In 2009, as archaeological investigations of the Sorority Village site were conducted, a Confederate battle site consisting of cannon emplacements and trenches facing the Fort Sanders area was unearthed. The site was the first archaeologically substantiated Confederate battery position used in the Battle of Fort Sanders (November 29, 1863). Unusually well preserved evidence of cannon emplacements, including the original ruts left by their wheels and artifacts, including 42 friction primers, buttons, metal straps, bullets, and rivets, were believed to have been left when soldiers in the trench burned available items to stay warm. A unique feature of the site was that a number of small hearths were carved out of the side of the trench to allow soldiers to light fires in relative safety.
Archaeologists indicated that the trench, believed to have run from the river to the railroad, was the front line of the Confederate siege on Knoxville and found evidence of two, of a possible nine, cannon emplacements.
Plans for the placement of the sorority houses on the site were modified slightly to allow preservation of approximately 60 feet of the south end of the trench, which was marked with a plaque. Some of the artifacts were provided to the McClung Museum for display with its Fort Sanders exhibit.