|
Fort Washington (Maryland)
Fort Washington, located near the community of Fort Washington, Maryland, was for many decades the only defensive fort protecting Washington D.C. The original fort, overlooking the Potomac River, was completed in 1809, and was begun as Fort Warburton, but renamed in 1808. During the War of 1812, the fort was destroyed by its own garrison during a British advance. The current historic fort—maintained by the National Park Service—was initially constructed in 1824. It is a stone structure with a good cannon shot down the Potomac River. The fort was extensively remodeled in the 1840s and 1890s. The Fort was turned over to the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1946 after its last military personnel departed. The expansive grounds of the present Fort Washington Park, with its extensive hiking/bicycle paths and river view, are a scenic venue for picnicking, fishing, and outdoor recreation. Historical re-enactments are held periodically at the Fort, and there is a small museum. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannon Outside Fort Washington, MD
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during the late 19th century. Cannons vary in gauge, effective range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. A cannon is a type of heavy artillery weapon. The word ''cannon'' is derived from several languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as ''tube'', ''cane'', or ''reed''. In the modern era, the term ''cannon'' has fallen into decline, replaced by ''guns'' or ''artillery'', if not a more specific term such as howitzer or mortar, except for high-caliber automatic weapons firing bigger rounds than machine guns, called autocannons. The earliest known depiction of canno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army, Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and served as the president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which created the Constitution of the United States and the American federal government. Washington has been called the " Father of his Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the country. Washington's first public office was serving as the official surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, from 1749 to 1750. Subsequently, he received his first military training (as well as a command with the Virginia Regiment) during the French and Indian War. He was later elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was named a delegate to the Continental Congress ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / Eastern Shore of Virginia and the state of Delaware) with its mouth of the Bay at the south end located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles (headland), Cape Charles. With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay's drainage basin, which covers parts of six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia) and all of District of Columbia. The Bay is approximately long from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Gordon (Royal Navy Officer)
Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB (6 October 1782 – 8 January 1869) was a Royal Navy officer. As a volunteer, he fought at the Battle of Groix, at the Battle of the Glorious First of June and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent during the French Revolutionary Wars and then, as a midshipman, served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile. Gordon became commanding officer of the 28-gun frigate which took part of a hard-fought action between three British ships and the combined forces of a Spanish convoy, 20 gunboats and land artillery off the town of Rota during the Napoleonic Wars. He later became captain of the 38-gun frigate which was one of the four ships that successfully defeated a much larger French squadron at the first Battle of Lissa and was one of three that subsequently defeated three more powerful French frigates off Palagruža. Gordon also saw action in the War of 1812 leading the successful raid on Alexandria on the Pot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decius Wadsworth
Decius Wadsworth (January 2, 1768 – November 8, 1821) was a Colonel in the U.S. Army before and during the War of 1812. He graduated from Yale College in 1785 with Honors. He was a renowned military organizer, engineer and inventor. In 1812, he was selected to be the 1st Chief of Ordnance for the new United States Army Ordnance Department. Family Decius Wadsworth was born in 1768 in Farmington, Connecticut, the eldest son of William Wadsworth, III and Mercy Clarke. He was a scion of the prominent Wadsworth family of Connecticut. He was a sixth generation descendant of William Wadsworth, an original founder of Hartford, Connecticut. He was a contemporary and relative of Jeremiah Wadsworth, James Wadsworth, William Wadsworth, and James Wadsworth. Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, his second cousin, left Decius a handsome sum in his will in 1804. Decius never married. Military career In 1794, Decius Wadsworth was appointed by President George Washington as a captain in the Artille ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre L'Enfant
Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (; August 2, 1754June 14, 1825) was a French-American military engineer who designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C. (capital city of the United States) known today as the L'Enfant Plan (1791). Early life and education L'Enfant was born in Paris, France, on August 2, 1754, as the third child and second son of Pierre L'Enfant (1704–1787), a painter and professor at Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture known for his panoramas of battles, and Marie Leullier, the daughter of a French military officer. In 1758, his brother Pierre Joseph died at six, and Pierre Charles became the eldest son. He studied art at the Royal Academy from 1771 until 1776, when he left school in France to enlist in the American Revolutionary War on the side of the rebelling colonials. Military service L'Enfant was recruited by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to serve in the American Revolutionary War in the United States. He arrived in 1777 at the age of 23, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of the British Royal Navy in the Age of Sail meant impressment was most commonly associated with Great Britain and Ireland. It was used by the Royal Navy in wartime, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice can be traced back to the time of Edward I of England. The Royal Navy impressed many merchant sailors, as well as some sailors from other, mostly European, nations. People liable to impressment were "eligible men of seafaring habits between the ages of 18 and 55 years". Non- seamen were sometimes impressed as well, though rarely. In addition to the Royal Navy's use of impressment, the British Army also experimented with impressment from 1778 to 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William H
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the given name ''Wilhelm'' (cf. Proto-Germanic ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''*Wiljahelmaz'' > German ''Wilhelm'' and Old Norse ᚢᛁᛚᛋᛅᚼᛅᛚᛘᛅᛋ, ''Vilhjálmr''). By regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name shoul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drawing Of Fort Warburton, Maryland
Drawing is a visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface. The instruments used to make a drawing are pencils, crayons, pens with inks, brushes with paints, or combinations of these, and in more modern times, computer styluses with graphics tablets or gamepads in VR drawing software. A drawing instrument releases a small amount of material onto a surface, leaving a visible mark. The most common support for drawing is paper, although other materials, such as cardboard, vellum, wood, plastic, leather, canvas, and board, have been used. Temporary drawings may be made on a blackboard or whiteboard. Drawing has been a popular and fundamental means of public expression throughout human history. It is one of the simplest and most efficient means of communicating ideas. The wide availability of drawing instruments makes drawing one of the most common artistic activities. In addition to its more artistic forms, drawing is frequently used in commer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrative center for the U.S. Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Operations, and is headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Reactors, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Naval History and Heritage Command, the National Museum of the United States Navy, the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, Marine Corps Institute, the United States Navy Band, and other more classified facilities. In 1998, the yard was listed as a Superfund site due to environmental contamination. History The history of the yard can be divided into its military history and cultural and scientific history. Military The land was purchased under an Act of Congress on July 23, 1799. The Washington Navy Yard was established on October 2, 1799, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bomford
George Bomford (1780 – March 25, 1848) was a distinguished military officer in the United States Army and an inventor and designer of weapons and defensive installations. He served as the second Chief of Ordnance for the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps. Early life and education George Bomford was born on Long Island, New York in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, the son of a British officer, Thomas Bomford of the 60th Royal Artillery, and his wife. His birth records do not indicate an exact date of birth nor the name of his father. Bomford later told his son James the information, who reported it in records at Norwich University. By a chance meeting, Bomford befriended the first graduate of West Point Joseph Gardner Swift. Swift sought and received a "Cadet's Warrant" from General Henry Dearborn for his friend, and Bomford was appointed to West Point from the state of New York on 23 October 1804, despite the circumstances of his birth. Career After graduating from United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Williams (engineer)
Jonathan Williams (May 20, 1750May 16, 1815) was an American businessman, military figure, politician and writer. He became Chief of Engineers of the Army Corps of Engineers, was the first superintendent of United States Military Academy, and was elected to the Fourteenth United States Congress. Biography Williams was born in Boston in the Province of Massachusetts Bay and attended Harvard University. Williams, a grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin, in 1779 married Marianne Alexander, a Scottish girl, daughter of William Alexander a friend of Benjamin Franklin. His stay in Europe He spent most of the period from 1770 to 1785 in England and France. In January 1777, aged 26, at the suggestion of Silas Deane, Jonathan Williams went to Nantes to keep a close eye on Thomas Morris, who had just taken up the post of commercial agent. Williams was also required to inspect shipments of ammunition, uniforms and men, which led him to rent premises and hire staff. He had also "to gather ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
