Fort Marcy, Virginia

[James N.]

Fort Marcy is another of the forts and batteries that ringed Washington, D. C., during the Civil War. Marcy was one of a pair built very early in the war on the Virginia side to protect the northern approaches to the city across the Potomac River via the so-called Chain Bridge, which by then was no longer a suspension bridge but had been replaced by a more permanent structure. Unlike its mate, Fort Ethan Allen, Marcy's namesake was still very much alive: Brig. Gen. Randolph B. Marcy, a Mexican War veteran who was then serving as Chief-of-Staff to his son-in-law, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan.

Today, Fort Marcy is preserved as a unit of the National Capital Parks by the NPS and is accessible mainly from the George Washington Parkway which parallels the Potomac. Its preserved appearance is probably typical of most of the surviving forts and batteries, stabilized and decently maintained but not really restored and somewhat indifferently interpreted. The sign above is one of only two or three that give information about the fort and its purpose.

Within the several discernible bastions it is possible to make out the general lines of the earthen fort; above seem to be individual tiered gun positions which originally held cannon and their carriages on wooden floors or platforms.

The Mexican War-dated N. P. Ames Manufacturing Company 12-pounder howitzer seen in this bastion is an unlikely piece of main armament for one of these fortifications other than possibly at the outset of hostilities; they are far too short-range and small caliber weapons with which to mount a proper defense.

Another now-empty gun position nearby; the battery below now serves more peaceful purposes.

Another Mexican War-dated field gun now stands guard in another bastion.

Although the interior is kept mowed and clear like in the above photo, the dry moat around the fort is being allowed to fill with vegetation as seen below. Of course during Fort Marcy's service all the trees had been cut down to provide open fields of fire.

 

[donna]

Wonderful photos.