In Search of the Contraband Camps of McLean, Virginia, Part II: Camp Beckwith

A few weeks ago I wrote about the location of one of the contraband camps in the McLean, Virginia area. The Union Army established Camp Wadsworth on property belonging to local Confederate sympathizers near Langley on May 30, 1863. Just one week later, the Federal authorities decided to organize yet another contraband farm in the same general vicinity. This week I turn my attention to the possible location of this second camp, which was situated near Lewinsville. The historical evidence is somewhat less definitive than in the case of Camp Wadsworth, but I wanted to present my preliminary conclusions based on the documents and other sources I have reviewed since starting my research.

As D.B. Nichols, Superintendent of Freedman, noted in his July 1863 report on the newly-established contraband camps:

[W]e organized . . . Camp Beckwith, on MCVAY's and JACKSON's farms, near Lewinsville. (N.Y. Times, Aug. 9, 1863.)

According to a map of land ownership for Fairfax County in 1860, property belonging to both Dr. William Harvey McVeigh and Townsend McVeigh sat very close to the crossroads at Lewinsville. There is no record of a "McVay," so presumably Nichols misspelled the last name. Moreover, farmland under the name of Susan M. Jackson was located adjacent to William McVeigh's land near Lewinsville. Jackson was the widow of the infamous James W. Jackson, who gunned down Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves at the start of the war. James Jackson's mother also had extensive acreage in the vicinity, but farther from Lewinsville and the McVeigh property. Both the McVeigh and Jackson families had reason to attract the attention of Union authorities, so it is perhaps not surprising that their abandoned land became the target for a social experiment involving the resettlement of contrabands.

Wartime view of Lewinsville, Virginia, from Harper's Weekly, Dec. 14, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net). As I noted in a previous post, this depiction of the village is somewhat fanciful.

The McVeigh Property

Townsend McVeigh was born in Virginia in 1800. He owned land in Fairfax County close to Lewinsville (grid square 30:1, 1860 Map), but resided with his family in Loudoun County. In 1859 Townsend conveyed 95 acres near Lewinsville to his son William, a physician born in 1828 (grid square 30:1). This land comprised part of the Windy Hill Farm, which is today listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites.

According to 1860 Census, William McVeigh lived in Fairfax with his wife and three small children. He raised hay, oats, and potatoes. William also owned some dairy cows and cattle. Presumably this farming took place on William's property in Lewinsville. Tax records from 1861 indicate that McVeigh had three slaves.

Mason Shipman leased William's farm or otherwise raised crops there under contract.* The exact start and end date of this business relationship remains uncertain. Shipman's name appears on an 1862 Union Army map of Northeastern Virginia at or near the location of William's farm (see below). According to historian Chuck Mauro, Shipman was farming on William McVeigh's land when the Union Army confiscated his hay in 1863.

Map-1,detail of an 1862 Union Army map of Northeastern Virginia ("McDowell map") showing Lewinsville, Langley, and vicinity (courtesy of Library of Congress). The Shipman residence sat to the northwest of Lewinsville in an area along Scott's Run where William McVeigh's land bordered Susan Jackson's property.

William became active in the local community. He sat on the Board of Trustees for the Strawberry Vale Institute for Young Ladies near Peach Grove (today's Tyson's Corner).** William also served as one of the commissioners in the Lewinsville precinct for the vote on the Ordinance of Secession. William cast his ballot for ratification along with thirty-eight others, but in the end, Lewinsville was one of three precincts in the county to reject the Ordinance on May 23, 1861. Like other secessionists, William likely left his farm in 1861 before the Federal occupation of the neighborhood that fall. He died at his father's home in Middleburg in 1864.

