Fort Heiman, Kentucky: 2002 Photographs

The photographs of the remains of Fort Heiman presented here were taken on June 8th, 2002.



This sign is located approximately one-half mile to one mile from the entrance to Fort Heiman. As you can see beneath the sign, there is information pertaining to the unfortunate development of the fort.



This sign is located approximately a few hundred feet past where the original entrance sign (this can be seen above) was located.



As difficult as it is to tell from this photograph, this is a trench. Upkeep on the Fort leaves much to be desired.



Another trench that has been taken over by underbrush.



This is a wonderful view of the Tennessee River was taken atop one of the many hills that comprise the Fort. This isn't too far from where the cemetery and ammunition bunker used to be.



Same as above.



This is a view of the Tennessee River taken not far from the cemetery and ammunition bunker. There is pretty much a straight drop to the river. When the water-level of the lake was low you used to be able to see the remains of an old road that existed, to my best guess, around the time of the War.



Same as above.



This is a trench directly across the road from the above photos. If you look very hard on the right of the photo is the road leading to where the cemetery and ammunition bunker was located.



Same as above.



Another view of the hill overlooking the Tennessee River described above.



Same as above.



Trench.



When the Fort was cut into tracts and sold this is the replacement for the old house (see photos above) originally located on top of one of Heiman's hills. The trench in the previous photo is in the back yard of this house. If you are in front of this house you have a magnificent view of the Tennessee River. The fifth, sixth and seventh photos I posted yesterday (the 1980's photos) were taken from that viewpoint before the Fort was sold. From the rock in photo number seven you can see the general area where Fort Henry once stood.



Another view of the trench.



Another view of the house.

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I hope you have enjoyed looking at these pictures and taking your "virtual tour" as much as I have enjoyed posting them for you.

If you have any information about Fort Heiman that you wouldn't mind sharing, please post in the comments or drop me a note and I will, with your permission, post the information or references you have. I will give proper credit.
As I find historical information regarding Fort Heiman I will be certain to share it with you.

Fort Heiman, Kentucky: 1980's Photographs

**In this, my second-to-last post about Fort Heiman, I will be sharing with you photographs I took when I was able to visit the fort with my family back in the mid-1980's. Please note that it has been a very long time since I've been to Fort Heiman. Anything I have marked in red as no longer being in existence was at the fort in the 80's but NOT there when I last visited on my own in 2002. If any of the signs that I have marked as being no longer in existence have been restored I am unaware of it at this time. While areas such as the ammunition bunker and empty Union cemetery surely still exist, the last time I was there extremely thick underbrush had overtaken the areas. I am hopeful that now the National Park Service owns Fort Heiman they will do whatever they can to restore these areas so they can be viewed once again.**



This is the sign signifying the outer defenses of the fort. This is no longer in existence.



This is the entrance sign leading from the main road back into the fort. This is no longer in existence.

This structure is no longer standing nor was it part of the original Civil War fort. To the best of my knowledge, this house was built by a former professor of Murray State University in the 1960's. The property it sat on is now private property as it was purchased when the fort was sold off. A new building, looking much like this one, has been constructed in its place. I would imagine the current owner assumed this building was "period" and copied its style for the structure he built. Tomorrow I will be posting a picture of the "new" house that was built to take the place of this.

The back and side of the old house. This side of the house was a large living room. The chimney belonged to a huge fireplace, suitable for cooking in. Walking out of the living room, was a kind of 'dog-trot' as my grandmother called it. (A dog trot is an open breeze way between two parts of a structure.) Across the dog trot was the kitchen of the house. The kitchen and living room were the only rooms I was ever in.

This photo, as is the one below, is the river view just before proceeding down a small path that is located in front of the old building. This view and the two photos below are now on private property and cannot be accessed.

This is a path in front of the building that leads to a very large rock. From this rock there is a magnificent view of the river. Standing or sitting on this rock, I couldn't imagine anyone not being able to dream of a little bit of the past. I vaguely remember also being able to see a path below the rock that may or may not have been some sort of road at one time.

The following three photographs are some of the trenches of the fort.

The sign reads: OLD POWDER MAGAZINE Here, Cannonballs & Black Powder
Were Stored For the FORT This is no longer in existence. I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

This is the Ammunition Bunker. When this photo was taken, it had rained just a few days prior which is why there is so much standing water in the bunker. While the bunker itself surely still does exist, (or I'd like to think it still does!) I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

The sign reads: EMPTY UNION CEMETERY After the Civil War The bodies were
taken home or reburied in Dover at the NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY. This is no longer in existence. I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

This is the where the empty Union cemetery is located. This is no longer in existence. I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

This is one of the final trenches you can see on your way out of the fort. The area where this is located consists of extremely thick underbrush.

