Fort C. F. Smith Historic District | |
Location | 2411 24th St., Arlington, Virginia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°54′4″N77°5′28.3″W / 38.90111°N 77.091194°W |
Area | 19 acres (7.7 ha) |
Built | 1863 |
NRHP reference No. | 99001719 [1] |
VLR No. | 000-5079 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | February 1, 2000 |
Designated VLR | September 15, 1999 [2] |
Fort C.F. Smith was a lunette that the Union Army constructed in Alexandria County (now Arlington County), Virginia, during 1863 as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington (see Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War). [3] [4] [5] [6] 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. [7] 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. [4]
The Army built the lunette on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River and Spout Run. Because of its elevation and location, the lunette could protect the Aqueduct Bridge from invaders traveling along each of the two waterways. [4]
Following the Union Army's defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in August 1862, the Army constructed Fort C. F. Smith in 1863. The lunette was located on property that Thomas Jewell had previously owned and that contained a red house. [4] During construction, the fort was therefore referred to "Fort at Red House". [4] The Army destroyed the house while building the lunette and nearby fortifications.
The lunette had places for 22 guns and had a perimeter of 368 yards (336 m). General John G. Barnard wrote in a report that "Fort C. F. Smith was carefully planned and constructed after our latest models." [4] The lunette had a southern and western face and two flanks, as well as a crémaillère line on the north side to protect it from attack up the ravines from the river. [6]
A May 17, 1864, report from the Union Army's Inspector of Artillery (see Union Army artillery organization) noted the following:
Fort C. F. Smith, Maj. W. A. McKay commanding.–Garrison, four companies Second New York Heavy Artillery–1 major, 15 commissioned officers, 1 ordnance-sergeant, 548 men. Armament, three 12-pounder field howitzers, two 6-pounder field guns, four 24-pounder siege guns, one 8-inch sea-coast howitzer, six 4 ½ -inch ordnance, and four 8-inch siege mortars. Magazines, two; dry and in serviceable condition. Ammunition, full supply and well packed. Implements, complete and serviceable. Drill in artillery, very ordinary; wants improving much. Drill in infantry, insufficient; wants more energy and attention given to it. Discipline, great want of improvement. Garrison is sufficient. [8]
In 1865, the lunette's armaments were: one 8-inch sea-coast howitzer, three 12-pounder howitzers, four 24-pounder siege guns, two 10-pound Parrot rifles, six 4 ½-inch ordinance, three 4-inch siege mortars, and six vacant platforms. [4] Fort C. F. Smith and other Union Army fortifications on and near the Arlington Line saw little or no fighting during the war; the Army's biggest enemies in the area were diseases such as malaria and typhoid fever, as well as handling live ammunition. [4]
After the Civil War ended in April 1865, the Army dismantled and abandoned Fort C.F. Smith during the fall of that year. Wooden structures and revetments were removed. The Army destroyed the lunette's magazines and bomb-proof in order to salvage their wooden structural remains. Used lumber, timber, hardware, and tools were sold at public auctions. [4] [9]
Thomas Jewell's family then succeeded in recovering their property. [4] The Deming and Yates families took ownership of the property from 1888 to 1924. [4] Charles Lindsay owned the property from 1924 to 1926. [4] The Hendry family then owned the property from 1927 to 1993. [4]
Construction of 24th Street North destroyed about one-third of the lunette's remains. [4] However, the development of the property into a private estate provided a measure of protection to the remains of the lunette north of 24th Street. [4]
In 1965, the Arlington County government erected a historical marker near the site of the lunette's remnants. [5] The Arlington County Board designated the lunette to be a local historic district on February 28, 1987. [10]
In 1994 and in succeeding years, the County government acquired the lunette's property, created the 19 acres (7.7 ha) Fort C.F. Smith Park, and preserved the lunette's remnants at a cost of over $11 million. [11] On February 1, 2000, the National Park Service listed the fort on the National Register of Historic Places. [1] [4] [10]
The Virginia Civil War Trails [12] has erected a historic marker near the fort's site. [6] The Arlington County government hosted an event celebrating the opening of a new visitors center in Fort C.F. Smith Park on March 31, 2018. [13]
With the exception of those that construction of 24th Street North removed, the earthen remains of the lunette survive largely intact within Arlington County's Fort C.F Smith Park. [4] [11] Gun platforms 8-11 are clearly visible, as is a well. The fortification contains bastions that are unusual within lunettes. The ammunition magazine is also still visible, as is the bombproof area. Soldiers would use the bombproof if they were under siege, as it functioned as a traverse that localized the effects of shell bursts. Parapets, which protected the soldiers from fire, and the gorge, which protected soldiers from flanking fire, also remain visible. [4]
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)In certain instances, the Army felt that the accompanying buildings and fixtures were worth too much to turn over to the land owner and offered them money instead. To liquidate these valuable buildings and fixtures, the Army held auctions. In Alexander's accounts of auction sales during the week of December 9, 1865, he reported that he had received $1490 for the sale of abatis at five forts, a flagstaff, an implement house, the stockade in the rear of one fort, and timber, lumber &c. at three forts and "All other materials in Fort C.F. Smith." Specific winning bids were, "...., $43.00 for the stockade in the rear of Fort C.F. Smith ... ."
In 1902, there were plans to build an estate on top of it, and county officials later rejected plans to build a housing complex for the elderly. Ultimately, the fort suffered only one great loss to development, when North 24th Street was paved over the southern third of the fort.
Last month, County Board members voted to spend $5.2 million to buy a 14.7-acre farm on which the fort is located.
The Arlington County Board voted July 9, 1994 to acquire 14.7 acres of land in northeast Arlington as a public park. According to the Chair, Arlington County Board, this is one of the most significant land acquisitions in the County's history. .... On September 9, 1994, the Board acquired the property for $5.25 million from the Anne P. Hendry Living Trust and Ernest and Judith Hendry. This property is located at 2411 N. 24th Street and overlooks the Potomac River. This acquisition includes a Victorian farmhouse and one of the best preserved remains of a Civil War fort located in the Washington, D.C. area, Fort C.F. Smith. .... The Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) recommended in its report to the County Board dated December 11, 1986, that the County Board approve historic district designation for the Hendry tract, 2411-24th Street North (z-2321-87-HD). The HALRB recommended the designation of the entire Hendry tract [as an Historic District] to provide legal mechanisms to protect the four historic resources intertwined on the property: a Civil War fort; a Victorian-vernacular main house and cottage with an outbuilding possibly built during the Civil War; an arboretum of specimen trees; and the Potomac Palisades.
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 Richardson was a detached redoubt that the Union Army constructed in September 1861 as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington. The Army built the fort shortly after its rout at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in late July 1861. The Army named the fort after General Israel B. Richardson, whose division had been deployed to defend the City of Washington against attack by way of the Columbia Turnpike.
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 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.
Fort Ward is a former Union Army installation now located in the city of Alexandria in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was the fifth largest fort built to defend Washington, D.C. in the American Civil War. It is currently well-preserved with 90-95% of its earthen walls intact.
Fort Reynolds was a Union Army redoubt built as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War.
The Arlington Line was a series of fortifications that the Union Army erected in Alexandria County, Virginia, to protect the City of Washington during the American Civil War.
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.
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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.
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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.
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