Fort Stevens, formerly named Fort Massachusetts, was part of the
extensive fortifications built around
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
.
Location
The fort was constructed in 1861 as "Fort Massachusetts" and later enlarged by the
Union Army and renamed "Fort Stevens" after
Brig. Gen. Isaac Ingalls Stevens, who was killed at the
Battle of Chantilly
The Battle of Chantilly (or Ox Hill, the Confederate name) took place on September 1, 1862, in Fairfax County, Virginia, as the concluding battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's corps ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, on September 1, 1862.
In 1861, it had a perimeter of 168 yards and places for 10 cannon. In 1862, it was expanded to 375 yards and 19 guns.
It guarded the northern approach to Washington City, the Seventh Street Turnpike. By 1864 Fort Stevens was one part of a arrangement of fortifications, consisting of 68 forts intended to defend the capital.
Construction
The fort was constructed as a part of a defensive ring around Washington City. Following the
Union Army's defeat at
Bull Run, Congress voted to augment the city's defenses, which consisted of a single fort,
Fort Washington, to the south on the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...
. Eventually, "68 forts, 93 batteries, 20 miles of rifle pits, and 32 miles of military roads surrounded the capital and Washington became the most heavily fortified city in the world", according to the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
.
In September 1861, Union troops took possession of a property owned by a free black family, Elizabeth Proctor Thomas and her siblings, at the Seventh Street Turnpike, seeing it as "an ideal and necessary location for a fort."
[ The soldiers ultimately destroyed her home, barn, orchard, and garden to build what was then named Fort Massachusetts.
Elizabeth Thomas would later often repeat the story that she was, with a baby in her arms weeping, watching Union soldiers destroy her house when "a tall, slender man dressed in black approached her and said, 'It is hard, but you shall reap a great reward.'"][ Many listening to her story held that the man was President ]Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
.
Thomas would have to fight for compensation for damage and loss of her property and was eventually awarded $1,835 in 1916 (), a year before her death.[
]
Civil War
After being delayed by the Battle of Monocacy
The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, about from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate States Army, Confederate forces under Lieut ...
, Maj. Gen. Jubal Early
Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was an American lawyer, politician and military officer who served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early resigned his ...
's Confederate
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
forces advanced on Washington, D.C. The cavalry attacked Fort Stevens in the Battle of Fort Stevens
The Battle of Fort Stevens was an American Civil War battle fought July 11–12, 1864, in Washington County, D.C. in present-day Northwest Washington, D.C., during the Valley campaigns of 1864 between forces under Confederate Lieutenant Ge ...
on July 11 and July 12, 1864. They were delayed stealing horses in Damascus, Maryland, and staying overnight near Rockville. In response, Major General George Thomas ordered the District of Columbia Militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
into the service of the Union army.[
On July 11, Confederate sharpshooters successfully shot two of the fort's soldiers, but Union soldiers pushed the Confederate soldiers back to a point from the fort.] The Confederate Army used the house of a nearby resident, Francis Preston Blair
Francis Preston Blair Sr. (April 12, 1791 – October 18, 1876) was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and influential figure in national politics advising several U.S. presidents across party lines.
Blair was an early member of the D ...
, as a headquarters and a makeshift hospital for their wounded.[ The livestock of several nearby farmers was captured by the Confederate Army.][ By the evening of July 11, pedestrians lined nearby Seventh Street to watch the fighting.][ Secretary of State ]William Seward
William Henry Seward (; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opp ...
watched from a carriage.[
The Union Army destroyed five nearby houses in order to prevent them being occupied by Confederate sharpshooters; the Union Army allowed the homeowners to remove their furniture before destroying the houses.][ Despite this, Confederate sharpshooters occupied another home, of Mr. Lay, just west of the fort, and fired shots at Union soldiers from there.][ Union soldiers responded by firing at the cupola of the house, which caused the Confederate sharpshooters to retreat from it.][ The house was later burned to the ground.][ Confederate sharpshooters also fired from Morrison's orchard nearby.][
Overnight July 12, the Confederate soldiers retreated from the fort.] Confederate soldiers were seen crossing the Potomac River
The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...
from Poolesville, Maryland
Poolesville is a U.S. town in the western portion of Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland. The population was 5,742 at the 2020 United States census. It is surrounded by (but is technically not part of) the Montgomery County, M ...
, to Virginia. They left behind 101 wounded soldiers, including 11 officers.[ The total number of Confederate casualties was unknown; the number of Union soldiers killed, wounded, and missing was approximately 50.][
According to many accounts, ]President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
rode out to the fort on both days to observe the attack, and was briefly under enemy fire by sharpshooters. On July 12, he was brusquely ordered to take cover, mostly likely by Union Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright.[ A story has grown up, probably apocryphal, that future Supreme Court Justice ]Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Cou ...
, then an aide-de-camp to Wright, yelled at Lincoln, "Get down, you fool!" Another story attributes this quote to nearby resident Elizabeth Thomas. This is believed to have been only the second time in American history that a sitting president came under enemy fire during a war (the first being President James Madison
James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...
during the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
). An article published by ''The Evening Star
''The Evening Star'' is a 1996 American comedy drama film directed by Robert Harling, adapted from the 1992 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is a sequel to the Academy Award-winning 1983 film ''Terms of Endearment'' starring Shirley MacLaine, who r ...
'' on July 13 noted, however, that "President Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln passed along the line of the city defences in a carriage last night, and were warmly greeted by the soldiers wherever they made their appearance amongst them."[ The article makes no mention of Lincoln coming under fire.][
]
Present day
The site was abandoned after the war. By 1900, Lewis Cass White, who had fought with the 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry in the Battle of Fort Stevens, led the formation of the Fort Stevens Lincoln Memorial Association. The association raised funds for a stone memorial on the site, which was dedicated on November 7, 1911. In the late 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps restored a portion of the parapet and one magazine.
The site, near Georgia Avenue
Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, Maryland. In Washington, D.C., and for a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Rout ...
at 13th Street and Quackenbos Street NW, is now maintained by the National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
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.
Some of these fortifications ar ...
. The remains of 41 Union soldiers who died in the Battle of Fort Stevens are buried on the grounds of nearby Battleground National Cemetery.
Further up Georgia Ave, a monument to seventeen unknown Confederate Soldiers was erected in Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery, in Silver Spring, MD. The seventeen soldiers, who died at Fort Stevens, are buried in that cemetery.
See also
* 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.
Some of these fortifications ar ...
* Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States, was the center of the Union (American Civil War), Union war effort, which rapidly turned it from a small city into a major capital with full civi ...
* Bibliography of the American Civil War
* Bibliography of Abraham Lincoln
* Bibliography of Ulysses S. Grant
Notes
References
*
* Cramer, John Henry, ''Lincoln Under Enemy Fire, the Complete Account of His Experiences During Early's Attack on Washington'', Louisiana, State University Press, 1948; University of Tennessee Press, 2009,
*
External links
The Battle of Fort Stevens: Maps, Histories, Photos, Facts, and Preservation News (CWPT)
Google Maps Aerial View of Fort Stevens
{{authority control
1861 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Brightwood (Washington, D.C.)
Stevens
Stevens
Stevens
American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places