The Civil War Defenses of Washington were a group of
Union Army fortifications
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
that protected the
federal capital city,
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, from invasion by the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
.
Some of these fortifications are part of a grouping of properties now managed by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
(NPS) and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. Others are parts of state, county, or city parks or are located on privately owned properties. A trail connecting the sites is part of the
Potomac Heritage Trail.
Parts of the earthworks of some such fortifications still exist; others have been demolished. A 19.5-mile long trail connecting some of the forts was designated as a
National Recreation Trail
The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...
in 1971.
History
Civil War
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
,
Union forces built in the
Washington, D.C. area, included 68 major enclosed
forts
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from ...
used to house soldiers and store artillery and other supplies. They also built 93 prepared but unarmed
batteries for field guns and seven
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
s. There were also 20 miles of rifle pits and 30 miles of connecting military roads. The
Confederacy never captured any of these forts, though some came under enemy fire.
Most were built on the limits of the city, which had remained relatively rural. Most of the land was privately owned and taken over by the military at the beginning of the Civil War.
Some examples include:
* Fort Slemmer: A 24-acre plot was owned by Henry Douglas, a florist. Flowers, 1,970 fruit trees, vines, bushes, and other plants were destroyed to complete the fort. This made the land owner unable to work in this trade.
* Fort Reno: The land belonged to Giles and Miles Dyer. The farmhouse was used by the Army as the headquarters for various commands encamped in the area. The fortification covered 20 acres of land. Some 50 more acres were used for barracks, camps, and a parade ground.
* Forts Chaplin and Craven: These forts were built on land belonging to Selby B. Scaggs. He owned a farm there totaling about 400 acres and worth $52,000. Four laborers also lived there. According to the 1860 Census Slave Schedule, Scaggs was also an enslaver of 16 people.
* Fort DeRussy: The fort was built on land owned by Bernard S. Swart, a clerk. He lived there with his wife, three children and two farmhands. Today his land is part of
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along Rock Cr ...
.
* Fort DuPont: The fort was built on the land owned by 60-year-old Michael Caton, worth $5,000 in 1860. He lived there with his wife, five children (aged 18 to 30), and one domestic worker.
* Fort Slocum: The fort was in part built on the land owned by John F. Callan, also a clerk. He lived there with his wife and their eight children (aged 8 to 24).
* Fort Bayard: The fort was built on land belonging to a farmer named Philip J. Buckey, who lived there with his wife, four children and two servants.
* Battery Kemble and part of Fort Gaines: The land was owned by William A.T. Maddox, a
U.S. Marine Corps captain stationed in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
* Fort Stevens: The land belonged to Emory Methodist Church. Some land may have belonged to Elizabeth Thomas, a free black woman. Her house was demolished in the process. Documentation for her ownership was never discovered but the story has become part of the local
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
.
The forts in the District of Columbia were temporary structures. They were in most part built of earthen embankments, timber with limited masonry and were surrounded by trenches and flanked with
abatis
An abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a field fortification consisting of an obstacle formed (in the modern era) of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced ...
. They were not designed to serve beyond the Civil War as the land was intended to be returned to its owners at that time.
Most of these owners lost possession of their land for the duration of the war and were unable to receive income from it. Only a few received compensation or rent from the land during the war.
Development of the "Fort Circle"

In 1898, an interest in connecting the forts by a road was proposed. Known as the Fort Drive, it would connect all the forts from the east of the city to the west.
In 1919 the
Commissioners of the District of Columbia pushed
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
to pass a bill to consolidate the aging forts into a "Fort Circle" system of parks that would ring the growing city of Washington. As envisioned by the Commissioners, the Fort Circle would be a green ring of parks outside the city, owned by the government, and connected by a "Fort Drive" road in order to allow Washington's citizens to easily escape the confines of the capital. However, the bill allowing for the purchase of the former forts, which had been turned back over to private ownership after the war, failed to pass both the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
and
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
Despite that failure, in 1925 a similar bill passed both the House and Senate, which allowed for the creation of the
National Capital Parks Commission (NCPC) to oversee the construction of a Fort Circle of parks similar to that proposed in 1919. The NCPC was authorized to begin purchasing land occupied by the old forts, much of which had been turned over to private ownership following the war. Records indicate that the site of Fort Stanton was purchased for a total of $56,000 in 1926. The duty of purchasing land and constructing the fort parks changed hands several times throughout the 1920s and 1930s, eventually culminating with the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service taking control of the project in the 1940s.
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, crews from the
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
embarked on projects to improve and maintain the parks, which were still under the control of District authority at that time. At Fort Stanton, CCC members trimmed trees and cleared brush, as well as maintaining and constructing park buildings. Various non-park buildings were also discussed for the land. The City Department of Education proposed building a school on park land, while authorities from the local water utility suggested the construction of a water tower would be suitable for the tall hills of the park. The
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
interrupted these plans, and post-war budget cuts instituted by President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
postponed the construction of the Fort Drive once more. Though land for the parks had mostly been purchased, construction of the ring road connecting them was pushed back again and again. Other projects managed to find funding, however. In 1949, President Truman approved a supplemental appropriation request of $175,000 to construct "a swimming pool and associated facilities" at Fort Stanton Park.
