and uses as cattle pasture the majority of the open field. The contemporary use of the historic open field for agrarian pasture closely mirrors the use of the property during the period of significance for the site. Largely due to the topographical nature of the area and several curtain tree lines skirting the property, only three of the aforementioned structures are readily visible from public access points.

Integrity:

There are three contributing and 20 non-contributing resources within the boundaries of the battlefield considered for this nomination. Each of the three contributing resources was historically in use within the given period of significance and retains a significant amount of historical integrity. The intrusion of the contemporary domiciles, the commercial liquor store, and the American Legion Hall are unfortunate, but ultimately do not alter the appearance of the landscape beyond recognition. Despite the presence of a number of minor non-contributing elements and some historic losses in integrity such as the postwar removal of the town, Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District remains an outstanding candidate for the National Register of Historic Places.

The seven aspects of Integrity of the battlefield are largely unspoiled as applicable. The battlefield’s Location encompasses the entire portion of the landscape where the historic military event (the 1864 Battle of Pleasant Hill) occurred. Archaeological and geophysical surveys, cartographic and archival research have determined the presence of in situ cultural features from both the historic town site and Civil War battlefield. The location of the proposed National Register boundary contains the historic battlefield, the historic town site and the entire Old Town cemetery.38 Portions of the original town site’s Design, as an aspect of integrity, are preserved. For example, remnants, and in some cases, large portions of the town’s original street grid are retained through either current active roadways or as observable former roadbeds across the landscape. In addition, the spatial organization of the extant Civil War era entrenchments is in places also almost invariably preserved. The aspect of Materials may be addressed through the built environment portions of the landscape. In the case of the O’Pry Elam house, considered a contributing building for this nomination, most of the original

38 William Ryan Smith, “Long Years to Come,” 135.

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Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State framework, pier and beam foundation system, floor plan and other historic features remain. Likewise, many of these features also contribute to the retention of Materials. The Setting is largely maintained through the relative remoteness of the place and its agrarian sense, the maintenance of several historic tree and property lines, limited development around the site, its readily observed in situ cultural features and the complementary interpretive spaces provided. Much of the site topography, significant when considering its battlefield history, remains unaltered. The historic Feeling of the place is derived from many of the above mentioned features. This aspect is typically only weakened during the intermittent passage of motorized traffic moving along rural LA HWY 175. The repeated presence of historically significant physical features conveys the property's historic character. The extant O’Pry/Elam house and in situ historic cisterns in particular promote this aspect of integrity for the town site, while the remaining battlefield entrenchments certainly express the former occupation of embattled military forces. Association, as an aspect of Integrity, is also retained through these direct links between the battlefield, historic town site, and the contemporary property. In sum, a general lack of adverse development within and surrounding the battlefield, the agrarian sense of the site, the plentiful remaining historic features and the certainty of the site’s location argue for a favorable retention of site Integrity.

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8. Statement of Significance Applicable National Register Criteria Areas of Significance (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property (Enter categories from instructions.) for National Register listing.) MILITARY A Property is associated with events that have made a X significant contribution to the broad patterns of our ARCHITECTURE: vernacular history. ARCHAEOLOGY: historic non-aboriginal B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics X of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high Period of Significance artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack For 16DS234: April 9, 1864 individual distinction. For 16DS235: c. 1850-1881; X D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information For O’Pry/Elam House: c. 1860 important in prehistory or history. Significant Dates Not applicable ca. 1850 -founding of the village

April 9, 1864 -Battle of Pleasant Hill

ca. 1881 –abandonment of the village Criteria Considerations (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) Significant Person Property is: (Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.) NA A Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes. Cultural Affiliation B removed from its original location. NA C a birthplace or grave.

X D a cemetery. Architect/Builder E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. John B. Skinner, builder, O’Pry/Elam House X F a commemorative property.

G less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years.

Not applicable

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Summary Statement of Significance:

The proposed Pleasant Hill Battlefield National Register Historic District is nationally significant under Criterion A: Historic Event, for its contribution towards military history within the context of the American Civil War’s Red River Campaign, an operation which helped decide the course of the war in the trans-Mississippi west. The period of significance for this event is April 9, 1864. The Pleasant Hill Battlefield (16DS234) is significant under Criterion D: Archaeology at the state level for its contribution toward the understanding of 1) the local developments of the 1864 Red River Campaign and of the Battle of Pleasant Hill, and 2) Civil War field entrenchment use and construction methodology. Additionally, town site of Old Pleasant Hill (16DS235) is significant at the local level for contributions to understanding 1) antebellum, post-Civil War and pre-railroad rural village occupation of North Louisiana, and rural North Louisiana antebellum settlement and commercial trade patterns. Finally, the O’Pry/Elam House, located within the Pleasant Hill Battlefield, is locally significant under Criterion C: Architecture, for its exceptionally rare contribution to the vernacular built environment of north Louisiana. The period of significance for this building coincides with its construction date, ca. 1860. The proposed historic district as a whole has the potential to yield additional information addressing a series of prospective research questions.

Periods of Significance:

The April 9, 1864 period of significance for Pleasant Hill Battlefield (Criterion A) is recognized by the U.S. National Park Service’s Civil War Advisory Commission. That organization designated Pleasant Hill as a Class B battlefield, a title reserved for those battles that had a direct and decisive influence upon their respective campaign. The Commission also pointed out the battlefield’s interpretive potential for “effects upon the national political situation” and highlighted the fact that the battle “illustrates cooperation of separate military departments of armies”39

The period of significance for archaeology (Criterion D) spans the antebellum occupation of the village (ca. 1850) through the American Civil War battle of Pleasant Hill (April 9, 1864), until the abandonment of the town in 1881. The village was occupied as early as 1850 as an important crossroads town and an overnight haven for travelers. The former village site retains an almost unparalleled degree of integrity from an archaeological standpoint as the removal of the town ca. 1881 negated the adverse affects of unremitting cultural occupation more common in continuously settled areas. In effect, much of the residual town infrastructure was allowed to remain in place. This period of significance ends following the formal abandonment of the town in 1881.

The Period of Significance for the O’Pry/Elam House (Criterion C) lies within its construction date of ca. 1860. This approximate construction date was determined considering four primary sources of information: 1) land records for the property mention the house as early as 1867, 2) two surviving battlefield (ca. 1864) maps clearly show a building on Lot 12, 3) the building’s constructor, John Skinner, does not appear on the DeSoto Census prior to 1860 and finally, 4) the historic fabric and construction techniques of the building itself.

39 Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields: Technical Volume II: Battle Summaries, by Dale E. Floyd and David W. Lowe, eds. (Washington D.C.: Civil War Advisory Commission, 1997). 19

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Criteria Considerations:

Although the battlefield contains both a historic cemetery (Criteria Consideration D) and a small commemorative property (Criteria Consideration F) it will be demonstrated below that the cemetery makes up a critical component to the archaeological and cultural landscape integrity of the former village and that the small commemorative park (counted as a non-contributing element) does not detract from the integrity of the site to a degree of substantive adverse affect.

Old Town Cemetery

The Old Town Cemetery is a critical component to the historic landscape of the village. There were no fewer than 24 marked graves at the time of the battle. As before mentioned in Part 7, the cemetery was trodden by federal soldiers and may have served as the furthest possible extent of the Confederate advance during the battle. Information garnered from the markers has proven critical to understanding the development of the town and creating its historical narrative. Further, the cemetery is known to be the final resting place for possibly hundreds of Confederate soldiers killed in the battle whose remains either could not be identified or could not be sent home for burial. These soldiers were buried in one or more mass graves at the “edge” of the cemetery by locals shortly after the battle. Although the historic record is somewhat unclear, it is possible that more than 170 Union soldiers also remain buried here.40

Commemorative Park

The park is very small in scale when considering the entire property considered on behalf of this nomination. The planted shrubberies, commemorative markers and small-scale designed features do not greatly detract from the view shed of the battlefield or former village. Further, the commemorative park is centrally located within the historic battlefield and historic village landscape and, thus, cannot be excluded from the boundaries.

Criterion A: Military History:

Old Pleasant Hill and Pleasant Hill battlefield are Significant under Criterion A because of their association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history and more particularly to the nation’s military history. The Pleasant Hill Battlefield and its associated components are significant in that they mark the last major battle of the Red River Campaign. The outcome of the Battle of Pleasant Hill has been in the past considered by some historians as a Union victory or a tactical draw. However, the battle was influential in the Union army’s decision to retreat from northwestern Louisiana, making the actions at Pleasant Hill a strategic victory for the

40 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 4; Emilia Gay Griffith Means, “The Wilson Family of Pleasant Hill and the Battle of Pleasant Hill,” The Plume Vol. 3. February 1994, 309; Norman D. Brown, ed. Journey to Pleasant Hill: The Civil War Letters of Captain Elijah P. Petty, Walker’s Texas Division, C.S.A. (San Antonio: The University of Texas, Institute of Texas Cultures, 1982) 412. Joiner, Through the Howling Wilderness. 107.

