Second Shoupade
Again, you're standing behind a Shoupade. This fort faced slightly west of North. It was one of five Shoupades along Fort Drive, which derives its name from the existence of these forts.
For over five decades (1950s to early 2000s), this Shoupade (# 4 on map) was in the side yard of a house that was about 25 yards to the right (east), and the earthen mound was regularly mowed.
At about this point in the River Line was the seam or junction of two Confederate divisions. We're not certain which divisions provided the troops that occupied this Shoupade, but Cleburne's division was on the line from here to the left (west), and Bates division was on the line from here to the right (east). Both divisions were part of Hardee’s Corps.
Maj. General Patrick R. Cleburne was born in Ireland in 1828. In his early 20’s he served as an enlisted soldier in the British Army. He immigrated to the U.S. and by 1850 and settled in Helena, Arkansas where he was first a druggist, then a lawyer. He enlisted in the Confederate army as a private but was soon elected captain in proved extremely capable as an officer. By the summer of 1864 he was considered one of the best - if not the best - division commanders in the Confederacy. Cleburne quickly recognized the value of the River Line’s unique system of fortifications. He was killed on 30 November 1864 at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.
Major General William B. Bates was born in Tennessee in 1826 and was also a lawyer before the war, though he had been a volunteer soldier during the Mexican War. While he had performed competently in several battles, he had mismanaged an assault at Dallas (Paulding County), Georgia on 28 May 1864. Bates was wounded in the leg on 10 August 1864 near Utoy Creek (Southwest of Atlanta). After the war, he served as governor of Tennessee (1883-1887) and as a U.S. Senator from 1887 until he died in office in 1905.
While not part of the Shoupade Park, another Shoupade - the best preserved of all - is about 150 yards to the east, near the right of way for I-285. (#7 on map)
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.