Georgia Natural Wonder #209 - Fort Tyler - West Point. 495

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Georgia Natural Wonder #209 - Fort Tyler - West Point

While today's Wonder may not be Natural, it is a green grass earthen Fort and does provide a beautiful green urban park on it's natural hilltop. Plus it has some interesting history. So here we go with Fort Tyler as Georgia Natural Wonder #209.



The Battle of West Point, Georgia (April 16, 1865), formed part of the Union campaign through Alabama and Georgia, known as Wilson's Raid, in the final full month of the American Civil War.



The rail junction of West Point was one of the two Chattahoochee River crossings, which General James H. Wilson planned to destroy after capturing Montgomery, Alabama. Dividing his army, he detailed Colonel Oscar Hugh La Grange to attack West Point, while he himself moved downriver to instigate the Battle of Columbus, to take that important Confederate manufacturing center.


Wilson and La Grange.

West Point was fortified by the earthwork of Fort Tyler, commanded by Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert C. Tyler, for whom it was named. Union artillery and dismounted cavalry, armed with Spencer repeater-carbines, soon forced the garrison to surrender, Tyler being shot dead by a sniper, and becoming the last Confederate General killed.


Tyler.

On hearing of the victory at Columbus, Union troops were free to burn the bridge and the railroad stock. It was one of the last battles of the war.

Prelude

After defeating Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's defenders at the Battle of Selma on April 2, 1865, and capturing Montgomery, Alabama, on April 12, U.S. Brig. Gen. Wilson turned his raiders' attentions toward the Chattahoochee River to the east.



He telegraphed Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas:

    If I can now destroy arsenals and supplies at Columbus and divide their army in the southwest, they must disintegrate for lack of munitions. There is no force to resist me, and I see no reasonable ground for fearing failures. My command is in magnificent condition.

The river was swollen by rains, so capturing a bridge would be required to make swift progress. Wilson determined that either one of two locations with bridges would suit this purpose: the one at West Point or the more heavily defended one at Columbus. The two towns were only 35 miles apart and Wilson divided his force to attack both, in order to increase the chances of one being taken intact. Colonel Oscar Hugh La Grange's brigade was detailed to attack West Point.


Post War Bridge Columbus across Chattahoochee, built by Horace King.

West Point did not have mills or foundries, but it was a critical rail center. As the connecting point for two railroads of different gauges, West Point had an extensive rail yard with many locomotives and rail cars.


West Point Rail Road bridge today.

The railway bridges were commanded by Fort Tyler, a 35-yard square earthwork upon a hill on the Alabama side of the river. You see, technically it is still in Georgia because the state line leaves the Chattahoochee River just south. It had walls four-and-a-half feet high, surrounded by a ditch six to ten feet deep and seven to twelve feet across.



The fort was equipped with a 32-pounder siege gun and two 12-pounder field pieces.

Battle

On the morning of April 16, La Grange's brigade approached West Point. The brigade consisted of the 2nd and 4th Indiana Cavalry, the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, the 7th Kentucky Cavalry, and the 18th Indiana Battery of light artillery. The cavalry troopers were armed primarily with Spencer carbines.



Awaiting them at Fort Tyler was a small group of Confederates, somewhere between 120 and 265 men, under the command of Brig. Gen. Robert C. Tyler. In addition to the three cannon of the fort, the convalescents and militia were armed with smoothbore muskets.



Skirmishing began at 10 a.m., as the fort's pickets were driven in. The Federal battery set up half a mile away on Ward's Hill and began shelling the redoubt while cavalrymen dismounted to serve as skirmishers and invest the fort. Shelling continued until 1:30 p.m. when La Grange arrived with the remainder of the brigade. The dismounted cavalry pressed the fort and exchanged fire with the defenders, closing within 50 yards and sniping at the defending artillerists. The Federals also removed long planks from nearby structures in preparation to span the ditch.



As the Federals sniped at the Confederate artillerists attempting to man their pieces, Col. La Grange hoped to use the distraction to secure his primary objective, the bridge span, before it could be burned by the rebels.