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Confederate army. It was following this battle that General Banks retreated and abandoned his objective of capturing Shreveport and invading East Texas.

The Battle of Pleasant Hill is also noteworthy for being the largest and deadliest battle fought west of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. There, on April 9, 1864, more than 3,000 Americans became casualties of war in a matter of approximately four hours.41 One participant, Dr. Harris H. Beecher, assistant surgeon of the 114th New York Infantry, described the battle as:

...more severe in its character than the contest of the day before [the Battle of Mansfield], since the whole army – all its divisions, brigades and regiments- were engaged. It was close hand-to-hand contest, in which artillery could be but little used. It was in fact a series of charges and counter-charges. No realizing description can be given of the carnage and slaughter.42

A Confederate surveyor of the field recorded a more graphic detail of the horrors of the battle:

I took a walk over the field of the Battle of Pleasant Hill and saw great numbers of dead, dying and wounded. The field presented a very dismal and sorry spectacle with its dead the greater number of whom were mutilated, some without heads, the faces of others completely mangled, others again had their legs crushed, their feet torn away, one in particular...had his right side torn away...his ribs crushed and turned inside out...A wounded Yankee had his teeth driven in, his jaw crushed by a bullet which had lodged in his neck. With his face [so] swollen [that he was] unable to speak, he was truly a terrible sight. It appeared that there had been a regular butchery of horses as the field was covered with the corpses of those poor animals, innocent victims of the cruel war, who were brought here in spite of themselves only to be left here for their bones to whiten.43

The U.S. National Park Service’s Civil War Advisory Commission recognized Pleasant Hill’s significance in the overall war by designating Pleasant Hill a Class B battlefield, a designation reserved for those battles that had a direct and decisive influence upon their respective campaign. The Commission also pointed out the battlefield’s interpretive potential for “effects upon the national political situation” and highlighted the fact that the battle “illustrates cooperation of separate military departments of armies”44

Criterion D: Historical Archaeology

Site 16DS235 (the Old Pleasant Hill Town Site) within the Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District is significant under Criterion D at the local level for its recorded ability to contribute toward the advanced understanding of antebellum and pre-railroad rural village occupation of North Louisiana. Along with

41 Joiner, Through the Howling Wilderness, 107. 42 Harris H. Beecher, Record of the 114th New York N.Y.S.V. Where it Went, What it Saw, and What it Did. (Norwich: J. F. Hubbard, Jr., 1866). 43 Edwin C. Bearrss, editor, A Louisiana Confederate: Diary of Felix Pierre Poché. (Natchitoches: Louisiana Studies Institute, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, 1972), 111. 44 Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields: Technical Volume II: Battle Summaries, 1997. 21

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site 16DS 234 (the Pleasant Hill Battlefield), it is also significant under Criterion D at the state level for its ability to contribute toward understanding the localized developments of the 1864 Red River Campaign and of the Battle of Pleasant Hill in particular, as well as Civil War field entrenchment technology, use and construction methodology. Both sites have the potential to yield additional important information addressing a series of prospective archaeological research questions.

Old Pleasant Hill Town Site (16DS235)

Despite periods of logging and private artifact collection, a general lack of development and the abandonment of the town site only 17 years following the battle led to a degree of preservation that is unrivaled within the area and perhaps at the state level. Considering that so few antebellum village sites remain intact without the overburden and adverse impact of continuous cultural habitation, Old Pleasant Hill provides an opportunity to address important archaeological research questions focused on the civilian population. (Additionally, the possibility of identifying former battle-related field hospitals within the context of the town is excellent.) The village differs in many respects from a traditional rural nineteenth century North Louisiana village in that it featured a number of cultural influences often reserved for a more densely settled region. Systematic investigations into the town may produce data beneficial to the understanding of antebellum village sites in North Louisiana. The town boasted a horseracing track, sawmill, gristmill, a blacksmith, a variety of stores and a boy’s college and a girl’s academy. While the village was largely removed from much of the polished antebellum planter society, good roads connected the respite with Blair’s Landing on the Red River, southeast with the town of Natchitoches, northwest with Mansfield and southwest with Ft. Jesup and Many, Louisiana. Nestled within such an arrangement of crossroads, the village often served as an overnight haven for travelers from anywhere between Natchitoches and Mansfield, and Texas and the Red River. Pleasant Hill also served as a convenient “resort” for wealthy planters who operated plantation estates on the Red River.45 Although much of the battlefield has been impacted by private artifact collectors, as Gregory made note the historic town site (16DS235) enjoys an almost unparalleled degree of archaeological integrity and research potential.46 Overall, the site features a variety of in situ and relatively undisturbed nineteenth century commercial and domestic sites within the additional context of a Civil War battle. In particular, investigations into these sites would help reconstruct the layout of the village, may determine the extent and variety of material goods available to the residents historically and provide important new information regarding the economic trade, commercial development and antebellum settlement patterns of rural North Louisiana.

On January 30, 2009 a team from Northwestern State University’s Cultural Resource Office conducted a geophysical survey of an arbitrarily gridded surface area located within the village’s former commercial district in search of potential subsurface cultural features using a Potassium Magnetometer. The primary focus of this survey was to both search for evidence of subsurface in situ archaeological features and to test the effectiveness of the equipment for data collection and interpretation at the site. The survey grid was laid out in a 50m x 50m square, with readings taken on each meter line. This survey grid encompassed known cultural features, in this case the in situ brick cistern and associated brick surface scatter and one apparent cistern “scar.” Further, this grid was laid out in order to cover a known historic street intersection and the probable locations of building

45 William Ryan Smith, “Long Years to Come,” 113. 46 Gregory et. al, A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs, n.p., 1984. 22

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foundations which would have occupied the area in the historic period.47 The results of the investigation drew a number of conclusions. First, the magnetic signatures of the visible surface scatter of brick drew a close comparison to a number of subsurface anomalies. It was interpreted that the surface scatter of low-fire brick likely continued closely below the surface grade. Second, the magnetic signature of the in situ cistern and the presumed cistern scar on lot 6 differed very little; reinforcing the interpretation that the visible surface feature indeed marked a former cistern. Finally, a linear subsurface anomaly was recorded in the survey data. Conversations with the property owners concluded that no modern features had been buried or manipulated at the site in at least forty years. The linear anomaly may represent the brick or stone foundation remnants of a former building affiliated with Lot 6.48

As previously demonstrated, these sites can be readily identified according to existing historic plats and property records. Further investigation would be needed to better understand the fate of the Pleasant Hill Girl’s Academy. For instance, Captain Richard Venable (a talented Confederate topographic engineer) completed a map immediately following the battle which depicted the area encompassing the Girl’s Academy lot and much of the northern portion of the village as having been cultivated (plowed) for an unspecified crop. The map was completed in early April which is an 49 important month for planting cotton in Louisiana, a known staple of the town. The map seems to suggest that the townsfolk had already cultivated the Female Academy site while the ruins were still fresh. From Venable’s depiction, there is no indication of either the ruins of the Academy or of there ever having been such a place located on this lot, yet contemporary pedestrian investigations identified a low-fire brick scatter potentially marking its former presence.

Although a lengthy investigation of the town’s history was conducted for the sake of this research, it is still not clear how many buildings were erected within the town historically. Most historic sources do not agree or offer only vague accounts. Courthouse records appear to be incomplete and are hampered by the apparent loss of the original town plat. Investigations into the town site may answer these research questions and finally substantiate which lots were historically improved. The site offers the possibility of addressing how prosperous and populated this experimental, learned crossroads town became in its brief existence in the middle of a “howling wilderness.” Finally, few domestic or commercial archaeological sites within the context of a Civil War battlefield have been investigated in detail within Louisiana. Therefore, the potential for new areas of historic archaeological research is excellent.

Pleasant Hill Battlefield (16DS234)

Unlike military officer after-action reports, the archaeological record has no reputations to protect. Systematic archaeological investigations into Civil War-era sites have changed the manner in which

47 William Ryan Smith, “Long Years to Come,” 252. 48 Ibid, 254. 49 Milbourn Calhoun & Jeane Frois, Louisiana Almanac: 1995-1996. (Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 1995) 346; Henry M. Fleury, to Augustine Fleury, 19 April 1858 transcript, Special Collections, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches; Madlyn Muench, “An Overview of the Battle of Pleasant Hill,” The Plume Vol. V. Fall 2000, 203.

