Civil War Forts
Chippewa Square’s raised perimeter is an unfinished defensive ring built by enslaved labor during the Civil War, meant to shield Savannah from Union advance.
During the Civil War, Savannah’s military planners constructed earthworks encircling the city’s downtown, including Chippewa Square. These were not ceremonial but functional—ramparts dug into the high ground around the square, meant to mount artillery and slow advancing troops. Enslaved and free Black workers dug, hauled, and compacted the earth under harsh conditions, often overnight and in secrecy.
Though the forts never saw combat, their presence shaped Union strategy. Sherman’s troops bypassed them during the 1864 capture by approaching from the south and east instead. The earthworks’ failure to engage was a tactical success for the Union but a testament to the labor and desperation behind their construction. Their earth has since settled, but the embankments remain visible in the square’s topography.
Today, walking the perimeter of Chippewa Square reveals the subtle rise in elevation, especially along Abercorn Street and East Statesboro Street. This is not but engineering—designed for concealment and defense. The soil here holds the weight of forced labor and military calculus. No markers explain it; the landscape itself tells the story if you look closely.
