Civil War News October 2008- Preservation - Saving Fortifications - By Dale E. Floyd - Ten years ago I wrote a Civil War News preservation column in which I discussed the status of Civil War fortifications.

Saving Fortifications
By Dale E. Floyd
October 2008 Civil War News - Preservation News

Ten years ago I wrote a Civil War News preservation column in which I discussed the status of Civil War fortifications. Now, 10 years later, I will again discuss Civil War fortifications: what has happened in the last 10 years, their status today and future needs.

Civil War fortifications are important for a variety of reasons. Many officers and enlisted men spent many a day constructing, maintaining and manning them. Fortifications, from the hastily built trench to the sophisticated coastal fort, protected soldiers and civilians in many different ways.

Interestingly, the average person believes that the strongest forts, and thereby the most important ones, are those that fought off a prolonged attack, but, actually, the strongest, in many cases, were the ones that were never assaulted because the enemy decided that it was not worth the cost in men, time and equipment.

Basically, the Civil War fortifications that existed in 1998 are still extant today. But, various aspects have negatively affected these fortifications. Weather has caused considerable damage; as an example, Hurricane Katrina damaged numerous Civil War fortifications on the Gulf Coast including Bayou Dupre Tower, on Lake Borgne, which is mostly gone. Hurricanes, tornadoes and heavy rain have damaged others and are a continual threat.

Unfortunately, some of the Civil War fortifications have suffered from reenactments occurring on them. At Historic Fort Blakeley, Spanish Fort, Ala., the management has allowed reenactors to erect new field fortifications on the battlefield in the midst of the historic ones.

At other locations, such as forts Pocahontas, Va., and Duffield, West Point, Ky., reenactments occur every year on the actual site, where reenactors reenact on and around the original fortifications.

No matter how diligent the management of the fortifications might be, destruction definitely occurs during reenactments.

Believe it or not, logging, especially in the South, has damaged or destroyed numerous Civil War fortifications; at Corinth, Miss., where there were miles of magnificent fortifications, logging has destroyed many. New factories, housing developments and mining are continuous threats.

Government closing of military installations has threatened the very existence of Fort Monroe, Va., because, most likely, no one or organization will have the money to maintain it.

The lack of finances in general for rehabilitation and maintenance is a dominant problem. Hooker’s Apex at Chancellorsville, perhaps the most unique and important Civil War fortification, continues in danger of destruction and no one seems to care.

Thankfully, positive changes appear to outweigh the negative ones. The three organizations interested in U.S. fortifications, including those erected and/or used during the Civil War, the Civil War Fortifications Study Group (CWFSG), the Coast Defense Study Group (CDSG) and the Council on America’s Military Past (CAMP), continue their study and preservation efforts.

On the CWFSG Web site, www.cwfsg.org, David Lowe, of the National Park Service, has posted a classification system for Civil War field fortifications that is useful and thought-provoking. The CDSG and CAMP Web sites also include pertinent information.

The Civil War Preservation Trust has been influential in preserving various Civil War fortifications. The National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program has greatly assisted those who wish to rehabilitate and maintain worthy Civil War fortifications.

State and local entities have also fought the fight to save extant Civil War fortifications. In a few instances, Civil War fortifications have been purchased by individuals, such as Dr. Tom Mountz who has expended much time, energy and money to stabilize and maintain a fort originally in the defenses of Aquia Creek, Va.

The National Park Service oversaw the preparation of a Guide to Sustainable Earthworks Management with information on what type of vegetation to plant in and around fortifications in various areas of the country and what to do with vegetation presently growing on fortifications.

The manual, available at www.nps.gov/phso/sp/jaewogui.htm, also includes a good history of field fortifications and a useful bibliography.

In addition, some useful coastal fortification preservation manuals are available, including Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, Calif., by Joe C. Freeman, Stephen A. Haller, David M. Hansen, John A. Martini and Karen J. Weitze (San Francisco, Calif.: National Park Service and KEA Environment, 1999);

And Pacific Northwest Preservation Partnership [National Park Service, University of Oregon and Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission], Historic Fortification Preservation Handbook, by David M. Hansen, Kimberly Keegle and Deborah Rehn (Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 2003).
Archaeologists appear to have taken more of an interest in Civil War fortifications; as examples, here are some of the published works: Gray & Pape Inc. Bottles, Buttons and Buckshot: The Archaeology of the Confederate Encampment at Beech Grove, Wayne County, Kentucky, prepared by Dr. Orloff Miller, Principal Investigator (Cincinnati, Ohio: Gray & Pape Inc., 1998);

Also, Shanyn Kane and Richard Keeton, Echoes from the Past; Archaeology at Fort Pulaski (N.P.:Eastern National Parks Association, 2004) and Samuel D. Smith and Benjamin C. Nance, A Survey of Civil War Era Military Sites in Tennessee; Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, Research Series No. 14 (Nashville, Tenn.: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, 2003).

