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The Siege of Fort St. Philip was a battle during the War of 1812, between a British naval force and the American garrison of Fort St. Philip. The siege lasted from January 9 to January 18, 1815 just after the British defeat at New Orleans. ==Background== The Royal Navy had begun the Louisiana Campaign to capture New Orleans. However, to reach New Orleans, the destruction of the small U.S. Navy squadron in the area and the U.S. Army forts and batteries was necessary. Fort St. Philip, an irregular work guarding the Mississippi River, the body of a parallelogram, was one of the said forts. The fort mounted twenty-nine 24-pound cannons, two 32-pound cannons, and two howitzers, an 8-inch and a 5.5-inch. One 13-inch mortar and another 6-pound cannon were also used. Thirty-five pieces in all were used. The Americans had 163 infantry, 84 white and freed African-American militia and 117 artillery men to man the fort's armaments. In December 1814, American forces were warned of an approaching British fleet off Louisiana. This encouraged the garrison of Fort St. Philip to begin constructing better defenses such as a battery on the opposite side of the Mississippi, which would support the two said 32-pound cannons and the 18-inch mortar; the battery was not finished though by the time the British fleet arrived and was abandoned during the engagement. A type signal station was built three miles below the installation and some type of earthen structure to defend the fort's rear landward side in case of a land assault. Some sort of barrier was also erected above the fort's gun batteries to prevent shrapnel from hitting the gunners. Repairs were also made to the worn-out U.S. artillery carriages and some were moved and re-mounted to other batteries in the fort. The old powder magazine was destroyed and several additional magazines were built, protected by wood and dirt piled on top of them. The idea was that if one powder magazine was destroyed, the others could be exploited. A British shore party was present which captured and occupied the signal station and other areas around the land side of Fort St. Philip, effectively cutting off the American land supply and communication lines. The size of this landing force is unknown. The British fleet consisted of one sloop-of-war (HMS Herald), one brig-of-war (HMS Thistle), one schooner (HMS Pigmy), two bomb vessels (HMS Aetna (1803) & HMS Volcano (1804))〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Royal Marines on the Gulf Coast )〕 and several armed longboats, armed barges, launches and armed gigs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Siege of Fort St. Philip (1815)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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