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Fort Johnston (Leesburg, Virginia)
Fort Johnston, also known as Fort Geary, is a Civil War era earthen fort atop a peak of Catoctin Mountain just west of Leesburg, Virginia. Constructed in the winter of 1861-62 following the Battle of Balls Bluff, it is one of three forts constructed to defend the town from the threat of possible invasion. The fort was built in the design of a four-point star with arm of each point measuring roughly in length. The fort was only sporadically occupied by Confederates, as the main threat of invasion came from the east across the Potomac. In 1862, when Loudoun County was invaded by the Union army, the fort was abandoned and later occupied by the Federals who rechristened it Fort Geary in honor of their commander. Throughout the war, Leesburg was rarely held in force by either side of the conflict and the fort saw little use. Today, parts of the earthworks of the fort still exist, and are located on private property on Fort Johnston Road. See also * Fort Evans * Fort Beauregard Fort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction. Decades of political controversy over slavery were brought to a head by the victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion into the west. An initial seven southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and, in 1861, forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. Led by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catoctin Mountain
Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains, forms the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains range. The ridge runs northeast–southwest for about departing from South Mountain near Emmitsburg, Maryland, and running south past Leesburg, Virginia, where it disappears into the Piedmont in a series of low-lying hills near New Baltimore, Virginia. The ridge forms the eastern rampart of the Loudoun and Middletown valleys. Geography Catoctin Mountain traverses Frederick County, Maryland, and extends into northern Loudoun County, Virginia. It rises to its greatest elevation of above sea level just southwest of Cunningham Falls State Park and is transected by gaps at Braddock Heights (Fairview Pass), Point of Rocks on the Potomac River and Clarke's Gap west of Leesburg, as well as several other unnamed passes in Maryland and Virginia. The mountain is much lower in elevation in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Located in the far northeast of the state, in the War of 1812 it was a refuge for important federal documents evacuated from Washington, DC, and in the Civil War, it changed hands several times. Leesburg is west-northwest of Washington, D.C., along the base of Catoctin Mountain and close to the Potomac River. The town is the northwestern terminus of the Dulles Greenway, a private toll road that connects to the Dulles Toll Road at Washington Dulles International Airport. Its population was 48,250 as of the 2020 Census and an estimated 48,908 in 2021. It is Virginia's largest incorporated town within a county (rather than being an independent city). Leesburg, like much of Loudoun County, has undergone considerable growth and development over the last 30 years, tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Balls Bluff
The Battle of Ball's Bluff was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, in which Union Army forces under Major General George B. McClellan suffered a humiliating defeat. The operation was planned as a minor reconnaissance across the Potomac to establish whether the Confederates were occupying the strategically important position of Leesburg. A false report of an unguarded Confederate camp encouraged Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone to order a raid, which resulted in a clash with enemy forces. A prominent U.S. Senator in uniform, Colonel Edward Baker, tried to reinforce the Union troops, but failed to ensure that there were enough boats for the river crossings, which were then delayed. Baker was killed, and a newly arrived Confederate unit routed the rest of Stone’s expedition. The Union losses, although modest by later standards, alarmed Congress, which set-up the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved August 15, 2011 with a drainage area of 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2), and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast of the United States and the 21st-largest in the United States. Over 5 million people live within its watershed. The river forms part of the borders between Maryland and Washington, D.C. on the left descending bank and between West Virginia and Virginia on the right descending bank. Except for a small portion of its headwaters in West Virginia, the North Branch Potomac River is considered part of Maryland to the low-water mark on the opposite bank. The South Branch Potomac River lies completely within the state of West Virginia except for its headwaters, which lie in Virginia. Course The Potomac River runs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County is part of the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, Loudoun County had a median household income of $147,111. Since 2008, the county has been ranked first in the U.S. in median household income among jurisdictions with a population of 65,000 or more. Between 1952 and 2008, Loudoun was a Republican-leaning county. However, this has changed in recent years with Democrats winning Loudoun in all statewide campaigns after 2014 and Democrats holding a two-thirds majority on the county Board of Supervisors, reflective of an ongoing realignment of affluent and college-educated voters towards the party. __TOC__ History Loudoun County was established in 1757 from Fairfax Count ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Evans
Fort Evans is a Civil War-era rectangular earthen fort located in Leesburg, Virginia. It was the first of three forts constructed in 1861 to protect Leesburg from possible invasion after Virginia seceded from the Union. History The fort, designed by Captain John Morris Wampler in August 1861, was built the following month east of town on a knoll along Edwards Ferry Road to protect the approaches to the town from the Potomac River. During the Confederate occupation of Leesburg between 1861 and 1862, Fort Evans was the headquarters for the garrison under Brigadier Generals Nathan George Evans (after whom the fort was named) and D.H. Hill. From the fort, General Evans successfully orchestrated the defense of Leesburg during the Battle of Ball's Bluff. The fort was abandoned when the Confederates withdrew from Loudoun County to defend Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 and briefly occupied by the Union army under John Geary during his occupation of the town that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Beauregard (Virginia)
Fort Beauregard was a Civil War-era rectangular earthen fort located on a promontory above Tuscarora Creek just southeast of Leesburg, Virginia. Built in the winter of 1861–1862 following the Battle of Ball's Bluff, it was one of three forts built by Confederates to defend Leesburg against possible invasion. Fort Beauregard commanded the southern eastern approaches to the town, including the Old Carolina Road and the Alexandria and Winchester Turnpike (present day Virginia State Route 7). The fort may have been only partially constructed, and was never occupied by Confederates in force before Leesburg was evacuated in the spring of 1862. The fort was occupied by Union forces for a brief period in the summer of 1862. The fort was subsequently destroyed, and the exact location remains unknown. The likely site currently sits in the privately owned "Beauregard Estates" neighborhood. See also * Fort Johnston * Fort Evans Fort Evans is a Civil War-era rectangular earthen f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loudoun County In The American Civil War
Loudoun County, Virginia, was destined to be an area of significant military activity during the American Civil War. Located on Virginia's northern frontier, the Potomac River, Loudoun County became a borderland after Virginia's secession from the Union in early 1861. Loudoun County's numerous Potomac bridges, ferries and fords made it an ideal location for the Union and Confederate armies to cross into and out of Virginia. Likewise, the county's several gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains that connected the Piedmont to the Shenandoah Valley and Winchester were of considerable strategic importance. The opposing armies would traverse the county several times throughout the war leading to several small battles, most notably the Battle of Balls Bluff. The fertile Loudoun Valley, with its wealth of produce and livestock, was of vital importance to the Confederacy and ideal to provide forage for the Union army. Furthermore, Loudoun County's population was deeply divided over secessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Civil War Forts In Virginia
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
