Fort Ethan Allen was an earthwork

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

that the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

built in 1861 on the property of

Gilbert Vanderwerken Gilbert Vanderwerken (5 February 1810 – 22 January 1894) was a businessman and manufacturer of omnibuses in the 19th century. Biography Vanderwerken was born in 1810 in Waterford, New York. He left home at the age of 17 to become an apprenti ...

in Alexandria County (now

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, as part of the

Civil War defenses of Washington The Civil War Defenses of Washington were a group of Union Army fortifications that protected the federal capital city, Washington, D.C., from invasion by the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War (see Washington, D.C., in the Am ...

(see Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War). The remains of the fort are now within Arlington County's Fort Ethan Allen Park. an
''Accompanying two photos''

History

Defending Chain Bridge, 1861 (493989022) (2)

The

built Fort Ethan Allen in September 1861, shortly after the Army's rout at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in late July of that year. The fortification was a large

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

-style fort that was located in the County's highlands near the

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 Augus ...

. Before the Army constructed the fort, farmland and forests filled the area. To allow for clear lines of sight toward other fortifications and approaches to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, the Army removed trees and other vegetation that were near the site. Built like other

northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

defenses, the fort was constructed following the directives of General

John G. Barnard John Gross Barnard (May 19, 1815 – May 14, 1882) was a career engineer officer in the U.S. Army, serving in the Mexican–American War, as the superintendent of the United States Military Academy and as a general in the Union Army during the Am ...

of the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. The walls of the fort were made stronger than most other such forts because it protected

Chain Bridge A chain bridge is a historic form of suspension bridge for which chains or eyebars were used instead of wire ropes to carry the bridge deck. A famous example is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest. Construction types are, as for other suspens ...

, one of the most important approaches to Washington from the south. The Chain Bridge forts in Virginia ( Fort Marcy and Fort Ethan Allen) considerably strengthened the web of fortifications that defended the northern flank of the

Arlington Line The Arlington Line was a series of fortifications that the Union Army erected in Alexandria County (now Arlington County), Virginia, to protect the City of Washington during the American Civil War (see Civil War Defenses of Washington and Washin ...

. Because of its size and location, Fort Ethan Allen was a critical element of this comer of the Washington defenses. A line of

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from eros ...

es and roads, which were used to transport troops and supplies, connected the fortifications of the Arlington Line. In addition, the fort was connected by a long series of trenches and earthworks to the nearby Fort Marcy and Potomac River. The fort consisted of four main faces, with additional angles built into the north and east faces. It maintained a perimeter of with emplacements for 34 guns. Interior structures included two bomb-proofs, ammunition magazines, and other supporting structures. A May 7, 1864, report from the Union Army's Inspector of Artillery (see Union Army artillery organization) noted the following:

''Fort Ethan Allen, Col. A. A. Gibson commanding.''–Garrison, nine companies Second Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery–1 colonel, 29 commissioned officers, 1,346 men, and 1 ordnance-sergeant. Armament, nine 6-pounder field guns, three 10-pounder Parrotts, three 32-pounder bronze howitzers, four 24-pounder siege guns, two 8-inch sea-coast
howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
s, eleven 30-pounder Parrotts, six 24-pounder Coehorn mortars, four 10-inch siege mortars. Magazines, four; dry and serviceable. Ammunition, full supply and in good order. Implements, complete and serviceable. Drill in artillery, ordinary; needs improving. Drill in infantry, very indifferent; needs much improving. Discipline, indifferent. Garrison larger than necessary. Cavalry garrison, one company (E) Thirteenth New York Cavalry–2 commissioned officers, 78 enlisted men, 53 equipped, 52 horses.

There was no military action at the fort throughout the Civil War; the only

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

attack on Washington's fortifications occurred north of the city in 1864 during the

Battle of Fort Stevens The Battle of Fort Stevens was an American Civil War battle fought July 11–12, 1864, in what is now Northwest Washington, D.C., as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 between forces under Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early and ...

. Perhaps the most memorable wartime occurrence at Fort Ethan Allen was a visit by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

during the fort's construction. In 1965, the Arlington County government erected a historic marker near the site of the fort. The

Arlington County Board Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

designated the fort to be a local historic district on October 3, 1978. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

listed the fort on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on February 11, 2004. In 2014, the Arlington County government installed nine interpretive panels within Fort Ethan Allen Park as part of its Neighborhood Conservation Program. In addition, the Virginia Civil War Trails has placed a historic marker near the fort's site.

Existing remnants

Fort Ethan Allen retains several major aboveground features. These include large earthworks, one bombproof,

gun platform In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fa ...

s, and traces of magazines. The fort's remaining interior structures remain visible, as do the fort's south face, centrally located bombproof, and remaining north face structures. An outlier trench, which the Arlington County Board has designated as a local historic district, remains to the southwest of the fort.

Notes

References

External links

Fort Ethan Allen Park
{{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1861 Infrastructure completed in 1861 Buildings and structures in Arlington County, Virginia Civil War defenses of Washington, D.C. Arlington County Historic Districts

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for ...

National Register of Historic Places in Arlington County, Virginia Virginia in the American Civil War

1861 establishments in Virginia American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places

History

Existing remnants

See also

Notes

References

External links