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the conflict has been interpreted elsewhere.50 As with the case of the Battle of Pleasant Hill, primary written accounts from both sides seem to have claimed a sweeping victory. Obviously this could not have been the case. This battle represents the climax of the nationally significant Red River Campaign of 1864. Thus far the history of the Red River Campaign has been largely written by a traditional approach of examining the historic record. A primary potential research topic for the historic military component of the battlefield concerns the identification of respective fighting positions within the battlefield through systematic investigation. Further, the extant rifle pits and field entrenchments marking the landscape present a unique opportunity to investigate the system of hasty field entrenchments excavated by the beleaguered Union forces on the night and morning before the battle. Their arrangement, scale and typology could be studied as a component of extant nineteenth century military engineering methods. The mapping and recording of the entrenchments identify with precision the former locations of the military units significantly. A complete study of these fortifications would increase the knowledge of the battle’s development. Pinpointing the units’ former positions provides the most important primary source of information of the battle beyond participant written accounts. Those entrenchments that were mapped for this nomination in effect defined the position of Dwight’s Brigade. By changing contemporary understanding of the brigade’s location, the findings also changed the interpretation of this brigade’s role in the battle.

In the vein of understanding the enormous amount of material culture the site has yielded and the research potential the site possess the National Park Service’s emeritus Civil War historian Edward Bearss identified one private collection located within a contemporary structure on the battlefield as representing the largest and most complete collection of Civil War-era artifacts from a single battle event known to exist.51 The abundance of artifacts could aid in addressing important research questions which have not been widely attempted before. To that end the recovered artifacts could be cataloged to detail an advanced material culture analysis of the warring armies at Pleasant Hill. This material culture may be studied for statistical patterns of artifact types associated with other Civil War battlefields and aid in the development of civil war site archaeological predictive modeling. Further, projectile type and gun parts analyses may better identify the frequency of use of a particular form of weaponry, a research question long considered by traditional Civil War historians.

Criterion C: Vernacular Architecture:

Although a part of the Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District, the O’Pry/Elam House would also be individually eligible at the local level of significance within DeSoto Parish under Criterion C because it is a rare surviving example of an antebellum Louisiana dogtrot house which was constructed with framed, milled lumber.

Dogtrot houses were commonly constructed in North Louisiana between 1830 and the early part of the twentieth century. Their popularity seems to have peaked and declined around the later two decades of the nineteenth century. Most Louisiana dogtrot houses were constructed of hewn logs

50 See Clarence R. Geier and Stephen R. Potter, Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000). 51 Edwin C. Bearss, Personal Communication with Gary D. Joiner. Pelican, Louisiana, 12 April 2001. 24

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before the widespread availability of milled lumber. 52 In the North Louisiana “hill” parishes east of the Red River these buildings were long attributed to the Scots-Irish peoples of the Appalachian-based Upland South Culture which were moving into Louisiana following the Louisiana Purchase. There appears to have been other groups across the state such as the Anglo immigrants from the coastal plains of the older southeastern states which also spread this influence. In short, the assumption that log architecture is associated only with the Uplanders, now appears to be incorrect, at least for Louisiana. Certain building types are often found within log construction. Typically, building patterns associated with log construction included log houses, log outbuildings, and frame churches. Log houses could vary from a one room single pen (or British pen) to a two-room double pen (two rooms sharing a common wall) to the dogtrot house (two complete rooms separated by a covered passageway open to the air). Shed lean-tos were sometimes added. A variation of the dogtrot might consist of two rooms on each side of the open passage (as is the case with the O’Pry/Elam House). Outbuildings often included log barns, cribs, smokehouses, well houses, or other utilitarian buildings scattered over the landscape. The primary design for outbuildings was the square crib, usually a four-sided enclosure made of logs under a pitched roof. The typical barn combined a pair of cribs situated under a common roof with an open passageway between, simulating the domestic dogtrot style. Once again, lean-to sheds could be attached and used for a variety of purposes. 53 While the cultural origins of log constructed dogtrots have long been the subject of much debate, the relatively rare frame examples have been largely overlooked. It is interesting to note that while it is clear much of DeSoto Parish had early access to milled lumber, in some instances the building styles of log architecture were retained or at least mimicked. Therefore, the absolute rarity of form associated with the O’Pry/Elam House lends credit to its significant contribution to local vernacular architecture.

Poesch and Bacot in, Louisiana Buildings 1720-1940, make note of two other dogtrots in DeSoto Parish, the Allen House (ca. 1848) and the Scott House (ca. 1858), as sharing elements of both the Greek Revival Style and the vernacular dogtrot home. Both houses are constructed of framed, milled lumber as is the O’Pry/Elam House –possibly suggesting a historic regional preference in domestic building construction. Even though the Allen House was moved from its original location, both houses are listed on the National Register for their contribution to architecture.54

A 2008 inventory of dogtrot domestic buildings in Louisiana revealed that “only about a dozen remain of the many that once dotted Louisiana’s northern and western parishes.”55 Surveys led by F. Lester Martin at Louisiana Tech University in the 1990s identified only 34 extant dogtrots in eight surveyed North Louisiana parishes (unfortunately not including DeSoto). Of these, only four were known to have been constructed before 1865 and only two were obviously of frame construction.56 In DeSoto Parish, only the National Register listed Allen House and Scott House are known examples of

52 F. Lester Martin and Louisiana Tech University, Folk and Styled Architecture in North Louisiana: The Hill Parishes, Vol. 1, 1989, 28. 53 Moore House (Washington Parish, LA) National Register Nomination. Copy on file with the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation. 54 National Register of Historic Places Database, [database on-line] ; available from http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/research/index.htm. 55 Karen Kingsley, “Dogtrot Houses: Pioneer Cabins with a Central Breezeway Proved Practical for North Louisiana,” Louisiana Cultural Vistas (Fall 2008): 62. 56 F. Lester Martin and Louisiana Tech University, The Architecture of the North Louisiana River Parishes, Vols. 1-VIII. (Ruston: The School of Architecture, Louisiana Tech University, 1991-1997). 25

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similarly constructed houses. Although there are extant examples of log constructed buildings within DeSoto Parish (such as the original DeSoto courthouse in Mansfield, Louisiana), it seems that none of the buildings could also be classified as a dogtrot.

Resource History and Historic Context:

A Village Founded

Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Anglo-American colonists from east of the Mississippi River soon began immigrating into the newly surveyed territory. They established villages and settlements of various strengths and sizes across the landscape north of the old colonial post of Natchitoches, Louisiana. The land encompassing the portion of the Northwestern District of Louisiana containing the future site of Old Pleasant Hill was surveyed by Jacob H. McMichael between 1829 and 1831 and was subsequently offered at public sale on February 11, 1839. With the probable exception of squatters, on June 6, 1840 Jared Cable was the first official settler to legally acquire land in Township 10 North, Range 11 West of DeSoto Parish. John Jordan, John Childers and David A. Blackshear began acquiring the land patents for Section 17 in 1847.57 According to one source, a Masonic Lodge, Pleasant Hill Lodge No. 86, was organized in this area in March, 1850 by John Jordan and others.58

It is therefore likely that the town was formally established around 1850, though other settlers were already homesteading in the area before that time. Sometime between 1850 and May 1858, a local, Dr. A. R. Rembert, created the first official town plat.59 Unfortunately, no copies of this map were located during this research and it is not immediately clear whether any survive today. The map is referenced repeatedly; both prior to and following the time of the Civil War, in DeSoto Parish courthouse records. In its earliest history, Pleasant Hill was recognized throughout the region as a healthy and prosperous place to either settle, or to just pass through. The area was well-removed from the swamps and disease that often spread along the major rivers and tributaries seasonally throughout the year. Moreover, although relatively remote, the people’s material needs were well supplied with at least one sawmill, a cotton gin, a gristmill, a blacksmith shop and a variety of stores. Early Pleasant Hill residents’ intangible needs were met by a very nice Methodist Church and two centers of learning, Peirce and Payne Boy’s college and Pleasant Hill Girl’s Academy. In antebellum times, Pierce and Payne College consisted of two, two-story brick, classical-influenced buildings with plans for a final, larger structure in the works.60

57Louisiana State Land Office Online Documents [database on-line] ; available from http://1webfn.doa.la.gov/slodocs/SLO/hist_records.htm. 58 Gaytha Thompson and Trudy Marlow, De Soto Parish, Louisiana; Complete History of the Parish, as cited in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana: De Soto Parish, 1890. 59 Conveyance records indicate that by May 28, 1858 Dr. Rembert was no longer living. DeSoto Parish Courthouse, Conveyance Record Book I, Page 22; Madlyn Muench, “An Overview of the Battle of Pleasant Hill,” 203. 60 Henry M. Fleury, to Augustine Fleury, 19 April 1858, transcript, Special Collections, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA; Muench, An Overview of the Battle of Pleasant Hill, 203; Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 3; ca. 1870 Photograph of Pierce and Payne College Building, Courtesy Mr. Gene Poimboeuf. 26

