Fot Monroe, Hampton, VA. This is the only star fort I've had the pleasure of visiting, but it was impressive. A few things I found interesting were that there are still people living inside the fort, ... View MoreFot Monroe, Hampton, VA. This is the only star fort I've had the pleasure of visiting, but it was impressive. A few things I found interesting were that there are still people living inside the fort, Edgar Allen Poe was stationed here briefly, and there is a pet cemetery (including markers) along the top level, where people stationed at the fort buried their deceased pets.
📌 Fort Star — Grand Junction, TN
📍 35°03'13.54"N 89°11'01.23"W
Constructed during the winter of 1863 by the Sixth Iowa Infantry, Fort Star guarded one of the most important railroad junctions in the ... View More📌 Fort Star — Grand Junction, TN
📍 35°03'13.54"N 89°11'01.23"W
Constructed during the winter of 1863 by the Sixth Iowa Infantry, Fort Star guarded one of the most important railroad junctions in the Western Theater of the Civil War. After Union forces secured the area, General Ulysses S. Grant transformed Grand Junction into a major supply depot and staging base, with tens of thousands of Union soldiers passing through the town during campaigns across Tennessee and Mississippi.
Construction of the fort began shortly after the regiment arrived in January 1863. General Henry H. Wright later recalled that heavy work details labored throughout the winter to build the earthwork. Though relatively small, Fort Star occupied a strategic position overlooking the railroad junction and helped protect the vital transportation network that sustained Union operations in the region. Confederate cavalry and guerrilla attacks remained a constant threat, including a raid on the railroad north of town in March 1863.
Grand Junction also became an important refuge for thousands of formerly enslaved men, women, and children who sought freedom behind Union lines. Grant established a camp here to provide shelter, food, medical care, and education, making the area significant not only as a military center but also as a place of transition and hope during the war.
Today, Fort Star survives on private property, its earthworks softened by time and partially hidden beneath vegetation. LiDAR cuts through the modern landscape, revealing the outline of the fort and preserving a remarkable reminder of Grand Junction's military and humanitarian role during the Civil War.
Bourtange is a beautiful Dutch village nestled inside a perfect star fort.
Bourtange is a village with a population of 430 in the municipality of Westerwolde in the Netherlands. It is situated in the... View MoreBourtange is a beautiful Dutch village nestled inside a perfect star fort.
Bourtange is a village with a population of 430 in the municipality of Westerwolde in the Netherlands. It is situated in the region Westerwolde in the east of the province of Groningen near the German border. Fort Bourtange was built in 1593 during the Dutch Revolt and was used until 1851.
📌 Fort Perry — Marion County, Georgia
📍 32°29’21.93”N 84°30’28.61”W
Hidden beneath cultivated fields in Marion County, Georgia, LiDAR reveals the faint but surprisingly intact footprint of Fort Perr... View More📌 Fort Perry — Marion County, Georgia
📍 32°29’21.93”N 84°30’28.61”W
Hidden beneath cultivated fields in Marion County, Georgia, LiDAR reveals the faint but surprisingly intact footprint of Fort Perry, a frontier stockade established in 1813 during the Creek War (Red Stick War). The site appears as a geometric enclosure—likely a multi-sided or octagonal defensive work—with traces of embankments, interior disturbances, and possible defensive lines still subtly preserved in the terrain more than two centuries later. Constructed under General John Floyd, Fort Perry functioned as a supply depot and fortified position along the Old Federal Road, a critical military corridor used for troop movement and communication during operations against the Red Stick Creeks in present-day Alabama.
Historical accounts suggest Floyd’s forces moved slightly off the main road to occupy higher nearby ground while establishing camp and temporary fortifications. Local reports of musket ball discoveries and battlefield debris in the surrounding area hint at skirmishing connected to the campaign, though the exact locations of associated earthworks remain debated. From above, LiDAR exposes how the fort sat within a broader military landscape tied to movement corridors, wetlands, and creek crossings that shaped both strategy and survival during the Creek War.
From LiDAR America & Hidden Archaeology
📌Fort Crafford — Fort Eustis, Virginia
📍37°07'42.08"N 76°37'05.92"W
Overlooking the marshy edge of the James River on Mulberry Island, LiDAR reveals the cle... View MoreFrom LiDAR America & Hidden Archaeology
📌Fort Crafford — Fort Eustis, Virginia
📍37°07'42.08"N 76°37'05.92"W
Overlooking the marshy edge of the James River on Mulberry Island, LiDAR reveals the clean pentagonal outline of Fort Crafford, a Confederate earthwork quietly preserved within the landscape. Its angular walls and enclosed interior still stand out clearly, positioned just inland from the shoreline where tidal creeks and wetlands form a natural defensive barrier. From above, it becomes obvious how carefully the fort was placed—covering approaches from both the river and inland routes while tying into the broader Warwick Line defensive system across the Virginia Peninsula.
Constructed in early 1862 as part of the Confederate defenses protecting the approaches to Richmond, Fort Crafford served as a “covering work” behind the nearby Mulberry Point Battery, shielding it from overland attack and providing a fallback position if outer rifle lines were breached. Though the fort never saw direct combat—being abandoned when Confederate forces withdrew toward Richmond following the Peninsula Campaign—the earthworks remain remarkably intact. Archaeological investigations later revealed an even older layer of history beneath the fort itself, including evidence of 17th-century colonial occupation inside the enclosure. Today, LiDAR strips away the forest and marsh to expose both the strategic engineering and the enduring imprint of a fort built to guard one of the Confederacy’s most critical river approaches.
From LiDAR America & Hidden Archaeology
📌 Petersburg Breakthrough Battlefield—Fort Fisher—Fort Conahey—Fort Wheaton/Archer—Fort Welch of Petersburg, VA
📍37°10'31.55"N 77°27'13.68"W... View MoreFrom LiDAR America & Hidden Archaeology
📌 Petersburg Breakthrough Battlefield—Fort Fisher—Fort Conahey—Fort Wheaton/Archer—Fort Welch of Petersburg, VA
📍37°10'31.55"N 77°27'13.68"W
This ground formed part of the extensive siege lines surrounding Petersburg—an interconnected system of trenches, redans, forts, and artillery positions stretching over 30 miles. In this sector, the Confederate works consisted of zigzag trenches, fortified angles, and supporting batteries, while opposing Union lines sat just a few hundred yards away across open ground scarred by months of fighting.
On April 2, 1865, Union forces launched a massive assault here, breaking through the Confederate line after overwhelming pressure along a front nearly 3 miles wide. Key positions became focal points of desperate resistance, but once the line collapsed, the fall of Petersburg and Richmond followed within days. LiDAR imagery today captures the surviving trench lines, fort outlines, and subtle battlefield scars with remarkable clarity—preserving the terrain exactly where the Army of Northern Virginia was forced into retreat, where the ground itself still tells the story of a line that held until it suddenly didn’t, and the moment the war began to end.
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