This timeline outlines the major events connected to Fort Duffield, the 9th Michigan Infantry, and the town of West Point during the critical early months of the Civil War. It covers the arrival of troops, construction of the fort, outbreaks of disease, and the deaths and burials that shaped the history of Muldraugh’s Hill.

• Late October: The 9th Michigan Infantry arrives in West Point, Kentucky.
• Troops begin ascending Muldraugh’s Hill to select a defensive position.
• Construction of Fort Duffield begins almost immediately.
• Measles and typhoid fever appear in camp within days of arrival.
• 10/28: First recorded death — Private Joseph Duffee, Co. K, 9th Michigan (Meningitis).

• Construction continues daily — cutting timber, hauling earth, shaping parapets.
• Disease spreads rapidly: measles, typhoid, dysentery, pneumonia.
• Multiple deaths occur nearly every day between November 13 and November 30.
• 11/13: Private James Winters falls into a cistern and dies.
• 11/18–11/30: Continuous burials on the hill southwest of the fort.
• By the end of November, the fort is largely complete.

• Cold weather intensifies sickness among the troops.
• Typhoid fever becomes the leading cause of death.
• 12/01–12/16: A second wave of deaths strikes Companies H, I, A, and F.
• Bugler Charles Jordan (Co. G) dies on December 1.
• Musician Adonijah N. Chamberlain (Band, 9th Michigan) dies on December 4.
• By year’s end, dozens of soldiers have died in West Point or on the hill.

• Winter conditions worsen; pneumonia and typhoid continue to claim lives.
• 01/01: Private Russell H. Farnham (Co. C) dies of pneumonia.
• 01/17: Private Philetus Bacon (Co. C) dies of pneumonia.
• 01/18: Two deaths on the same day — Robert Evans and Earlman Vaughn.
• The fort remains occupied but never attacked.

• Typhoid fever continues to affect the regiment.
• 02/09: Private Richard W. Presley dies of disease.
• 02/17: Musician William Wilson (Co. D) dies of typhoid fever.
• 02/24: Private Ira Wheeler (Co. H) dies of typhoid fever.

• 03/27: Private Patrick O’Brien (Co. H) dies of typhoid fever.
• O’Brien is buried in Nashville National Cemetery but memorialized at Fort Duffield.
• 03/28: Private Charles Anthony (1st Michigan Light Artillery) dies of pneumonia.

• Fort Duffield’s role shifts as Union forces move deeper into Kentucky and Tennessee.
• 08/12: Private Conrad Gleb (28th Kentucky) drowns near West Point.
• 09/24: Private Leonard Jones (9th Kentucky) dies of chronic diarrhea.

• Twenty-seven unknown soldiers of the 9th Michigan are disinterred from the hillside cemetery.
• They are reburied in New Albany National Cemetery, Indiana.
• The stones at Fort Duffield today serve as memorial markers for the original burials.

The timeline of Fort Duffield reflects the urgency and hardship of the early Civil War in Kentucky. Although the fort never saw battle, the men who built and occupied it endured sickness, cold, labor, and loss. Their experiences shaped the history of West Point and left a lasting imprint on the hillside where the fort still stands today.