Fort Negley (Nashville, Tennessee)
Nashville · Tennessee · American Civil War
History & Significance
Built by Union troops after Nashville's capture in February 1862, Fort Negley was the largest inland fort constructed during the American Civil War. After its capture in 1862, Nashville was developed into the most fortified city in North America, with Fort Negley as the largest and southernmost fortification, named for General James Scott Negley.
Captain James St. Clair Morton designed the fort as a polygonal structure measuring approximately six hundred by three hundred feet composed of dirt, stones, and timber. Between August and December 1862, many individuals built Fort Negley with hundreds dying in the process.
The structure was largely constructed using the labor of local enslaved people, newly freed people who had flocked to Nashville with the understanding their slavery status would be revoked, and free blacks forcibly conscripted for the work, with 2,768 officially enrolled in construction. When the Battle of Nashville occurred in December 1864, it was largely fought on heights farther south, and despite its impressive appearance, the fort never played a leading military role; shortly after the war it was abandoned and fell into ruin.
During Reconstruction, the area served as a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan. In 1936, the Works Progress Administration reconstructed Fort Negley at a cost of $84,000, and it reopened to the public in 1938.
The fort was reopened to the public on December 10, 2004, after years of preservation efforts. In 2019, Fort Negley was designated a 'Site of Memory' by UNESCO as part of its Slave Route Project.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Largest inland Union fort of the Civil War, star-shaped limestone structure
- Built largely by enslaved and freed African Americans
- Restored ruins with visitor center
- Site for understanding Civil War and African American labor history
Sources
- https://www.nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/Historic-Sites/Fort-Negley/History.aspx
- https://www.battleofnashvilletrust.org/fort-negley/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Negley
- https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/fort-negley-0
- https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/fort-negley/
- https://fortnegleypark.org/history/
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/fort-negley-civil-war-database.htm
- https://unescositesofmemory.org/fort-negley/
- https://www.tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/landslide2023/locations/fortnegley.html