The earthen remnants here are from a uniquely designed Civil War fort called a Shoupade, a name given after Confederate Major General G.W. Smith said that Brigadier General Francis Shoup, its designer, would become famous. These arrowhead-shaped forts were similar in design but varied in size, with the standard fort intended to hold as many as 80 men and spaced 60 to 175 yards apart depending on the terrain. In this section of the River Line, the Shoupades stood on a ridge facing north. Each fort had inner and outer horizontal log walls, with the outer walls rising 15 to 20 feet high and packed earth between the walls where riflemen stood; the earth visible today is the material that once filled that space. Between the Shoupades stood palisades of sharpened vertical logs defended by infantry, but instead of directly connecting the forts, the palisades formed a reentrant angle where an artillery redan held two guns. The design aimed to channel attackers into areas swept by both rifle and cannon fire, and to the east of this Shoupade a low line of earth leading to an artillery redan marks the remains of the base of the palisade.