The McVeigh family had its fair share of encounters with Union authorities. On April 10, 1863, the Alexandria Gazette reported that a "Dr. Wm. H. McVeigh" was one of several civilians arrested for disloyalty and brought to Washington by Union forces under Gen. Julius Stahel. Townsend McVeigh, William's father, also appears to have been arrested for his anti-Union sympathies and placed on a prison barge opposite Alexandria in June 1863. When he refused to take the oath of allegiance, Townsend was sent to Old Capitol Prison in Washington and later released.*** Records indicate that William's brother, Townsend Jesse (or T.J.) McVeigh likely served as a chaplain of the 2nd Virginia Infantry. T.J. was captured in early 1862 and sent to Old Capitol Prison. He was released on parole in March of that year.

When the Union authorities began to look for a place to locate a contraband camp outside of Washington, they surely wasted no time in setting their sights on the McVeigh lands. According to Shipman's claim before the Southern Claims Commission, Camp Beckwith was established on William's farm near Lewinsville. (Sprouse, Vol. 4, 1349.)**** It is altogether possible that some or all of the neighboring land owned by his father was also used for the same purpose, but I have yet to find any proof. Today the McVeigh properties are occupied by residential housing. The green area on Map-2 below represents William's property superimposed on the current-day map of McLean. Townsend McVeigh's land is shown in blue.

Map-2, showing the probable location of Camp Beckwith (view Camp Beckwith in a larger map)

The red pin  indicates the location of Lewinsville at the intersection of Chain Bridge Road and Great Falls Street. The Windy Hill farmhouse is indicated by the blue pin. The home, built around 1827, survives today but is barely visible behind trees.

Looking down Lewinsville Road along the southern edge of the former William McVeigh property. A housing development now sits on the heights above the treeline. The Windy Hill farmhouse is also located in the same neighborhood.

The Jackson Property

The Jackson family's land became the target of Union authorities for obvious reasons. James W. Jackson was born near Lewinsville in 1823 to Richard and Jane Donaldson Jackson.***** His father died when he was about six months old. Jane wanted her son to attend Georgetown College, but in the end she sent James to live with his brother, John, in Kentucky. While residing in the Bluegrass State, James met and married Susan Maria Adams of Washington County. He returned to Fairfax with his wife sometime before 1850 and spent a few years farming a tract of land around Lewinsville. In 1858 James became the proprietor of the Union Hotel in Fairfax Court House. By 1860, the Jackson family owned four slaves. Around the start of 1861, James moved his family to Alexandria, where he signed a five-year lease on the Marshall House at the corner of Pitt and King Streets. On January 19, the Alexandria Gazette reported that Jackson's inn and tavern were open for business.

James W. Jackson (courtesy of Johnson County Community College).

Jackson became an ardent secessionist and defiantly flew the stars and bars from the roof of the Marshall House to demonstrate his allegiance. As Union troops occupied Alexandria on May 24, Col. Ellsworth entered the hotel and tore down the flag. Jackson, a combative person by nature, confronted Ellsworth and killed him with a musket blast to the chest. Jackson was immediately shot dead by a Union soldier. The young innkeeper left behind his wife and three daughters. Soon after his death, Jackson was hailed throughout the Confederacy as a martyr for the cause of Southern independence.

James Jackson's wife owned over 120 acres near Lewinsville (grid squares 20:4, 21:3, 29:2, & 30:1). She acquired most or all of  this land in 1859. Susan was living in Alexandria with James when he was killed, and it is unclear whether she ever resided on her property in Lewinsville after his death. Susan and her children may also have visited or stayed with her mother-in-law in Lewinsville sometime during the summer of 1861.******

Jane Jackson lived on over 600 acres along the Leesburg-Georgetown Turnpike near Langley and Lewinsville (grid squares 20:2, 20:4, 21:1, & 21:3) Her home is indicated on Map-1 to the west of Prospect Hill. In October 1861, soldiers from the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves raided Jane Jackson's house upon learning that she had furnished sensitive information to the Confederates about Union troop movements and positions. They placed her under arrest and sent her to Washington. The soldiers also found "two arms-full of important papers." (Ltr. from Anon. to Lancaster Express, Oct. 16, 1861.) According to one contemporary account, the Union troops "took all her negroes which could be of service to them, and gave the others away." (Anonymous 45.) They also "destroyed her furniture, and appropriated a quantity of house-keeping stores which she had laid up." (Anonymous 45.)

