Fort Negley Event

[larry_cockerham]

I ambled off to Ft. Negley here in Nashville today in an attempt to assist my fledgling SUVCW camp do some recruiting. We made 8 good contacts and I reeled in two Confederates to the SCV in the process, plus I sold two 2002 TN Division Reunion medals. Not a bad day. The good part is that around 1,000 folks showed up for this event at the ruins of a US Army fort (yankee, if you will, to use local terminology) that has been neglected by local folks until just recently when we were able to build a really great visitors center. Re-enactors wearing gray and blue staged a very entertaining little mock battle with three or four field pieces from a local battery. Gen. Forrest was there with the attacking force. Some idiot let the Union troops prevail, but they had the high ground. It happens. The good news is that this was very well attended and supporters from various interest groups were working in tandem to provide education, entertainment and take another step in preserving our heritage. I, for one, am well pleased.

 

[unionblue]

Larry,

Read about Ft. Negley and the effort to restore it. Glad its getting attention from the public. 1,000 is a very good number for such an event and I am glad reenactors from both sides also helped in the effort.

Fort Negley.

http://www.bonps.org/neg.htm

Glad you enjoyed yourself.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

 

[larry_cockerham]

Larry,

Read about Ft. Negley and the effort to restore it. Glad its getting attention from the public. 1,000 is a very good number for such an event and I am glad reenactors from both sides also helped in the effort.

Fort Negley.

http://www.bonps.org/neg.htm

Glad you enjoyed yourself.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

You're of an age where you should perhaps be skeptical of newspapers. The fort is and will be interpreted as a ruin. I worked on a restoration effort initially in the late 90s when we discovered the exterior walls could not stand to be messed with. Hence the move to the ruin interpretation. There are boardwalks protecting most of the walls from great amounts of traffic, though you can easily walk anywhere in the 'structure'. This is a 'star shaped' structure to allow crossfire should it get attacked, which it never did. Why attack a fort that half a mile from town and not in the way? The fort was built next to the then terminus of the Nashville Decatur Railroad and likely would have protected a supply yard. It ain't gonna be restored. There is a newly built fine visitors center that will hopefully become the focal point for visitors to find other sites. Nashville, having had enough war, for whatever reason built houses all over the battlefield. This is the first time an event this size utilized a great number of SCV and SUVCW members in a public event with this size of crowd. From my perspective, that coordination is part of the value of this event and the embryo that we must keep alive and nourish. Fort Donelson will hold their bi-monthly meeting in the visitor center next Tuesday evening 7pm with Cmdr. Sam Gant speaking on the battle for Ft. Donelson. For you guys who like to drive into the South in search of shrimp, I highly recommend Fr. Negley as a quick stop, about an hour to make the tour. It's located at the split of I-40 and I-65 just south of downtown. Can be reached from Edgehill Drive off 8th Ave. South. There were five forts in this area when Nashville was occupied 1862-65. The top half of Ft. Negley can be seen as part of a city reservoir repaired in 1916 by stones from the yankee fort that local folks didn't much care for. Another was wiped out by interstate construction (I-40) back in the 1960s and is now Edgehill Park, about to become the baseball complex for Belmont University. The Battle of Nashville Preservation site has excellent mapping of these forts. BNPS

 

[larry_cockerham]

I should mention that this was a WPA project in the 1930s which replaced much of the stone that had been taken for the reservoir, so it is far more than a ruin. The WPA stonework is a treasure in it's own right. Unfortunately part of the hill was borrowed to construct the Nashville Sounds baseball stadium and the Childrens' Science Museum is on the north side and visible from the interstate. The fort is on top of the hill. The children's center has been renovated many times and is a state of the art faciilty great for kids of all ages.

 

[ole]

Any talk of building a casino on the grounds?

 

[richard]

Larry, I am glad to hear about the amount of people that showed up. New members are just what the Dr. ordered.

 

[TerryB]

Sorry I missed it. Only event I knew anything about was their blocking the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge for blankety-blank Wine on the River." Riding a bike over the Korean War Memorial bridge is somehow just not the same. Today I almost had the Shelby Street bridge all to myself.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Any talk of building a casino on the grounds?

It took 145 years to build the visitors' center. They finally removed the last of the poker machines and slowed down the numbers racket from restaurants and convenience marts a few years ago. Bible belt. How the lottery ever made it through our crazy legislature amazes me. Could have been the smell of money.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Sorry I missed it. Only event I knew anything about was their blocking the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge for blankety-blank Wine on the River." Riding a bike over the Korean War Memorial bridge is somehow just not the same. Today I almost had the Shelby Street bridge all to myself.

One of my friends is the coordinator and prep man for the wine event. His comments are slightly more entertaining and far more unprintable than yours. The two of you seem to have reached accord independantly.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Larry, I am glad to hear about the amount of people that showed up. New members are just what the Dr. ordered.

None of the six perspective SUVCW members showed at last evening's meeting, but it's early in the game. I did manage to recruit two SCV folks while no one was looking.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Larry,

Read about Ft. Negley and the effort to restore it. Glad its getting attention from the public. 1,000 is a very good number for such an event and I am glad reenactors from both sides also helped in the effort.

Fort Negley.

http://www.bonps.org/neg.htm

Glad you enjoyed yourself.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

Thanks very much for posting the BNPS link. Their publicaton, A GUIDE TO CIVIL WAR NASHVILLE is extremely well done and very affordable.

 

[TerryB]

One of my friends is the coordinator and prep man for the wine event. His comments are slightly more entertaining and far more unprintable than yours. The two of you seem to have reached accord independantly.

Well, I've been calling it "Winos on the River," but I'm informed that "Professional Recyclers" is the politically correct term.

 

[TerryB]

This should give people an idea of the condition the fort is in.

 

[TerryB]

And this is a view of the Nashville riverfront from the Shelby Street Bridge.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Well, I've been calling it "Winos on the River," but I'm informed that "Professional Recyclers" is the politically correct term.

Winos are rarely prepared to spend $50 on a few sips of wine, a chance to be seen doing it, and then trying to resist the urge and necessity to pee in the river.

 

[larry_cockerham]

This should give people an idea of the condition the fort is in.

That's not deterioration of the walls particularly, but you're looking at the level where the wooden structures were located. The actual walls, thanks to WPA replacement of the stone removed for the reservoir repair are still essentially intact.

 

[hlightcap]

I look forward to visiting this site in a few weeks while in Nashville. I will probably stop before heading out to Fort Donelson. It looks like a great view from there.

 

[ole]

Do bring a laptop hlightcap, and keep us informed on your travels.

 

[larry_cockerham]

I look forward to visiting this site in a few weeks while in Nashville. I will probably stop before heading out to Fort Donelson. It looks like a great view from there.

By all means, please enjoy your visit. The magnitude of this fort is difficult to imagine. It's a real remnant of the war and a decent piece of engineering.