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The land was considered relatively fertile for both revenue producing and subsistence crops. With an operating gristmill and cotton gin, corn and cotton were staples of the prewar years.61 The local gristmill was initially owned and operated by a free African American, Carroll Jones, whose property played a vital role in the Red River Campaign.62 During the heat of summer, the town also served as a convenient “resort” for wealthy planters who operated plantation estates closer to the Red River. So wrote one soldier in 1864, when he noted the town as “intended in its inception as a place where the families of those cultivating plantations on the low lands might more safely reside during certain seasons.”63

In an 1858 letter, one citizen noted that many of the locals were also “rich but made no display… [recently] a man living in a log cabin subscribed $8,000 towards building a college.” The college was Piece and Payne Boy’s College and the man was one of the town’s cofounders, John Jordan.64 In the same letter, the people of the town were also characterized as “plain in appearance and way of living, [who] do not care much about the opinion of others, every man is a lord at home, independent in thought and speech and generally do as they please, but with the tenac[ious] respect of others.”65 Within the town there must have developed a stark contrast, reflective of southern society at this time, between the patrician slave-holding planter and the more independent pioneer-settler. One Federal soldier would later note, “the back woodsman and half-breed settlers must have gazed with astonishment on these [annual] aristocratic visitors.”66

Trouble Ahead

As the country increasingly became divided over the questions of slavery and of possible secession on the eve of the American Civil War, not all residents of Pleasant Hill were ardent secessionists, and a few citizens foretold of the impending doom the war would bring to the South. Henry Fluery was a one-time affluent, pro-slavery, yet anti-secessionist resident who foretold in 1861 that “secession would ruin the south for years to come.”67 Shortly before the war, William Martin Wilson moved to the Pleasant Hill area from Griffin, Georgia, with his family. He worked as a plantation overseer on occasion but reportedly “owned no slaves …and rejected…the idea of slavery.” Wilson was later drafted into the Confederate service; however, he refused to carry a weapon as he avowed he would not kill. Wilson was evidently at home during the Battle of Pleasant Hill and would later help bury the dead of both armies.68 At the other end of the ideological spectrum, Mrs. Mariah Childers, the widowed owner of the area’s most magnificent residence, was recorded as owning 56 slaves by 1861, while her estate was worth an estimated $105,000.69

61 Henry M. Fleury, to Augustine Fleury, 25 May 1859, transcript, Special Collections, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA. 62 Gary Joiner, “National Historic Corridor,” The Plume Vol. V. Fall 2000, 213. 63 Vicki Betts, Civilian Reaction to the Red River Campaign, 1864, from Natchitoches to Mansfield, Louisiana, [database on- line]; available from usgwarchives.net. 2002. 64 Henry M. Fleury, to Virginia Fleury, 4 July 1858 transcript, Special Collections, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.; DeSoto Parish Courthouse, Conveyance Record Book D, Page 396. 65 Henry M. Fleury, to Virginia Fleury, 4 July 1858. 66 Elias P. Pellet, as quoted in Vicki Betts, Civilian Reaction to the Red River Campaign, 1864. 67 Henry M. Fleury, to Virginia Fleury, 18 April 1861, transcript, Special Collections, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA. 68 Emilia Gay Griffith Means, “The Wilson Family of Pleasant Hill and the Battle of Pleasant Hill,” 309. 69 1861 slave tax record, DeSoto Parish. [database on-line] ; available from http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/desoto/taxlists/slaves.txt; 1860 De Soto Parish Census. 27

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Regardless of their economic standing or ideological viewpoint, those who endured them recorded the war years at Pleasant Hill as particularly hard times. John Pipes, a local minister, wrote in July 1863, “times are hard, [the] season [is] dry and [the] crops [are] short. This war is ruinous.”70 When the “ruinous” war first reached their front doorsteps, the local citizens likely had little idea what to expect. Rumors might run wild amongst civilians in times of active military campaigning. In the days leading up to the Battle, local children would press their ears to the earth in an effort to hear the increasing and ever-nearing cannonading.71 First, on March 28, 1864, the Confederate soldiers arrived and temporarily stored war supplies in the as-yet unfinished Pierce and Payne College campus while supplies of “[corn]meal and bacon” were rounded up around the town, before continuing on their long retreat from the south.72

The Red River Campaign

The Red River Campaign was the Union Army's final attempt to invade Texas. The reasons for this invasion included the possibility of securing a large and reliable cotton crop for northeastern mills and the need to prevent the possible intervention of France in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. This threat seemed very real after French troops occupied Mexico and made it a puppet state under France's hand-picked ally, Archduke Maximilian, formerly of Austria, in 1863. Statesmen apparently believed that a Texas held in Union hands would prevent cooperation among the governments of Mexico, France and the Confederacy.73

Federal forces tried three times to invade Texas in 1863. The first attempt was a failed attack on the mouth of the Sabine River. The second was an overland expedition across southern Louisiana, which ended in St. Landry Parish when the forces retired to New Orleans due to lack of clear orders. The third attempt succeeded in securing some of the barrier islands along the Gulf Coast, but had no affect on the mainland. Thus, then General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck ordered his subordinates to stage a fourth Texas invasion. That invasion is known as the Red River Campaign.74

A route approximating the path of the Red River (which runs roughly from northwest to southeast) was chosen because the Federal invasion had a secondary aim -- to capture the northwest Louisiana town of Shreveport. This community was a target because at that time it was serving as the state capital of Louisiana as well as the headquarters of the Confederate army west of the Mississippi River. In addition, the city contained several small manufacturing establishments which were contributing to the Confederate war effort. These included factories producing small arms, ammunition, and artillery projectiles, as well as a small naval yard where the Confederate ironclad CSS Missouri had been built. Once successful in capturing Shreveport and neutralizing these factories, Union officers planned to leave a garrison in the Louisiana town and move the rest of the troops forward into East Texas toward the towns of Marshall and Tyler. The campaign's opening was

70 T. R. Williams Jr., transcriber, “John Pipes Letter to Minnie Bartlett,” The Plume Vol. 3. February 1994, 218. 71 Childers, Annals of Iowa, 506. 72 Arthur Bergeron, Jr. ed. The Civil War Reminiscences of Major Silas T. Grisamore, C.S.A.. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993), 143. 73 Gary D. Joiner, Burr’s Ferry National Register Nomination, February 2004. Copy on file with the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation. 74 Ibid. 28

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delayed until March 1864 while Union generals planned and negotiated among themselves to get more troops for the initiative.75

The invasion plans of the Union army (including the proposed route up the Red River) could not be kept secret, and the Union delay gave Confederate forces time to take measures designed to defend central and northwest Louisiana. These measures included the probing of the state for additional troops, the transfer of troops from Texas to Alexandria (on the Red River in central Louisiana), an order that civilians remove property which might be useful to Union troops, and the construction of a series of earthen forts along the Red River. These included Forts No. 1 and No. 2 at Yellow Bayou, three positions along the river in Caddo Parish, and a series of eight forts and sixteen redans encircling Shreveport and Bossier City. Fort DeRussy (a pre-existing fort located north of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish) and pre-existing fortifications at Grand Ecore (northwest of Natchitoches) also figured in Confederate defense plans.76

The Red River Campaign finally opened on March 10, 1864, when Union troops stationed at Vicksburg moved via transports down the Mississippi River to Simmesport, in Avoyelles Parish. Simmesport was chosen as the starting point because the Mississippi, Atchafalaya, and Red rivers converge nearby. The troops, under the command of Brigadier General Andrew J. Smith, were accompanied from Vicksburg by a large Union fleet under the command of Admiral David D. Porter. Smith's men began disembarking for a march toward Marksville (in Avoyelles Parish) on the 12th, and soon thereafter the Union fleet began to steam up the Red River.77

After partially destroying Fort No. 1, at Yellow Bayou, Union forces took Fort DeRussy near Marksville on March 14. Then Smith's troops and Porter's gunboats proceeded to Alexandria, where they met Major General Nathaniel P. Banks' army marching from south Louisiana. The troops arrived at Grand Ecore near Natchitoches on April 3. At this point, General Banks, under pressure to take Shreveport by April 15, 1864, or lose the additional troops loaned to him for the campaign, decided to abandon the river route in favor of a shorter land route through Mansfield. (This route would take them through or near the village of Pleasant Hill.) However in a stunning victory, Confederate forces stopped the advancing troops at Mansfield and pursued them all the way back to Avoyelles Parish near Simmesport, where a final battle was fought at Yellow Bayou. Because the Union army and fleet escaped from the Confederates, this last battle is deemed a Federal victory. However, the outcome of the broader Red River Campaign was a defeat for Union forces.78

The Battle of Pleasant Hill

Confederate General Richard Taylor ordered supplies stored at nearby Carroll’s (grist)Mill near Pleasant Hill, and the millstream proved an invaluable source of water for the campaigning armies in

75 Gary D. Joiner, Burr’s Ferry National Register Nomination, February 2004. Copy on file with the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation. 76 Ibid. 77 Gary D. Joiner, Burr’s Ferry National Register Nomination, February 2004. Copy on file with the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation. 78 Ibid. 29