Jane and Susan, like other Confederate sympathizers, may have left the area at some point during the war, but more research is needed to determine their whereabouts. In June 1863, the Union Army established part of Camp Beckwith on property that had been abandoned by the Jackson family. Federal authorities likely selected Susan's tract, given its immediate proximity to Lewinsville and William McVeigh's land, where the other half of the camp was located. Jane Jackson's land was farther away, although I have not found evidence that would definitively exclude her property as a possible site.

Susan Jackson's property is indicated in orange on Map-2 above. Suburban housing developments now cover the land. The Capital Beltway (I-495) also cuts through the eastern edge of Jackson's former property near Scott's Run.

Photograph west looking along Lewinsville Road in McLean towards land that once belonged to Susan Jackson. The landscape has been dramatically transformed since the 1860s. Notice the bridge over I-495. 

Based on available sources, we generally know where the Union authorities placed Camp Beckwith. My research over the last several months has raised even more questions that it has answered. Work remains to be done, such as a thorough examination of the Shipman claim. I'd also like to find soldiers' letters and other primary source documents that contain possible clues confirming the camp locations. Another big unknown is the story of the contrabands who lived at Camp Beckwith and neighboring Camp Wadsworth. Other topics include the experiences of the Federal troops who protected the camps and the aid society workers who taught and assisted the contrabands. In the coming months and years, I hope to find more information, and I plan on returning to this topic to share my discoveries.

Notes

*William McVeigh's arrangement with Shipman is mentioned in a few secondary sources. (See Mauro 111; Sprouse, Vol. 4, 1349.) These sources rely on the Shipman's claim for damages before the Southern Claims Commission (SCC). Unfortunately, the SCC file is not available on-line, and I have not yet independently verified the content of Shipman's claim. An examination of the SCC file is likely to uncover additional details about both Shipman and McVeigh.

**The advertisement in the Alexandria Gazette for Aug. 20, 1860 lists McVeigh's address as Annandale in Fairfax County. It is unclear whether he resided there for a particular period of time before moving to Lewinsville, or maintained a residence in both places.

***Articles in the Alexandria Gazette refer to Townsend McVeigh as "Dr. Townsend" or "Dr. Townshend" McVeigh of Middleburg, Loudoun County.

****Again, a thorough examination of the Shipman SCC file may reveal additional details about the placement of Camp Beckwith.

*****Jackson's boyhood home, built in the mid-18th century, still stands along Swink's Mill Road in McLean. The house is listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites. The Jackson family sold the property in 1843.

******In an August 21, 1861 letter to the Pittsburg Gazette, a staff officer from the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves reported that some soldiers from the Reserves visited Jane Jackson's home and met one of James Jackson's daughters.

