Alexandria

Turban from Chesley Antoinette's Tignon exhibition.

Alexandria is a city that lies on the south bank of the Red River, once occupied by the Union Army during the American Civil War. A quarreled broke out between Admiral David Dixon Porter and General Nathaniel P. Banks over the possession of cotton supplies. In 1864 when the Union abandon the city of Alexandria, it was set afire despite General Banks’ order. Admiral Porter expressed sympathy for the residents and declared the “burning of Alexandria a fit termination of the unfortunate Red River expedition”.