Fort W.D. Whipple

 (1862-1865) - A U.S. Civil War Fort established in 1862 in present day Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. Named Fort W.D. Whipple after Brigadier General William D. Whipple,. The fort was abandoned by Union troops in 1865 after the end of the war. Also known as Fort Whipple and Redoubt Donaldson.

History of Fort W.D. Whipple
"Redoubt Donaldson (now called W. D. Whipple) is situated midway between Hyde Ferry Fort and Gillem. It is a small battery with seven exterior and two interior embrasures. On the gorge, closed by a stockade, is a little octagonal block-house of ten feet sides, made bomb-proof. This small redoubt, intended for a six-gun field battery, covers the ground between Gillem and Hyde Ferry Fort, and is supported by infantry entrenchments on either side. I devised it for a model battery. The faces from angles of 144 degrees, while the embrasures open 40 degrees, so that the guns on each face can fire parallel to the contiguous capitals. By this arrangement there are no sectors without fire; in fact, the fire on the bisecting line of the angles is equal to that in any other direction. Such batteries, placed at intervals of 600 yards along infantry entrenchments, constitute a good defensive line for inclosing a city. Key points should be occupied by redoubts as large as Hyde Ferry Fort. Within this inclosing line should be built one or more strong redoubts to serve as citadels or keeps to the outer line, and arranged to fire into the gorges of the batteries, which, being simple stockades, would not shelter the enemy should he succeed in acquiring temporary possession. Battery Donaldson, commenced while Hood's army was approaching Nashville, is completed. For its preservation the exterior slopes have been sodded by the soldiers of the field battery stationed near."

The Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville began on 15 Dec 1864 south of the city and away from Fort Negley. Fort Negley reportedly fired the first shot of the battle which pitted the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lt. General John Bell Hood,, against Union forces under Major General George H. Thomas,. General Hood had been a student of General Thomas at the United States Military Academy, received instruction in artillery from him. The Union forces prevailed and the Confederates fell back with heavy losses.

Fort W.D. Whipple was abandoned in 1865 at the end of the war.

Current Status
No remains and no markers.

See Also:
 * Nashville Defense System - U.S. Civil War

Sources:
 * , page 748.

Links:
 * North American Forts - Fort W.D. Whipple