Sources

Alexandria Gazette, Aug. 20, 1860, Jan. 19, 1861, May 21, 1861, Mar. 7, 1863, Apr. 10, 1863, June 26, 1863, July 23, 1863, Aug. 15, 1863, May 10, 1864; Anonymous, Life of James W. Jackson: The Alexandria Hero, the Slayer of Ellsworth, the First Martyr in the Cause of Southern Independence (1862); Susan Collet Butler, "Windy Hill Farm," Yearbook of the Historical Society of Fairfax County, Vol. 11, pp. 63-74 (1971); Brian A. Conley, Fractured Land: Fairfax County's Role in the Vote for Secession, May 23, 1861 (2001); Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites Report: Windy Hill Farm (report and research notes of Susan Hellman, Dept. of Planning and Zoning,Sept. 2006, available at Virginia Room, City of Fairfax Regional Library); Carole Herrick, Images of America: McLean (2011); "Jackson Family Cemetery," Find-a-Grave (website); "James William Jackson (?-1861)," Find-a-Grave (website); "Jane Moore Donaldson Jackson (1796-1872)," Find-a-Grave (website); "Richard Jackson (1778-1823)," Find-a-Grave (website); Ltr. from "Alpha" to Pittsburg Gazette, Aug. 21, 1861 (courtesy of P.R.V.C. Hist. Soc.); Ltr. from Anon. to Lancaster Express, Oct. 16, 1861 (courtesy of P.R.V.C. Hist. Soc.); Ltr. from Nathaniel S. Falconer to Warren Ledger, Oct. 19, 1861 (courtesy of P.R.V.C. Hist. Soc.) ; Charles V. Mauro, The Civil War in Fairfax County: Civilians and Soldiers (2006); Hugh Milton McIlhany, Some Virginia Families (1903); "Dr. William Harvey McVeigh (?-1864)," Find-a-Grave (website); "Townsend McVeigh (1800-77)," Find-a-Grave (website); Beth Mitchell, Fairfax County in 1860: Property Owners (original map book available at Virginia Room, City of Fairfax Regional Library) ("1860 Map"); N.A.R.A., Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia, available at fold3.com; N.Y. Times, Aug. 9, 1863; Official Records, 1:29:1, 201-02, 2:2, 272-73; "Mason Shipman (1828-1916)," Find-a-Grave (website); Edith Moore Sprouse, Fairfax County in 1860: A Collective Biography (1996) (7 vols. available at Virginia Room, City of Fairfax Regional Library); U.S. Federal Census Returns for the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1850 & 1860, available at ancestry.com; U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedules for 1860, available at ancestry.com.

A Snapshot of Virginia on the Brink: The "Alexandria Gazette," January 19, 1861

The other day while researching for a future post on contraband camps in Northern Virginia, I came across a copy of the January 19, 1861 edition of the Alexandria Gazette. I soon realized the historic value of this particular paper. The articles and classifieds on page three paint a fascinating picture of Virginia on the precipice of the Civil War. The Commonwealth had not yet left the Union, but events were unfolding that would set Virginia on the tragic road to secession. Meanwhile, an innkeeper from Fairfax had just opened a business in Alexandria that would soon become a scene of wartime violence and martyrdom.

In mid-January 1861, the General Assembly of Virginia called for a state convention to consider the question of secession. By the time the Gazette was published on January 19, the campaign to elect delegates was in full swing. The paper published several items related to candidates in Northern Virginia:

The election for delegates was held on February 4, 1861. (See my previous post here.) Moss, a supporter of secession, lost to moderate Unionist William Dulany. George W. Brent, a strong pro-Union candidate from Alexandria County, won his election to the Convention. Janney and Carter, both Unionist candidates, took Loudoun's two seats. Janney would go on to become the President of the Convention. On April 17 the Convention voted to leave the Union, although Brent, Carter, Dulany, and Janney joined the minority against the Ordinance of Secession. Both Dulany and Brent, who placed loyalty to Virginia first and foremost despite their votes in the Convention, served as Confederate officers.

The January 19 edition of the Gazette also reported on a new innkeeper in town:

James Jackson, apparently eager to spread the word about his business, also placed a glowing advertisement in the same paper:

Only a few short months later, the Marshall House would make headlines across the county. On May 23, Virginia voters ratified the Ordinance of Secession by overwhelming numbers. In a public display of his allegiance to the secessionist cause, Jackson hoisted the stars and bars above the Marshall House. As Federal troops moved to occupy Alexandria on May 24, Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves rushed to the roof of the Marshall House and ripped down the Confederate flag flying there. Jackson confronted Ellsworth in the stairwell and shot him dead. Cpl. Francis Brownell of the Fire Zouaves then killed Jackson with a musket blast. In the aftermath of Ellsworth's death, the young colonel and friend of Lincoln became a martyr for the Union cause. Confederates in Virginia and elsewhere exalted Jackson as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Southern independence. Almost immediately, souvenir hunters began to carry away pieces of the Marshall House. Jackson's new business venture, announced with great fanfare in the Gazette, had become just another casualty of war. 

Engraving of the Marshall House from Harper's Weekly, June 8, 1861 (courtesy of House Divided). The site is today occupied by the Hotel Monaco.

