building and improvement of roads leading to it. The U.S. Army widened the Natchez Trace, which connected the region to Nashville, Tennessee, in order to accommodate wagons. The road was placed under the oversight of the Postmaster General of the United States, making it one of the earliest national highways. See also West Florida Battle of Baton Rouge (1779) Fort Rosalie History of Mississippi References Further reading Aaron D. Anderson, Builders of a New South: Merchants, Capital, and the Remaking of Natchez, 1865-1914. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2013. Regions of Mississippi Natchez Trace History of Mississippi Regions of Louisiana History of Louisiana