Just across the Potomac River from the Union capital city, ConfederateVirginia was a major Union concern when the war began. In May 1861, federal troops seized much the County and immediately began constructing a group of forts near Washington on the Virginia side of the River to protect the capital city.
The Arlington Line was never attacked, even after the federal defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in late August 1862. The Line therefore effectively served its strategic purpose.
↑ (1) Michael, John (2011-03-06). "Fort Cass Virginia: The Fortification Begins". Images of America: Fort Myer. Archived from the original on 2018-12-28. Retrieved 2018-12-28. After the fall of Fort Sumter, South Carolina to the Confederates, it was decided that the Nation's Capital was in need of defenses. Among the first fortifications were built were the ones at the three crossings of the Potomac River – Chain Bridge (Fort Ethan Allen), Aqueduct Bridge (Fort Corcoran) and Long Bridge (Fort Jackson). Over time the Arlington Line of fortifications developed beginning at the Potomac and encircling the western side of the Capital on the Virginia side. The line consisted of about 30 forts, augmented by interwoven artillery batteries: Fort Marcy, Fort Ethan Allen, Fort C. F. Smith, Fort Bennett, Fort Strong, Fort Corcoran, Fort Haggerty, Fort Morton, Fort Woodbury, Fort Ramsey (which later renamed and became Fort Cass), Fort Whipple, Fort Tillinghast, Fort McPherson, Fort Buffalo, Fort Craig, Fort Albany, Fort Jackson, Fort Runyon, Fort Richardson, Fort Barnard, Fort Berry, Fort Scott, Battery Garesche, Fort Reynolds, Fort Ward, Fort Worth, Fort Williams, Fort Ellsworth, Fort Lyon, Fort Farnsworth, Fort Weed, Fort O'Rourke, Fort Willard (2) "The Arlington Line". Arlington County, Virginia: Arlington Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. (3) Cooling III, Benjamin Franklin; Owen II, Walton H. (2010). "The Arlington Lines". Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington (Newed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p.82. ISBN978-0-8108-6307-1. LCCN2009018392. OCLC665840182. Archived from the original on 2018-12-28. Retrieved 2018-03-05– via Google Books.
Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and Fort Whipple, the post merged in 2005 with the neighboring Marine Corps installation, Henderson Hall, and is today named Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall.
Fort Ethan Allen was an earthwork fortification that the Union Army built in 1861 on the property of Gilbert Vanderwerken in Alexandria County, Virginia, as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington. The remains of the fort are now within Arlington County's Fort Ethan Allen Park.
Fort Scott was a detached lunette constructed in May 1861 to guard the south flank of the defenses of Washington during the American Civil War. It was named for General Winfield Scott, who was then General-in-Chief of the Union Army. An historic marker and a small remnant of the fort are the only evidence of the site of the fort on the grounds of what is now Fort Scott Park in Arlington County, Virginia.
Fort Reynolds was a Union Army redoubt built as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War.
Fort Woodbury was part of the Arlington Line, an extensive network of fortifications erected in present-day Arlington County, Virginia to protect Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack during the American Civil War. Construction began on the Arlington Line in May 1861, shortly after war broke out, and accelerated after the Union's defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861.
Fort C.F. Smith was a lunette that the Union Army constructed in Alexandria County, Virginia, during 1863 as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington. It was named in honor of General Charles Ferguson Smith, who died from a leg infection that was aggravated by dysentery on April 25, 1862. Fort C. F. Smith connected the Potomac River to the Arlington Line, a row of fortifications south of Washington, D.C., that was intended to protect the capital of the United States from an invasion by the Confederate States Army.
Fort Greble was an American Civil War-era Union fortification constructed as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during that war. Named for First Lieutenant John Trout Greble, the first West Point graduate killed in the U.S. Civil War, it protected the junction of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, and from its position on a bluff in the Congress Heights, precluded any bombardment of the Washington Navy Yard and southeastern portions of the city. It was supported by Fort Carroll to the northeast and Fort Foote to the south. It never fired a shot during the war, and after a brief stint as a U.S. Army Signal Corps training facility, was abandoned and the land returned to its natural state. As of July 2007, the site of the fort is a community park.