This one page in the Gazette speaks volumes about the interconnectedness of history. The fate of Jackson and the Marshall House were related to the Virginia Convention in ways that no one could have imagined on January 19, 1861. The Unionist candidates from Northern Virginia still hoped that secession could be averted. Jackson supported a break with the Union, but he also had a business to run and money to make. The Convention unleashed forces beyond the Unionist delegates' control. Secession and war soon followed. Jackson, a local innkeeper only months before, met his demise confronting Union troops and came to symbolize the Confederate cause in the early days of the conflict. On January 19, no one knew what the future would hold. Yet the story was all right there, on page three, waiting to happen.

Sources

Martha M. Boltz, "Jackson and Ellsworth: Death on both sides in the Civil War," Washington Times, May 18, 2011; Library of Virginia, Virginia Memory: Union or Secession (on-line resource); University of Richmond, Virginia Secession Convention (on-line resource).

Snapshots of Alexandria at the Start of the Peninsula Campaign

A few of my recent posts have focused on George A. McCall's Pennsylvania Reserves as they moved across Northern Virginia from Langley to Hunter's Mills and Alexandria in March 1862.  The division established camp on the outskirts of Alexandria at a spot near the Fairfax Seminary (today's Virginia Theological Seminary).  During the course of my research, I discovered several fascinating newspaper accounts about occupied Alexandria at the start of the Peninsula Campaign.  Some of these articles were written by soldiers for their hometown papers back in Pennsylvania.  The Philadelphia Press also published special dispatches by war correspondent George Alfred Townsend, who came to Alexandria as the divisions of the Army of the Potomac converged on the town in mid-March.  These news articles paint a portrait of wartime Alexandria as seen through the eyes of Northern observers.  Together, they reveal a city profoundly transformed by military occupation and civil strife.

Starting around March 17, 1862 and continuing for a few weeks, the Union Army moved 121,500 soldiers, 14,592 horses, 1,150 wagons, 74 ambulances, 44 batteries, and mountains of other supplies and equipment to Ft. Monroe at the tip of the Peninsula.  (McClellan 109.)  Gen. George McClellan used Alexandria as his primary point of embarkation for the campaign.  Most of the Union soldiers waiting in Alexandria were struck by the sheer magnitude of this logistical feat unfolding before them.   The scene made quite an impression on a soldier from the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves (or "Bucktails").  As he wrote to the Wellsboro Agitator on April 3:

From the hills adjoining our camp, we have a fine view of Alexandria . . . also the old Potomac is clearly seen for ten miles in extent, thickly dotted with vessels of all descriptions.  The wharfs in Alexandria are crowded with vessels for the embarkation of troops, who are leaving daily for Fortress Monroe, and other places down in "Dixie."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 9, 1862.)

A soldier from Clearfield, Pennsylvania realized that he was witnessing a truly historic moment:

Last night at its mid-hour I stood on the brow of the gentle eminence on which we are bivouacked, and grazed on the sublime spectacle before me.  The glancing of the [P]otomac moonbeams, the blazing camp fires of a vast army scattered over thousands of acres, and the myriad twinkling lights of the national capital formed a night scene, the likes of which I may probably never look upon again.  (Democratic Banner, Mar. 26, 1862.)

Townsend provided newspaper readers with a dramatic description of his view from atop Seminary Hill outside of Alexandria:

The monument to Washington lifted its stumpy shaft against the hills, and the great dome of the Capitol was purely and beautifully white.  A hundred steam transports lay in the river; half as many clusters of white tents stretched along Arlington Heights; a score of forts bristled upon as many hilltops, and the foreground was a confused plain of wagons, mules, artillery, and men.  The pregnancy of the time and the power of the Government was here revealed at a winkfull, as never, for all ages, it shall be again.  What other generations shall only read I had seen!  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)

Orrin Stebbins, another soldier-correspondent from the Bucktail regiment, editorialized on McClellan's personal involvement in the preparations for the upcoming campaign:

Gen. McClellan is as busy as a bee, every moment of his time; either dashing from camp to camp--at the wharf, or the Capital, or else in his room laying plans to puzzle the brains of common politician, and to crush this great rebellion.  His boat is now anchored in the bay, with his staff and body guard on hand, ready to start at a moment's warning. . . . (Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 9, 1862.) 