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I hope you have enjoyed looking at these pictures and taking your "virtual tour" as much as I have enjoyed posting them for you. Tomorrow, I will be posting photographs taken in 2002.

If you have any information about Fort Heiman that you wouldn't mind sharing, please post in the comments or drop me a note and I will, with your permission, post the information or references you have. I will give proper credit.
As I find historical information regarding Fort Heiman I will be certain to share it with you.

Fort Heiman, Kentucky: Related Newspaper Articles

Ft. Heiman Proposed Stop on Civil War Trail

Murray Ledger & Times Monday, August 5, 2002

LOUISVILLE, Ky (AP)--State and economic development officials, Civil War buffs, university professors and local officials are working together to map out driving trails for tourists that promote Kentucky's role in the Civil War.

The idea is for motorists to follow marked highway routs to historic sites, stopping along the way to see displays about local skirmishes and take tours of places that became important during the conflict.

Sites along the three proposed trails include Fort Heiman, a Confederate outpost that fell to then-Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant in 1862, and Octagon Hall, an eight-sided antebellum estate in Simpson County that served as a shelter for Confederate troops. Officials hope at least one trail will be ready by spring.

Kentucky officials don't have an estimate on how many visitors the trails might draw, but they see the approach as a package giving tourists a variety of places to visit.

"If we can make it that much easier for the visitor, I think it does increase not only tourists to the state, but it increases the level of satisfaction to those who come to the state," said Carole Summers, cultural heritage tourism coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Travel. "They have a better visit."

Kentucky never seceded from the Union, but as a border state its loyalties were divided. Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, were natives of the state, and Union and Confederate forces battled for strategic points here until the war ended.

The three planned Kentucky trails are:

*The Cumberland Valley Trail, which will tell the importance that transportation routes played in the war. Trail sites include Octagon Hall, Camp Nicholas and a burial site of executed Confederate prisoners in Simpson County; Dumont Hill, an encampment at Allen Springs and guerrilla activity sites in Allen County; and Fort Webb, Riverview and Fort Albert Sidney Johnson in Warren County.

The Cumberland trail system runs along U.S. 31W in Warren and Simpson counties, Ky. 231 in Warren and Allen counties and Ky. 100 from Simpson County through Allen County. The trail also dips into six Tennessee communities.

*The John Hunt Morgan Trail, named for the Alabama-born cavalry leader whose raids reached the outskirts of Cincinnati. The trail will include links to Morgan trails in Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio.

The Morgan trail will show "the flow or the movement of that campaign as it was conceived by Gen. John Hunt Morgan, and actually what happened on that march," said Thomas Fugate, Civil War sites preservation coordinator for the Kentucky Heritage Council. The trail is a work in progress that includes sites in 16 counties and carves a north-south path down the middle of Kentucky.

*The Fort Heiman Trail in Calloway County. Fort Heiman is where the Union supply vessel Mazeppa, sunk by Confederate cavalry in 1864, sits on the bottom of the Tennessee River. Fort Heiman visitors can also see the remains of Fort Henry, on land partially submerged across the river, and it is near Fort Donelson in Tennessee.

The three forts guarded the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, cutting of river movement of Union soldiers and supplies until February 1862, when Grant-led Army-Navy join operation captured them.

The development costs, and estimated completion times, vary for the trail projects. The Morgan trail is expected to cost $231,700 and will be completed within six to nine months; the Cumberland Valley Trail will cost $48,680 and will be finished within six months after the project gets a state grant, which is blocked until the legislature passes a budget; and the Fort Heiman Trail will cost $750,000 and will be completed in the next two years. Plans call for Fort Heiman to become a part of the National Parks system.

The trails will take motorists down historic paths that run along federal, state and county roads. Along the way, signs will direct visitors to roadside exhibits featuring maps, brochures and other displays to help people understand the sites in a historic context.

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Below is the text and scans of the Saturday, June 15, 2002 Murray Ledger & Times newspaper article providing information about the federal land grant awarded to Calloway County towards the purchase of Fort Heiman.

Click on the thumbnails to see the full images.

City, County get funding for Miller Annex, Fort Heiman

By Edward Sheridan

Staff Writer

The four-day span of June 11 through June 14 may go down as one of the most propserous times in Calloway County history.

