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Ruins of Windsor by Brett Gover |
A light drizzle suddenly turned into a downpour, and I took shelter beneath an ancient oak tree. Within a few minutes, the raindrops began to find their way through the canopy. My car was about 25 yards away, and I debated whether to make a dash for it or wait for a break in the deluge. I decided to wait. This place was so entrancing that I didn’t really mind getting soaked.
Rising from a grassy clearing in front of me were 23 majestic, crumbling Corinthian columns topped with ornate cast-iron capitals. These columns are all that remains of Windsor, one of the largest and most spectacular antebellum mansions in Mississippi.
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Before beginning this road trip, I had read a bit about Windsor and had planned to make this stop on my way to Port Gibson. The mansion was built in the years 1859-1861 by wealthy landowner Smith Coffee Daniell II. It was the centerpiece of Daniell’s 2,600-acre Windsor Plantation. Sadly, Daniell died a few weeks after construction was completed.
The mansion was four stories high and included a rooftop observatory. It contained at least 25 rooms, each with its own fireplace. Its 29 original columns were constructed of bricks covered with mortar and plaster.
During the Civil War, Confederate troops used Windsor’s observatory as a signal station and an observation station. Following the Battle of Port Gibson, Union troops used Windsor as a hospital.
The mansion emerged from the war relatively unscathed, and the Daniell family continued to live there. But on Feb. 17, 1890, a guest’s cigar ignited a fire on the third or fourth floor, and the mansion burned to the ground.
There are no surviving photos of Windsor, and for many years people could only speculate as to what it looked like. Then, in 1991, historians came across a sketch of the mansion made during the Civil War by Henry Otis Dwight, a Union officer whose unit was encamped on the grounds.
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I waited a few more minutes beneath the oak, but the rain didn’t let up. I finally raced to my car, took a long last look at the ghostly ruins through the slapping windshield wipers, and then headed on to Port Gibson.—Brett Gover
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Henry Otis Dwight’s sketch of Windsor. The handwritten caption reads “May 1st, 1863 Residence Near Brulinsburg, Miss.”. Photo © M. Styborski. Sketch reproduced thanks to Arthur LaSalle, curator of Springfield Plantation. To see more of M. Styborski’s Windsor photos on Flickr, click here. |
