The city of Raleigh, NC, was once surrounded by an 8-mile long line of breastworks. At intervals the line contained 17 lunettes. It appears to have never been occupied during the war. Governor Vance commissioned the line at the urging of its citizens in 1863. It was designed and supervised by Lieutenant Colonel Henry T. Guion and built by enslaved laborers (link) between July and October of that year. Guion’s map is shown below with a link (Guion map, PDF version). The best website for Civil War Fortifications in Raleigh, NC is run by Al Bredenberg (link).
Another map called the Drayton map was drawn up based on a stolen Rebel map which was probably the Guion map (Drayton Map, PDF version).
Mr. Bredenberg has used a variety of techniques to create a map of the line overlayed on a satellite image in Google MyMaps, which is shown below at the link. It can be used in real time for self-guided tours.
Parts of the line may still exist see links but I don’t see them on LiDAR- New Bern Avenue, Southernmost Redan, WRAL hidden history, and Dix Park History Hike.
Stop 1
Stop 2
Stop 3
Stop 4
Stop 5
Stop 6
Stop 7
Stop 8
It is possible that small parts of this line may be visible to the naked eye but LiDAR imaging using high quality digital elevation models generated by the state of North Carolina don’t show evidence of it.
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