New Orleans History -- Lake Pontchartrain
Friday, October 04, 2024
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1863 Feux de Joie Aid Confederate Army


Each Christmas Eve on the river banks in lower Louisiana
what the French called “Feux de Joie” (“Fires of Joy”) have been lit for
hundreds of years. During the Civil War at Port Hudson, located on the
Mississippi River north of Baton Rouge, the fires of joy were used for military
purposes. At exactly 11:22 p.m. on Saturday March 12, 1863, when Admiral
Farragut’s powerful fleet started moving up river, fires on both sides were lit
illuminating the ships and literally making them sitting ducks.



Source: Buddy Stall at
href="http://clarionherald.org/20000302/stall.htm">http://clarionherald.org/20000302/stall.htm