Illustration.

He led the 4th Indiana Cavalry on a mad dash for the bridge. Seeing this the defenders in the fort turned their cannon to halt the foray, but as the cavalry approached the bridge they soon exceeded the effective range of the cannon. An exploding shell from the 32-pounder did succeed in killing the colonel's horse, two pack animals and resulting in the colonel being stunned and sprawled on the ground. Charging across the bridge the riders encountered a gap where planks had been removed, but were able to spur their horses over and overcome the Confederate defenders on the east side of the Chattahoochee River. Here they dispersed a small defensive force that had incendiaries for burning the structure.



With the defenders pinned inside their fort, Federal artillery and sniper fire suppressed the counter fire of the defenders who lacked protection from headlogs. As a result, many of the Confederate killed and wounded suffered head wounds.


Only actual illustration of Battle West Point, I can find.

The garrison commander's attention was drawn to fire from nearby structures, which Tyler had been urged to burn before the engagement, but had spared because he did not believe the owners could withstand the loss. According to a participant Tyler bravely exposed himself to examine the battlefield and was quickly shot dead by a sniper who was operating from a nearby cottage. Shortly thereafter, his second-in-command, Captain Celestino Gonzalez was also killed.


Buried side by side.

Col. James H. Fannin assumed command. Fannin was born in 1835 in La Grange and died 10/23/1909 in Savannah. He enlisted as a Colonel and also had service in Field & Staff GA 1st Reserves Infantry (This unit served as guards at Andersonville Prison) He testified at the trial of Henry Wirz to prove that he was in command of prison guard & that he recd his orders from the commandant of prison post. After the war, Wirz was tried and executed for conspiracy and murder relating to his command of the camp.


Wirz circa 1865.................Wirz hears his death warrant at the scaffold near the U.S. Capitol....Wirz execution moments after the trapdoor was sprung.

To end the stalemate the dismounted troopers crossed the ditch using their planks.


Illustration.

Running low on ammunition, some defenders threw rocks and lit shells over the parapet. A cavalry bugle sounded a final charge as the Union soldiers stormed over the embankment, and the fort immediately surrendered.


Illustration.

Casualties

Union casualties were seven men killed and twenty-nine wounded. The Confederates' losses were nineteen killed, twenty-eight wounded, and two hundred eighteen captured. The death of Brigadier General Tyler is noted as the last Confederate general to die in a battle. The Confederates who died were buried in what is now known as the Fort Tyler Cemetery in town on the east side of the river.



It is believed but not confirmed that the Union dead were buried there as well. In addition, at least 50 other unknown Civil War soldiers are interred there.



Significance

The rolling stock of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad, along with commissary stores had been sent to West Point before Montgomery fell. Because of their narrow gauge, these trains were trapped. After the fort surrendered, Federal cavalry took control of the town of West Point and the vital bridges over the river. The raiders then proceeded to burn the entire rolling stock of the railroad, 19–20 locomotives and 340–350 cars. Before the cars were fired, some foodstuffs were removed and given to the mayor of West Point to feed the wounded of both sides as well as destitute citizens. The bridges were spared only briefly, as La Grange awaited word of the attack on Columbus to know if they would be needed. The bridge was burned before the Yankees left.


Not West Point Bridge, just an illustration.

The West Georgia Underwater Archaeological Society has been studying submerged bridges and steamships in West Point, located on the Chattahoochee River north of Columbus.


Actual West Point Bridge underwater image, but illustration bridge is further downstream on Chattahoochee River.

The divers have located the supports for a covered bridge built in 1838 by Horace King, a former slave who became one of the South's leading covered-bridge builders.

"There's a lot under the waterways of Georgia that we've lost and don't know about," said Charles Kelly, the society's president. "This is a good opportunity to protect things that are there."

