Encounters with Slavery in Northern Virginia, Fall 1861

While researching the Union Army camps around present-day McLean, I have come across various accounts of slavery in the region.  During the mid-19th century, large-scale slave holding became unprofitable in Fairfax County due to the economic downturn.  Instead, families who owned large farms and small plantations began to use free labor alongside a smaller number of slaves.  I have not yet researched the 1860 Census returns for Langley and Lewinsville, but the 1860 Census data for Fairfax give us an idea of the extent of slavery in the county.  Out of a total population of 11,834, there were 3,116 slaves and 8,046 whites.  In addition, the county was home to 672 freed blacks.  Nearby Alexandria became the center of one of the largest slave-trading businesses in the United States, as Virginians sold off slaves for use on large cotton plantations of the Deep South.



Price, Birch & Co., Slave Dealers, Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia.  When the Union Army occupied Alexandria in 1861, they took over this business and converted the building into a prison and home for contraband blacks.  (Library of Congress)



The Northerners who entered Virginia in the fall of 1861 were struck by the vestiges of slavery that existed not far across the river from the nation's capital.  In October 1861, a correspondent from the New York Times visited a homestead that had served as General "Baldy" Smith's headquarters.  He wrote of one slave who became free simply by virtue of abandonment:

But at the little old house there is nothing living to be seen. Even the cornstalks in the garden, the vines on the walls, and the shrubbery in the front, are dressed in the livery of death. . . .  Oh! yes, there is one living thing. Hale and hearty, too, he is -- and he is living all over. It is one of the institutions of the country -- indeed, it is "the institution." He sits on the broken porch, and looks as if he was luxuriating on the desolation around him. He don't know, just now, where he belongs, or to whom. His master is "off there somewhere," and he "tinks he's a fightin." But he does know that for once he is free to go and come anywhere within the lines, and that he gets enough to eat without having "berry much to do." 

Wartime photo of a slave family (Library of Congress)



Samuel Lascomb from Co. C, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves was based in Camp Pierpont around Langley.  On an excursion to Prospect Hill in October 1861, he encountered slave life first-hand.  He described the scene in a letter to the editor of the Lebanon [Penna.] Courier:

While out to Prospect Hill yesterday I embraced the opportunity offered to examine the miserable huts which the wealthy planters of Old Virginia furnish to their much-loved servants. To the left of the hill are three low hovels constructed on bogs and mud. There is no manner by which light is left into the building except by a hole in the wall, over which there is a shudder made of a trap door. The interior of the building is about as well furnished as such buildings are, viz: a chair which showed as though it once had an oak plated seat in it. I don’t know but the inmates of that house can say with the poet: “I love it, I love it, and who shall dare to chide me for loving that Old Arm Chair.” Then there are one or two large boxes, a rude table constructed of boards which had never come into close contact to a Jack-plane; a gourd serves the place of a dipper. A stove is an article altogether foreign to such an institution as a negro shanty, and a monstrous fire-place topped out with a chimney at the end of the house, serves the purpose of both warming, ventilating and lighting the house, while for bedding a heap of corn husks in the corner is the only thing upon which the weary slave can rest his aching bones after a hard day’s work. The inmates of the house were an old lady, who could not tell me how old she was, yet she knew she had a son that was born last spring 82 years ago! The son with his wife live with her in the same hut, and the son who is an old man already, told me that he could still do a respectable day’s work, yet they are happy and contented, for “Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.” As a proof of their ignorance allow me to state that when my comrade (a member of the 11th Pennsylvania Reg’t) offered to pay the young woman for two cups of coffee which we had bought and drank there, and he having offered her a dime and a half, she refused the half dime saying that she “knew what a ten-cent piece was, but she didn’t know what de oder was,” and that he “couldn’t fool her, he must give her two pennies yet;” thus absolutely refusing fifteen cents because she did not know of what denomination the smaller piece was. (Letter courtesy of the Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps Historical Society.)