Just three days after welcoming the Pella Corporation and its new jobs to the local community, two grants administered through the Kentucky Department of Local Government were delivered to Murray Friday that will aid local preservation efforts.

A $60,000 federal land and water conservation grant was presented that will enable the Calloway County Fiscal Court to apply for additional funding to go toward the purchase of land where Civil War site Fort Heiman once stood. An additional $500,000 community development block grant from the department of local government was presented to the Murray Main Street program which will allow for the renovation of the Miller Courthouse Annex.

"This has been a great week for Murray and Calloway County and the entire region," state Sen. Bob Jackson (D-Murray) said during a check presentation ceremony held Friday afternoon on the steps of the courthouse annex.

Department of Local Government Commissioner and Calloway native Jody Lassiter added additional good news by announcing that the Fort Heiman project would not only receive the $60,000, but would also be eligible to add another $15,000 onto the grant total if efforts to preserve went above the original grant total.

"The $60,000 is going to be the first step to purchase the most important part of Fort Heiman," he said. "Before it's all done, Calloway County is going to have the second national park in Kentucky, as (Fort Heiman) becomes part of the Fort Donelson system."

According to Steve Zea, president of the West Kentucky Corporation, the entire $60,000--or $75,000--will be used to provide matching monies for a larger TEA 21 grant that, if approved, will be used to purchase the property. News on that grant could come within the next 30 days.

"They want to see an effort of other money," Zea said. "We're going to have to use this money to match the other money."

Whatever monies are acquired will be used to purchase the portions of Fort Heiman that are in the most danger of succumbing to commercial development. Much of the fort is currently under private ownership.

Additional federal monies for Fort Heiman could be on the way if it is included on the list of sites under consideration for the Vicksburg Train. U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) said during the ceremony that there is currently a technical corrections bill pending in Congress that would place Fort Heiman on that list.

Note: all portions of the article relevant to Fort Heiman end here. The remainder of the article deals with the grant to renovate the Murray Couthouse Annex.



Image Caption: Jody Lassiter DLG Commissioner



Image Caption: MORE MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS...From left, Commissioner for the Department for Local Government Jody Lassiter, Senator Bob Jackson, Sandy Forrest, Calloway County Judge Executive Larry Elkins and Murray Mayor Freed Curd display a check for $500,000 for community development and preservations projects for Murray and Calloway County and a check for $60,000 for the Fort Heiman Civil War Preservation. Lassiter, representing Paul Patton's office, presented the checks during a ceremony Friday afternoon.

Special Note: Paul Patton was governor of Kentucky at the time and the ceremony was Friday, June 14, 2002.

Fort Heiman, Kentucky: Maps & Illustrations

Here's a collection of maps and illustrations about Forts Henry and Heiman. The drawings and maps collected here were taken from Forts Henry and Donelson: The Key to the Confederate Heartland by Benjamin Franklin Cooling. University of Tennessee Press, 1987. If you look hard enough, you can also find a few scattered maps and illustrations (most likely the same that I have here) in copies of old newspapers from the Civil War era as well as books that focus on illustrations and maps of the era. I know my focus in all my posts has been Fort Heiman but I have included illustrations and maps of Fort Henry because you pretty much can't talk about one without focusing on the other as well.

Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image.


The Western Theater, 1861-62


Twin Rivers Area, 1862


Interior of Fort Henry, the morning after its capture, February 2, 1862. Sketch by H. Lovie, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 15, 1862.


Landing of Federal troops below Fort Henry, February 4, 1862. Sketch by H. Lovie, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 15, 1862. (I apologize for the center crease of the book spine.)


Foote's Flotilla Attack on Fort Henry, February 6, 1862. Sketch by S.O. Hawley, Massachusetts Order of Loyal Legion Collection, U.S. Army Military History Institute.


Confederates defend Fort Henry, February 6, 1862. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 1, 1862. (I apologize for the center crease of the book spine.)


Country between Forts Henry and Donelson, 1862. U.S. Army Infantry School. Military History Methods of Research Compilation of Sources (Fort Benning, 1937).


Environs of Fort Henry, 1862. U.S. Army Infantry School. Military History Methods of Research Compilation of Sources (Fort Benning, 1937).

Fort Organization of Forces, Forts Henry, Heiman & Donelson--Confederate

This information taken from: Forts Henry & Donelson: The Key to the Confederate Heartland by Benjamin Franklin Cooling. University of Tennessee Press, 1987.

