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Construction soon began supervised by Bailey. Around 3,000 soldiers started to fell trees and bring rock, brick, stone and other materials to the construction site. As construction progressed, two wings of the dam developed from either shore of the 758-foot-wide (231 m) river. The dam was at the
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filled with rocks and stones. The dam was built with 4 x 10 inch wooden timbers that were stacked parallel with the river. The upstream tops of the timbers were anchored with stone while their trunks were raised higher by timbers that were perpendicular to the river. This helped support the dam
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passed through as the rest were unprepared. Bailey now needed to repair the dam but also decided to build two smaller dams upstream as well. These two winged dams were complete on May 11 and would channel the water downstream into a deeper course but also relieve pressure on the downstream dam. On
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were sunk in between the dam's 150-foot (46 m) gap. The barges were filled with local material and anchored into the riverbed. Bailey directed that one of the barges only be partially filled as he planned to quickly remove it in order to allow the reservoir to empty and the flotilla to pass.
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on April 8, General Banks and the Union troops were now retreating back south along the Red River. Taylor's troops were in pursuit of them and harassing them with gunfire. Porter's flotilla managed to navigate the river but with difficulty. By April 28, the flotilla reached the
Alexandria falls,
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By May 6, the dam had raised the river level to four feet and by May 8, it was over five feet, allowing some of the smaller boats to pass in directly behind the dam. At 5:30 AM on May 9, two of the barges surprisingly broke loose, sending a gush of water downstream. Only four of Porter's ships
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who was in command of the
Mississippi River Squadron. The levels of the river were unseasonably low, perhaps due to a multi-year drought, and made passage for the boats difficult when they reached the Alexandria falls. Porter could only move 12
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although the river was too low at 3 feet and 4 inches. Porter's boats lightened their loads but needed 7 feet of water to pass. They did not have time to wait for the river level to rise. The chief
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completed the John
Overton Lock and Dam downstream, which flooded the site. The Corps of Engineers had sponsored excavations of the area in 1984 which helped confirm much of the historical accounts.
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and 20 transports north of the falls after waiting for the level to become high enough. The rest of the fleet would wait behind. After being defeated by
Confederate General
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and was familiar with how one could solve the problem. Although other officers criticized Bailey for the idea, General Banks agreed to it and ordered the construction.
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bottom of the downstream ledge and was built with local materials. Where trees were plentiful on the left (east) side of the river, men with
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ledges was less than the channel depth through nearby alluvium, and the downstream ledge controlled the water level upstream of that ledge.
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should be built in order to raise the river level and free the boats. Bailey had constructed dams in
Wisconsin as a
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The Emblem of the
Louisiana State Militia Louisiana's Military Heritage:Battles, Campaigns, and Maneuvers
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in 1976. Remnants of the dam existed and could be seen during low river levels until 1987 when the
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The Red River was an important transportation corridor through
Louisiana, where the river channel
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filled in behind. The rock-crib structure did not cross the entire river and four coal
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813:"The Flag of the United States of America The Red River Campaign (April ~ May, 1864)"
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breached the dam and eventually the rest of the fleet was safely below the falls.
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731:"United States Colored Troops, 99th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry"
706:"United States Colored Troops, 97th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry"
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347:. A short distance upstream of Alexandria, the river crosses two ledges of
665:"Causes and consequences of nineteenth century droughts in North America"
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and his Union troops moved north along the Red River in order to capture
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Conflict sites on the
National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
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895:
Bailey's Dam – Louisiana
Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism
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to afford passage over the
Alexandria rapids for part of Rear Admiral
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used those trees for dam-building. Freed slaves of the 97th and 99th
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National Register of Historic Places in Rapides Parish, Louisiana
918:", 21 photos, 12 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
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868:. Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Archived from
786:. Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Archived from
759:. Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Archived from
682:. Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Archived from
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American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places
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Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
559:"Bailey's Dam: How to float gunboats in three feet of water"
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Contemporary engraving of the vessels riding through the dam
621:. Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism
916:
Bailey's Dam, Red River, Alexandria, Rapides Parish, LA
864:
Smith, Steven D.; George J. Castille III (March 1986).
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Smith, Steven D.; George J. Castille III (March 1986).