The war had turned the slaves' familiar world upside down.  Even a simple monetary transaction was alien to the family at Prospect Hill.  Now a Union force occupied the region, and some slaves, like the one at Smith's former headquarters, were coming to the realization they could find freedom within the Union lines. The Northerners had likely read much about slavery; now they were personally meeting its victims and witnessing its effects.  In the fall of '61, Northern Virginia must have seemed like another planet to slave, soldier, and war correspondent alike.

Drug Smuggling, Civil War Style

I couldn't resist posting a link to this article on a curious find at a hospital in Richmond. 

McLean's Own Confederate General

Last Saturday I decided to explore the old graveyard at the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church when I was out running errands.  I had read about a grave of particular interest on the Historical Marker Database -- the cemetery is the final resting place of Confederate Brigadier General William Whann Mackall.  In 2009, the Laura Ratcliffe Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy ("UDC") installed a commemorative marker in front of the grave.  General Mackall is buried next to his wife, Aminta, who was the sister of Confederate General Moxley Sorrell.  General Sorrell served as General James Longstreet's chief of staff during the war.



William W. Mackall's gravestone and marker.  The gravestone notes: "Brave. Gentle. Modest. Distinguished in the Florida and Mexican Wars and in the War Between the States."  The U.S. flag must in commemoration of Mackall's earlier Federal service!



UDC marker at the Mackall burial plot.  For text of marker and more information, see the Historical Marker Database entry.

Mackall was born in Georgetown, D.C. on January 13, 1817 and grew up in Cecil County, Maryland.  His father eventually moved to Fairfax County in the 1840s and settled on an estate in Langley.  Mackall attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating eighth in his class in 1837.  Mackall's early duty included service in the war against the Seminole Indians in Florida.  During the Mexican War (1846-48), Mackall led a battery of horse artillery and earned brevet commissions as captain and major for his performance at Monterrey, Contreras, and Churubusco.  When the Civil War broke out, Mackall was serving as Assistant Adjutant General in the Department of the Pacific.  The War Department planned to make him lieutenant colonel, but Mackall, who was of Southern sympathies, resigned from the U.S. Army and headed to Richmond.

Brigadier General William W. Mackall (courtesy of findagrave.com)

General Joseph E. Johnston, one of the highest-ranking Confederate officers at the start of the war, was Mackall's long-time friend. Johnston exclaimed that he would give his right arm if the Confederate Army would send Mackall to him as major general. Instead, Mackall was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and assigned as chief of staff to General Albert Sydney Johnston in the Western Theater.  General P.G.T. Beauregard recommended that Mackall be promoted to major general, but the Confederate Government awarded him with a brigadier's commission and sent him to the staff of General Leonidas Polk.

"The Gun-Boat 'Carondelet' Running the Rebel Batteries at Island No. 10," Harper's Weekly, April 26, 1862 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

In March 1862, Mackall replaced General John McCown as commander of the Confederate defenses at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi, which was the focus of an active Union military campaign.  At the start of April, Union ironclads overwhelmed the Confederate batteries, and the Federal Army under General John Pope was able to cut off the Confederate's escape route. On April 8, Mackall surrendered Island No. 10. He was sent to Fort Warren prison in Boston and was set free as part of a prisoner exchange in July 1862.  President Jefferson Davis never seems to have forgiven Mackall for the loss of Island No. 10, which was an obvious blow to the Confederacy early in the war.

Returning to service after his release, in December 1862 Mackall was made the temporary commander of the District of the Gulf until a replacement was found.  (The UDC marker makes much more of this service than appears merited.)  In April 1863, Mackall was sent back to the front to serve as chief of staff to stubborn and vindictive Braxton Bragg, commander of the Army of Tennessee.  (Interestingly enough, the UDC marker neglects to mention Bragg by name.)  Mackall helped to manage the infighting surrounding Bragg after the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, but even Mackall had seen enough. He tendered his resignation and soon took a brigade command under Joe Johnston in Enterprise, Mississippi.  This assignment gave the men plenty of time to complain about the object of their scorn, President Davis.

