Fort Harker, near Stevenson, Alabama, was a substantial Union earthwork built in the summer of 1862 on a hill overlooking a vital railroad junction and the town’s depots, warehouses, and crossings. Constructed by soldiers and freed slaves of the Army of the Cumberland under General William Rosecrans, it helped protect the movement of Union troops and supplies through southeastern Tennessee and northeastern Alabama. In July 1863 Rosecrans used the fort as his headquarters during operations against Braxton Bragg around Chattanooga. Though later abandoned and deteriorated after the war, Fort Harker has been excavated, restored, and preserved as a reminder of the close link between railroads, fortifications, and Civil War campaigning in the western theater.

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