COLUMBUS-BELMONT STATE PARK

(Fort DeRussey)

Columbus-Belmont State Park is a 156-acre site that once played a fascinating role in the War Between the States. Columbus, Kentucky in the mid-1800's was an important trading center and the strategic location for control of the Mississippi River. Nineteen thousand rebel soldiers under the command of Confederate General Leonidas Polk, labored to turn Columbus into an impregnable fortress named Fort DeRussey to defend the Confederacy.

Much of the information on this page is from the Columbus-Belmont State Park Civil War Days Tenth Anniversary Commemorative Program, with reprints of articles from the October 1999 and October 2000 issues of Hometown magazine

SCENES FROM THE ANNUAL CIVIL WAR BATTLE RE-ENACTMENT ON THE PARK GROUNDS
REBELS PREPARE TO FIRE THEIR CANNON	THE REBELS ATTACK THE UNION REDOUBTS
MANY FALL AFTER FIRST ATTACK	REB CANNONS FIRE ON THE UNION ENTRENCHMENT
UNION TROOPS COUNTER-ATTACK	REB CANNONS TRY TO REPEL THE ATTACK
UNION TROOPS MOVE ON THE REBS TURNCOAT REB AIMS AT GENERAL FORREST	GENERAL FORREST KILLS THE TURNCOAT
UNION TROOPS MOVE IN FOR THE KILL	REB TROOPS GATHER AFTER THE BATTLE VICTORY WILL BE THEIRS TOMORROW
LOCAL HISTORIAN, EDDIE ROBERTS, POSES BEFORE CANNON HE DISCOVERED BURIED AT THE FOOT OF THE BLUFF	ROBERTS TELLS VISITORS OF THE CANNON'S RETRIEVAL
PLAQUE NEAR CANNON TELLS THE STORY OF THE CANNON'S RECOVERY (CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE STORY)	CHILDREN PLAY ON THE ANCHOR AND CHAIN THAT ONCE STRETCHED ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI TO STOP YANKEE GUNBOATS FROM COMING DOWN THE RIVER (CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE STORY OF THE CHAIN ACROSS THE RIVER AND FORT DERUSSEY - GIBRALTAR OF THE WEST)