The Fortifications of Washington

Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early

NPS

On July 11 and 12, 1864, the nation's capital came under attack. Guns boomed in the northern suburbs as Confederate troops under Jubal Early probed Union defenses. But the city had been hardened by three long years of war, and neither the soldiers defending the capital nor its inhabitants panicked. A makeshift force was thrown together to man the capital's defenses, and this assemblage of wounded men recruited from hospitals, War Department clerks, elderly veterans, and heavy artillerymen held off the attackers until reinforcements arrived from the Union army at Petersburg. After two days of fighting, the Confederates slipped back the way they had come.

A Civil War Map Showing Fort DeRussy and the Other Defenses around Rock Creek

NPS

Washington was poorly defended when the Civil War began in 1861, and after Union forces had been routed at the First Battle of Manassas, concern grew about an attack on the capital. The new Union commander, Major General George McClellan, decided that the city should be fortified. When completed, the city's defenses totaled 68 forts and 93 batteries connected by over 20 miles of rifle trenches, making Washington the most heavily fortified city in the world. Remains of these fortifications can be seen on National Park Service land at Fort Stevens, Fort Totten, Fort Marcy, and Fort DeRussy.