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Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State the coming engagements.79 To escape inevitable confiscation and subsequent destruction of their economic livelihood in already tough times, many of the slave holding men from the village who were not already away in Confederate service fled with their slaves and livestock into east Texas. Union soldiers began arriving on April 7, and those who were left in town awaiting the arrival of the invading United Sates Army were reportedly mostly the village’s women and children.80 Many of those left behind hid what livestock, poultry and material possessions they could manage in the neighboring ravines and woods north and northwest of the town, while other families entirely abandoned their homes and hid in the ravines along with their livestock and material possessions.81 Reportedly, all homes were searched and ransacked by the invading troops, and all supplies and victuals found were confiscated or eaten by the campaigning soldiers.82

Early in the morning of April 9, ill signs of the campaign’s progress were witnessed both by occupying Union soldiers and the resident townsfolk. The roads were filled with groups of angry, cursing, defeated northern soldiers moving to the rear; everywhere evidence of a hasty retreat was apparent. On the afternoon of Saturday the 9th, the once-beaten Federal troops were again assaulted by Confederate forces advancing from the northwest, west, and southwest outskirts of town. The previous day’s fight had started some 17 miles up the road, on the outskirts of the town of Mansfield. There, the Union troops had been surprised by staunch rebel resistance and were soundly routed. Under orders from their commander, they retreated overnight, back to Pleasant Hill for water, to regroup and to gather reinforcements. After finding many of the town cisterns already exhausted, they began establishing defensive positions throughout the area. 83

The rebel attack came late in the afternoon of the 9th. Mindful of the remaining civilian population, the commander of the Union forces, General Nathaniel P. Banks, sent an officer house to house to notify the few remaining citizens to flee for their lives and seek shelter in the neighboring woods and ravines as artillery shells began to burst around the town.84

At 3:00 p.m. Confederate General Churchill’s Arkansas and Missouri troops and his men headed down the Sabine River Road for two miles and then began a trek though the dense woods southwest of the village. They formed up in line of battle with Brigadier General Mosby Parson’s Division on the right and Churchill’s own division on the left. The forest immediately posed problems to the two divisions, interfering with lines of approach and sight. As they swept to their right, Parson’s left flank came in contact with Federal units, so the entire force moved even farther to the right. With all of these movements, forward progress became more difficult and the two divisions became disoriented.85

79 See Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War. (Nashville: J. S. Sanders & Company, 1998). 80 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 3. 81 Vicki Betts, Civilian Reaction to the Red River Campaign, 1864. 82 Muench, An Overview of the Battle of Pleasant Hill, 203; Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 3. 83 U.S. War Department, War of the Rebellion: The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128 Vols. (Washington DC, 1890-1901) (hereinafter cited as O.R.. followed by volume, page number) O.R. 34, 366; Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 3. 84 Solon F. Benson, “The Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana” Annals of Iowa VII, no. 7 (May 1906): 459. 85 Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction, 167; O.R. 34, 602. 30

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After Churchill’s men disappeared into the woods, General Taylor began a countdown to initiate the battle. He gave Churchill an hour and a half to get into position. At 4:30 p.m. a Confederate twelve- gun battery began firing on the Union four-gun battery with Union General Shaw’s men to the north of the road at a distance of about 800 yards. Within 30 minutes the counter battery fire had become so intense, the Union battery withdrew for its own safety.86 As the Union battery withdrew, Churchill’s men were heard yelling, signaling the beginning of their attack. Walker’s Texans recognized this as the signal for their advance and at 5:00 p.m. they charged.87 This was 30 minutes premature, but the Texans thought the Arkansans had moved into position.

Confederate General Tom Green and his Texas cavalrymen saw the Union battery limbering up. Believing that the forward Union units were collapsing under the weight of the Confederate artillery barrage, he ordered his subordinate brigade commanders Debray, Buchel and Bee to charge.88 This decision was also made in error. Bee charged his men across the village’s racetrack and was met with a furious volley from Shaw’s Brigade as they reached the clearing. One-third of Debray’s regiment died in the assault. Buchel forced the then advancing Union infantry back to their original line and then fell, mortally wounded. Debray’s horse was hit and fell on him. He survived by losing his boot and slightly injuring his ankle. He limped back to his line using his sword as a cane.89

Meanwhile, General Walker’s Texas infantry division marched against Shaw’s Brigade exchanging volleys as they approached. Shaw’s men were thinly protected in a band of trees and behind a rail fence. This position was exposed and he had no flank support. Walker’s men drove toward the 32nd Iowa Infantry just as the Texas cavalry, fighting dismounted, attacked the Union brigade’s right flank.90

Positioned due east of the 32nd Iowa, and astride the westernmost dirt street of the village, was Brigadier General William Dwight’s Brigade. It was composed of three New York regiments and another from Maine. The New Englanders took the brunt of Walker’s charge and held their ground while withstanding intense firing.

The most unusual Union soldier on the field at Pleasant Hill was a private named Lyons Wakeman of the 153rd New York Infantry, one of the regiments in this brigade.91 “He” was actually a woman who entered the army and fooled everyone into thinking she was a somewhat reclusive young man. Her true name was Sarah Rosetta Wakeman. Private Wakeman and her unit were under fire for the full battle.92 She wrote her family:

I was under fire about four hours and laid [sic] on the field of battle all night. There was three wounded in my Co. and one killed.93

86 Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction, 166-9; O.R. 34, 567, 608, 617. 87 O.R. 34, 567, 608, 617. 88 Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction, 166-9. 89 X.B. Debray, ‘A Sketch of Debray’s Twenty-Sixth Regiment of Texas Cavalry,’ Southern Historical Society Papers, 8 (1885), 158-9. 90 John Scott, Story of the Thirty Second Iowa Infantry Volunteers, 1896, 140, 180-3. 91 Lauren Cook Burgess (ed.), An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864 (Pasadena, Maryland, 1994), passim. 92 Ibid., 71. 93 Ibid. 31

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Private Wakeman was not the only woman fighting as a man in the campaign, Private Albert D. J. Cashier of Company G, 95th Illinois Infantry was actually Jennie Hodges, an Irish immigrant. Her unit was part of the XVII Corps accompanying Porter on the river.94 Cashier was well known for bravery in actions at Vicksburg the previous year where “he” participated in one of the massive assaults on the Confederate works.95

A Union soldier penned a letter to his wife while his unit was pinned down during this phase of the battle. He apologized for his penmanship, for he was forced to write it on the top of his kepi hat while lying on his stomach to avoid being shot. He told her that the Union forces were outnumbered, that the fighting was desperate, and this may be his last letter. Even in this dire situation, his humor was displayed as he wrote: “I don’t know why this place is called Pleasant Hill – Seems too darned unpleasant to me right now. The Rebs are fighting like dogs but we will whip them, you can bet on that.”96

Churchill’s divisions, still in deeply wooded terrain, believed they were abreast of the Union line. They could hear the cannonade to their left rear. They saw a Union line ahead of them in a field, in the center of which lay a tree-filled dry streambed. This was General Benedict’s Brigade. Most of the enemy soldiers were in the thicket and Churchill charged them. The Confederates had no further use for their muskets in the thick undergrowth, so they used their weapons as clubs. The Union regiments collapsed as a line and were routed. The three New York regiments broke first and the Maine soldiers retreated only after they were almost enveloped. Benedict was killed shortly after he told the Maine troops to pull back.97 Flushed with this victory, Churchill’s men captured the left section of Battery L, 1st U.S. Artillery battery and aimed for the village itself.98 In their rush they did not notice Union General A. J. Smith’s entire infantry corps ahead and to their right. Churchill had wheeled too soon and had come into the Union lines almost in front of the Union left flank. It was a terrible mistake.99

In the center of the action, General Walker, wounded, was carried to the rear. Taylor called in some weary reserves under French-born General Polignac. These were the men who had born the brunt of the fighting the previous day at Mansfield. They aimed for Shaw’s Brigade. When Benedict’s Brigade collapsed, there was no support on either side or to the immediate rear for Shaw. The 32nd Iowa, holding the center of the line, stubbornly refused to leave and bent itself into a semi-circle, preparing to make a final stand. Adding to the pressure on Shaw were Green’s dismounted cavalrymen who swept to the Iowa regiment’s right. Shaw urged Dwight to move in to help, but Dwight refused to move, saying he had no orders to do so.100 A. J. Smith ordered Shaw’s Brigade to withdraw, and three regiments did so. The steadfast 32nd Iowa was surrounded and cut off.101 Dwight decided that if he did not act, orders or not, he would suffer the same fate as Shaw. He ordered two of his regiments

94 Ibid., 5-6, 70. 95 Terrence Winschel, personal communication with Gary Joiner, April 2001. 96 Letter from a Union soldier named “Thomas,” last name unknown, in the collection of James Sandefur, Shreveport, Louisiana. The soldier was a member of the 38th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. 97 O.R. 34, 430-1; Scott, 32nd Iowa, 198. 98 Ibid., 410-11. 99 Ibid, 392; U.S. Congress., Report on the Joint Committee on the Conduct of War, 1863-1866. vol. 2, Red River Expedition (Millwood, NY: Krauss Reprint, 1977). 218. (hereinafter cited as JCCW). 100 O.R. 34, 392. 101 Scott, 32nd Iowa, 145-7; Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction, 169; O.R. 34, 355-6, 361, 363, 366, 369, 423-4. 32

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to cross the Mansfield Pleasant Hill Stage Road and set up on the south side. Union General Emory then ordered McMillan’s Brigade to fill the void created by Dwight. McMillan’s troops had been relieved by Shaw and were held in reserve. They marched into a hailstorm of shells from both sides.102

The initially successful Confederate assault had reached into the very streets of the village itself. Some southern troops (likely General Burns’s Missouri Infantry and sharpshooters) began to take fighting positions inside the town buildings, and began firing on soldiers held in reserve under Union General McMillan. More than 150 of McMillan’s men were killed or wounded retaking the town.103 The federal forces had been decisively cut in two with the collapse of their center and the capture of the town.