755:
Smith, Steven D.; George J. Castille III (March 1986).
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Smith, Steven D.; George J. Castille III (March 1986).
396:, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bailey, suggested that a
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During the Red River Campaign in March 1864, General
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987:Historic American Engineering Record in Louisiana
957:Buildings and structures in Alexandria, Louisiana
561:. Civil War Preservation Trust. Archived from
498:Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site
8:
900:Bailey's Dam – Civil War Preservation Trust
843:"John Overton Lock And Dam, west Louisiana"
478:May 13, with the dam repaired, the gunboat
450:Among the materials used were that of the
27:
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496:Remnants of the dam can now be seen from
416:Bailey's Dam under construction, May 1864
383:and failing to capture Shreveport in the
139:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
431:United States Colored Infantry Regiments
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16:Dam in Alexandria / Pineville, Louisiana
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319:. It was planned by Lieutenant Colonel
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530:"National Register Information System"
427:29th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment
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370:. Accompanying them was Rear Admiral
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912:Historic American Engineering Record
535:National Register of Historic Places
506:National Register of Historic Places
504:Bailey's Dam Site was listed in the
433:worked from the right bank building
942:Louisiana in the American Civil War
311:. It was built in 1864 during the
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967:1864 establishments in Louisiana
355:. The depth of water over these
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33:Remnants of Bailey's Dam in 1984
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866:"Bailey's Dam – Introduction"
196:Show map of the United States
510:U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
641:"Red River Campaign begins"
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819:. USS KIDD. Archived from
438:and make it stronger as a
329:Mississippi River Squadron
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270:NRHP reference
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932:American Civil War sites
680:"Bailey's Dam – Advance"
588:"The Red River Campaign"
209:Red River S of U.S. 71,
914:(HAER) No. LA-6, "
593:. National Park Service
458:Historical significance
57:Construction began
952:Dams completed in 1864
784:"Bailey's Dam – Works"
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735:National Park Service
710:National Park Service
540:National Park Service
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309:Alexandria, Louisiana
257:8 acres (3.2 ha)
238:31.32556°N 92.45194°W
211:Alexandria, Louisiana
171:Show map of Louisiana
87:Type of dam
757:"Bailey's Dam – Dam"
425:experience from the
73:Demolition date
385:Battle of Mansfield
243:31.32556; -92.45194
234: /
905:2016-04-09 at the
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452:Red River Railroad
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364:Nathaniel P. Banks
325:David Dixon Porter
317:American Civil War
313:Red River Campaign
962:Dams in Louisiana
542:. March 13, 2009.
500:at this overlook.
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131:Bailey's Dam Site
81:Dam and spillways
65:Opening date
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616:"Bailey's Dam"
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874:. Retrieved
870:the original
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847:. Retrieved
845:. Find Lakes
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792:. Retrieved
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684:the original
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563:the original
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408:Construction
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297:Bailey's Dam
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76:May 13, 1864
22:Bailey's Dam
241: /
217:Coordinates
68:May 8, 1864
937:Union Navy
926:Categories
650:2022-11-30
516:References
488:Modern day
481:Mound City
394:19th Corps
368:Shreveport
335:Background
301:timber dam
226:31°19′32″N
43:Alexandria
474:Lexington
440:reservoir
435:box cribs
402:lumberman
353:siltstone
349:sandstone
341:meandered
305:Red River
229:92°27′7″W
100:Red River
91:Rock-crib
51:Louisiana
47:Pineville
903:Archived
597:3 August
398:wing dam
390:engineer
377:gunboats
345:alluvium
343:through
277:76000973
206:Location
117:~758 ft.
96:Impounds
39:Location
876:24 July
849:24 July
827:24 July
794:24 July
767:24 July
690:24 July
645:HISTORY
569:24 July
423:logging
392:of the
357:bedrock
315:in the
303:on the
740:7 June
715:7 June
625:7 June
444:barges
299:was a
114:Length
109:~7 ft.
106:Height
619:(PDF)
591:(PDF)
262:Built
878:2010
851:2010
829:2010
796:2010
769:2010
742:2019
717:2019
692:2010
627:2019
599:2010
571:2010
351:and
265:1864
254:Area
327:'s
307:in
272:No.
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804:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
