Following the panic caused by the failed Abel Streight Raid on July 13, 1863, the Rome City Council allocated $3000 to build a string of forts on the hills surrounding the city. General Braxton Bragg ordered that the fortifications “be completed in proper military style and manned with seiege guns.” Over the next few months, the forts were constructed using slave labor under the authority of West Point-trained engineer Confederate Major General Gustavus W. Smith. Fort Attaway sat on Desoto Hill along the west bank of the Oostanaula River; Fort Stovall was on the south bank atop Myrtle Hill; and Fort Norton was constructed on Jackson Hill on the east bank north of the city.
When Union Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis approached Rome on May 15, 1864, he reported, “Two formidable fieldwork, one situated on the east bank of the Oostanaula and the other on the south bank of the Coosa. The works look too strong I thought it imprudent to storm them hastily.” Although shelling from Fortt Attaway stalled Davis, the Confederates, under orders from General Joseph E. Johnston, pulled out of Rolme within the next two days, leaving the city open to the Federal invaders. Today, the well-preserved earthworks are protected in the Rome City Park atop Civic Center Hill.