Fort Lilly

Fort Lilly. Guarding Vital Roads and Railways. , From the summit of the prominent high ground ahead of you, White and Black Union soldiers peered over the ramparts of Fort Lilly, keeping an eye on traffic clattering along the "macadamized," or paved, Columbia Turnpike, which followed the current US 31, and puffing locomotives chugging along the National and Decatur Railroad. Fort Lilly was a cigar-shaped Union redoubt that conformed to the natural topography of what was nicknamed "Fort Hill," it served as the anchor for defenses protecting the busy transportation hub of Pulaski. U.S. Army units such as the 9th Indiana Cavalry and the 110th and 111th U.S. Colored Troops served here., The USCT soldiers who served in Fort Lilly were primarily recruited from Black men who had been enslaved here in Giles County and Limestone County, Ala. They defended and repaired the critical railways and roadway infrastructure that kept supplies flowing to Union armies. These locally recruited soldiers served alongside USCT units from across Tennessee and other White U.S. Army units., [Captions:] , Pvt. John S. Gilmore (1880 image) served in the 111th USCT, one of the regiments stationed in Fort Lilly. Courtesy Mt. Lebanon M.B. Church, Columbia, Tenn., Fort Lilly was named in honor of Capt. Eli Lilly of the 9th Indiana Cavalry, seen here in a circa 1862 portrait. Lilly was captured in 1864. He returned home and formed the Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Corporation. Courtesy Eli Lilly and Company, This map shows how the hilltop location of Fort Lilly dominated the surrounding area and served as an anchor for Pulaski's Union defenses. You are standing along what was known as the Columbia Turnpike during the war. - Courtesy Tennessee State Library and Archives