Johnston was made commander of the Army of Tennessee in late 1863 after the fall of Chattanooga.  Not surprisingly, he selected Mackall as his chief of staff.  The two served together throughout the Atlanta Campaign in 1864.  Davis replaced Johnston with General John B. Hood in July 1864.  Mackall would soon follow Johnston.  When Bragg was visiting Hood's headquarters, Mackall refused to shake his hand.  This prompted Hood to ask for Mackall's resignation.  Mackall willingly obliged and headed to Macon, Georgia, where he stayed at his brother-in-law's home.  Mackall sought new orders, but his requests went unheeded until he was placed in command of the Confederate post at Macon.  He and three other generals surrendered the city to Federals on April 20, 1865.

Following the Civil War, Mackall briefly lived in Baltimore, then spent the remainder of his days at the family estate in Langley, where he died on August 19, 1891.

The Picket War Around Lewinsville: October 14-15, 1861

Camp life might be dull, but Northern soldiers living in the Lewinsville area occasionally had a chance to engage the Rebels.  On October 16, 1861, the New York Times reported on a small engagement that took place on the previous two days between troops under General Winfield Scott Hancock and Confederate skirmishers.  According to the article, entitled "The Post of Danger at Lewinsville":

I was up to Lewinsville, this afternoon, or rather to the headquarters of Gen. HANCOCK, who occupies the post of danger and of honor, being on the extreme right of the main body on the other side of the Potomac. The rebel pickets were about two miles or two miles and a half from his post. Yesterday, they skirmished nearly all day, our folks at night being about fifteen head of cattle better off than they were in the morning, having captured them from the enemy. This morning the rebels put ten head more in the same field, evidently to decoy our boys in. They got more than a match, however, for our boys not only got the cattle, but drove back the rebels who were laying in ambush to catch them. Gen. HANCOCK campaigned it through Mexico, and was too old a soldier to be caught sending a boy to do a man's work. The skirmish was hot, but our men were in greater force than the rebels calculated. We did not have a man wounded.



"Deployed as Skirmishers," Harper's Weekly, July 20, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

 The Times also reported on this small encounter:

Another party from Gen. HANCOCK'S Brigade also went out this morning [Oct. 15] to the house of Mrs. CHILDS, three miles off, where the rebels have been in the habit of concealing themselves and firing upon the pickets. Our party drove them away from the house, which they burned, together with eight stacks of grain and hay, from which the rebels had been feeding their horses.

No mention of whether Mrs. Childs was home at the time, or whether she actively welcomed the Confederate troops to use her property as a place to hide and fire shots at the nearby Yankee outpost.  In any event, her home and crops became another local casualty of Union occupation.

Arlington Site on the Civil War

I wanted to bring readers' attention to a new website on Arlington County and the Civil War.  (Thanks to the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Facebook page for pointing this out.)  During the conflict, Arlington County was named Alexandria County.  Union troops occupied Arlington soon after Virginia approved the Ordinance of Secession and never left.  The county saw no major battles during the war, but the Union Army erected several forts in Arlington to defend Washington, including Fort Ethan Allen and Fort C.F. Smith.  The website will serve as a repository for material about Arlington during the war and will also highlight local events related to the Sesquicentennial.  See, Arlington is known for more than this!

Yankees in Fairfax

Residents of the District sometimes view the Commonwealth of Virginia as though still belonging to the Confederacy.  A few of my DC-based friends have even joked that they need a passport to cross the Potomac and enter the Old Dominion state.  Governor McDonnell's original Confederate History Month proclamation did not do much to help matters.  However, as even McDonnell was finally forced to recognize, the wartime reality of Virginia is much more complex and nuanced.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Fairfax County.

Prior to the start of the Civil War, Fairfax and other parts of Virginia had seen an influx of Northerners, who were attracted by the milder climes south of the Mason-Dixon line.  According to the1860 Census, the Northern states with the largest presence in Virginia were Pennsylvania (18,673), Ohio (7,735), New York (4,617), New Jersey (1,611), and Massaschusetts (1,431).

A November 1, 1861 New York Times article on Northerners in Fairfax County observed:

[When] the war broke out. . . they constituted a large and influential class of the population. They settled generally in the eastern part of the county, and are to be found most numerous between Drainsville [sic] and Alexandria. Groups of four or five families are to be found in other parts of the county, and between Centreville and Manassas Northern families are not unfrequently met.