At that point in the battle, both sides thought the Confederates were winning handily. The Union right and center had all but collapsed. The left seemed to have evaporated. The only large contingent of the command thus far not engaged was the bulk of the XVI Corps and they were waiting for their chance. The 58th Illinois, which had been concealed in a copse of trees, began pouring accurate fire into Churchill’s men just after they passed their position. Other regiments of Lucas’ Brigade joined in and A. J. Smith then ordered his entire line to charge the Confederates. Churchill’s men still had forward momentum and reached the eastern side of the village.104 They were then forced to fall back to the stream bottom where they had first found Benedict’s Brigade. The fighting was especially brutal here, and just as before, muskets were used as clubs in the dense undergrowth.105

Sergeant John H. Cook of Company A, 119th Illinois Infantry was leading a company of skirmishers at the forefront of his regiment. His regiment had advanced into the stream bottom when Churchill’s men charged. He later wrote that it seemed that the battle was lost. His position was actually facing north and near the far left flank of the Union forces. Cook was able to see the XIII and XIX Corps units being crushed. He also saw the Confederate forces sweep past him. Leading the skirmishers, he saw an old friend fall from a mortal head wound. The sight infuriated him and, realizing his breech-loader rifle was empty of rounds, Cook waved his gun and cap and called out, “Come on boys!” His regiment followed him. This charge halted the Confederate advance. For his gallantry, Cook was awarded the Medal of Honor.106

As Parsons was driven back, Tappan, commanding Churchill’s Division, was forced to retreat or his flank would be exposed and Smith’s infantry corps would drive a wedge between the two formations. As they withdrew, they ran into Scurry’s Brigade of Walker’s Division of Texans and all three units were thrown into a tight position.

Taylor had to send two brigades to Scurry’s aid before he was enveloped.107 Although the Union forces repelled aggressive Confederate attacks, the armies mutually separated at the end of the

102 O.R. 34, 392-3, 417-8, 423-4. 103 O.R. 34, 417. 104 O.R. 34, 341-2, 345-6, 350; Henry A. Shorey, 15th Maine, 97. 105 Henry M. Shorey, The Story of the Maine Fifteenth Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Brighton, Maine, 1890), 83-4; O.R. 34, 317, 328, 350, 373. 106 Joseph B. Mitchell, The Badge of Honor: Letters from Civil War Medal of Honor Winners (Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, 1997), 32-6. 107 Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction, 168-9; O.R. 34, 605. 33

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battle, and as darkness again fell on a battlefield for the second straight day, the fighting ended in a tactical tie. During the battle the Confederates had forced the Union lines to bend back on the left and then had blown through their center to reach the town, only to have their own right wing compromised at great loss.

Darkness finally separated the armies. Taylor’s plan worked as it was designed to, except for the unknown quantity of Smith’s Union XVI Corps. Banks rode up to A. J. Smith and shook his hand, thankfully saying, “God bless you general. You have saved the army.”108 A. J. Smith had little to say to Banks and went back to his troops to see to their welfare and to make them ready in the event of another Confederate attack. He did not attend a conference of Union commanders who met with Banks to decide their next course of action. The dead of both armies lay on the battlefield that night and the wounded were heard pleading for help and water. They were in no-man’s land. Neither side could afford to offer assistance.109 It was in the midst of this chorus of misery that Banks decided on his next course of action.

Banks wanted to try again to take Shreveport and had told A. J. Smith of his intention.110 In preparation, the commanding general ordered the ranking Union cavalry officer, General A. L. Lee, to bring what was left of his wagon trains back to Pleasant Hill.111 Banks met with Franklin, Dwight, and Emory to seek their counsel. Franklin later told Congress that he held no hope for success in another battle. Franklin was so disgusted with Banks’ leadership ability that he was “certain that an operation depending on plenty of troops, rather than upon skill in handling them, was the only one which would have a probability of success in his [Banks’] hands.112 Both Franklin and Emory suggested that the most prudent option was to take the road to Blair’s Landing and link with Porter and the fleet. The supply transports held all the equipment and food the army needed. Dwight suggested that the army retrograde to Grand Ecore, telling Banks that no one had heard from Porter and that they did not know if Taylor’s forces had captured or destroyed the fleet.113 Banks listened to his friend over the objections of the two more seasoned generals. He decided to follow the same route by which they had come and delay any further actions until they reached Grand Ecore.

The night was filled with the sound of the army packing and preparing to leave for the small river port. Lee was ordered to turn his train around again. The dead and wounded were to be left on the field where they lay for the second time in two days.114 Private Julius Knapp of the 116th New York Volunteer Infantry regiment, noted in his diary that the “dead and wounded lay upon the field two days before they were taken care of [,] the rebels thinking we had possession of the ground and we thinking the same of them.”115

108 O.R. 34, 309. 109 Ludwell H. Johnson, Red River Campaign: Politics and Cotton in the Civil War. (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1993), 163. 110 JCCW, 13, 62, 195-6. 111 Johnson, Red River Campaign: Politics and Cotton in the Civil War, 163. The Union Cavalry’s wagon train was largely captured on the day previous at the Battle of Mansfield. 112 Ibid., 35. 113 Ibid., 189. 114 Scott, 32nd Iowa, 230-35; Hoffman, Camp, Court and Siege, 96-7; O.R. 34, 309. 115 Knapp Diary entry for 9 April 1864. 34

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The casualties on both sides were heavy, especially when considering the brevity of the engagement. Some 3,000+ troops had become casualties of war in approximately four hours time.116 Simple arithmetic equates to the interpretation that approximately 12% or more of the soldiers involved were either killed wounded or captured. The rumored and anticipated horrors of war had suddenly become a stark reality to the residents of Pleasant Hill.

After the war, Pleasant Hill began to settle back into some degree of normalcy. However, the town’s two educational institutions, Peirce and Payne Boy’s College and Pleasant Hill Girl’s Academy, did not last long in the reconstruction era. Peirce and Payne Boy’s College was seen as a financially draining institution during a period tight budgets and was shortly abandoned for a lack of funding. The fate of the Girl’s Academy, supposedly destroyed during the battle, is still a mystery. Conveyance records do indicate that property sales and business picked up after the war, where little economic activity had been recorded during the war years.117 However, the little “resort town” was not destined to last. In 1881, the Texas and Pacific Railroad came through the area bypassing the town by only two miles to the southeast. Gradually, the citizens began to move with the town to its contemporary location in Sabine Parish. The site of the new town was first named “Sodus,” or “Sodus Station” by the railroad company. Eventually the new name was dropped in favor of the original.118 Slowly, many vestiges of the once proud town began to disappear from the landscape.

116 Joiner, Through the Howling Wilderness, 100-107; Benson, Annals of Iowa, 494 ; O.R. 34, 604; Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 3; O.R. 34, 417. 117 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 5. 118 Barron, A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 13; Louisiana Digital Map Library. [database on-line]; available from usgwarchives.org/maps/Louisiana. 35

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9. Major Bibliographical References Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)

Primary Sources

Barron, Amos J. A History of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana: Featuring the Battle of Pleasant Hill, April the 9th, 1864, as Told by a Seventeen Year Old Girl. She Was There. Natchez, MS: by the author, 1968.

Beecher, Harris H. Record of the 114th New York N.Y.S.V. Where it Went, What it Saw, What it Did. Norwich, NY: J.F. Hubbard Jr., 1866.

Benson, Solon F. The Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. Annals of Iowa VII, no. 7(May 1906) : 481-503.

Bearss, Edwin C. Personal Communication with Gary D. Joiner. Pelican, Louisiana, 12 April 2001.