Fort Tyler: Last fort to fall in war worth a visit

At 16, Alexander Campbell Lanier joined the war, got captured and missed supper -- all on the same day. Lanier had slipped away from his West Point, Ga., home when fighting began that morning and rushed uphill to Fort Tyler at the town’s highest point.


Rebel Militia.

But the town’s resistance to 3,500 Union forces ended the evening of April 16, 1865, after the death of the earthen fort’s commander, Gen. Robert C. Tyler, a dozen other Confederates and the surrender of the outgunned garrison.



Lanier and approximately 250 soldiers and civilians were marched to the town below. The family was not aware of his being at the fort until he waved at his mother as he was passing the house.



Fort Tyler is a small footnote to the closing days of the war. It was taken a week after Lee surrendered at Appomattox and one day after President Abraham Lincoln died of a mortal shot to the head. Combatants knew of neither occurrence.



Townspeople are proud of this last-ditch resistance to Union troops bound on destroying vital railroad facilities. Because the gauges of the rails were different between Alabama and Georgia, train cargo had to be transferred between cars here, which necessitated a large railroad yard in West Point. Confederates were meant to guard the wagon and railroad bridge.



“There are people here who have ancestors who were in the fort,” says Fort Tyler Association President Rea Clark.



I paid a visit this week to West Point, which straddles the Chattahoochee River at the Alabama border near Interstate 85. Today, the town is best known for great fishing at West Point Lake and the new Kia Georgia manufacturing facility a few miles northeast of town.


Union troops occupy Confederate Forts Atlanta.

Fort Tyler, the last to fall in the Civil War, might be called Fort State line, since a portion is in Alabama and another part is in Georgia. The fenced property abuts several residences.


Same.

Clark quipped that rifle demonstrations are OK, but not artillery. “We don’t want to have to pay for broken windows.”


Confederate Earthwork Atlanta.

Yankee troops burned two depots in West Point and blew up the powder magazine in the fort, creating a crater. Around 1897, the city filled in the hole with concrete and made a reservoir, which operated until the 1920s or 1930s. Fort Tyler was gone.



That’s when townspeople got busy. They raised money and rebuilt the fort in 1996-97, dedicating it in 1998. Because there are no photos of the fort, they worked from first-hand accounts to re-create the 35-yard rectangular salient.



I was impressed by the many interpretive signs that line the shaded zig-zag trail to the top. You can walk through the fort and learn more about its three artillery pieces.



Clark said a living history and fundraising dinner were held last week on the Battle of West Point’s 145th anniversary.



The association and the West Point Visitors’ Center will soon begin filming a 17-minute film on the battle. It will be shown to visitors and schoolchildren at the Visitors’ Center in the old downtown depot. “It will be Ken Burns caliber but without a Ken Burns budget,” Visitors’ Center Executive Director Malinda C. Powers says of the film. For now, the association uses its Web site to publicize the well-maintained fort. Clark says he doesn’t know how many visitors the venue draws. He’s hoping the Visitors’ Center can one day house a Fort Tyler museum and some relics found on the property.


Looking for visitors.

I concluded my visit with a stop at Pinewood Cemetery, where Gen. Tyler and 76 Confederate and Union troops, most of them unknown, are buried.



The enigmatic Tyler, who lost a leg earlier in the war, was shot by a sniper and died under a battle flag made by the ladies of West Point. He was the last general to die in the Civil War. From West Point, Union Gen. James Wilson's Raiders destroyed 19 locomotives and burned 340 cars, and moved east up the tracks to La Grange and eventually to Macon.

Sherpa Guide - The Battle of Fort Tyler

Fort Tyler and Fort Tyler Cemetery are located in West Point, which was an important railroad town in Georgia during the Civil War. Because the gauges of the rails were different between Alabama and Georgia, train cargo had to be transferred between cars here, which necessitated a large railroad yard. The town had been the scene of raids by Union cavalry, with the most significant resulting in a battle at Fort Tyler on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1865, a full week after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered to U.S. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, and two days after Lincoln had been assassinated. Word hadn't reached these parts, as Confederate Gen. Robert C. Tyler, and his 120 men held off 3,500 cavalrymen of Wilson's Raiders under Col. O.H. La Grange, for a full day at Fort Tyler, before surrendering when they ran out of ammunition at dusk.