The newcomers helped to improve farming methods and increase agricultural production in an area that had seen its fair share of economic hardship.  As the Times reported, "[w]herever a Northern farmer bought a worn out farm two or three years sufficed to bring it up to an excellent condition."  Moreover, "[t]he Northern settlers rarely buy slaves, but cultivate their farms with free labor. In some instances, where their sons have married into Southern families, they have become possessed of a negro or two; but in these instances, the relation has generally been one of a voluntary character."  (I am not sure what is meant by "voluntary character;" perhaps the Times was trying to rationalize the contiunace of slaveholding by these Northern families.)  The Times speculated that Northern industriousness had improved land values in the county. For example, an "estate of one hundred and forty acres, north of Falls Church, was purchased by a Northern man at $8; a year ago it would have readily sold for $75."

American Farm Scenes, No. 2, Currier & Ives, 1853 (courtesy of The Old Print Shop)

The influx of Northerners also played a role in the politics of Fairfax leading up to the Civil War.  In the 1860 election, the combined "Unionist" vote in Fairfax totaled 807, compared to 685 for the Southern Democrat candidate, John C. Breckinridge.  The Unionists went most heavily for John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party (692 votes), followed by Stephen A. Douglas of the Northern Democrats (91 votes) and Abraham Lincoln of the Republican Party (24 votes).  Although Virginia natives also voted for Unionist candidates -- after all, Bell took Virginia in the election-- it is possible that Northern-born residents in Fairfax and elsewhere helped to contribute to the margin over Breckinridge.

1860 campaign poster for the Constitutional Union Party.  Presidential candidate John Bell is on the left; Vice Presidential Candidate Edward Everett is on the right (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

As the country headed towards disunion, residents of Fairfax County initially hesitated to embrace secession.  At least some of this sentiment is attributable to the presence of Northern transplants, as well as economic dependence on close-by Northern markets.  During the election for delegates to the Secession Convention in February 1861, Fairfax's Unionist candidate, William Dulaney, received 57 percent of the vote, compared to the pro-secession candidate, Alfred Moss, with 43 percent.  Dulaney was in the minoirty on April 17, when the Convention voted in favor of secession and sent an Ordinace to the voters for ratification.  On May 23, 1861, Fairfax voters approved the Ordinance by 76 percent.  Only three of fourteen districts (Accotink, Lewinsville, and Lydecker's, in and around Vienna) voted against secession.  (See the original voting records here.)   The start of hostilities at Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for 75, 000 volunteers may have generated some of this support, which had grown considerably since the February vote.  However, secessionists also intimidated voters at the polls, sometimes by openly threatening violence against pro-Union men.  The voting was not by secret ballot, so everyone at a polling station would have known how a neighbor came out on the question of secession.  Some voters likely switched allegiances or stayed home rather than risk physical harm to cast a vote against the Ordinance. 

"How Virginia Was Voted Out of the Union," Harper's Weekly, June 15, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

Freeman Store in Vienna, Virginia.  The store was built in 1859 by a recent migrant from New Jersey, Abram Lydecker.  Both Lydecker and his son-in-law, Anderson Freeman, ran the store.  In May 1861, residents of the area in and around Vienna cast their votes on the question of secession here.

As the Union Army occupied Northern Virginia in the fall of 1861, the Times reported:

The Northern settlers are almost unanimous for the Union, and though they have suffered great losses by reason of the war, most of them having been compelled to desert their homes after Bull Run, they have aided the Union cause in every way they could. Some are acting as guides, others in various capacities under the Government.

The paper also called out Northern transplants who supported the Confederacy, including the postmaster of Falls Church, who was arrested and forced to take an oath of allegiance.  The postmaster fled to Richmond, "probably fearing to come back."

Fairfax entered the war divided like the nation itself. That truth is a far cry from the myth that Virginians, including those just across the Potomac from Washington, were solidly in the Confederate camp.  The divisions within the Commonwealth demonstrate why we must be careful not to jump to conclusions about the inhabitants of Virginia and other Confederate States during the war.

Note on Sources:
For a good account of Unionist sentiment in Fairfax County, see Charles V. Mauro, The Civil War in Fairfax County: Civilians and Soldiers.