TILGHMAN (approximately 2,700-3,300, Feb. 6, Fort Henry)

• 6 infantry regiments + 1 battalion
• 3 batteries of light and heavy artillery
• 2 battalions + 1 company + miscellaneous cavalry

1st Brigade (Heiman)

• 10th, 48th Tennessee Infantry
• 27th Alabama Infantry
• Culbertson’s Light Artillery Battery
• Gantt’s Battalion, Tennessee Cavalry

2nd Brigade (Drake)

• 4th Mississippi Infantry
• 15th Arkansas Infantry
• 51st Tennessee Infantry
• 26th Alabama (Garvin) Infantry (2 companies)
• Crain’s Light Artillery Battery
• Alabama Cavalry Battalion (Hubbard, Houston)
• Milner’s Cavalry Company
• Padgett’s Spy Company
• Milton’s Ranger Detachment

Taylor’s Company, Tennessee Artillery Corps

FLOYD (approximately 15,000-21,000, Feb 13-16, Fort Donelson)

• 27 infantry regiments + 1 battalion + 2 companies
• 9 artillery batteries (field guns, siege, seacoast)
• 2 cavalry regiments + 1 battalion

Pillow’s Division (B. Johnson)
Heiman’s Brigade

• 10th, 30th, 42nd, 48th, 53rd Tennessee Infantry
• 27th Alabama Infantry
• Maney’s Tennessee Battery Light Artillery

Drake’s Brigade

• 4th Mississippi Infantry
• 15th Arkansas Infantry
• 26th Alabama (Garvin) Infantry (2 companies)
• 1st Tennessee Battalion (Browder, Colms) Infantry

Simonton’s (Davidson’s) Brigade

• 1st, 3rd Mississippi Infantry
• 7th Texas Infantry
• 8th Kentucky Infantry

Baldwin’s Brigade (-) (Buckner)

• 26th Tennessee Infantry
• 20th, 26th Mississippi Infantry

Wharton’s Brigade (Floyd)

• 51st, 56th Virginia Infantry

McCausland’s Brigade (Floyd)

• 36th, 50th Virginia Infantry

Artillery

• Guy’s Battery, Goochland (Va.) Light Artillery (Floyd)
• Green’s Tennessee Battery Light Artillery
• French’s Virginia Battery Light Artillery (Floyd)

Buckner’s Division
Brown’s Brigade

• 3rd, 18th, 32nd Tennessee Infantry
• Porter’s Tennessee Battery Light Artillery
• Graves’ Cumberland Kentucky Battery Light Artillery

Baldwin’s Brigade

• 2nd Kentucky Infantry
• 14th Mississippi Infantry
• 41st Tennessee Infantry
• Jackson’s (Va.) Battery Light Artillery (Floyd)

Forrest’s Cavalry Brigade

• 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment
• Gantt’s Tennessee Cavalry Regiment
• 1st Kentucky Cavalry Regiment

Fort Donelson Garrison (Head)

• 30th, 49th, 50th Tennessee Infantry
• Maury Tennessee Battery Light Artillery (Ross)
• Detachment Taylor’s Company Tennessee Artillery Corps (Stankiewicz)
• Water Battery Heavy Artillery (Culbertson)

Fort Organization of Forces, Forts Henry, Heiman & Donelson--Federal

This information taken from: Forts Henry & Donelson: The Key to the Confederate Heartland by Benjamin Franklin Cooling. University of Tennessee Press, 1987.

Federal Forces:

Army:
GRANT: (approximately 12,000, Feb. 6; approximately 25,000, Feb. 16.)

• 37 infantry regiments + 1 company
• 8 artillery batteries (field guns)
• 2 cavalry regiments + 4 independent companies

First Division (McClernand)
1st Brigade (Oglesby)

• 8th, 18th, 29th, 30th, 31st Illinois Infantry
• Battery D, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery (Dresser)
• Battery E, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery (Schwartz ) (Gumbart)
• Companies A, B, 2nd Illinois Cavalry (Noble)
• Company C, 2nd US Cavalry (Powell)
• Company I, 4th US Cavalry (Powell)
• Carmichael’s Illinois Cavalry
• Dollins’ Illinois Cavalry
• O’Harnette’s Illinois Cavalry
• Stewart’s Illinois Cavalry (King)

2nd Brigade (W.H.L. Wallace)

