Columbus fortress and railhead
Army post, Columbus, Kentucky.
- Side
- Confederate
- Kind
- Army post
- Where
- Columbus, Kentucky
- Years
- 1861-1862
- Today
- Park
COLUMBUS FORTRESS AND RAILHEAD
Leonidas Polk fortified the bluff from September 3, 1861, with 143 cannon and a chain across the Mississippi to Belmont, Missouri, to block Union gunboats and supply vessels. Northern terminus of the Mobile and Ohio, it tied the river to Confederate supply lines.
Then
Leonidas Polk fortified the bluff at Columbus from September 3, 1861, with 143 cannon and a chain across the Mississippi to Belmont, Missouri, to block Union gunboats and supply vessels. As the northern terminus of the Mobile and Ohio, it tied the river to Confederate supply lines.
Now
Park
Columbus-Belmont State Park holds the site, the remains of the Lady Polk cannon and a museum in a farmhouse that served as a Confederate hospital.
The nearest railroad in service today is a line owned by CN, about 5 miles away.
Served by
Nearby
- 0 miColumbus supply baseUnion · Supply base, Columbus, Kentucky
- 18 miCairo naval stationUnion · Naval works, Cairo, Illinois
- 18 miCairo supply baseUnion · Supply base, Cairo, Illinois
- 22 miMound City naval stationUnion · Naval works, Mound City, Illinois
- 29 miIsland No. 10 surrenders, opening the Mississippi to Fort PillowApril 8, 1862, Island No. 10, New Madrid Bend, Tennessee
- 34 miPaducah supply depotUnion · Supply base, Paducah, Kentucky