Fort Tyler, built in the fall of 1863 to protect vital transportation bridges at the Chattahoochee River, was an earthen work fort approximately 35 feet square. It had three artillery pieces, a stockade on the rear or south and a ditch 10 feet deep and 15 feet wide in front. Tyler, called by some historians the most enigmatic Confederate general of the Civil War, was a veteran of Walker's expedition to Nicaragua; Shiloh; Chickamauga; and had lost his left leg at Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga. The disabled Tyler was posted at West Point, where he was in command of Fort Tyler and 128 men, made up of convalescents from Confederate hospitals, young boys in the town, and a garrison of old men from La Grange. He was given a flag by the community, and he pledged to die beneath it rather than surrender it to the enemy.


Gawd Damn Yankee Snipers.

On the morning of April 16, Union cavalry moved on West Point, placing a battery on a nearby hill and opening fire on the fort, which returned the same. Union cavalry worked their way closer, taking cover at some homes in close range to the Fort. Gen. Tyler had been urged to burn them to prevent their use as cover by Union sharpshooters, but he refused, not wanting to destroy the homes of people he had befriended in the past year of his convalescence. After a few hours of battle, Tyler, who was on crutches, hobbled outside the fort to get a better view of the Union positions. A sharpshooter — located in one of the homes Tyler refused to burn — shot him in the chest. He was borne back inside the fort and placed under the flag staff, where he died an hour later under the flag he swore to defend, and became the last Confederate general to die in the Civil War. The men in the fort, under assault by Union soldiers on foot and out numbered 10 to 1, surrendered just before dusk, making the fort the last to fall in the Civil War. Eighteen Confederates were killed along with seven Federals and 29 wounded. In a cemetery in West Point, Tyler was buried in a joint grave with his second in command, Captain C. Gonzales, who was also killed during the battle. From West Point, Wilson's Raiders destroyed 19 locomotives and burned 340 cars, and moved east up the tracks to La Grange and eventually to Macon. A living history event is held annually in mid-April to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of West Point.


Now to further cement this as a separate Georgia Natural Wonder, I'd like to throw in the recreation opportunities afforded by West Point Lake.



And the Kayak adventures below West Point Dam to the City of West Point.


Langdale Dam.


Crow Hop Dam.



West Point

We conclude the post on Fort Tyler and we still have some room to tangent on the City of West Point itself. West Point is a city in Troup and Harris counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is located approximately halfway between Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta along Interstate 85.


See how the Alabama State line moves west from the Chattahoochee River, so that the west shore is still actually in Georgia.


Post Office.

History

The city's present name comes from its being near the westernmost point of the Chattahoochee River, where the river turns from its southwesterly flow from the Appalachian Mountains to due south – for all practical purposes – and forms the boundary with Alabama.


The old bridge in West Point.

The large nearby reservoir, West Point Lake, was created by the Army Corps of Engineers by the building of the West Point Dam, for water storage and hydroelectric power generation.



The reservoir stores water which can be released during dry seasons, in order to maintain the water level of the navigable inland waterway from Columbus, Georgia, south to the Gulf of Mexico.



During the late spring of 2003, there was a flood caused by extremely heavy rainfall and thunderstorms upstream of the West Point Dam; the weather caused the water level in the reservoir to come close to overflowing the top of the dam. There were allegations of poor forecasting by the Corps of Engineers of the reservoir's water levels.The flood water would have overflowed the dam had a large amount of water not been released through the spillway of the dam. Whereas this prevented the catastrophic failure of the West Point Dam, the city endured a flood much more severe than any other in the time since the dam had been built.



