Its roadbed, somewhat elevated from the surrounding terrain, gave the novel’s Private Bird Clark and his fictional cousin, the historical Lt. Col. Alfred George Washington O’Brien, a convenient place from which to view Fort Sanders.

Although, unfortunately, not enough of the fort’s approaches to influence the outcome of the Confederate attack.

The ET&G, organized in 1848, was the first RR to link Knoxville with the Atlantic coast, in 1852, via the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Dalton, Georgia. In 1869, the ET&G merged with the East Tennessee & Virginia RR, extending its northern reach to Bristol, TN, on the Virginia state line.