Then, in 1861, “the war” took on a present and terrifying meaning. Although no actual fighting was reported in or around the Garden District, the coming and going of troops, the warships passing on the river, the shortages because of the blockade, the restrictions of the occupation, the loss of sons, brothers, husbands and fathers, the surrender of proud homes for quartering of Union officers—these and other tangible evidences left deep scars.
Perhaps the Garden District’s most distinguished and colorful figure to wear the gray uniform was Bishop Leonidas Polk, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and rector of Trinity Church. A West Point graduate, he answered the call to the priesthood in 1831. When war came, after repeated urgings from his former West Point classmate, Jefferson Davis, he “buckled the sword over the gown”, as he phrased it, and accepted a commission as major general. In June, 1864, while he was reconnoitering near Etowah, Ga., this gallant figure was stilled by a cannon ball, leaving memories at Trinity which persist to this day.
After the war two other prominent figures in the Confederacy were closely associated with the Garden District. Jefferson Davis often visited his friend Judge Charles Fenner and died in the Fenner house on the corner of First and Camp Streets. General John B. Hood, “The Gallant Hood”, had his family home on the corner of Third and Camp.
Bishop Leonidas Polk of Trinity Church became Confederate general.
Calvary Episcopal Church’s resolute minister, the Rev. John Fulton, was one of the three Episcopal ministers who defied General Benjamin “Silver Spoons” Butler. In morning prayer this trio omitted the prayer for the President of the United States and all in civil authority. They instead invited their congregations to join in silent prayer. This enraged Butler, and after several verbal altercations with them, he exiled the group to a New York prison.
Butler quartered officers in several Garden District houses, including that of General Wirt Adams on Chestnut and Josephine, now owned by Trinity Church and called Copeland House. For his own use Butler cast his covetous eye on the fabulous Washington Avenue “Italian villa” built by James Robb and later owned and occupied by John Burnside, wealthy merchant and planter. It is told that Butler and his retinue approached the front door, to be met by Burnside. The Union general not only was refused use of the house but was not even admitted. And the refusal stuck. The reason: Burnside was a British citizen. So Butler took the lovely home of Confederate (late U.S.A.) General David E. Twiggs, on Camp near Calliope Street, which still stands today as St. Theresa’s school.
The homes of the elite attracted their share of celebrities to the hospitable, high-ceilinged drawing rooms and parlors, and to the dining tables so immaculately set and served with viands to please a nabob. Culture, travel and education were hallmarks of most of the inhabitants of the great houses. Delightful, spirited discussions on a wide variety of subjects kept visiting authors, poets, artists and correspondents for the eastern magazines enthralled.
House erected in 1860, said to have been built by James Robb for his daughter, at corner Washington, Camp.