Kenton County, Kentucky
Remnant of War in a Peaceful Forest
Battery Bates is an earthen Civil War cannon battery constructed by the Union Army and civilian volunteers. The three-sided fortification is the most intact remaining structure of the ten-mile line of defensive works built in 1862-63 to protect Cincinnati against Confederate attack. Rifle trenches and an associated military road are also in the mature upland forest around the battery.
Recognizing the pivotal role these fortifications played, the National Register of Historic Places entered Battery Bates in 2018.
Protected by Covington Parks and Recreation
Battery Bates is named for Brigadier General Joshua Hall Bates, chairman of the Cincinnati Committee for Public Safety. It is located in the 246-acre “back-country” area of Devou Park, which is named for the family that donated the park to the City of Covington in 1910.
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How to Find Battery Bates Woodland
From Dixie Highway (U.S. 25) in Fort Wright, turn north on Sleepy Hollow Road (KY 1072), left on Amsterdam Road, right on Fort Henry Drive, and right on Glengarry Way. Proceed almost to the end of Glengarry and park on the street near the sign for the Bates-Coombs Way trail. Walk several hundred feet down the trail through a young woods. When the trail enters a mature forest and merges with a wider trail running from right to left, turn right onto the wider trail, walk 15 feet, and turn left onto the path passing the “permit required for metal detecting” sign. Thirty feet past the sign, turn right onto an ill-defined path ascending the crest of the ridge. Walk a few hundred feet up the path to the battery.
For more information see www.covingtonky.gov/visitors/parks/devou-park and https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/covington/2018/09/27/national-register-civil-war-fortification-kept-cincinnati-safe/1449571002/.