Last updated: June 22, 2021
Place
Interpretive Panel: New Forts for a New War
NPS
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
(Distances are exaggerated for interpretive purposes.)
As the Civil War loomed, Union forces battened down the hatches of Washington, DC. In 1861, the Union capital city was an easy target if Confederate ships sailed up the Potomac River. In just two years, a protective ring of over 60 forts sprouted around the city. Fort Foote, perched here on Rozier’s Bluff, was built with haste in eight months. The fort’s claim to fame was its high-tech coastal artillery—but its cutting-edge cannons were never tested in battle.
“We are putting up an extensive water battery…which may be an object of interest to you: the excursion on the water is pleasant & the locality a beautiful one.”
- John G. Barnard, Engineer, US Army to Abraham Lincoln, August 13, 1863
As the Civil War loomed, Union forces battened down the hatches of Washington, DC. In 1861, the Union capital city was an easy target if Confederate ships sailed up the Potomac River. In just two years, a protective ring of over 60 forts sprouted around the city. Fort Foote, perched here on Rozier’s Bluff, was built with haste in eight months. The fort’s claim to fame was its high-tech coastal artillery—but its cutting-edge cannons were never tested in battle.
“We are putting up an extensive water battery…which may be an object of interest to you: the excursion on the water is pleasant & the locality a beautiful one.”
- John G. Barnard, Engineer, US Army to Abraham Lincoln, August 13, 1863