Sally Port

You are now standing at the fort’s official entrance, called the Sally Port. With large, iron doors, this was the only access into and out of the fort’s interior. The Sally Port gives us a chance to think about the people that were and were not allowed to fight for the Union Army at Fort Negley. At the beginning of the war, the Union Army prohibited African Americans from using weapons.

On November 5, 1862, the Confederate Army attempted to retake Nashville. At that time, Fort Negley was still under construction. So, the African American laborers working here asked Union officers for weapons to protect themselves and the fort in case of an attack. But the fort did not have enough guns, nor did Union officers necessarily trust their Black compatriots. Instead, the laborers were given shovels and axes to scare off the Confederate troops. While the laborers did not see hand to hand combat that day, the fort’s show of artillery force defended Nashville against the Confederates and, in September 1863, the Union Army began to recruit Black soldiers in and around middle Tennessee for the United States Colored Troops. 

As a member of the 13th USCT Living History Association, I can tell you about the importance of keeping this history alive. Living history is telling a story— setting a scene where you show exactly what life was like for a soldier. So tents are set up, fires are made. We do drilling exercises like soldiers would do because it does mean something to us when we’re here on this hill. 

But my connection to Fort Negley was deeper than I realized. I had been a re-enactor for six years before I knew that my ancestors not only fought in the Civil War at the Battle of Nashville, but I also learned in 2016, that the same ancestor was here at Fort Negley in 1865. His name was Peter Bailey. Before my father passed, he researched our family’s history and came across a document from the War Department that showed his grandmother had received a pension from the Civil War. I started with this evidence. As I went up that family tree, I found the Bailey family.

With the help of the Sons of Union Veterans Group, I found that Peter Bailey was a part of that family. We know from his enlistment record that Bailey was eighteen years old and stood five feet, two and a half inches tall when he enlisted on January 6, 1864. I was already fighting a battle against ignorance about African Americans who served in the Civil War. It was gratifying to find out my own flesh and blood were a part of that conflict. 

Continue walking along the pathway through the Sally Port, staying to the right. Walk directly across the middle of the fort to wooden walkway on the right, marking the west-facing lookout. Take the RIGHT entrance of the v-shaped walkway. Stop at the sign titled “Battle of Nashville.”