Adam Badeau, Military history of Ulysses S. Grant from April 1861 to April 1865. Volume 1

[37] accessible series of hills, some of them rising abruptly over a hundred feet; every advantage had been taken of the character of the ground; the country was densely wooded, but the timber had been felled far out in advance of the breastworks, the smaller trees chopped till they stood about breast-high, and the limbs left attached to the stumps, forming an unusually difficult abatis. Two streams set back from the Cumberland, whose waters were now high, and these streams formed the right and left defences of the rebel line, which extended nearly three miles, and was strongly intrenched. At intervals inside, were secondary lines and detached works, commanding the outer intrenchments, which were more than two miles from the river, and covered the town of Dover. The slashing was continued between the rifle-pits and the main fortification; streamlets, gullies, and ravines added to the strength of the place, and light batteries were posted on commanding heights, as well as along the advanced line.

The main fort itself was built on a precipitous height, or rather range, cloven by a deep gorge opening to the south; it was about three-quarters of a mile from the breastworks, and overlooked both the river and the interior. It covered a hundred acres of ground, and was defended by fifteen heavy guns and two carronades. Water batteries, admirably located to control the river navigation, were sunken on the hillsides towards the Cumberland, and the entire amount of rebel artillery, including the light batteries, was sixty-five pieces. The garrison numbered, as nearly as can be ascertained, twenty-one thousand men¹ a great part of whom had been recently thrown