Fort Negley

Fort Negley was a fortification built by Union soliders after the capture of Nashville, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was located about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the city's center. It was the largest inland fort built in the United States during the war. History After Confederate forces were defeated in local battles in February 1862, they decided that more attempts to defend Nashville were pointless. After retreating from the city, it was then taken by Union soldiers. They built Fort Negley, a star-shaped limestone block fortification on St. Cloud Hill, south of the city. The fort was made out of 62,500 cubic feet (1,770 m3) of stone and 18,000 cubic feet (510 m3) of earth. It cost US$130,000. It was mostly built using the labor of local slaves (both men and women), newly freed slaves who had gone to Nashville once it was taken by Union forces, and by free blacks forced to work. The fort was named for Union Army commander General James S. Negley. The Battle of Nashville began in December 1864, but most of the fighting happened farther south of the city. After the war, the fort was abandoned and fell into ruin. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made a major project of repairing Fort Negley. However, there was a lack of people, money, and interest in reopening it as an historic tourist site. It soon became the site of vandalism and was closed to the public. The surrounding grounds became the site of a city park with baseball and softball fields for youth and adults. In 1978, it became the site of a ballpark called Herschel Greer Stadium for the Nashville Sounds. A children's museum was also built on the northwestern slope. The fort was reopened in 2004 after being restored. The fort was not totally restored to its Civil War condition. Instead, the ruins were made more accessible and visible by removing many of the largest trees and moving some of the blocks back to their original places. In 2007, $1 million in city funds was used to build a visitor center. The Sounds baseball team left Greer Stadium after the 2014 season, and the unused ballpark was torn down in 2019. More work on the site is planned, including projects to show the fort's history through the creation of educational spaces. References Specific General Roberts, Robert B. (1988). Encyclopedia of Historic Forts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Other websites Fort Negley Visitors Center and Park