Natchez to Baton Rouge

We traveled for about an hour and began looking for the Afton Villa Gardens. We had been warned that it was hard to find, but we couldn’t find it, even with the help of Google maps and turning around twice. The turnoff it suggested had a closed gate and no signs, so we continued on to Rosedown Plantation. They assured us that the Gardens should be open, so we decided to take another attempt after our plantation visit.

Rosedown Gardens

Rosedown was built by Daniel and Math Trumbell in 1835. He owned 2 cotton and 2 sugar cane plantations, making him a very wealthy man. The mansion remained in the family’s possession until 1955, preserving most of the original furnishings. Inside the house, the entry hall makes quite an impression with its scenic French wall paper (though not original it is similar to what was popular at the time). The house also has a shower from 1845, one of the earliest known. It is fed from a cistern on top of the house. The outstanding feature of the plantation is its gardens. The first live oaks were planted in 1830 before the house was built and a variety of gardens surround the mansion in French, English, and Italian fashions. When the house was sold, what attracted the new owner was the gardens, but they also spent over $10M restoring the home to its former glory. Today, the plantation is a state historical park and well worth a visit.

Entrance Hall Wall Paper

We looked up the website for Afton Villa Gardens and found out that Google was off by about half a mile. The signage was still poor, but we found it and sure enough, there was a car parked there to take admission. After the Rosedown gardens, these gardens were quite disappointing. It was decked out in fall flowers, but most of the rest of the garden was grass, bushes, and trees.

Afton Villa Gardens

Our final stop was the Port Hudson Battlefield. Just like at Vicksburg, here the Confederates controlled the Mississippi with gun emplacements on the bluffs above the river. With control of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, they controlled a 125 miles stretch of the Mississippi, including the confluence of the Red River which allowed them to bring supplies from Texas and Mexico into the Confederate States. The Union Navy only managed to get two ships past this point, so they knew they had to mount a land assault. On May 23^rd, 1863, 30,000 Union troops were pitted against 6800 Confederates, but the Confederates were well-fortified. The Union attempted two assaults against the fortifications, but were repulsed both times with heavy losses. Our tour included a film about the battle and a walk to Fort Desperate, the northern most redoubt of the confederates. The deep ravines gave you an appreciation of how difficult it had been to assault this fortification. Just like Vicksburg, they resorted to a 48 day siege to starve out the Confederates. Only after the Confederates had learned of the fall of Vicksburg did they surrender. After visiting Vicksburg, this was much simpler, but worthy of an additional stop. 

Redought of Fort Desparate