Gary J. Hebert Memorial Lockhouse

aka Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site.

In the area of Plaquemine Lockhouse (considering the Mississippi River moved over the years) is where an historic event took place in 1779, Bernardo de Gálvez informed his troops of the Spanish Declaration of War against the English and they cheered, attacking the English a few miles upstream at Fort Bute (Fort Manchac). Fourteen hundred and thirty men including 80 free Blacks and 160 Indians marched with Gálvez. These troops marched on both sides of the river with Gálvez on the east bank and were accompanied by one schooner with three gunboats. Next, they moved north to the Battle of Baton Rouge and this march was the Western Front of the American Revolution in the Mississippi River Valley including 5 states of the Northwest Territories bordering the Great Lakes. His troops were fed with 10,000 cattle driven from Texas and there is a strong indication many were penned a few miles south of what is now known as Bayou Goula, then called Cow Pen as shown in a 1775 map. See historical marker Bayou Goula (item 4) map showing the original name of Bayou Goula. Also Continental Congress Agent Oliver Pollock joined with Gálvez before his attack of Fort Manchac and planned with Gálvez many of his military attacks. See Oliver Pollock Historical Marker item 5 showing he contributed nearly $1 billion in today's money to help fight in the Northwest Territories with him becoming financially broke and jailed in a Caribbean island. A must-read very sad story of this American Revolutionary hero, Gálvez paid to release Mr. Pollock out of Jail.