Bergeron, Arthur W., ed. The Civil War Reminiscences of Major Silas T. Grisamore, Confederate States Army. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993.

Bonwill, C. E. H. The War in Louisiana – the Battle of Pleasant Hill, between General Banks and the Rebel General Dick Taylor, April 9, newsprint, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 14, 1864.

Burgess, Lauren Cook (ed.). An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864. Pasadena, MD: by the author, 1994.

Clark, John. Battle of Pleasant Hill, Map, electronic document, courtesy of Dr. Gary Joiner.

Childers, Henry H. Reminiscences of the Battle of Pleasant Hill. Annals of Iowa VII, no.7 (October 1906): 505-516

Debray, Xavier Blanchard. “A Sketch of Debray’s Twenty-Sixth Regiment of Texas Cavalry,” Southern Historical Society Papers, 8 (1885), 158-9.

Deed, 28 May 1858, recorded in Conveyance Book I, page 22. Mr. John Jordan to Mrs. E. A. Rembert. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

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Deed, 30 November 1859, recorded in Conveyance Book J, page 43. Mr. John Jordan to David A. Blackshear. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 25 April 1860, recorded in Conveyance Book J, page 175. Mr. A. M. Campbell to Mr. John Pipes. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 14 June 1860, recorded in Conveyance Book J, page 200. Mrs.. E. A. Rembert to Dr. B. F. Chapman. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 16 May 1864, recorded in Conveyance Book J, page 649. Mr. W. H. Jordan to Mr. William Fanley. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 17 July 1867, recorded in Conveyance Book L, page 350. Mr. James O’Pry to David A. Blackshear. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 5 November 1870, recorded in Conveyance Book 1, page 605. Mr. David A. Blackshear to Estate of W.D. Atkins. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 14 November 1888, recorded in Conveyance Book 2, page 630. Mr. Halbrook to Mr. John W. Elam. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 28 March 1893, recorded in Conveyance Book 6, page 433. Mr. John W. Elam to Mrs. Lottie E. Elam. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

Deed, 26 January 1904, recorded in Conveyance Book 16, page 428. Mrs. Lottie E. Elam to Mr. John Q. Elam. DeSoto Parish Courthouse.

De Soto Parish, Louisiana, Clerk of Courts Records, Land Patent Records, Section 17, Township 10 North, Range 11 West.

De Soto Parish, Louisiana, 1861 Slave Tax Record, [database on-line] ; available from http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/desoto/taxlists/slaves.txt

De Soto Parish, Louisiana, Tax Assessor’s Records, Plat Map. Section 17, Township 10 North, Range 11 West.

Fleury, Henry. Six letters from Henry Fleury of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana to various members of his family,1858-1861. Transcripts. Special Collections, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

Heath, William H. Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. Annals of Iowa VII, no. 7 37

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(October) 1906.

Heriot, D. M. Plat Map of Pleasant Hill, 23 September 1871, Map, J. Fair Hardin Collection, Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.

Joiner, Gary D., ed. Little to Eat and Thin Mud to Drink: Letters, Diaries, and Memoirs from the Red River Campaigns, 1863-1864. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2007.

Louisiana State Land Office, Online Documents, Historical Records. [database on-line] ; available from http://1webfn.doa.la.gov/slodocs/SLO/hist_records.htm.

Louisiana Digital Map Library. [database on-line] ; available from usgwarchives.org/maps/louisiana.

Map # 368. Battle of Pleasant Hill. (photocopy from the National Archives).Map Collection, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

Map #1371. Untitled. Parish Maps of Louisiana captured from the Confederates (photocopy from the National Archives). Map Collection, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

Map #1462. Red River Below Shreveport. Parish Maps of Louisiana captured from the Confederates (photocopy from the National Archives). Map Collection, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

Mitchell, Joseph B. The Badge of Honor: Letters from Civil War Medal of Honor Winners. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: 1997, 32-6.

Poimboeuf, Gene. Personal Communication with W. Ryan Smith. Pelican, Louisiana, 5 September 2008.

Poimboeuf, Gene. Personal Communication with W. Ryan Smith. Pelican, Louisiana, 7 February 2009.

Poimboeuf, Gene. Personal Communication with W. Ryan Smith. Pelican, Louisiana, 25 February 2009.

Poimboeuf, Margie and Gene. 1968. Letter from Margie and Gene Poimboeuf to Josephine E. Hayley, 9 August. Original in the collection of Dr. Charles C. Hayley, Wichita Falls, TX.

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Scott, John. Story of the Thirty Second Iowa Infantry Volunteers. Nevada, IA. :by the Author, 1896.

Shorey,Henry M. The Story of the Maine Fifteenth Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Brighton, ME: by the author, 1890.

Storey, L. J., John L. Lane and Augustus M. Hill. Incidents of Banks’s Campaign: Mansfield and Pleasant Hill (April 1864), 1931. Photocopy. Special Collections, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

Taylor, Richard. Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War. Nashville: J. S. Sanders and Company, 1998. Reprint, 1879.

Venable, Richard M. Pleasant Hill April 9th 1864, Map.

U.S. Congress. Report on the Joint Committee on the Conduct of War, 1863-1866. Vol. 2, Red River Expedition. Millwood, NY: Krauss Reprint, 1977.

U.S. Department of Commerce. 7th Decennial Census (1850), DeSoto Parish Census. microfilm. Special Special Collections, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

U.S. Department of Commerce. 8th Decennial Census (1860), DeSoto Parish Census. microfilm. Special Special Collections, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

U.S. Department of Commerce. 9th Decennial Census (1870), DeSoto Parish Census. microfilm. Special Special Collections, Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, LA.

U.S. War Department. Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1891-95.

U.S. War Department. The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1890-1901.

Williams T. R. Jr., transcriber, “John Pipes Letter to Minnie Bartlett,” The Plume Vol. 3. February 1994, 218.

Winschel, Terrance. Personal Communication with Gary D. Joiner. Vicksburg, Mississippi, 7 December 2001. 39

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Secondary Sources

American Battlefield Protection Program. Guidelines for Grantees [on-line]; available from http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/grants/battlefieldgrants/2011grants.htm#forms. 2010.

Barr, Alwyn. Polignac’s Texas Brigade. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1998.

Betts, Vicki Civilian Reaction to the Red River Campaign, 1864, from Natchitoches to Mansfield, Louisiana, [database on-line]; available from usgwarchives.net. 2002.

Brown, Norman D., ed. Journey to Pleasant Hill: The Civil War Letters of Captain Elijah P. Petty, Walker’s Texas Division, C.S.A. San Antonio: The University of Texas, Institute of Texas Cultures, 1982.

Cecil D. Elliott. The Development of Materials and Systems for Buildings. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1994.

Garrison, Webb and Cheryl. The Encyclopedia of Civil War Usage. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2001.

Geier, Clarence R., and Stephen R. Potter, eds., Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2000.

Gregory, Hiram F., David T. Eschenfelder, Connie B. Eschenfelder, James McCorkle, George A. Stokes, Nancy Bernstein, and Jay C. Blaine. A Civil War Military Site Survey: Natchitoches Parish and Environs. Natchitoches: Northwestern State University, 1984.

Johnson, Ludwell H. Red River Campaign: Politics and Cotton in the Civil War. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1993.

Joiner, Gary. Battle of Pleasant Hill: Battlefield with Forward Edge of Battle (FEBA), Map, electronic document, courtesy of Dr. Gary Joiner.

Joiner, Gary. One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2003.

Joiner, Gary. Through the Howling Wilderness. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006.

Joiner, Gary. National Historic Corridor, The Plume Vol. V. (Fall) 2000, 213. 40

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Jordan, Terry G. and Matti Kaups. Folk Architecture in Cultural and Ecological Context. Geographical Review, vol. 77, no. 1 (Jan) 1987, 52-75.

Kinard, Jeff. Lafayette of the South: Prince Camille de Polignac and the American Civil War. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001.

Kingsley, Karen. “Dogtrot Houses: Pioneer Cabins with a Central Breezeway Proved Practical for North Louisiana,” Louisiana Cultural Vistas (Fall) 2008, 62-63.

Kniffen, Fred. Folk Housing: Key to Diffusion. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 55, no. 4. (Dec.) 1965, 549-577.

Lane, Mills. Architecture of the Old South: Louisiana. New York: Abbeville Press, 1990.

Lanier, and Gabrielle M. and Bernard L. Herman. Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic: Looking at Buildings and Landscapes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.

Lott, Jason & Gary Joiner. “Draft National Register of Historic Places nomination, Pleasant Hill Battlefield, 2004.” photocopy. Courtesy of the authors.

Lowe, Richard. Walkers Texas Division C.S.A.: Greyhounds of the Trans- Mississippi. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004.

Martin, F. Lester, ed. The Architecture of the North Louisiana River Parishes, Vols. 1. Ruston: The School of Architecture, Louisiana Tech University, 1993-1997.