• 11th, 20th, 45th, 48th Illinois Infantry
• Battery B, 1st Illinois Light Artillery (Taylor)
• Battery D, 1st Illinois Light Artillery (McAllister)
• 4th Illinois Cavalry (Dickey)
• 3rd Brigade (Morrison—wounded, Feb. 13, command passed to W.H.L. Wallace on
• Feb. 15, Ross senior officer present)
• 17th, 49th Illinois Infantry

Second Division (C.F. Smith)
1st Brigade (McArthur)

• 9th, 12th, 41st Illinois Infantry

3rd Brigade (Cook)

• Battery D, 1st Missouri Light Artillery (Richardson)
• Battery H, 1st Missouri Light Artillery (Welker)
• Battery K, 1st Missouri Light Artillery (Stone)
• 7th, 50th Illinois Infantry
• 12th Iowa Infantry
• 13th Missouri Infantry

4th Brigade (Lauman)

• 25th Indiana Infantry
• 2nd, 7th, 14th Iowa Infantry
• Birge’s Western Sharpshooters

5th Brigade (M.L. Smith)

• 8th Missouri Infantry
• nth Indiana Infantry

Third Division (L. Wallace)
1st Brigade (Cruft)

• 31st, 44th Indiana Infantry
• 17th, 25th Kentucky Infantry

2nd Brigade (attached to 3rd Brigade)

• 46th, 57th, 58th Illinois Infantry

3rd Brigade (Thayer)

• 1st Nebraska Infantry
• 58th, 68th, 76th Ohio Infantry

Not Brigaded

• Company A, 32nd Illinois Infantry
• Battery A, 1st Illinois (Chicago) Light Artillery (Wood)

Navy:
FOOTE: (6-8 iron- and timber-clad gunboats)

At Fort Henry
Cincinnati (Stembel); Essex (Porter); Carondelet (Walke); St. Louis (Paulding); Conestoga (Phelps); Tyler (Gwinn); Lexington (Shirk)

At Fort Donelson
St. Louis (Paulding); Carondelet (Walke); Louisville (Dove); Pittsburg (Thompson); Tyler (Gwinn); Conestoga (Phelps)

Fort Heiman, Kentucky: An *Almost* Forgotten U.S. Civil War Fort

Fort Heiman is a somewhat unknown part of the Fort Henry/Fort Donelson battle of 1862. There is very little information available on Fort Heiman at the moment. While there is a little more information available today about Fort Heiman than when I first started researching the U.S. Civil War 15+ years ago, unfortunately, when you are lucky enough to come across anything about it it's usually just a passing mention in the accounts of the Fort Henry/Fort Donelson battle.

Fort Heiman was a Confederate battery during the early stages of the United States Civil War (1861-1865). It was named after Colonel Adolphus Heiman and in December of 1861 was "constructed" across the river from Fort Henry. Both forts were situated in an area where they could easily spot and stop river traffic. While Fort Heiman was located on a hill Fort Henry was located on low, swampy land. On February 4, 1862 Fort Heiman was abandoned when General Lloyd Tilghman (Confederate commander in charge of Forts Henry and Donelson) realized Fort Henry was doomed to fall. Fort Henry was taken on February 6, 1862 and by February 8, 1862 it was completely underwater. Fort Donelson fell to the Union Army on Febuary 16, 1862.

Unfortunately, the gentleman who owned the property Fort Heiman is located on could not keep it. The land was divided up into lots and sold to the highest bidder. Historians and local politicians have worked hard to bring a bit of attention to the plight of Fort Heiman and thanks to their efforts the fort was saved!

A $60,000 federal land grant was awarded to Calloway County, Kentucky to go towards the preservation of the lands comprising Fort Heiman. The Fort has been on the National Register since December 12, 1976. I have scans of newspaper articles related to this grant that I will post later.

On October 30, 2006 Calloway County, Kentucky transferred 150 acres belonging to Fort Heiman to the National Park Service. The NPS now manages the land of Fort Heiman and it has become part of the Fort Donelson National Battlefield.

I have been lucky enough to visit the Fort Heiman location several times and on two occasions snapped some photographs that I will be posting over the next few days. The first set of photographs were taken in the late 1980's so quite a bit has changed since. The second set of photographs were taken on June 8, 2002. They are new photos of what remains of Fort Heiman--which isn't much. Each set of photographs are contained in their own post and there is a description of each photo.

I truly hope you enjoy the photos of a little-mentioned and mostly forgotten part of the United States Civil War. Hopefully, Fort Heiman, now that it is under the preservation and control of the National Parks Service it will be able to take its rightful place in the history books along with Forts Henry and Donelson.