Fort Negley

Fort Negley was a fortification built by Union troops after the capture of Nashville, Tennessee during the American Civil War, located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the city center. It was the largest inland fort built in the United States during the war.

Once Confederate forces were routed in February, 1862, from Forts Henry and Donelson (on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, respectively), Confederate commanders decided that any further effort in the defense of Nashville would be pointless, and they abandoned any attempt to keep Nashville behind their lines. It was almost immediately occupied by Union forces, who rapidly began preparations for its defense. The largest of the fortifications erected was Fort Negley, a star-shaped limestone block structure atop St. Cloud Hill, south of the city. The construction of the fort was overseen by Captain James St. Clair Morton.

The fort was constructed out of 62,500 cubic feet (1,770 m3) of stone, 18,000 cubic feet (510 m3) of earth and cost $130,000. It was largely constructed using the labor of local enslaved people (including women), newly freed people who had flocked to Nashville once it was taken by Union forces with the understanding that their slavery status was to be revoked were they to work for the Union, and by free blacks forcibly conscripted for the work. Records show that 2,768 black people were officially enrolled in its construction. The fort was named for Union Army commander General James S. Negley.

When the Battle of Nashville finally began in December 1864, it was largely fought on the heights even farther south of the city than Fort Negley, which despite its then-impressive appearance never played a leading military role. Shortly after the war, the fort was abandoned and fell into ruin; however, its outline could be readily discerned for many years afterwards in the encroaching woods. During the Reconstruction period, the area was used as a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan, as confirmed by former Klansman Marcus B. Toney.

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made a major project of the restoration of Fort Negley. Almost simultaneous with the completion of this project, the United States' entered into World War II. Neither the manpower, funds, or the interest was available at the time to reopen the fort as an historic or interpretative center.

Text adapted from “Fort Negley” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort Negley ranks #3,691 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #71 of the 103 mapped in United States. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,509 times in the last 60 days, more than 60% of the atlas. See how United States compares in the castle statistics.

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