Martin, F. Lester and Louisiana Tech University. Folk and Styled Architecture in North Louisiana: The Hill Parishes, Vol. 1. Laffeyatte: The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1989.

McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

Means, Emilia Gay Griffith. “The Wilson Family of Pleasant Hill and the Battle of Pleasant Hill,” The Plume Vol. 3. (February) 1994, 309.

Moore House (Washington Parish, LA) National Register Nomination. Copy on file with the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation.

Muench, Madlyn. “An Overview of the Battle of Pleasant Hill,” The Plume Vol. V. (Fall) 2000, 203.

National Register of Historic Places Database, [database on-line]; available from http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/research/index.htm.

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Poesch, Jessie and Barbara SoRelle Bacot, eds. Louisiana Buildings 1720-1940: The Historic American Buildings Survey. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1997.

Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields: Technical Volume II: Battle Summaries, by Dale E. Floyd and David W. Lowe, eds. Washington D.C.: Civil War Advisory Commission, 1997.

Smith, William Ryan. “’Long Years to Come’: Developing a Cultural Resources Inventory and Management Plan for the Stewards of Old Pleasant Hill.” Master’s Thesis., Northwestern State University, 2009.

Thompson, Gaytha and Trudy Marlow. “De Soto Parish, Louisiana; Complete History of the Parish” [database on-line] ; available from usgwarchives.net, 1999.

U.S. Department of Defense. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. [database on-line] ; available from http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp1_02.pdf.

Waxham, Tom J, Terry G. and H.G.. Battle of Pleasant Hill, LA., Map, electronic document.

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Previous documentation on file (NPS): NA Primary location of additional data: preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been x State Historic Preservation Office requested) Other State agency previously listed in the National Register Federal agency previously determined eligible by the National Register Local government designated a National Historic Landmark University recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Other recorded by Historic American Engineering Record Name of repository: recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey Not Applicable Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned):

10. Geographical Data

Acreage of Property Approx. 1,010 acres (Do not include previously listed resource acreage.)

UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet.)

1 15 448974 3524822 3 15 449667 3525138 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing

2 15 450825 3525068 4 15 451270 3524900 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing

Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield is located in southeastern DeSoto Parish in and extends just inside the Sabine Parish line and is adjacent to both sides of Louisiana State Highway 175, which bisects the site, entering from the northwest and exiting to the southeast in adjoining Sabine Parish. The battlefield stretches over portions of Sections 7, 8, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Township 10 North Range 11 West of the Northwestern Land District of Louisiana. As a whole, the site measures approximately 1,010 acres (see appended maps). The boundary for the battlefield is an irregular polygon and is contained within the following coordinates: 1) E448974, N3524822; 2) E449667, N3525138; 3) E450825, N3525068; 4) E451270, N3525138; 5) E451652, N3524670; 6) E452092, N3524113; 7) E451749,N 3523641; 8) E450482, N3523185; 9) E449566, N3523758; 10) E449122, N3524171; 11) E448958, N352549 (Zone 15).

Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)

Defining the boundary of a battlefield is by nature a rather arbitrary exercise without careful consideration of the terrain. Battlefields, unlike buildings, often have a rather ambiguous footprint. Should a battlefield include only the areas where troops were located during the engagement? Or, should the proposed battlefield also include areas beyond the formal troop positions which received indirect fire from projectiles which did not ultimately find their intended target? Military historians and the United States Department of Defense have developed a system for delineating battlefield 43

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

boundaries known as the Forward Edge of the Battle Area or “FEBA” approach. The FEBA is defined as The foremost limits of a series of areas in which ground combat units are deployed, excluding the areas in which the covering or screening forces are operating, designated to coordinate fire support, the positioning of forces, or the maneuver of units.119

The proposed boundary for the Battle of Pleasant Hill is not represented as an arbitrary polygon. Rather, this nomination uses the FEBA approach to defining the battlefield limits. Following extensive reviews of primary documents and depictions related to both the village landscape and the battle, reviews of primary sources depicting the entire historic landscape, field surveys of the terrain, topography and cultural features, an exceptionally precise model of the battlefield was created to aid in the determination of an appropriate FEBA for the Battle of Pleasant Hill. Each UTM reference presented marks a minimum 50 meter buffer from the outward most portion combat (non-reserve) units from each army as they were positioned at the opening of the battle around 4:00pm on April 9, 1864. The FEBA encompasses the positions of all known combat units from the opening salvo of the engagement until darkness fell over the battlefield parting the armies. Unlike many other engagements, the Battle of Pleasant Hill became a smaller, more concentrated affair as the fighting progressed. Units became locked in close-quarter and often hand to hand combat at the climax of the battle. Therefore, in this instance the opening positions of all forces represent the outer edges of the combat area and define the historic boundary of the battlefield as close as possible.

11. Form Prepared By

name/title W. Ryan Smith, M.A. and Dr. Gary D. Joiner organization NSU Cultural Resource Office date October 10, 2010 street & number Room 137 Kyser Hall telephone (318) 357-6130 city or town Northwestern State University of Louisiana state LA zip code 71497 e-mail [email protected] ; [email protected]

Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form:

• Maps: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.

A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to this map.

• Continuation Sheets

• Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items.)

119 U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. Online source, http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp1_02.pdf. 44

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Photographs: Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map.

Name of Property: Pleasant Hill Battlefield

City or Vicinity: Pelican

County: DeSoto State: LA

Photographer: W. Ryan Smith

Date Photographed: January-March 2009; October 2010.

Description of Photograph(s) and number:

LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0001 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0002 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0003 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0004 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0005 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0006 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0007 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0009 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0010 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0011 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0012 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0013 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0014 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0015 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0016 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0017 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0018 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0019 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0020 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0021 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0022 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0023 LA_DeSoto Parish_ Pleasant Hill Battlefield _0024

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Property Owner: (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name (See Continuation Sheet) street & number telephone city or town state zip code

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.

UTM Coordinates Continued:

5 15 451652 3524670 6 15 452092 3524113 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing

7 15 451749 3523641 8 15 450482 3523185 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing

9 15 449566 3523758 10 15 449122 3524171 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing

11 15 448958 3525490 Zone Easting Northing

Property Owners:

Name Street City state Zip KCI Land Co. 707 Hwy 167N Dodson LA 71422 San Patricio Cattle Co. P.O. Box 132 Pelican LA 71063 KCI Land Co. 707 Hwy 167N Dodson LA 71422 Sidney K. Herold et. al. P.O. Drawer 1110 Alexandria LA 71309 (Care of Roy O. Martin) Buck & Judy A. Walker 707 Rutgers Lancaster TX 75146 Tina Anderson 23201 Hwy 175 Pelican LA 71063 David Robert Gardner 12203 Boheme Dr. Houston TX 77024 Meriwether LA Land & Timber P.O. Box 12724 Lake Charles LA 70612 Sallie J. Bozeman, et. al. P.O. Box 24 Pleasant Hill LA 71065 Wesley Hall estate 1824 East 79 St Cleveland OH 44103 KCI Land Co. 707 Hwy 167N Dodson LA 71422

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012)

Pleasant Hill Battlefield Historic District Desoto Parish, LA Name of Property County and State

Poimboeuf Realty Co. 23467 Hwy 175 Pelican LA 71063 John W. Moore P.O. Box 97 Pleasant Hill LA 71065 North Louisiana Timberland Corp. 1828 Williams Ave. Natchitoches LA 71457 Parker & Barbara Jean Peacock 23424 Hwy 175 Pelican LA 71063 The Five Mc’s Property, L.L.C. P.O. Box 63 Many LA 71149 Steven Whatley 1337 Whitehall Drive Bossier City LA 71106 The Five Mc’s Property, L.L.C. P.O. Box 63 Many LA 71149 Clarence E. Poimboeuf, Jr. 23467 Hwy 175 Pelican LA 71063 Old Town Packaged Liquor (Defunct) Jack C. Middleton 6920 Hwy 177 Pelican LA 71063 Jack C. Middleton 6920 Hwy 177 Pelican LA 71063 Alton L. Middleton 23609 Hwy 175 Pelican LA 71063 George C. Petty 2156 Campbell Rd. Montgomery AL 36111 Red River Louisiana I 8570 Business Park Shreveport LA 71105 Legal Methodist Conference of 527 North Blvd. Baton Rouge LA 70802 Louisiana Cook-Taylor Land Corporation P.O. Drawer 1110 Alexandria LA 71309 (Care of Roy O. Martin) Cook-Taylor Land Corporation P.O. Drawer 1110 Alexandria LA 71309 (Care of Roy O. Martin) George C. Petty, et. al. 2156 Campbell Rd. Montgomery AL 36111

*owners holding more than one non-contiguous parcel of land within the boundary are listed for each parcel.

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