Shreveport, Louisiana Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Civil War and Reconstruction=== During the [[American Civil War]], Shreveport was the capital of Louisiana from 1863 to 1865, having succeeded [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]] and [[Opelousas, Louisiana|Opelousas]] after each fell under [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] control. The city was a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] stronghold throughout the war and was the site of the headquarters of the [[Trans-Mississippi Department]] of the Confederate Army. Fort Albert Sidney Johnston was built on a ridge northwest of the city. Because of limited development in that area, the site is relatively undisturbed in the 21st century. Isolated from events in the east, the Civil War continued in the Trans-Mississippi theater for several weeks after [[Robert E. Lee]]'s surrender in April 1865, and the Trans-Mississippi was the last Confederate command to surrender, on May 26, 1865. "The period May 13β21, 1865, was filled with great uncertainly after soldiers learned of the surrenders of Lee and Johnston, the Good Friday assassination of President [[Abraham Lincoln]] and the rapid departure of their own generals."<ref name="prime">[https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/05/10/history-mayhem-marked-civil-war-end/27084699/ John Andrew Prime, "Our History: Mayhem marked Civil War's end here"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613021809/https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/05/10/history-mayhem-marked-civil-war-end/27084699/ |date=June 13, 2018 }}, ''Shreveport Times'', 10 May 2015; accessed 5 May 2018</ref> In the confusion there was a breakdown of military discipline and rioting by soldiers. They destroyed buildings containing service records, a loss that later made it difficult for many to gain Confederate pensions from state governments.<ref name="prime"/> The Red River, opened by Shreve in the 1830s, remained navigable throughout the Civil War. But seasonal water levels got so low at one point that Union [[Admiral]] [[David Dixon Porter]] was trapped with his gunboats north of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. His engineers quickly constructed a temporary dam to raise the water level and free his fleet. In 1873, Shreveport lost 759 citizens in an 80-day period to a [[yellow fever]] epidemic, with over 400 additional victims eventually succumbing. The total death toll from August through November was approximately 1,200.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Center-PHCH/Center-CH/infectious-epi/Annuals/LaIDAnnual_YellowFever.pdf|title=Louisiana Office of Public Health Statistics, page 6|website=Ldh.la.gov|access-date=September 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204032113/http://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Center-PHCH/Center-CH/infectious-epi/Annuals/LaIDAnnual_YellowFever.pdf|archive-date=February 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oaklandcemeteryla.org/Tour/Tour-Stop-1.aspx|title=Tour Stop 1 β Yellow Fever Victims β Tour β Oakland Cemetery β Shreveport β Louisiana β Founded 1847|website=Oaklandcemeteryla.org|access-date=September 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928202518/http://www.oaklandcemeteryla.org/Tour/Tour-Stop-1.aspx|archive-date=September 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Five Roman Catholic priests in the city and two religious sisters died while caring for yellow fever victims in the city.<ref>Archives, Diocese of Shreveport</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page