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Throughout the
summer 1862, Military Governor Andrew Johnson petitioned the
Union Army to construct fortifications around the city to
protect Nashville from Confederate attack. Relenting in
August, Union General Don Carlos Buell directed his engineers
to design and build defensive works around the southern and
western boundary of town.
Captain James
St. Clair Morton, using impressed Black refugees who fled to
Nashville following its capture by the Union Army, began
construction on a series of defenses. The largest, named
Ft. Negley after the union post commander Union general James
S. Negley, used 2700 Black laborers to build what would turn
out to be the largest inland masonry fortification in North
America. It took five months to complete.
By 1864, the
three-tier fort housed 11 30-pound Parrott guns and the inner
and outer works could defend against attack launched from any
direction. The fort, however, was never directly
assaulted during the war.
Today, Fort
Negley is open as an historical park. |
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Casemate Number 1
Fort Negley Today
North Ravelin Ditch |
