During the Civil War, the rapids at Alexandria were composed of rocky
outcroppings of sandstone and siltstone forming shoals along a mile
stretch of the Red River, even at times of high water. At low water, the
upper and lower ends of the rapids were exposed. Long before the war,
the rapids had been a problem to river traffic. When the water was low,
goods being transported by steamboat up and down the river had to be
unloaded, carried past the rapids by wagon, and reloaded on different
boats.
Numerous ideas had been proposed to improve the river passage; even the
famous Henry Miller Shreve proposed a solution, but no action was taken.
By 1864 the only navigational aid at the rapids was a small channel cut
out of the rocky river bottom. While this was an improvement, the water
was still too low to navigate the rapids during the campaign.
It is a strange twist of history, but we can say that today we know more
about some details of Bailey’s dam construction than did the soldiers
who built it. Those men were laboring day and night to build the dam as
quickly as possible. In the confusion and fury of activity, there was
little time for anyone but Bailey to fully comprehend the plan. Today,
historians have studied the many reports and eyewitness accounts of the
dam construction to piece together what happened. In addition, careful
archaeological excavation of the actual dam remains provided undeniable
evidence of the techniques used. In 1984 a combined historical and
archaeological study was undertaken by a historian from the Corps of
Engineers and archaeologists from Coastal Environments, Inc. The results
of their studies provide a detailed view of the activities at Bailey’s
Dam and testify to the magnitude of Bailey’s engineering feat.
Historical documents indicate that Bailey first built his dam just above
the lower, downstream rapids. There, the river was around 758 feet wide,
and a 10-mile-per-hour current rushed over the shoals. By constructing
the dam at that particular location, he hoped the water would rise
enough behind the dam to allow the gunboats to float over the upper
rapids. Then, with the built-up water pressure, the dam could be broken
through at the proper time and the gunboats could rush over the lower
rapids, carried by the force of the released water.
[Illustration: Sketch of crib dam which accompanied Colonel Bailey’s
report (U.S. War Department 1891-1895:Plate 53-3).
CRIB OF STONE.
Iron Bars 14 × 22 Ft. Iron Bars]
Following Bailey’s practical nature, the dam was built with any locally
available material readily at hand. To do so, he used different methods
of construction for each riverbank. On the west (Alexandria) bank, he
built the dam of large wooden boxes called cribs. Bailey constructed a
number of cribs which were placed side by side from the bank out into
the river.
Archaeologists investigated these structures during a low water period
by carefully digging two small excavation units around partially exposed
crib remains. These units were 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. As the
archaeologists removed the surrounding mud and dirt and exposed the
cribs, they painstakingly recorded the position of each timber and beam.
Afterward they studied their photographs and notes, comparing their
findings with the historical records.
Historical accounts indicate that lumber from Alexandria mills, homes,
and barns was quickly stripped for use in building the cribs. Bricks,
stone, and even machinery were used to fill and anchor the cribs.
Additionally, historical illustrations show that iron bars were placed
vertically in the four corners of each crib, to provide a supporting
framework.
The evidence from modern archaeological excavations generally supports
the historical accounts with some interesting variations. Both lines of
evidence testify to the ingenuity of Lieutenant Colonel Bailey. The
excavations revealed that the crib framework was constructed of hand
hewn 4-by-10-inch timbers, which is strong evidence that the lumber was
from nearby buildings. The ends of these timbers were notched so that
they fit tightly together at the corners of the cribs. The corners were
supported by smaller vertical wood posts. However, in the cribs
excavated by the archaeologists, there was no evidence of the iron
support bars. Furthermore, there was no evidence of machinery parts in
the cribs. Instead, they found that the cribs were filled mostly with
sand and mud and only capped with a layer of loose brick and stone. A
metal fragment of a large sugar kettle was also found among this brick
and stone. A sugar kettle was just the kind of loose but heavy object
that could be quickly transported to the cribs for anchoring material.
On the east (Pineville) bank, there were no town buildings to strip for
lumber but there was, quite conveniently, a forest. With abundant trees
available, Bailey constructed a “self-loading” tree dam. According to
historical diagrams, trees were stacked lengthwise with the flow of the
stream. The upstream treetops were anchored to the river bottom with
stones. The downstream trunks were raised higher than the upstream tops
by alternating layers of other logs running perpendicular to, or across,
the stream. This technique presented a dam face of logs angled upward
with the stream flow. As the river was held back by the log face, the
water pressure actually made the dam stronger or “self-loading.”
[Illustration: Sketch of tree dam which accompanied Colonel Bailey’s
report (U.S. War Department 1891-1895:Plate 53-3).]
The archaeological investigation of the tree dam was completed in a
manner similar to the excavations at the crib structures. But here a
trench excavation unit was dug. This trench was 22 feet long and 5 feet
wide, and it was positioned parallel to the flow of the river. During
these investigations, the river began to rise, and when the excavation
unit was finally abandoned, the archaeologists were working about 2 feet
below the water level. The field crew was successful in reaching that
depth only with the aid of a water pump. Archaeologists had hoped to
excavate a slice of the dam completely down to its base, but attempts to
excavate deeper were halted when the pump could not keep out the
incoming water.
[Illustration: Archaeologist David Kelley drawing map of logs
uncovered during the tree dam excavation.]
The tree dam excavations revealed that both pine and hardwood logs were
used and that the tree bark was left intact. The tree limbs had been cut
off, but by observing the knots on the tree trunks, archaeologists were
able to note the direction in which the trees were positioned. They
found that many of the trees were positioned with their tops downstream,
exactly opposite of that shown in historical illustrations. Also, all of
the upstream ends of the trees had been trimmed of their branches, and
their tips had been pointed with an axe. Spaces between the logs were
filled with sand and mud, and the entire structure was covered with
brick and stone. Interestingly, the archaeologists also found a hewn,
octagonal, wood column among the logs. The upstream end of the column
had been rough cut, seemingly to fit into that particular spot in the
tree dam. The column was most likely a mast from a riverboat.
[Illustration: Portion of the tree dam exposed during the low water
in August 1984.]
Together, the crib and tree dam sections did not cross the entire
758-foot riverbed. A 150-foot gap existed between the two dams. To close
this gap, four coal barges were used. While the remains of these barges
were not found in the archaeological excavations, historical photographs
provide a fairly detailed picture of their appearance. These
24-by-170-foot barges were sunk in the gap, lying lengthwise with the
current, and more stones, brick, and iron rails were used to anchor
them. Braces and ropes, anchored to the riverbanks, were also needed to
secure the barges against the rising water pressure.
Bailey directed that the second barge from the Alexandria side be only
partially filled with anchoring materials. This was the barge that he
hoped either to ram or blast out of the way, creating a flood that the
gunboats would ride like kayaks. As it turned out, Bailey’s idea worked,
but not exactly as he would have liked.
[Illustration: Building the Red River Dam. Courtesy of the Library
of Congress.]