Battery Cameron was a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

defensive site during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

. Battery Cameron was one in a chain of fortifications in the

Civil War Defenses of Washington The Civil War Defenses of Washington were a group of Union Army fortifications that protected the federal capital city, Washington, D.C., from invasion by the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War (see Washington, D.C., in the Amer ...

, D.C., also known as the " Fort Circle". The

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

was located atop a hill on Foxhall Road at what is now the intersection of Foxhall and Whitehaven Parkway, NW. The battery included two 100-pound

Parrott rifle The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle-loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War. Parrott rifle The gun was invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He was an American soldier and inv ...

s, placed in such a way as to sweep Aqueduct Bridge, and Virginia beyond.

The site on which Battery Cameron was located is now a reservoir. The property is administered by the Army Corps of Engineers. Its neighbors are the German Embassy (to the south), and

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

's Mount Vernon Campus (to the north).

First High Service Reservoir

Underneath Battery Cameron is a facility administered by the DC Water and Sewer Authority ( WASA) called the "First High Service Reservoir". For many residents in the area, this is the first place that potable water is pumped after it has been treated at the Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant. The First High Service Reservoir was built in 1924, and has a capacity of .

International espionage

Robert Hanssen Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944) is an American former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) double agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001. His espionage was described ...

, the former

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence agencies until 2001, used the utility pole on the corner of Foxhall and Whitehaven, just outside the fence of the reservoir (formerly known as Battery Cameron) as a signal site.Indictment of

, page 56. http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/hanssen/hnssnstatefacts3.pdf

References

{{reflist Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War