Building the Upper Redoubt

Building the Upper Redoubt. . The construction of Johnsonville's Upper Redoubt - called Fort Johnson during the Civil War - is shrouded in mystery. A redoubt is an earthwork enclosed on all sides. The overall configuration may be square, polygonal, or circular. There is little documentation that describes exactly when this massive earthen defensive fortification was completed.

To protect the supply depot from potential land attacks by the Confederates after the November 4, 1864, battle, a much larger fort was needed. Labor detachments were organized to construct the fortification on this hill above the existing Lower Redoubt. Using shovels and pick-axes, United States Colored Troops (USCT), working alongside various white troops, labored intensely building the Upper Redoubt in the weeks that followed.

We had nothing worthy the name fortifications, only one small block house and a little earthwork thrown up on the two hills overlooking the town and river, where were mounted the six 10-pounder Parrotts of the First Kansas Battery, the only guns there. Union Soldier

Constructing the Upper Redoubt , Military engineers first surveyed boundaries for the Upper Redoubt inside a 3-acre area. Next, soldiers dug long, deep ditches parallel to the fort's exterior boundaries. A wooden outline, or profile, was constructed on the ground and raised to a vertical position to simulate the dimensions of the earthwork. Dirt was excavated and thrown back into the framework and compacted until it filled the profile's dimensions.

Schofield Takes Command , Maj. Gen. John M. Scofield,commander of the Union 23rd Corps, was ordered by Brig. Gen. George H. Thomas, in Nashville, to dispatch two battalions and proceed immediately to Johnsonville days after the battle. Schofield's assignment was to provide relief for the garrison troops, repair the fire ravaged supply depot, and prepare for a potential land assault by the Confederates.

In only three weeks, much of the Upper Redoubt was completed. The massive earthen walls and surrounding hillside were cleared of trees all the way to the Tennessee River. This gave the fort's gunners an open field of fire in all directions if attacked.

Unlike its Civil War appearance of bare dirt walls, today the Upper Redoubt, with four large artillery positions, is well-preserved under a thick forest canopy.

(captions) , Wooden profiles used for construction , Maj. Gen. John M. Scofield Library of Congress , A view of Ft. Sanders in Knoxville, Tennessee. The trench in front of the outer works is representative of Johnsonville.