The Battle of Fort Stevens and Battleground National Cemetery

James N.

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Fort Stevens

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Earthen Fort Stevens is doubtless the best known of the several dozen that once ringed Washington, D. C., since it was the only one that was ever in any way attacked and because there Abraham Lincoln became the only sitting Chief Executive to come under enemy fire. The park, now a unit of the National Capital Parks, was reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930's. Although today it is completely surrounded by an urban landscape the fort and the nearby tiny National Cemetery serve to commemorate the action there.

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This marker shows the original dimentions of Fort Stevens, named for Union Maj. Gen. Isaac I. Stevens, killed Sept. 1, 1862, at the Battle of Chantilly, Va., in the wake of Second Bull Run/Manassas. The smaller redoubt at the right on the model was omitted in the reconstruction, leaving a relatively symmetrical five-sided work that has been left open at the rear or gorge, here shown to have been covered by a palisade or stockade.

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The wooden works of stockade and reenforcing timbers have been replicated in cement for durability and look passably realistic, even "in person". Two original 30-pounder Parrott rifled cannon mounted on replica carriages have been placed within the embrasures near the spot where Lincoln supposedly stood on the rampart.

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Below, the reconstructed powder magazine.

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The battle was occasioned by Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's so-called "raid" on the defenses of Washington, D. C., in the aftermath of his bloody victory at the Monocacy River and its namesake B&O rail junction on July 9, 1964, which opened the way to the Federal capital. President Lincoln had been staying, as was his custom, at the nearby Soldier's Home in Washington's northern reaches about three miles from the White House. Though Lincoln was discouraged from remaining there in what was thought to be an exposed location, he nevertheless wished a closer look at the impending action.

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Next, the Battle of Fort Stevens
 
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"Get Down You Dam ned Fool!" - Battle at Fort Stevens

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The battle was a relatively small affair since Jubal Early chose not to press his luck by assaulting head-on the formidable Union defenses. When he first arrived at Silver Spring, Maryland, the afternoon of July 11, it was possible he might've brushed aside the relatively weak and undermanned garrison of clerks, invalids, etc., but that is not at all certain. Instead he allowed his tired and hungry army to rest and recuperate while skirmishers probed the defenses and he and his generals relaxed and joked about putting former U. S. Vice President John C. Breckenridge, now one of Early's division commanders, at the head of the army and marching to the Capitol to restore him to office.

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This is how Fort Stevens might have looked to members of Early's army, though they never got any closer to it than a mile or so. At the time, the Washington defenses were located well out into the country among open fields and farmland. Although today it's surrounded by Twentieth-Century housing and city streets like Fort Stevens Avenue, for some reason to the immediate west across the street is this chunk of bucolic landscape that seems to be an urban garden plot:

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On July 11th when the issue remained in doubt and Early was first probing the defenses, Abraham Lincoln arrived in a carriage accompanied by his wife Mary and sundry other Washington politicians. Mounting the parapet of the fort for a better look, supposedly he was warned off by a young Lt. Oliver Wendell Holmes who allegedly said to the President, "Get down you dam ned fool!"

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Monument and marker commemorating Lincoln's foolhardy gesture and Holmes' rejoinder. About this time a stray bullet supposedly mortally wounded a nearby unlucky officer and prompted Lincoln to beat a hasty retreat.

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The following day, July 12, 1864, Early's skirmishers observed the Greek Cross corps badge of the Army of the Potomac's VI Corps on the defenders of Fort Stevens, making it evident that reenforcements had indeed arrived from Grant's army at Petersburg, thereby fulfilling one of Early's objectives to draw troops from the assault there on Lee's army. Satisfied, Early withdrew with the comment that although they had failed to capture Washington ( which likely could never have been held for very long in the face of a Union response ), they had "scared Abe Lincoln like He ll."

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Next, the Fort Stevens National Cemetery
 
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Battleground National Cemetery

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As noted above, the Battle of Fort Stevens was a small affair that spilled relatively little blood on either side. What became Battleground National Cemetery was established on the Union skirmish line now about six city blocks north of the fort site. Narrow and fairly deep it's wedged between buildings on both north and south and is slightly elevated above street level.

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This photo shows most of its entirety, including what once was a caretaker's residence and now an office at right.

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Short avenue leading to the circle of graves; according to local lore, Lincoln himself dedicated this small plot as a National Cemetery.

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There are only forty-three graves here: forty victims of the battle ( one of those died long postwar but chose to be buried here with his comrades ), and three family members of the original groundskeeper.

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Units of the Federal Sixth Corps engaged at the battle used the cemetery space to place their commemorative monuments.

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Modern markers describe the cemetery and its place in the community.

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This is how Fort Stevens might have looked to members of Early's army, though they never got any closer to it than a mile or so.

