Fort Duffield (West Point, Kentucky, Kentucky)
West Point, Kentucky · Kentucky · Civil War
History & Significance
When Kentucky's crucial position as a border state became threatened in late 1861, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered Fort Duffield built 300 feet above West Point to protect his supply base and guard Louisville from attack via the Louisville-Nashville Turnpike and Ohio River. Construction commenced on November 3, 1861, with the 1,000-foot earthen fortification featuring ten artillery angles taking approximately six weeks to complete under the supervision of the 9th Michigan Infantry.
During the harsh winter of 1861–62, at least 61 Union soldiers died from disease and accident, buried on the hill south of the fort in the earliest military cemetery connected to the installation. From November 1861 forward, regiments from Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan passed through West Point en route south, initially using ferries across the Salt River before Army engineers installed a pontoon bridge.
The 9th Michigan departed in March 1862 under Colonel William W. Duffield; following the Battle of Perryville that October, the main theater of conflict shifted into Tennessee, and by December 1862, artillery and munitions were ordered back to Louisville, leaving the fort largely abandoned except for occasional guerrilla activity. Confederate forces occupied the fort multiple times after Union troops vacated it in 1863. In 1895 the United States Army purchased the property and incorporated it into Fort Knox; since 1978, the City of West Point has maintained the site as a public historic park.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Well-preserved Civil War earthworks with distinctive serpentine wall design
- Hiking trails through historic fortification grounds
- Civil War cemetery on-site
- Interpretive facilities explaining 1861 Union defensive strategy
- Views of original troop encampment layout
Sources
- https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/fort-duffield-park-and-historic-site
- https://fortduffield.com/history/
- https://fortduffield.com/civil-war-west-point/
- https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/KY-01-093-0028
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=126336
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Duffield
- https://history.ky.gov/markers/fort-duffield