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Civil War Defenses of Washington, DC
Part 2 Defenses Challenged
Battle of Fort Stevens
Today, visitors to Fort Stevens can stand
where President Abraham Lincoln stood, surveying the field of battle
when he came under enemy fire in 1864. Located on the northern periphery
of the capital's defenses, Fort Stevens commanded the turnpike from
Silver Spring to Washington, five miles away. Confederate Lt. General
Jubal A. Early chose this route for a bold attack on the capital. But
while northern troops delayed the rebels in the costly Battle
of Monocacy near Fredrick, Maryland, Union reinforcements hurried
to Fort Stevens. Forts Slocum, Totten, and DeRussy
joined in the defense of Fort Stevens on July 11 and 12, firing on the
advancing enemy troops. Early retreated across the Potomac, ending the
only Confederate action against Washington.
Today, a half-mile north of Fort Stevens on Georgia Avenue (the
Seventh Street Road that carried Early's men to the assault), Battleground National Cemetery, one of the nation's smallest
Civil War cemeteries, has 41 headstones for victims of action near
the fort. Regimental memorials honor the soldiers from New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and other northern states who fell on July 11 and 12,
fighting to save the capital "in the presence of President Lincoln."
http://www.nps.gov/rocr/ftcircle/defense.htm
last update: 7/27/01 DIW
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