Defending the Valley

Defending the Valley. . The early settlements in this area were protected by troops stationed directly across the river at Fort Washington in Cincinnati. Once the area was safe from the threat of Indian attack, Fort Washington was closed and a smaller military post, the Newport Barracks, was built on this site., The only major military threat to the area after the close of the Indian wars in 1795 occurred during the Civil War. In September 1862 when a Confederate army marched north from Lexington, the hills south of Covington and Newport became the bulwark to defend northern Kentucky and Cincinnati., The Newport Barracks remained an active military post for 90 years , until severe flooding in 1883 and 1884 forced its evacuation. In the early 1890s the Army built a new post, Fort Thomas, on higher ground south of Newport. The site of the old Barracks was donated to the City of Newport in 1894. Today's Taylor Park, part of that site, provides spectacular views of the river and the cities that line its banks., Caption: The Newport Barracks viewed from Cincinnati (c. 1815). The right to build an Army post to replace Fort Washington was awarded in 1803 to James Taylor, a wealthy Newport land speculator. He convinced the War Department to choose Newport over Frankfort or Louisville by using connections with his cousin, Secretary of State James Madison, and by offering to donate six acres of land at the confluence of the Licking and the Ohio rivers.