The Union Takes Over Lewinsville and Langley

Over the last few months, I've written several times about the Union Army camps around present-day McLean.  (See, for example, here and here.)  Divisions under General "Baldy" Smith and General George McCall moved into the area in October 1861 and set up Camps Griffin and Pierpont.  The troops stayed until March 1862, when they headed out as part of the Army of the Potomac's spring offensive.  On October 11, 1861, the New York Times ran an article about the Union Army's movement into the region.  The correspondent provided readers with an interesting glimpse into the activities of the soldiers that had recently occupied farmers' fields around Lewinsville and Langley.  According to the Times:

A drizzling rain has been falling all the day [Oct. 10], and our troops have been engaged in the double duty of strengthening their new outposts and arranging for their personal comfort as well as they can. The Leesburgh [sic] turnpike, from Chain Bridge to Langley's, has been crowded with Government wagons all day, yet with all the camp equipage transported, many of the troops must bivouac in the rain to-night.

Establishing camp was clearly a logistical nightmare, and led to traffic jams long before the infamous ones we know today!  Soldiers' letters (more on that in a future post) confirm that tents, overcoats, and blankets were late in arriving when the Union Army moved into the vicinity of present-day McLean.



Photo and caption courtesy of Vermont Historical Society (http://www.vermonthistory.org/)

 The Times also provided details on the allegiances, and whereabouts, of local families. 

From Langley's west to Lewinsville nearly all the dwellings are deserted. Those belonging to Union families have been so since the retreat from Bull Run, though now Mr. CARPENTER, Mr. GREEN, Mr. CROCKER, Mr. GRIFFITH and Mr. GILBERT, who have been several weeks in Washington, will return to their homes to-morrow. The advance of our troops has caused the rebel families to remove to Secessia. Among them are those of HENRY JENKIS, a Colonel in the rebel cavalry; Mr. MUSE and Mr. COOK, formerly of the Navy, but now rebel officers. Their places are on the road between Langley's and Lewinsville. Mr. MACKALL, who lived near by, has also disappeared; and the residence of the family of the late Commodore AP CATESBY JONES, near Prospect Hill, was also found deserted. A son of the Commodore, PATERSON JONES, of the Navy, has remained loyal to his country. Another son, MARK JONES, is a rebel officer. DUNHAM, a rebel who kept a tavern at Langley's, has left. Mr. BURKE, a Union man, who has a similar establishment at the same point, has been able to remain at his place throughout the difficulties.

As the Times article reveals, the area around Lewinsville and Langley was fairly divided between Unionists and Confederates, including within the same family.  In fact, sympathies tilted towards the North -- Lewinsville was among three of 14 districts in Fairfax County to vote against Virginia's Ordinance of Secession in May 1861. 


The Times article also indicates that various commanders were already making themselves right at home:

Mr. SMOOT's dwelling, west of Langley's, until recently inhabited, was found without a tenant, and Gen. SMITH has located his head-quarters there. Gen. HANCOCK is at Dr. MACKALL's, from which GRIFFIN's Battery did such excellent service in the recent reconnoissances. The First Pennsylvania head-quarters is at Cook's.

General Winfield Scott Hancock (Library of Congress)

Of course, readers may remember that Mr. Smoot's house is none other than Salona, the estate where President Madison is rumored to have stayed during his flight from the British in 1814.  And many will be familiar with "Gen. HANCOCK" (that is to say, Brigadier General Winfield Scott Hancock), who would go on to lead the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg and after.  Hancock in October 1861 commanded a brigade in "Baldy" Smith's division.  The First Pennsylvania is one of the regiments in McCall's famed Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, which arrived in Langley on October 9.

Once established on the soil of the Old Dominion, the troops around Lewinsville and Langley apparently had very little to fear from the Confederates.  According to the Times, "no attack is expected."  And again:

There are no indications of the presence of the enemy excepting cavalry pickets, and military officers incline to the opinion that there are no rebels in considerable force on the whole line of our Grand Army, or within six miles of its entire front.

