Fort D is a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

-era

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

alongside the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...

, USA.

Construction

Work on Fort D began on August 6, 1861, under the direction of Lieutenant John W. Powell of Illinois. Later, Powell recruited a company of men from Cape Girardeau to serve in the Union army. Since Powell was from Illinois, these men were designated as Battery F, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. After training for several months, the battery was sent up the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

to Pittsburgh Landing, near a small chapel known as Shiloh. During the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

, on April 6, 1862, Powell gave a command to fire by raising his hand. A bullet shattered his wrist, and the arm was later amputated to stop infection. In 1869, one-armed John Wesley Powell led the first successful navigation of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

through what Powell named "the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

". The earthwork walls are the original Fort D, as constructed in 1861 and restored in 1936. A

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

wall, probably made of upright logs, constituted the rear wall and was pierced by a gate. The gap in the south wall may have been a "sally" port, allowing soldiers access to the rifle pits below the parapet. The fort was armed with three 32-pounder

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s and two 24-pounder cannons; all mounted on movable siege carriages. A 32-pounder cannon was a

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...

cannon that could fire a 32-pound solid

round shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a la ...

over one mile. The cannon plus carriage probably weighed more than four tons. Fort D was garrisoned by

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

troops from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, and other Midwestern states throughout the

. The fort was never engaged in real combat; The

Battle of Cape Girardeau The Battle of Cape Girardeau was a military demonstration of the American Civil War, occurring on April 26, 1863 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The conflict was part of the pursuit of US Brigadier General John McNeil through Southeast Missouri by ...

, April 26, 1863, was fought west of the city.

Other forts

Fort D is the only surviving fortification built by Union troops in the area during the Civil War. Fort A was located slightly north of downtown Cape Girardeau on a high hill. A grist-grinding windmill was included in the fort. Fort B was located where Academic Hall now stands at Southeast Missouri State University. Fort C was built at the end of Bloomfield Road east of Pacific St. Smaller earthworks included Battery A at the corner of Henderson and New Madrid Streets, Battery B on Whitener Street just east of Sunset Avenue and rifle pits along Perry Avenue and on the hill where

Southeast Missouri Hospital Southeast Hospital is a private, not-for-profit hospital located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Southeast Missouri Hospital first opened in 1928 and has grown into a regional medical complex serving over 600,000 people in 22 counties in Southeast ...

now stands.

Modern preservation

The fort was saved from development in the early 20th century. The earthworks were repaired by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

during the 1930s. The stone blockhouse was also built by the WPA in 1936 and has been used for various purposes since. The fort was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2019.

References

External links

Cape Girardeau website
{{DEFAULTSORT:D Forts in Missouri Buildings and structures in Cape Girardeau, Missouri Works Progress Administration in Missouri Tourist attractions in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Parks in Missouri Protected areas of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places