After the Battle of Stones River, Union soldiers and newly freed slaves began building the earthen walls of Fortress Rosecrans in front of you. Named for Union Gen. William S. Rosecrans, it was the largest earthen fortress ever built in North America, covering about 225 acres. Union Gen. James St. Clair Morton, chief engineer for the Army of the Cumberland, supervised its construction between January and June 1863. The fort protected the junction of Stones River and the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, as well as the intersection of the Wilkinson Turnpike and the Old Nashville Turnpike. Fortress Rosecrans provided logistical support for the Union advances on Chattanooga and Atlanta and Union Gen. William T. Sherman's March to the Sea.
