Photo Survey; Fort Loudon, Tennessee

courtesy of Google Earth we have a top-down view of the fort

     I recently had a chance to travel to the state of Tennessee and take in the glorious weather and the very well reconstructed Fort Loudoun. The park has an excellent museum and a friendly and well-versed staff. Built in 1756 as a trading post dealing with the Cherokee Nation it was the scene of a successful siege by the Cherokee who ended up in possession of the fort and it's twelve cannon. There is an excellent Wikipedia article here. This fort cleverly encloses the high ground that would otherwise overlook its interior thus avoiding the problems that Ticonderoga and Mackinac had when they were taken by opponents that captured hills looking down into those forts.

 

but once terrain lines have been added we can see that the regular trace of he fort is a carefully placed to take advantage of the hill to the northeast

 

The Fort Museum 

 

signs on the approach to the fort museum

 

 

 

the sort of stuff I love, bold clear graphics.......

 

 .....and recovered artifacts

 

as usual, the British found it impossible to get along with the Native Peoples

 

no doubt due to the exploitative mercantilism they practiced

 

Tellico Blockhouse, which was built as a fort/trade station by the newly-minted

 United States in 1794 to "protect" the Cherokee from the aggressive  settlers

(more on this later)

 

explanatory notes regarding the blockhouse

 

a very nice model of the blockhouse in it's heyday, 

protected by the special "ultra-high-glare glass" that only museums have access to

 

an excellent display of the arms of the British

 

an interesting bit on the guns of the original fort, a group of school kids were listening to the Park Ranger speak and I didn't get a photo of the gun in question 

(and I forgot to go back later and snap one)

 

the step-by-step of loading a cannon

 

an example of British uniform, it isn't apparent from the picture

 but the mannequin was correctly sized for the period, about 5' 5" tall

 

the wall-gun was huge in comparison

I need this cabinet (and its contents) in my basement...

 

an excellent model of what a bastion would have looked like while in use

 

a very crowded place to work

 

the renderings and artwork are top-notch

 

comparison to other contemporary forts is  shows how 

the bastioned trace was adapted to suit the local circumstances

 

I particularly like it when the include the source material 

 

and then go and build an absolutely fabulous model!

 

I managed to get around the the high-glare protective glass by convincing a Korean couple (who spoke as much English as I speak Korean) to hold up their jackets to block the lights

thank-you to you lovely people, whoever you are!

 

their kids were fascinated by the model

 

and then they just walked away 

(no doubt wondering about crazy Americans taking pictures of the model 

when the real thing is just 100 yards away)

 

another period era mannequin

 

DeSoto also passed through these parts

 

I can't imagine wearing that sort of stuff in a Southern summer!

 

the poor dog!

 

Tellico Blockhouse was built on the opposing ridge about a half century laetr

 

barely visible on the opposing slope 

The Walk-Around

          The letters indicate the approximate location where I stood when I took the picture

 

approaching the fort from the northwest 

Point A

 

moved to Point B

 

a bit closer to the corner

 

the slope isn't quite a cliff but it is VERY steep

 

I would not have wanted to try to climb up that under fire

 

moving to Point C

 

the steepness of the hill becomes apparent

 

moved to Point D

 

the shift in the color of the palisade is where the indent in the wall occures

 

moved to Point E

you can see the way that the fort climbs the hill to encompassed the overbooking ground 

that would have rendered the fort untenable if possessed by the enemy 

 

moved to Point F

 

 

taking a closed look at the hedge and ditch

 

a look along the ditch, the thorny hedge looks unimpressive but would be a significant obstacle if you were to attempt passing through it in an assault

 

moved to Point G

 

moved to Point H

a placard about the local Native Americans

 

moved to Point I

 

another view that demonstrates how the fort enclosed the overlooking high ground 

 

the sentry box at Point J

 

looking uphill, in places the slope is approaching forty-five degrees!

 

just a reminder that in the days that the fort was in use there was a small river in the bottom of a gentle valley, there lake is the result of activities in the 1970's to control flooding and generate electrical power

 

moved to Point K

at the foot of the hill

 

struggling up the hill toward the point of the bastion

 

 looking downhill from the point of the bastion

 

and along the northern face of the fort

 

moved to Point L

 

and finishing up at Point M

 

 

The Interior

               The numbers indicate the approximate location where I was standing where I took the picture

 

 

Point 1, just inside the sally-port, a look to the left

 

scanning across the interior, notice the steepness of the hill

 

 looking straight down the slope, the good reader will remember that the lake was actually a 

valley with a small river running through it at the time of the fort's occupation

 

further to the west we find the magazine

 

last we look straight along the wall to the right

 

from Point 2, scanning counterclockwise, looking back at the sally port

 

further along we see the magazine

 

and the northern end of the Long Barracks

 

the stepped foundations are each about three feet tall on the high end

 

at the far southern end the ground finally levels off enough to allow a longer barracks building

 

looking straight down toward the main gate

 

looking southeast toward the blacksmith shop and bastion

 

and then the officer's quarters, again notice the slope

 

at the top of the hill the base commander's house

 

looking north at the firing step inside the pallisade

 

and back to the sally-port

 

Point 3, the magazine

 

the front (and only) door

 

walking around 

 

strangely thin door for a  magazine

 

I am willing to bet that it was better stocked than this

 

although I would be happy if those muskets were in my magazine

 

Point 4, the northwest bastion

 

a replica of one of the twelve guns that the fort had

 

looking back into the center of the fort

 

and south along the western wall

 

peeing out the gunport

 

looking east along the inside of the north wall

 

looking south

 

 

Point 5, looking straight south along the west wall

 

Point 6, the southwest bastion

 

the deck is made up of four inch thick planking

 

the gunports seem oddly large

 

the alternating long and short pales create crenelations that would permit muskets firing from the wall

 

scanning north to east across the interior

 

another small cannon, these were brought in on the backs of pack horses

 

the hedge provides no cover for attackers but offers a substantial obstacle

 

a defending soldier's view of the hedge

 

Point 7, the southern gate

 

 

the trader's warehouse

 

looking north from the main gate

 

Point 7a, defenses outside the main gate

 

Point 8, no tents, the re-enactors were not on duty when I visited,

looking east along the inside of  the south wall

the blacksmiths shop with the well in the foreground

 

close up of the well

Point 9, the blacksmith's shop

 

the blacksmith's shop, as far as possible from the magazine

 

Point 10, the southeast bastion

 

looking north up the eastern face

(and uphill!)

 

Point 11, a barracks block

 

seriously one-star accommodations

 

the interior

 

I do like the stone fireplace 

but I think they could do more with the interior decoration

 

Point 12, the bread oven

 

or, less likely, a brick pizza oven

 

Point 13, looking south from just inside the eastern sally port

 

scanning across the interior

 

the officer's quarters

 

looking up the inside of the eastern wall

 

it is very steep, I can't imagine climbing this in 18th century kit

 

even the officers lived in spartan circumstances

 

Point 15, the trader's warehouse near the main gate

 

inside of the Trader's warehouse

 

Point 16, the western barracks

 

barracks interior

 

looking uphill from the south end of the barracks

 

looking south from the top of he hill