Fort Marcy (Virginia)

Last updated
Fort Marcy
Part of the Civil War defenses of Washington, D.C.
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fort Marcy - historical.jpg
Fort Marcy as it appeared during the Civil War
Location map District of Columbia street.png
Red pog.svg
Fort Marcy
Coordinates 38°56′06″N77°07′34″W / 38.93500°N 77.12611°W / 38.93500; -77.12611 Coordinates: 38°56′06″N77°07′34″W / 38.93500°N 77.12611°W / 38.93500; -77.12611
TypeEarthwork fort
Site information
Controlled by Union Army
ConditionPark
Site history
Built1861
Built by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
In use1861–1865
MaterialsEarth, timber
Demolished1865
Battles/wars American Civil War

Fort Marcy was a Union fortification protecting Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. Its remains are now administered by the National Park Service as part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Contents

History

Looking towards Fort Marcy's ramparts, November 2020 Fort Marcy Park, November 2020.jpg
Looking towards Fort Marcy's ramparts, November 2020

Fort Marcy is approximately 12 mile (0.80 km) south of the Potomac River on the south side of the Chain Bridge Road leading from Chain Bridge to Langley and McLean, Virginia. By car it can only be reached from the northbound lanes of the George Washington Parkway. The hill on which the fort is located was known as Prospect Hill. It is near the location where the famous but bloodless duel between Henry Clay and John Randolph was fought in 1826.

The perimeter of the fort is 338 feet (103 m). When completed, the fort mounted 18 guns, a 10-inch (25 cm) mortar and two 24-pound (10 kg) Coehorn mortars. The batteries were aimed toward the south and west. [1]

Originally the fort was called Fort Baldy Smith, after General William Farrar Smith, the troops of whose division began construction of the work. His division crossed Chain Bridge on the night of September 24, 1861, and immediately commenced construction of Fort Marcy and Fort Ethan Allen. [1] The 79th New York Highlanders, the 141st Pennsylvania and the Iron Brigade also helped complete the work in the fall of 1862. A force of about 500 contrabands were also employed and the 152nd New York worked on the entrenchments, which are still in a very good state of preservation. The fort was not completed until the fall of 1862.

It is a relatively undisturbed fort and was named in honor of a native of Massachusetts, Randolph B. Marcy, a distinguished soldier, father-in-law and chief of staff to General George B. McClellan. [1] Detachments of the 4th New York and 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery and the 130th Pennsylvania Infantry were among the troops that performed garrison duty here during the war. An interesting incident of history is that the body of troops which afterwards became famous as the "Iron Brigade" was originated at this fort in the summer of 1861, and was composed of the 19th Indiana, the 2nd, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Regiments. The 24th Michigan was added to the brigade soon after the Battle of South Mountain. These units remained together until the close of the war.

At the end of the Civil War in 1865, the system of fortifications (now known as Fort Circle Parks) which surrounded Washington, D.C. were dismantled. The lumber and other materials were sold at auctions and the land returned to pre-war owners.

Modern history

Entrance to Fort Marcy Park, photos and maps Fort Marcy.jpg
Entrance to Fort Marcy Park, photos and maps

Vincent Foster

The body of former deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster was found in Fort Marcy Park following his death on July 20, 1993. [2]

Kevin Ward

The body of Kevin Ward, the mayor of Hyattsville, Maryland, was found in Fort Marcy Park by United States Park Police officers on January 25, 2022, after an apparent suicide. The cause of death was reported to be a gunshot wound. [3]

Related Research Articles

XXII Corps (Union Army) Military unit

XXII Corps was a corps in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was created on February 2, 1863, to consist of all troops garrisoned in Washington, D.C., and included three infantry divisions and one of cavalry. Many of its units were transferred to the Army of the Potomac during Grant's Overland Campaign.

Fort Worden

Fort Worden Historical State Park is located in Port Townsend, Washington, on 433 acres originally known as Fort Worden, a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps base constructed to protect Puget Sound from invasion by sea. Fort Worden was named after U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Lorimer Worden, commander of USS Monitor during the famous Battle of Hampton Roads during the American Civil War.

52nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment Military unit

The 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Fort Ethan Allen (Arlington, Virginia) United States historic place

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 Washington Park

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 (Virginia) United States historic place

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 (Virginia)

Fort Reynolds was a Union Army redoubt built as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War.

Fort Washington (Manhattan) United States historic place

Fort Washington was a fortified position near the north end of Manhattan Island, at the island's highest point, within the modern-day neighborhood of Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The Fort Washington Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fort Reno (Washington, D.C.) American Civil War fort in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Fort Reno was a major fortification of the Civil War Defenses of Washington, located in what is now the Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The fort sat on the highest natural point in the District of Columbia. Fort Reno played a part in the only Civil War battle to take place in the District of Columbia, at the Battle of Fort Stevens.

Arlington Line

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 Dupont Park is a 376-acre (1.52 km2) wooded park under the management of the National Park Service located in Washington, DC. The name of the park comes from the old Civil War earthwork fort that lies within the park. The fort was one of several designed to defend Washington from a Confederate attack during the Civil War. There are few remains of the actual fortifications.

Fort Corcoran

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

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 (Virginia) Historical fort in Virginia

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 (Virginia) Historic fort in Virginia, USA

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 Willard

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.

Battery Kemble Park Park in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Battery Kemble Park is a park in Northwest Washington D.C., administered by the National Park Service.

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.

Fort Craig (Virginia) Civil War-era fort in Arlington County, Virginia

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 Farnsworth

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cooling III, Benjamin Franklin; Owen II, Walton H. (6 October 2009). Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington. Scarecrow Press. pp. 123–128. ISBN   978-0-8108-6307-1.
  2. "Vince Foster case is closed, as far as officials are concerned". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
  3. Kuzminski, Kevin (2022-01-26). "Hyattsville Mayor Kevin Ward dies from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound". WJLA. Retrieved 2022-01-27.