Soon, the Northern troops would face a greater enemy in the poor winter weather and the diseases that spread through cramped quarters.

J.E.B. Stuart Makes a Name for Himself

Since starting this blog, I have written a few times about the "Battle of Lewinsville" on September 11, 1861.  (See here, here and here.)  This small skirmish interests me for a number of reasons.  The clash at Lewinsville took place right in the middle of present-day McLean, not far from my home, but is hardly known to local residents.  Lewinsville also involves a cast of characters who became prominent figures during the Civil War, including J.E.B. Stuart, Charles Griffin, and "Baldy" Smith.  In fact, one of the best stories to come out of Lewinsville  involves then-Colonel J.E.B. Stuart, commander of Confederate forces, whose performance led to recognition and promotion.

General J.E.B. Stuart (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

On the afternoon of September 11, as the recall was sounded and the Union reconnaissance force of around 1,800 assembled to return to camp near Chain Bridge, Stuart led over 300 men of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, the 13th Virgina Infantry, and the Washington Artillery of Louisiana in a surprise attack.  The skirmish mostly involved an exchange of artillery fire, and the Union retreat was orderly and involved few casualties.  However limited the engagement, Stuart impressed his superiors with his conduct during the fight.  In forwarding Stuart's official report of the skirmish to General Joseph E. Johnston, commander of the Confederate Army of the Potomac, General James Longstreet, wrote:

The affair of yesterday was handsomely conducted and well executed. . . .  Colonel Stuart has, I think, fairly won his claim to brigadier, and I hope the commanding generals will unite with me in recommending him for that promotion.



General James Longstreet, Stuart's immediate commander based at Falls Church, VA (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)



General Joseph E. Johnston (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)



General Johnston and General P.G.T. Beauregard, the other top Southern commander in Northern Virginia, endorsed Longstreet's recommendation, and added:



We think with Brigadier-General Longstreet that Colonel Stuart's laborious and valuable services, unintermitted since the war began on this frontier, entitle him to a brigadier generally. His calm and daring courage, sagacity, zeal, and activity qualify him admirably for the command of our three regiments of cavalry, by which the outpost duty of the Army is performed. The Government would gain greatly by promoting him.

Johnston wrote separately to General Samuel Cooper, Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate Army in Richmond:

Connected with this communication and these reports is a recommendation form General Longstreet, General Beauregard, and myself for forming a cavalry brigade and putting Colonel Stuart at is head. A new organization of the cavalry arm of our service is greatly needed, and greater strength as well as an effective organization.



General P.G.T. Beauregard (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

Immediately after Lewinsville, Johnston and Beauregard had considered Stuart's use of the artillery overly brash; he had put the guns too close to the Union lines and risked capture of precious weaponry.  Longstreet came to Stuart's defense, and obviously won the day.  In the end, Stuart was made a brigadier general and given an independent command of cavalry.  Lewinsville had helped to put Stuart on the road to fame as the head of one of the best-known cavalry commands of the entire Civil War.

Fort Ward: One of the Best, but Little-Known, Civil War Sites in the D.C. Area

Back in 2006, when I began dating my wife, she introduced me to Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, not far from her condominium on the outskirts of Old Town Alexandria.  When I went to check out Fort Ward one morning, I was amazed at what I found.  Despite living in the D.C. area on and off for around seventeen years, I had never heard of, let alone visited, the place.  Now, it is one of my favorite Civil War sites around.  In a region where governments and the private sector have done a relatively inadequate job of preserving and interpreting the Civil War defenses around the nation's capital, Fort Ward -- run by the City of Alexandria -- stands out as a gem. (See here, here, and here for a description of the woeful state of preservation of the D.C. forts.)

Fort Ward was part of the ring of defensive works around Washington that totaled 161 forts and batteries by war's end.  The Union Army began construction of Fort Ward in July 1861 and completed work by September 1861.  The initial earthwork fort was 540 yards in perimeter and had 24 gun emplacements.  The fort was named after Commander James H. Ward, the first Union Naval officer to be mortally wounded in the Civil War.  Scheduled for rebuilding in 1863, Fort Ward was expanded to a perimeter of 818 yards and 36 gun emplacements by April 1865.  During the war, the fort was garrisoned by soldiers from many different units, including regiments of heavy artillery from Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.  Fort Ward, which stood guard over the approaches to Alexandria via the Leesburg Turnpike and the Little River Turnpike, never came under attack.  The Army closed the fort permanently in December 1865 and sold any salvageable materials at auction.

