Fort Harker (Alabama)

Fort Harker
Fort Harker Artillery
Fort Harker (Alabama) is located in Alabama
Fort Harker (Alabama)
LocationSouth of AL 117
Nearest cityStevenson, Alabama
Coordinates34°51′41″N 85°50′24″W / 34.86139°N 85.84000°W / 34.86139; -85.84000
Built1862
NRHP reference No.77000205
Added to NRHPMay 2, 1977

Fort Harker, located near Stevenson, Alabama, was a military fortification built by the Union Army during the American Civil War. Constructed in the summer of 1862 by soldiers and freed slaves of the Army of the Cumberland, the fort helped secure strategic railroad lines to ensure the free movement of Union troops and supplies in southeastern Tennessee and northeastern Alabama. Union General William Rosecrans established his headquarters at Fort Harker in July, 1863, from where he directed a successful campaign against the position of Confederate General Braxton Bragg in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The fort would be abandoned after the war and fall into disrepair. After restoration, the site became a city park in 1985.