Station four

4. Cannon Positions

         a. Fort Duffield is a thousand-foot-long earthen wall with ten angles of fire. The most common gun (cannon) used was the 6-pound smooth bore. At least one gun was positioned behind each of the ten angles of the fort wall for all around covering fire in the direction of many back roads to the south of the fort.

b. According to a letter by Capt. Charles V. DeLand, the distance from the top of the wall to the bottom of the ditch was

17 ft. The top of the wall was 9 ft. wide. Time has eroded the walls to today's present height and thickness.

c. Civil War fortifications were precisely designed. Every angle, mound of earth, and slope you see at Fort

Duffield had a specific purpose. The ten angles of the fort were designed to allow infantry and artillery to sweep every inch of ground in front of the fort. There were no "dead spaces” where an attacking foe could take refuge. As Captain DeLand wrote, "every gun in the fort will sweep the turnpikes and rivers with shot and shell for three miles."

         d. Fort Duffield was not shaped like most forts of the time which were octagon or star shaped. The wall was shaped somewhat like the letter "W" and open on the back side (facing the town of West Point) because of the 300-foot sheer cliff at the rear of the fort.

e.  Although the 9th Michigan was an infantry unit, they manned their own guns until they were relieved by units

from the First Michigan Artillery.

f. A large timbered gate was located at both ends of the thousand-foot-long earthen wall. Both gate areas

hugged the cliff so as to allow maximum protection for the defenders. The fort was so secure that when the request was made for locks for the gates, the quartermaster sent two toy locks as a joke.

         g. Captain Charles Victor DeLand, Commander of Co. C, 9th Michigan Infantry, stated in a letter home that they felt "as secure as a nest of young eagles in our new fort."

         h. Captain DeLand of the 9th Michigan wrote on December 5th, 1861, "Our new camp upon the mountain is a paradise to what we have enjoyed for the past four weeks, and pure air and water are showing their invigorating effects upon the men daily, almost hourly."

The fort was fifteen rods deep, and about forty rods in a straight line from right to left; but it was about eighty rods to follow all the angles, with a wide, deep ditch all around it, and would mount ten cannons and 1,000 men. A corn field occupied the top of the hill when we took possession, but all around that were large trees which were cut down to give free range to the guns.

From the Central area and we look down the berm, it is somewhat hard to really see what it would have looked back when the 9th MI started to build the fort. Click code for picture.