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Prelude

(Format and spelling follows the original publication, without drawings)
(Drawings will be added at a later date)
(Topical anchors will be added at a later date)

"The Gibraltar of the West"

The barrel of a massive Confederate cannon called "Lady Polk," a piece of giant chain with 20-pound links and a huge anchor that once blocked the passage of Union gunboats on the Mississippi [River], and a network of earthen trenches were part of an impregnable Confederate stronghold known as "The Gibraltar of the West." Largely overlooked, by Civil War buffs, these artifacts are preserved at Columbus-Belmont State Park.

Perhaps they are overlooked as an important part of Civil War history because Columbus, Kentucky, is off the beaten path. Or perhaps it is because the origin of the chain and its role in the war is somewhat vague and is the subject of much local folklore. Or perhaps it is because the Battle of Belmont, which took place on November 7, 1861, cost the country more than 1,000 lives and in reality neither side was the victor.

No matter what the reason, control of Columbus was critically important during the Civil War and many strategies were planned by both sides to control the position. In addition, the Battle of Belmont was instrumental in the rise to power of one General Ulysses S. Grant, who led Union forces on that day.

The Columbus Fortifications

In September 1861, Confederate General Leonidas Polk, who was also the Bishop of Louisiana, moved his forces from Tennessee to occupy the heights at Columbus, Kentucky, and established a camp at Belmont on the Missouri side of the river.

Throughout the autumn and winter, as many as 19,000 Confederate troops labored incessantly to make the position at Columbus impregnable. A floating battery was positioned on the Mississippi [River] including river steamers which were converted to gunboats; more than 140 heavy guns were positioned on the bluffs; and a huge chain, firmly anchored on the Columbus shore and resting on rafts was stretched across the river. In addition, numerous trenches were dug at Columbus to further fortify what would be called Fort DeRussey.

According to William G. Stevenson, who served in the Rebel army at the Columbus fortifications, the lifestyle at Fort DeRussey was one of "hard work and harder drill." He noted that "...at one time we worked 12 hours out of every 36 so every other work turn came at night. Generals Polk, Pillow, Cheatham, and McGown were present day and night encouraging the men with words of cheer. General Pillow at one time dismounted and worked in the trenches himself to quiet some dissatisfaction which had risen."

"An immense amount of work was performed here," Stevenson continued in his account. "A range of hills running parallel to the river rises directly north of the town. On these hills most of the batteries were erected, and extensive breastworks were also thrown up. On the river side were the heaviest batteries. A sand-bag battery mounting six heavy guns was constructed at the upper end of the town...This battery was constructed by filling corn-sacks with sand, and piling them up in tiers, leaving embrasures for the guns.

"Torpedoes and other obstructions were placed in the river; but all this kind of work was done secretly by the engineer corps, and the soldiers knew but little of their number and location. Some of these torpedoes were made of cast iron at memphis and Nashville, and would hold from 100 to 200 pounds of powder as a charge. Others were made of boiler plate, or different shapes and sizes. They were to be suspended near the surface of the water by chains and buoys, and discharged by wires stretched near the surface, which a boat would strike in passing over them."

In a letter written early in January 1862, General Polk said of the works at Columbus: "We are still quiet here. I am employed in making more and more difficult the task to take this place...I have now, 140 cannon of various calibers, and they look not a little formidable. Besides this, I am paving the bottom of the river with submarine batteries to say nothing of a tremendous heavy chain across the river. I am planning mines out in the roads also."

Union General Halleck, in a letter to General McClellan, stated: "Columbus cannot be taken without an immense siege-train and a terrible loss of life. I have thoroughly studied its defenses - they are very strong; but can be turned, paralyzed, and forced to surrender."

"Pillow's Folly" - The Giant Chain

The town of Columbus was an early objective for both Union and Confederate Armies. To ensure that no enemy vessels sneaked past the fortifications at Columbus, the Confederates strung the big chain - said to have been more than a mile long - across the [Mississippi] river, securing it on the Columbus end with a huge anchor.

A poster that has hung in the park museum for many years provides some of the only details known about the anchor. According to the poster, the anchor was taken from the Washington Naval Yard and brought up the Mississippi [River] from Mobile Harbor in Alabama by Southern sympathizers when the war broke out. The poster also said that the chain was floated across the river on log pontoons, then was tied to two large sycamores on the Missouri shore. A capstan allowed it to be raised or lowered. The anchor's weight and the swift Mississippi [River] current eventually caused the chain to break.

Estimates of the anchor's weight range from 4 to 6 tons. Its hooks measures 9 feet from point to point. Each link of the chain is 11 inches long and 6 inches across. About 65 feet of the chain and anchor are displayed at the park.

In one historical account, the chain was referred to as "Pillow's Folly," an apparent reference to General Gideon Pillow of Tennessee, commander of Confederate troops along the Mississippi [River] and logically the author of the chain idea. very little about the chain was ever recorded in military reports from Columbus, which probably resulted in much local folklore.

"Lady Polk"

During the Battle of Belmont, Fort DeRussey, situated high on the Columbus bluffs, raked Grant's lines with merciless fire from its 140 cannons. One of the guns, known as the "Lady Polk," in honor of the wife of General Polk, was the largest breech-loading cannon in use at the time. It was an 8-ton, rifled Dahlgren gun, capable of firing 128-pound, cone-shaped projectiles.

The projectiles prepared for this gun had copper saucers attached to the bottom with flanges fashioned to fit the rifles. The flanges were too large and had to be filed to fit the gun.

During the Battle of Belmont, the heat from firing the gun expanded the barrel and after the battle it was left loaded with unfired projectiles. Two days later when the Lady Polk was fired again, it exploded, broke into three pieces, and 18 men were killed and 20 wounded.

(Text Adapted From: Columbus-Belmont State Park, a Kentucky State Park's brochure distributed to visitors of the park, 2005.)