Information Panel: Naval Battery

The Naval Battery was the first Union fortification on Maryland Heights.

NPS / Claire Hassler

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Positioned 300 feet above the Potomac River, the Naval Battery was the first Union fortification on Maryland Heights. Hastily built in May 1862, its naval guns were rushed here from the Washington D.C. Navy Yard. Along with a detachment of 300 sailors and marines, the battery was equipped to protect Harpers Ferry from Confederate attack during Stonewall Jackson's famous Valley Campaign in the spring of 1862.

Thwarted that spring Jackson returned to Harpers Ferry in mid September 1862, during the Confederacy's first invasion of the North. Jackson's three-day siege included an infantry battle on the crest of Maryland Heights on September 13, in which the Confederates advanced south along the ridge top. The Naval Battery guns were turned uphill to pound the crest, but orders to retreat forced the Federals to abandon the mountains and this battery.

On September 22, one week after the Union surrender at Harpers Ferry, U.S. forces returned to Maryland Heights to build fortifications at better locations on the crest and slope of the Heights. The Naval Battery lost its defensive importance and eventually became an ordnance depot.

Battery Improvements
Federal troops periodically improved this fortification -- the eldest on Maryland Heights.

Photo Label: At first, the Naval Battery's three guns sat on a clear, manmade leveled area. This August 1862 photo taken from across the Potomac River at Camp Hill shows the Naval Battery position. Map Label: By January 1863, the battery consisted of seven separate platforms protected by sandbag embankments, or ramparts. Four powder magazines for ammunition storage also had been constructed.

Heavy Artillery
Art Caption: By July 1863, a three-sided earthwork protected the guns in anticipation of another Confederate advance. Remains of this earthwork are visible today.