Hi James,
I've enjoyed your posts on your visit to the DC Metro and your stops at Civil War sites. DC should also have a "Civil War Trails" brochure like Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina do, at least I think so.

Anyway, I've been wanting to respond to what you wrote a while back, about how close the Confederates got to the fort. It actually was closer than you think. They got as close as this peninsula between Georgia Avenue (L) and Piney Branch Road (R). In 1864, there was a little toll house at this location because the 7th Street Road (Georgia) was made into a toll road. Piney branch was created by the locals to this area as a way to get around without having to pay the toll fee. Anyway, the building was used by Confederate sharpshooters. Fort Stevens is not far behind the trees in the background of this picture.

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Also, another point I would like to take issue with in your post is that the battle "spilled relatively little blood on either side." Fort Stevens was no Antietam or Gettysburg but there was a lot more blood than just the 40 Union (Battleground Cemetery) and the 17 Unknown Confederate Dead buried in Silver Spring. Casualties for Confederates were about 375 and Union casualties are estimated between 400-500. The 17 Confederates were all they found several years after the battle. I suspect many are still buried under the streets. And I have read about Union men dying in hospitals from their wounds many days or weeks after July 12.

One last thing. I grew up in this neighborhood and I remember when this used to be an Esso station!
 
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Hi James,
I've enjoyed your posts on your visit to the DC Metro and your stops at Civil War sites. DC should also have a "Civil War Trails" brochure like Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina do, at least I think so.

Anyway, I've been wanting to respond to what you wrote a while back, about how close the Confederates got to the fort. It actually was closer than you think. They got as close as this peninsula between Georgia Avenue (L) and Piney Branch Road (R). In 1864, there was a little toll house at this location because the 7th Street Road (Georgia) was made into a toll road. Piney branch was created by the locals to this area as a way to get around without having to pay the toll fee. Anyway, the building was used by Confederate sharpshooters. Fort Stevens is not far behind the trees in the background of this picture.

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Also, another point I would like to take issue with in your post is that the battle "spilled relatively little blood on either side." Fort Stevens was no Antietam or Gettysburg but there was a lot more blood than just the 40 Union (Battleground Cemetery) and the 17 Unknown Confederate Dead buried in Silver Spring. Casualties for Confederates were about 375 and Union casualties are estimated between 400-500. The 17 Confederates were all they found several years after the battle. I suspect many are still buried under the streets. And I have read about Union men dying in hospitals from their wounds many days or weeks after July 12.

One last thing. I grew up in this neighborhood and I remember when this used to be an Esso station!

Thanks for your comments, Bryan! You're right about D. C. needing better documentation in regards to its Civil War resources - I found the Civil War Trails brochures on Maryland and Northern Virginia invaluable while on my trip. I was admittedly basing my estimate of distances on that between the cemetery and Fort Stevens, as well as the well-known engraving showing the skirmish lines. The casualties I based strictly on the number within the cemetery, plus the way the battle is always downplayed in most accounts. I've been interested in this affair ever since my high school days when I read Frank Vandiver's Jubal's Raid and it was nice to finally get to see where the events actually took place.
 
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Thanks for your comments, Bryan! You're right about D. C. needing better documentation in regards to its Civil War resources - I found the Civil War Trails brochures on Maryland and Northern Virginia invaluable while on my trip. I was admittedly basing my estimate of distances on that between the cemetery and Fort Stevens, as well as the well-known engraving showing the skirmish lines. The casualties I based strictly on the number within the cemetery, plus the way the battle is always downplayed in most accounts. I've been interested in this affair ever since my high school days when I read Frank Vandiver's Jubal's Raid and it was nice to finally get to see where the events actually took place.

Very glad to hear this, James. BTW, there is a new Civil War Trails brochure for the 1864 Valley Campaign. It is appropriately subtitled "The Last Invasion" but because Gettysburg is so overrated, many see it is the Last Confederate invasion of the North. And Professor Alan Guelzo's book diesn't help this matter much, either. I met him last year and spoke to him about this. He called Fort Stevens "a raid" and not an invasion. But that is not what newspapers of the time said.

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By the way, I'm a reenactor and I was part of the Fort Stevens 150th Living History event back in July.

http://tpssvoice.com/2014/07/31/union-prevails/
 
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Great post! I just visited this site (I do a lot of cycling in the nearby rock creek park). There is also a small monument on the spot where a large tulip tree stood - used by the confederate sharpshooters. Unfortunately, this marker / monument is on the ground of the Walter Reed army facility, and was unaccessible.
 
Loved these pics. I just read A Stillness at Appomattox while staying in a cabin last week, and I enjoyed reading that section, and finding this thread afterwards. Many thanks.
 
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