Map of Fort Ward (Courtesy of Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site)

In 1961, the City of Alexandria began restoration of Fort Ward as part of the Civil War Centennial.  The project focused on restoring the Northwest Bastion of the fort to its 1864 appearance.  Alexandria even had reproduction cannon manufactured and installed based on Fort Ward's table of armaments.  Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site opened in 1964.  Today, due to commendable preservation efforts, 90-95% of Fort Ward's earthen walls survive.  A few years ago, I noticed in horror that picnickers were climbing the preserved walls of the fort.  The City has since placed markers warning visitors to keep off.  Unfortunately, far too many people who visit for recreational reasons aren't there for the history, and have no idea what they are doing when they walk on fragile earthworks and rifle trenches.


Reconstruction of entrance gate to Fort Ward, originally completed in 1865.  The arch is topped by a castle, the insignia of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which designed and constructed Fort Ward.



Interior of the Northwest Bastion, which guarded the approach to Alexandria along the Leesburg Turnpike.  The restored bastion is armed with six reproduction weapons.  Note also the filling room in the foreground.  Artillery shells were armed and sometimes stored there.



6-pounder James rifle (foreground) and 24-pounder howitzer (background) in the Northwest Bastion

24-pounder howitzer (foreground) and two 4.5-inch rifled cannon (background) in the Northwest Bastion

Exterior view of emplacement for 24-pounder howitzer in the Northwest Bastion

Exterior view of Northwest Bastion and ditch.  Note gun emplacements.  Fort Ward's walls were 18-22 feet high, 12-14 feet thick, and slanted at 45 degrees.

Remains of a rifle trench which extended from the North Bastion to a battery located beyond the Leesburg Turnpike.  This ditch and wall were designed to protect infantry from enemy fire in the event of an attack.

Reconstruction of officers' hut, in typical board-and-batten style.  At Fort Ward, the officers' huts, soldiers barracks, and mess hall were located outside the walls of the fort, near the present-day site of the Museum.

Fort Ward Museum, patterned after a Union Army headquarters building.  There is no indication that such a building stood at Fort Ward, although structures like this were constructed at other forts around Washington.

While touring the historic site, visitors should also check out the Fort Ward Museum, which houses a small but worthwhile collection of objects related to the Civil War defenses of Washington and the Union occupation of Alexandria.  In fact, the museum is the closest thing the D.C. area has to a visitors center for the defenses of Washington. One of my favorite artifacts is a wooden letter which was part of the sign on the Marshall House, site of the death of Union Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who became a martyr to the Northern cause early in the Civil War.  The Confederate flag that Ellsworth removed from the Marshall House is also on display.  The Museum contains a research library of around 2,000 volumes, and throughout the year, hosts a variety of events, including living history demonstrations and a Civil War-era Christmas celebration.  I also encourage readers to join the Friends of Fort Ward, whose "primary goal is to work to support the City of Alexandria’s stewardship of the Fort, provide supplemental funding for the Fort Ward Museum, and advocate for the Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site’s best interests."

Note on Sources:
The Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site website, linked to above, has a wealth of material on the history of Fort Ward.  In addition, the Historical Marker Database provides information on all of the markers at the site.  The photos are from the author's personal collection.

Civil War Lesson Plans

As everyone knows, I am not a teacher, but in light of this week's post on my Civil War education in Pittsburgh, I thought I would pass along this link to Civil War Lesson Plans over at the Civil War Preservation Trust website.  As you can see, the CWPT has put together a wealth of material to help educators design lessons for students in grades 4 through 12.  The plans cover many great topics, ranging from the U.S. Colored Troops to the life of the common soldier.  These are the types of topics I had in mind when I urged schools to teach students all aspect of the war, no matter how difficult.  I'd be interested in hearing from any teachers that are among my readers on how you approach the Civil War in your classroom.