Constructing Star Fort

The first fortifications on this site were built in 1861, when Confederate troops in the 4th Alabama constructed a series of gun emplacements called Fort Alabama. After Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy arrived in Winchester on January 1, 1863, he assigned his men to strengthen the town's defenses, rotating them through one day each week on fortification work, three days on guard duty, and three days on camp chores. During the first half of 1863, about 1,000 Union soldiers worked daily on the earthworks, improving Fort Jackson, Fort Garibaldi, later renamed Fort Milroy, and West Fort, and building a new and stronger work here called Star Fort. Its elevated position offered views as far as Harper's Ferry, an important advantage in protecting the town, the Valley Pike, and nearby railroad lines. Milroy considered the ground suitable for a star fort, a design that allowed defenders to fire into an attacking enemy's flanks. Soldiers used soil excavated from the ditch at the fort's base and from the surrounding rifle pits to build the parapet, and when completed the fort could hold as many as 1,500 men and 8 cannon. While the forts were being built, Milroy, a fervent abolitionist, ordered his men to use limestone and brick from the nearby home of former U.S. Senator James Mason, author of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.

Virginia · United States