In 1963, when President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
began pushing Congress to finally build the Fort Circle Drive, many in Washington and the National Park Service were openly questioning whether the plan had outgrown its usefulness. By this time, Washington, D.C. had grown past the ring of forts that had protected it a century earlier, and city surface roads already connected the parks, albeit not in as linear a route as envisioned. The plan to link the fort parks via a grand drive was quietly dropped in the years that followed and replaced by a plan to instead build a
Fort Circle Trail.
Administration
The
National Capital Parks-East unit of the National Park Service administers Forts Foote, Greble, Stanton, Ricketts, Davis, Dupont, Chaplin, Mahan and Battery Carroll in the District of Columbia and Maryland. The
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along Rock Cr ...
unit administers Forts Bunker Hill, Totten, Slocum, Stevens, DeRussy, Reno, Bayard, Battery Kemble and
Battleground National Cemetery in the District of Columbia. The
George Washington Memorial Parkway
The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a limited-access road, limited-access parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maint ...
administers Fort Marcy in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
.
In 2024 legislation was proposed that would reorganize the forts into a
national historical park
National Historic Site (NHS) and National Historical Park (NHP) are designations for officially recognized areas of nationally historic significance in the United States. They are usually owned and managed by the federal government. An NHS usually ...
, though the National Park Service opposed changes to the existing administration.
Fortifications
The 1865 map shows the following fortifications, some of which no longer exist. Forts in ''italic type'' are included in the National Register of Historic Places listing.
Northwest Quadrant
* Fort Cross (MD)
* Fort Kirby (MD)
*
Fort Sumner (MD)
* Battery Alexander (MD)
* Fort Simmons (MD)
* Fort Davis (MD)
* Battery Benson (MD)
* Battery Bailey (MD)
* Fort Mansfield (MD)
*
Battery Cameron
* Battery Parrott
* ''
Battery Kemble''
* Battery Martin Scott
* Battery Vermont
* ''
Fort Bayard''
* Fort Gaines
* ''
Fort Reno''
* Battery Rossell
*
Fort Kearny
* Battery Terrill
* Battery Smead
* Battery Kingsbury
* ''
Fort De Russy''
* Battery Sill
* ''
Fort Stevens''
Northeast Quadrant
* ''
Fort Slocum''
* ''
Fort Totten''
*
Fort Slemmer
* ''
Fort Bunker Hill''
*
Fort Saratoga
*
Fort Thayer
* ''
Fort Lincoln''
Eastern Branch
* ''Fort Mahan''
* ''Fort Chaplin''
* Fort Meigs
* ''
Fort Dupont
Fort DuPont, named in honor of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, is located between the original Delaware City and the modern Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the original Reeden Point tract, which was granted to Henry Ward in 1675. Along ...
''
* ''
Fort Davis''
* Fort Baker
* Fort Wagner
* ''
Fort Ricketts''
* ''
Fort Stanton''
*
Fort Snyder
* ''Fort Carroll''
* ''
Fort Greble''
Potomac Approaches
* ''
Fort Foote, MD''
*
Battery Rogers, VA
*
Fort Washington, MD
Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, it had a popu ...
Arlington Line – Virginia
From North to South:
* ''
Fort Marcy''
*
Fort Ethan Allen
*
Fort C. F. Smith
* Fort Bennett
* Fort Strong (formerly Fort DeKalb)
*
Fort Corcoran
Fort Corcoran was a wood-and-earthwork fortification constructed by the Union Army in northern Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. Built in 1861, shortly after the occupation of Arlington, Virginia ...
* Fort Haggerty
* Fort Morton
*
Fort Woodbury
Fort Woodbury was a Lunette (fortification), lunette fortification built in 1861 by the 4th Michigan Infantry Regiment during the early American Civil War. It was part of the larger Arlington Line, an extensive network of fortifications erected i ...
*
Fort Cass (later within
Fort Myer
Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...
)
*
Fort Whipple (later within
Fort Myer
Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...
)
*
Fort Tillinghast
* Fort McPherson
* Fort Buffalo
*
Fort Ramsay
*
Fort Craig
*
Fort Albany
*
Fort Jackson
*
Fort Runyon
*
Fort Richardson
* Fort Barnard
* Fort Berry
*
Fort Scott
*
Battery Garesche
*
Fort Reynolds
*
Fort Ward
*
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
*
Fort Williams
*
Fort Ellsworth
*
Fort Lyon
*
Fort Farnsworth
* Fort Weed
*
Fort O'Rourke
*
Fort Willard
See also
*
Field artillery in the American Civil War
Field artillery in the American Civil War refers to the artillery weapons, equipment, and practices used by the Field Artillery Branch (United States), artillery branch to support Infantry in the American Civil War, infantry and Cavalry in the ...
*
List of forts in the United States
*
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 inven ...
*
Seacoast defense in the United States
Seacoast defense was a major concern for the United States from its independence through World War II. Before airplanes, many of America's enemies could only reach it from the sea, making coastal forts an economical alternative to standing armie ...
(Fort Washington, Fort Foote, and Battery Rodgers)
*
Siege artillery in the American Civil War
Siege artillery is heavy artillery primarily used in military attacks on fortified positions. At the time of the American Civil War, the U.S. Army classified its artillery into three types, depending on the gun's weight and intended use. Fiel ...
References
Footnotes
Citations
Sources
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External links
*
* , ''NRHP''
* , ''NRHP''
* Floyd, Dale E
Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C. National Cable Satellite Corporation, March 14, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Defenses Of (Civil War)
American Civil War forts in Virginia
American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places
Forts in Maryland
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
National Recreation Trails in Washington, D.C.