Below, I’m posting a composite graphic showing where I think the southernmost artillery emplacement (redan) from Raleigh’s Civil War fortifications probably existed relative to today’s landscape. I’m giving this map location the tentative name “Green’s Place,” based on the apparent name of the Civil War-era landholder in the area.

Both the Drayton and Guion maps of the Civil War earthworks around Raleigh show a southernmost loop and redan almost due south of the downtown grid. I’m suggesting that these Green’s Place fortifications lay just north of today’s intersection of Raleigh’s Beltline (I-440) and South Saunders Street.

The Civil War maps show a promontory or hill of high ground above a slope heading down to Walnut Creek, which describes a distinctive loop that you can see on both the old and current maps. (I’ve been calling this a promontory because it is at the top of the slope leading down to the creek, but maybe there would be another better term for this landform.)

See more discussion below this graphic (click here for a higher-resolution PDF version of this graphic):

It’s possible that the promontory from Civil War times straddled the current location of South Saunders Street. The west side of the street is quite built up, but the east side is mostly bare right now, within the area generally circumscribed by South Saunders, Penmarc Drive, and the Walnut Creek Trail. At its highest point, within the corner of South Saunders and Penmarc, there was once a commercial or industrial building.

If the redan was located where South Saunders Street is now, or to its west, it’s likely that no detectable remains exist. However, on the less-developed east side of the Green’s Place promontory, remote sensing or an archaeological survey might be able to reveal the line of Civil War earthworks on today’s landscape.

ARB — 18 Oct. 2019