PITTSBURGH FORTIFICATIONS (1863)

The city’s pro-union sentiment, diverse industry, skilled crafts, and strategic position on river and rail networks made Pittsburgh an important Union bastion. When Robert E. Lee launched the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania, he sent cavalry leader Jeb Stuart on a wide-ranging raid that spread terror across the state. Pittsburgh responded by organizing more than 10,000 workers to construct 37 fortifications ringing the city in June 1863. J&L ironworkers helped fortify the ridge above Southside. African-Americans formed labor brigades to dig trenches. When Lincoln was assassinated, the Pittsburgh Gazette editorialized: “He is not a true man who does not vow that he will give himself no rest until Slavery and the spirit of Slavery are thoroughly rooted out of this land.

map of fortifications