Support Bill to Preserve D.C. Region Civil War Defenses!

Claude Bauer

First Sergeant
Forum Host
Joined
Jan 8, 2012
If you're into preservation and the promotion of Civil War history, bill HR 3725 is something that you should support! Many are unaware of the extensive nature of the forts and defenses surrounding DC during the Civil War. While Ft. Stevens is probably the best known, by 1864 there were 68 forts, 93 unarmed batteries, 807 mounted cannons, 13 miles of rifle trenches, and 32 miles of military roads forming a protective ring around the city.

This bill would establish the the Civil War Defenses of Washington National Historical Park, including Fort Stevens, and would allow other sites associated with the Civil War Defenses of Washington. The Historical Park would be comprised of certain National Park System lands, and by affiliation and cooperative agreements other historically significant resources, located in DC, Virginia, and Maryland, that were part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington (CWDW) and related to the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864. The bill would also call for a study of ways in which the Civil War history of both the North and South can be assembled, arrayed, and conveyed for the benefit of the public, and for other purposes.

Following is a press release about the bill:

Norton to Speak at Event Marking 155th Anniversary of the Battle of Fort Stevens

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As she prepares to speak at an event marking the Battle of Fort Stevens 155th anniversary this Saturday, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a bill to recognize and preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington located in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland. These defenses were constructed at the beginning of the war, in 1861, as a ring of protection for the nation’s capital and for President Abraham Lincoln. In the summer of 1864, Fort Stevens became the battlefield where Major General Horatio Wright held off Confederate attacks attempting to take the nation’s capital. The battle was personally observed by President Abraham Lincoln.

Norton’s bill would designate 22 Civil War defenses under National Park Service management as the Civil War defenses of Washington National Historical Park, including Fort Stevens, and would allow other sites associated with the Civil War Defenses of Washington that are owned by the District of Columbia and local governments in Maryland or Virginia or private entities to be affiliated with the national historical park through cooperative agreements. The bill would also require the Secretary of the Interior to facilitate the storied history of the Civil War for both the North and the South. In addition, the bill would facilitate highlighting the defenses of Washington and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 for the benefit of the public.

“Taken together, these battles were pivotal to the outcome of the war and the freedom and democracy that the war represented for this country,” Norton said. “Particularly considering Sunday’s commemoration of the Battle of Fort Stevens, it is very fitting that we recognize these sites by designating them as a national historical park as we remember and commemorate the Civil War.”

By the end of the war, these defenses included 68 forts, 93 unarmed batteries, 807 mounted cannons, 13 miles of rifle trenches, and 32 miles of military roads. Nearly all the individual forts in the Civil War Defenses of Washington – on both sides of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers – were involved in stopping Confederate attacks, culminating in the Battle of Fort Stevens, which was the second and last attempt by the Confederate Army to attack Washington.
###​
https://norton.house.gov/media-cent...ll-to-preserve-dc-region-civil-war-defenses-0
 
Claude thanks for letting us all know about this. The only one I've been to is Fort Ward (many times)

When I was a kid, my parents took us to see the remnants of Ft. Marcy which is on the Va. side of the Potomac. We were expecting a fort! Like the ones in the Westerns on TV, or at least a big stone fort like Ft. McHenry! When we got there, my mother said, "That's it?" The ranger then explained why the earthern mound covered with trees that we were looking at was considered a fort during the Civil War.

Here's a good video on the Civil War Defenses of Washington from the NPS:
https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=6328A4BC-921D-0835-E8B5253E9552512B

Here's what Ft. Marcy looked like back in the day:

7AEB8817-1DD8-B71B-0BE598D4EB3EA09C.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top