The next meeting of the Nashville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Monday, August 17th, 2009, in the visitor’s center of Ft. Negley Park, a unit of Metro Parks, Nashville, TN. This is located off I-65 just south of downtown between 4th Avenue South and 8th Avenue South on Edgehill Avenue/Chestnut Avenue. Take Exit 81, Wedgewood Avenue, off I-65 and follow the signs to the Science Museum. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM and is always open to the public. Members please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.

OUR SPEAKER AND TOPIC:

“Ft. Negley – History, Engineering and Archaeology”

Fred Prouty of the Tennessee Wars Commission will present a program on Ft. Negley that will differ from what Walter Durham gave us a couple months ago. While offering some history of the fort, Mr. Prouty will place it in context with the rest of Nashville’s fortifications and detail how special the site is – the largest inland masonry fort built in the Civil War. Ft. Negley is a prime example of military engineering created in 18th Century France by Vauban. Using slides, the presentation will cover its history with documentation, the results of several archaeology examinations and how it was restored by the WPA in the 1930’s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Ft. Negley is now a unit of Nashville’s Metro Parks and is open for tours thanks to the efforts of many preservationists and their dedication.

Fred Prouty is the Military Sites Preservationist and Director of Programs for the Tennessee Wars Commission. This was created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1994 and is an adjunct to the Tennessee Historical Commission. Mr. Prouty handles Tennessee’s military history sites from the mid-1700’s through the Civil War. He has written several articles for state archaeological publications and has been a consultant for the History Channel. He is also an expert on 18th and 19th Century military equipage and fortifications and belongs to the National Civil War Fortification Study Group. He also serves on the boards of the Tennessee Civil War Heritage Trail, the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area and the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association.

Please join us as Fred Prouty provides a different look at Nashville’s historic Ft. Negley!

Greg Biggs
Nashville CWRT