In the mid-19th century, the Atlanta & LaGrange Railroad was established and soon renamed the Atlanta & West Point Railroad, using the name of West Point; the city of East Point, Fulton County, Georgia, received its name for being at the northeastern end of this railroad line. The rail line linked metropolitan Atlanta with the lower reaches of the Chattahoochee River, with Columbus, and with Montgomery, Alabama, via the Montgomery & West Point Railroad.



Passenger service between Atlanta and Montgomery continued, on the "West Point Route", until approximately the beginning of the Amtrak era, or more than 100 years (circa 1855–circa 1970). The Montgomery-to-West Point rail line was completed in 1851, three years before the West Point-to-Atlanta segment. Rail operations were seriously disrupted during the Civil War (1861–65), as Southern rail lines were subject to Union Army attacks.



Toward the end of the war, West Point was the scene of the Battle of West Point (April 16, 1865, seven days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox).



Crossing from Georgia to Georgia (not Alabama) over the Chattahoochee in West Point.



Been a happening city for a while.



Still happening today. Look West and Point?



And at night.



National Register of Historic Places listings in West Point, Georgia.

Eastside Historic District

Roughly bounded by Ave. A, Ave. P, E. 12th, & E. 3rd Sts.



Hawkes Children's Library of West Point

The Hawkes Children's Library in West Point, Georgia was built in 1922. It is one of the Hawkes Children's Library buildings inspired and funded with support from Albert King Hawkes.



The building is a work of architectural and engineering firm Robert & Co. and was constructed by Batson & Cook. It includes Colonial Revival and Georgian Revival architecture. The library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.



The library is located along the Chattahoochee River in West Point. It contains historical information for Troup County, Georgia and Chambers County, Alabama. The library also hosts educational and arts programs.

Long Cane Historic District

North of West Point on U.S. 29.


Register image.


Restored image. Long Cane Baptist Church, 1830s.

The Long Cane Baptist Church was constituted in 1829 by Reverend James Reeves. It was a union of Baptists and Presbyterians. The structure, still in use today, was erected in the mid-1830s and still retains its slave gallery, where enslaved people worshiped until the Civil War. The Presbyterians continued to worship here with the Baptists until forming their own congregation, Loyd Presbyterian, in 1887.

Traylor House, Circa 1832, Long Cane

Now this is not separate on the National Register of Historic Place listings but within the Long Cane Historic District. This is one of the oldest surviving houses in the Long Cane community, which was settled around the time of the 1827 land lottery. I believe it was built by George Hamilton Traylor and was subsequently the home of his son, John Thomas Traylor.



The dominant architectural style of the house is Federal, but as 1832 is relatively late in the Federal period, the transition to the Greek Revival is evident. It is beautifully proportioned example, anchored by a large tetra style portico.

Henry and Lura Miller House

The Henry and Lura Miller House was built in 1876 and is one of the best examples of neo-Georgian architecture in the state.



There are three large porches, 6 historic fireplaces, 10′ ceilings on over 8 acres backing up to Chattahoochee River Preserve It has 5 large bedrooms.



Potts Brothers Store





Riverside Club-Magnolia Club

Built to host investors from Boston and other places for the West Point Manufacturing Company.



Magnolia Club is located at 806 1st Ave in West Point and has been in the business of Membership Sports And Recreation Clubs since 2001.



West Point Commercial Historic District

Roughly bounded by 4th Ave., 2nd Ave., W. 9th St., and W. 7th St.



There is a walking tour.


Note the State Line.

Now these next three are not separate National Register of Historic Places listings, but are on the walking tour within the West Point Commercial Historic District.

Opera House

On 3rd floor of Lanier Building used by theatrical and opera troupes from 1885 to 1910.



When constructed by brothers Lanier and Ward Crockett Lanier in 1884, this commercial block was the tallest building in town, at three stories. A bank and several other businesses occupied the first floor. The general offices of the West Point Manufacturing Company were located on the second floor until the 1950s. The third floor served as the city’s 600-seat opera house; it was destroyed by a tornado on 28 March 1920 and was never rebuilt.

