These unusual Rebel forts outside Atlanta were never tested by Sherman. A few Shoupades survive; volunteers toil to reveal a trench between two of them

Ron Wendt steps near exposed trench leading up to First Shoupade; Matt Larson wields a mattock; work Sunday was near Shoupade, 2, and redan, 3; the other Shoupade is marked 4; diagram shows defense design (Picket photos)

Where cannons and rifles once bristled, mattocks, saws and loppers were the weapons of the day Sunday afternoon for a small, but hardy crew working to clear vegetation and expose a trench that connected unique Confederate fortifications outside Atlanta.

The nonprofit River Line Historic Area (RLHA) sponsored the “Trimming the Trenches” workday at Shoupade Park in Smyrna, Ga. The goal is to “enrich the visitor's visual educational experience.”

Timber and earthen redoubts – known as Shoupades -- were built by enslaved laborers near the Chattahoochee River and were briefly manned in July 1864. The arrowhead shape allowed defenders to shoot in several directions. Artillery placed in nearby redans added to “the killing zone.” (Bill Scaife model of a Shoupade, left)

RLHA  and individuals have been working to expose the infantry trench between one Shoupade and a redan. The park is in the middle of a residential development.

While the work is still to be completed, progress was made Sunday. I could see the faint line indicating the trench where troops could move from one fortification to the next.

Born in Indiana, Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup (right) lent his name to a fort system that Union Maj. Gen William T. Sherman, intent on taking Atlanta, called “one of the strongest pieces of field fortifications I ever saw.”

The Chattahoochee River was the last natural obstacle for Union troops moving on Atlanta.

Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered a series of defenses and the Rebels built 36 Shoupade forts, said Roberta Cook, executive director of RLHA. Ten remain in various levels of condition. Some are on public land and some on private property.

For all their ingenuity, the Shoupades never saw action. Sherman, using his familiar flanking strategy, crossed the river elsewhere, forcing Confederates to retreat to Atlanta. There is a belief that Johnston and some of his soldiers did not fully appreciate Shoupade's work.

Cobb County owns the two-acre Shoupade Park and cuts the grass in the common area between its two Shoupades.

The shoupades are in vegetation in the center and a cleared area to the right (Cobb County Parks)

The earthworks are fenced but visitors get a good view and four signs explain how they worked. Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, wrote the text. That organization has lamented development around several River Line sites.

“The River Line Historic Area adopted the park eight years ago to improve its level of care with volunteer labor, but it has been a challenge,” said Cook.

Volunteers have concentrated on clearing excess vegetation from the redan and the “First Shoupade.” English ivy is being kept in place to ward off erosion on the latter, Cook said. Recent work days have concentrated on the connecting trench so people can a better idea of how the defensive system was designed. 

Roberta Cook, Matt Larson, Gould Hagler, Julie Schrodt, Ron Wendt (Picket photo)

Shoupade Park is bordered by the Park Avenue subdivision. Pulte Homes donated the fortifications to the county when it built the large neighborhood on Oakdale Road, and it paid for the interpretive signage.

Cook led Sunday’s effort. Joining her were Matt Larson and Julie Schrodt, Park Avenue residents, and Gould Hagler and Ron Wendt, members of area Civil War roundtables. Schrodt  is a RLHA board member.

The nonprofit is involved in several endeavors, including maintaining historic cemeteries.

The Chattahoochee River Line stretched for nearly six miles and was meant to slow Federals. But Johnston was largely buying time before he was outflanked.

Cobb County maintains Discovery Park at the River Line, which features a Shoupade, anchor fort and an impressive stretch of Confederate earthworks. It is a few miles south of Shoupade Park.

I visited the park after the work day and enjoyed the walk on the top of a ridge and down below where a trail parallels the Chattahoochee River. 

Cobb County Parks maintains a helpful web page about Discovery Park, including a guide to Civil War markers. New trails and signs have been introduced in the past five years.

“Designed by a Confederate officer and built by army engineers, heavy units of the Georgia militia, slightly wounded soldiers and about a thousand enslaved Africans, these fortifications are some of the few still remaining,” the page says.

Julie Schrodt removes branches; interior of First Shoupade at Shoupade Park (Picket photos)

“The defensive line became known as Johnston’s River Line after Confederate General Joseph E. Johnson and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These fortifications are important as a reminder of the way war was fought in the 19^th century. Their historical importance and undisturbed state have led to their preservation.”

Crawford, with the GBA, said a Federal artillery battery site at Discovery Park is currently off-limits. Battery D, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, served west of Nickajack Creek.

The city of Smyrna's River Line Park includes another Shoupade.

The Second Shoupade at the park off Oakdale Road (Picket photo)