Shoupades: Preserving Innovative Atlanta Fortifications
These unusual Rebel forts outside Atlanta were never tested by Sherman. A few Shoupades survive; volunteers toil to reveal a trench between two of them
These unusual Rebel forts outside Atlanta were never tested by Sherman. A few Shoupades survive; volunteers toil to reveal a trench between two of them
Where cannons and rifles once bristled, mattocks, saws and loppers were the weapons of the day Sunday afternoon for a small, but hardy crew working to clear vegetation and expose a trench that connected unique Confederate fortifications outside Atlanta.
The nonprofit River Line Historic Area (RLHA) sponsored the “Trimming the Trenches” workday at Shoupade Park in Smyrna, Ga. The goal is to “enrich the visitor’s visual educational experience.”
Timber and earthen redoubts – known as Shoupades -- were built by enslaved laborers near the Chattahoochee River and were briefly manned in July 1864. The arrowhead shape allowed defenders to shoot in several directions. Artillery placed in nearby redans added to “the killing zone.” (Bill Scaife model of a Shoupade, left)
RLHA and individuals have been working to expose the outline of an infantry trench between one Shoupade and a redan. The park is in the middle of a residential development.
While the work is still to be completed, progress was made Sunday. I could see the faint line indicating the…