Parr House

Carriage House used by Point University now for alumni functions. This home was built by Will Lanier, son of Elijah Frank Lanier and president of the Bank of West Point. His wife, Charlie Belle Collins Lanier, was a first cousin of Philip Trammell Shutze, one of Georgia’s most notable 20th century architects.



The Lanier family were among the earliest investors in the local textile industry and had interests in banks and other businesses.

Bank of West Point, 1907

Presently being renovated, the old Bank of West Point building is typical of small town banks in the first decade of the 20th century.



West Point Freight Depot



On the banks of the muddy Chattahoochee River in West Point, Georgia sits an old abandoned train shed and a nondescript red-brick building. One would never know that the nondescript brick building once was the hub for any and all railway activity throughout the South during the Civil War.



Now the West Point Depot, used to house the junction between the two railway lines coming from Montgomery and Atlanta. When the different lines were built, there were no standard rail sizes, and the tracks coming from Atlanta were several inches narrower than the ones from Montgomery. Therefore, soldiers and supplies coming down either line had to be unloaded at West Point and reloaded onto the opposite tracks. Instead of viewing this as an inconvenience, the town capitalized on the Confederate Army's problem. West Point grew into a major river hub.

West Point Public School





Westside Historic District

Roughly bounded by W. 10th St., the GA—AL state line, W. 15th St. & the Chattahoochee River.



Part of West Point is in Harris County. There is one National Register of Historic Place listing for West Point.

White Hall (West Point, Georgia)

Greek Revival-style plantation home. Built in 1857.



Historical Markers of West Point

"Daughters of the Confederacy" Marker



The marker is mounted on a boulder to the left of the entrance to the Hawkes Children's Library.



Battle of West Point



Looking north on US Highway 29; the road curves east to cross the Chattahoochee River. Looking south on US Highway 29 at the intersection with 8th Street and beyond that, the Alabama State Line.



Fort Tyler



The site of the reconstructed Fort Tyler is at the top of the hill in the left-center of the photo.



Fort Tyler



1)Looking west across Sixth Avenue toward the Griggs house. 2)Looking east on West 10th Street toward the Chattachochee River.


3)Looking north on Sixth Avenue; Fort Tyler is at the crest of the hill at the left.

4)The Dr. A. W. Griggs House



Built in 1858, the house was shelled by both sides during the battle, and then used as a hospital following the surrender of Fort Tyler.

Fort Tyler Cemetery



The marker and a marker for Gen. Robert C. Tyler, C.S.A. stand together at Pinewood Cemetery.



Gen. Robert C. Tyler, C.S.A.





More Enduring Than Marble





Tenth Street School



The steps leading from East Tenth Street to the marker and the site of the school.



Economy

Kia Motors opened an automobile factory in West Point in 2009.



Since 2011, the West Point auto factory has been manufacturing models of the Kia Telluride, Kia Sorento, and Kia K5.



Batson-Cook Construction was founded in West Point in 1913. It continues to be headquartered in West Point.



West Point Iron Works was founded in West Point three years after the Civil War ended.



The company started off as a supplier of individual components, such as pulleys and gears, to nearby textile mills.



In the 1930s the company was renamed West Point Foundry and Machine Co.



Now it is West Point Industries.

Notable people
   
Drew Ferguson, U.S. congressman.


   
Dorothy Kirby, professional golfer.


   
Alex Moore, American football player.

College at Norfolk State 22 whole yards for Denver 1968, no image.
   
Joe Palmisano, baseball player.

Georgia Tech, went on to play catcher for Philadelphia A's for one season in 1931.


   
Ansley Truitt, basketball player.

California Golden Bears in college (All PAC 8), Dallas Chaparrals in the ABA.



Alright, that concludes this weeks post. We have been laughing about pointing West a lot lately. So today's Georgia Natural Wonder Girls are Georgia Girls that went to Auburn. Now this may not be scientific which gals are Georgia bred or Alabama bred, but it is impossible to photograph a group of 6 or more Auburn Girls at any tailgate without at least three of them being from Georgia.