Tag Archives: Gen. Danville Leadbetter

Builder of lighthouses

The designer of Fort Sanders, Confederate Gen. Danville Leadbetter, learned his engineering trade at West Point, where he graduated in 1836. He then designed Gulf of Mexico lighthouses, several of which still stand. His work included Sand island, off Mobile; … Continue reading

Posted in "Knoxville 1863", Fort Sanders, Gen. Danville Leadbetter | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Leadbetter at Mobile: Some slaves available

Confederate engineer Gen. Danville Leadbetter had no luck at all finding slaveholders willing to loan him their slave laborers to finish Fort Sanders, and so it remained only roughed-out when the Union took Knoxville. The planters of Alabama were just … Continue reading

Posted in "Knoxville 1863", Fort Sanders, Gen. Danville Leadbetter, Knoxville, Slavery | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Danville Leadbetter

“Leadbetter,” First Lieutenant J. Thompson Brown of the Boy Battery muttered when he heard that the Rebel infantry were to be expected to surprise the Yankees in Fort Sanders, instead of the fort being subjected to a concentrated artillery pounding. … Continue reading

Posted in Boy Battery, Fort Sanders, Gen. Danville Leadbetter | Tagged , , | Leave a comment