Fort Corcoran was a wood-and-earthwork fortification constructed by the Union Army in northern Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. Built in 1861, shortly after the occupation of Arlington, Virginia by Union forces, it protected the southern end of the Aqueduct Bridge and overlooked the Potomac River and Theodore Roosevelt Island, known as Mason's Island.
Fort Runyon was a timber and earthwork fort constructed by the Union Army following the occupation of northern Virginia in the American Civil War in order to defend the southern approaches to the Long Bridge as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during that war. The Columbia Turnpike and Alexandria and Loudon Railroad ran through the pentagonal structure, which controlled access to Washington via the Long Bridge. With a perimeter of almost 1,500 yards (1,400 m), and due to its unusual shape it was approximately the same size, shape, and in almost the same location as the Pentagon, built 80 years later.
Fort Jackson was an American Civil War-era fortification in Virginia that defended the southern end of the Long Bridge, near Washington, D.C. Long Bridge connected Washington, D.C. to Northern Virginia and served as a vital transportation artery for the Union Army during the war. Fort Jackson was named for Jackson City, a seedy suburb of Washington that had been established on the south side of the Long Bridge in 1835. It was built in the days immediately following the Union Army's occupation of Northern Virginia in May 1861. The fort was initially armed with four cannon used to protect the bridge, but these were removed after the completion of the Arlington Line, a line of defenses built to the south. After 1862, the fort lacked weapons except for small arms and consisted of a wooden palisade backed by earthworks. Two cannon were restored to the fort in 1864 following the Battle of Fort Stevens. The garrison consisted of a single company of Union soldiers who inspected traffic crossing the bridge and guarded it from potential saboteurs.
Fort Lyon was a timber and earthwork fortification constructed south of Alexandria, Virginia, as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. Built in the weeks following the Union defeat at Bull Run, Fort Lyon was situated on Ballenger's Hill south of Hunting Creek, and Cameron Run, near Mount Eagle. From its position on one of the highest points south of Alexandria, the fort overlooked Telegraph Road, the Columbia Turnpike, the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the Little River Turnpike, and the southern approaches to the city of Alexandria, the largest settlement in Union-occupied Northern Virginia.
Fort Worth was a timber and earthwork fortification constructed west of Alexandria, Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War.
Fort Ellsworth was a timber and earthwork fortification constructed west of Alexandria, Virginia, as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. Built in the weeks following the Union defeat at Bull Run, Fort Ellsworth was situated on a hill north of Hunting Creek, and Cameron Run,. From its position on one of the highest points west of Alexandria, the fort overlooked the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the Little River Turnpike, and the southern approaches to the city of Alexandria, the largest settlement in Union-occupied Northern Virginia.
Fort Willard is a former Union Army installation now located in the Belle Haven area of Fairfax County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is currently undergoing preservation treatment to protect its earthen walls and trenches.
Fort O'Rourke is a former Union Army installation now located in the Belle Haven area of Fairfax County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was the southernmost fort built to defend Washington, D.C. in the American Civil War.
Minor's Hill is a geographic eminence located in the western tip of Arlington County, Virginia. Its summit rises to 459 feet above sea level which makes it the highest point in the county. The hill is named after a man named George Minor who lived there at the time of the American Revolutionary War.
Fort Craig was a small lunette that the Union Army constructed in September 1861 in Arlington County in Virginia during the American Civil War. The lunette was part of the Civil War defenses of Washington.
Fort Tillinghast was a small lunette that the Union Army constructed in Alexandria County, Virginia, as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington. Fort Tillinghast stood about 0.6 miles away from Arlington House, the Union-occupied estate of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Nauck is a neighborhood in the southern part of Arlington County, Virginia, known locally as Green Valley. It is bordered by Four Mile Run and Shirlington to the south, Douglas Park to the west, I-395 to the east, and Columbia Heights and the Army-Navy Country Club to the north. The southeastern corner of the neighborhood borders the City of Alexandria.
Fort Farnsworth is a former Union Army installation now located in the Huntington area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It was a timber and earthwork fortification constructed south of Alexandria, Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. Nothing survives of the fort's structure as the Huntington Station of the Washington Metro occupies Fort Farnsworth's former hilltop site.
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