Fort D

Fort D

Fort D, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

The earthwork walls are the original Fort D, as constructed in 1861 and restored in 1936. A 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 cannons and two 24-pounder cannons; all mounted on movable siege carriages. A 32-pounder cannon was a smoothbore cannon that could fire a 32-pound solid round shot over one mile. The cannon plus carriage probably weight more than four tons.

Fort D was garrisoned by Union troops from Illinois, Missouri, and other Midwestern states throughout the Civil War. The fort was never engaged in real combat; The Battle of Cape Girardeau, April 26, 1863, was fought west of the city.

The fort was saved from development in the early 1900’s. The earthworks were repaired by the Works Progress Administration during the 1930’s. The stone blockhouse was also built by the WPA in 1936 and has been used for many purposes since. (SEE MAP BELOW)

Plaque:Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department

Down the Colorado

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 mustered in as Battery F, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. After training for several months, the battery was sent up the Tennessee River to Pittsburgh Landing, near a small chapel known as Shiloh. During the Battle of Shiloh, 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 through what Powell named “ The Grand Cayon.”

Plaque:Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department

A Fortified City

Fort D is the surviving fortification built by Union troops here during the Civil War. Fort A sat just 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 now stands. (SEE MAP BELOW)

Plaque:Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department


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  • fort — fort …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • fort — fort, orte (for, for t ; le t ne se lie pas : un homme for et hardi ; au pluriel, l s ne se lie pas : des hommes for et hardis ; cependant quelques uns lient cette s : des hommes for z et hardis ; quand fort est employé pour le superlatif absolu …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • fort — FORT, [for]te. adj. Robuste, vigoureux dans son espece. Un homme fort, extremement fort. un homme grand & fort. un homme fort & ramassé. avoir le bras fort, la main forte. c est un homme fort, & qui resiste au travail, à la fatigue. il n est pas… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Fort — Fort, adverb. so wohl des Ortes, als auch der Zeit. 1. Des Ortes. 1) Eigentlich. (a) Vorwärts. Immer weiter fort. Es will mit der Sache nicht fort, sie gehet nicht nach Wunsche. Es will mit ihm nicht fort, sagt man von einem Menschen, dessen… …   Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart

  • Fort-CH — FORT – CH (Fortifications – Suisse) est l’entité faîtière suisse qui fédère tous les organisations civiles suisses travaillant à la préservation et à la valorisation des fortifications et des installations militaires helvétiques, que ce soit dans …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fort Le Bœuf — Fort Le Boeuf Fort Le Boeuf était un fort construit par les Français en 1753 à l époque de la Louisiane française, près de l actuelle Waterford, au nord ouest de la Pennsylvanie. Il faisait partie d une ligne de fortifications comprenant entre… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • fort — FORT, forturi, s.n. Lucrare de fortificaţie construită din zidărie, cu contur poligonal, care face parte dintr un sistem de întărituri şi care este menită să apere un centru important sau o linie strategică. – Din fr. fort. Trimis de cata,… …   Dicționar Român

  • Fort — Sn Befestigungsanlage per. Wortschatz fach. (16. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus frz. fort m., einer Substantivierung von frz. fort stark , dieses aus l. fortis.    Ebenso nndl. fort, ne. fort, nfrz. fort, ndn. fort, nschw. fort, nnorw. fort;… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • FORT (P.) — FORT PAUL (1872 1960) Fils d’un minotier champenois qui s’installe à Paris en 1878, Paul Fort fait ses études secondaires au lycée Louis le Grand et se lie d’amitié avec Pierre Louys et André Gide, élèves de l’École alsacienne. Se destinant à… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Fort 8 — est un fort à Hoboken, un district d Anvers. Histoire Le fort est construit de 1859 jusqu à 1864. Maintenant, il y a un Sportschuur et beaucoup d associations de jeunesse. Portail de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme …   Wikipédia en Français

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