The following general works on Civil War archaeology are also useful: Look to the Earth: Historical Archaeology and the American Civil War, edited by Clarence R. Geier, Jr. and Susan E. Winter (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1994) and Clarence R. Geier and Stephen R. Potter, Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War (Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida, 2000).

A few general military archaeology publications are worth a look: Paul Hill and Julie Wideman, Landscapes of War: The Archaeology of Aggression and Defence (Stroud, Gloucestershire, England: Tempus Publishing Ltd., 2002); The Archaeology of War, with an Introduction by Mark Rose, from the Editors of Archaeology Magazine(New York, N.Y.: Heatherleigh Press, 2005); and Fields of Conflict: Battlefield Archaeology from the Roman Empire to the Korean War, edited by Douglas Scott, Lawrence Babits and Charles Haecker, 2 Volumes (Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2007).

Historical publications on Civil War fortifications seem to have increased as individuals realize their importance. A selection of these publications include: Paul Branch, Fort Macon: A History (Charleston, S.C.: The Nautical & Aviation Publishing, Company of America, 1999); Earl J. Hess, Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaign 1861-1864 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 2005);

Earl J. Hess, “’Set Your Spades to Work’: Field Fortifications in the Chancellorsville Campaign,” North & South, 9 (March 2006), 12-23; Earl J. Hess, “The Terrain and Fortifications of Harpers Ferry,” The Civil War Preservation Trust Hallowed Ground, 7 (Winter 2006), 20-24; Earl J. Hess, Trench Warfare under Grant & Lee: Field Fortifications in the Overland Campaign (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007);

David W. Lowe, “Field Fortifications in the Civil War,” North & South, 4 (Summer 2001), 58-73; Steven M. Mayeux, Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River (Knoxville, Tenn.: The University of Tennessee Press, 2007); Russel R. Price, “American Coastal Defense: The Third System of Fortification,” Ph.D. dissertation, Mississippi State University, 1999;

Michael Trinkley, A Survey of Civil War Fortifications in Charleston, Beaufort, Berkeley, Hampton, and Jasper Counties, South Carolina; Chicora Foundation Research Series 59 (Columbia, S.C.: Chicora Foundation Inc., 2000); and John R. Weaver II, A Legacy in Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816-1867 (McLean, Va.: Redoubt Press, 2001).

Interestingly, some publications on foreign fortifications are quite useful: Peter Harrington, Archaeology of the English Civil War (Buckinghamshire, England: Shire Publications Ltd., 1992) and Nigel J. Prickett, “British Army Colonial Fortifications in North Taranaki, 1863-64,” Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum, Volume 33 (1996), 1-51.

My multivolume Historic Resources Study of the Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C., prepared for the National Park Service, is available at www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/civilwar/hrs1-1.htm or the two textual volumes can be purchased from the National Technical Information Service, Department of Commerce and the U.S. Government Printing Office, respectively.

The study includes exhaustive information about constructing, maintaining, supplying, garrisoning and abandoning Civil War fortifications.

For many other pertinent publications, consult my bibliographies: Military Fortifications: A Selective Bibliography; Bibliographies and Indexes in Military Studies, Number 4 ( Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group Inc., 1992) and Defending America’s Coasts, 1775-1950: A Bibliography) Washington, D.C.: The Government Printing Office, 1997).

Finally, a pertinent video, “A Challenge: Preservation of Fort Granger, Franklin, Tennessee,” narrated by Fred Prouty, Reed L. Engle and Mary Ann Peckham and distributed by WAGG, Channel 3, Franklin, Tenn., is available and includes information on historical study, preservation, management and use of Civil War fortifications.

Thankfully, some have realized the value of Civil War fortifications for tourism. As an example, the city of Nashville provided near $1 million for the restoration and maintenance of Fort Negley. Thanks mostly to the work of local inhabitants, Corinth, Miss., has become a national park.

In the future, all who are interested in the American Civil War and its sites must take a greater interest in fortifications. The ravages of time, weather, commerce, vandalism and neglect will take their toll on the fortifications if we are not vigilant. Funds should be found and expended to maintain them so that future generations can appreciate and enjoy them.

Thus, Civil War fortifications are a mixed bag today with both positives and negatives. If, however, we can achieve some important milestones such as the future preservation of such significant sites as Fort Monroe and Hooker’s Apex, the future will look much brighter.

Dale E. Floyd has been a contract historian since he retired in 1995 from U.S. Government service with the National Archives, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil War Sites Advisory Commission and American Battlefield Protection Program. He conducts tours of military sites around the world and is a past president of the Civil War Fortification Study Group, the Coast Defense Study Group and the Council on America’s Military Past. As a military historian, he specializes in military architecture, military education and 19th century military history.