Townsend rode to McClellan's headquarters at "a cosy farm house on a hill top."  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)  He captured the sense of importance that had descended on the place:

Here. . . paymasters, quartermasters, commissaries, and brigadier generals have quarters.  Forage of every description surrounds the house; teamsters come lumbering through the rents in the garden fence, and discharge their burdens under the apple tree boughs in the orchard.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)

The nearby Fairfax Seminary also attracted Townsend's attention.  He considered it "a noble building, with wings, dormitories, and chapels."  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)  The Union Army had converted the seminary into a hospital to treat the sick and wounded.  With a touch of characteristic melodrama, Townsend lamented that "where tuitions were once made in the quiet mysteries of religion, lives now go out in pain, and the wounded and diseased toss and tremble in the agonies of death."  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)

Wartime view of the Fairfax Seminary outside of Alexandria (courtesy of Library of Congress). Townsend took note of "the lofty cross" atop the cupola.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)  Stebbins described the seminary as "a splendid building. . . situated on a high and beautiful hill, in the midst of a splendid grove."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.)

Stebbins had an opportunity to visit town and offered readers a few observations. He felt that "Alexandria, next to Cumberland, Maryland, is the most forsaken and dilapidated place I ever saw." (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.) He noticed that "[h]undreds of houses are deserted, and the whole city looks as though it was built before the flood, and had never repair." (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.) Stebbins passed by the Marhsall House, scene of Col. Elmer Ellsworth's slaying the year before, and discovered that "[t]he old secesh flag-staff is still standing on the top of the house." (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26,1862.)

Townsend contemplated the changes that the war and occupation brought to Alexandria.  As he wrote in an article entitled "Transition Period in Alexandria":

If one fact in Alexandria is more apparent that any other, it is that the city is losing its Southern character.  Alexandria will never again be a Virginia town.  The Yankees have occupied its dwellings, hotels, and warehouses; driven out the negro and the negro-trader, and put his foot upon the old customs, institutions, and laws.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

He was particularly struck by the war's impact on slavery in Alexandria:

The slave-pen, as such, is no more. . . .  whatever Congress may enact relative to bondage, here or elsewhere, I am sure that slavery is at an end wherever the Northern army goes.  The soldiers, unused to such scenes, will not tolerate them; and the slave auctioneer -- an old favorite in Alexandria -- would provoke the cry of "shame" if he mounted the block to auction off either man or woman in the presence of these hard-fisted freemen of Vermont, Michigan, or Pennsylvania.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

The former slave pen in Alexandria, located at 1315 Duke Street (courtesy of Library of Congress).  Before the Civil War, the city was a major center of the domestic slave trade.  Franklin & Armfield, located here prior to Price, Birch &  Co., was one of the largest slave dealers in the United States.  The firm sent over 3,750 slaves to cotton and sugar plantations in the Deep South.  Following occupation in May 1861, the Union Army used the slave pen as a guard house. 

Townsend may have exaggerated the strength of anti-slavery sentiment prevailing in the Union Army at the time.  He also overlooked the complicity of the Federal authorities in holding fugitive slaves at the city jail or in taking money from absentee masters to keep slaves locked up.  But some soldiers, like Stebbins, surely were appalled by the vestiges of slavery in Alexandria and elsewhere in Northern Virginia.  As Stebbins explained to readers:

I always, from my earliest recollections, had a natural hatred for that Southern institution, but that hatred grows stronger and stronger, as I see the ignorance and immorality which follows in its train, and the desolated country, dilapidated towns and cities which might hum with industry, with the grass growing in their streets.  (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.)

Stebbins saw the slave pen in Alexandria, but the words would not come:  "I would describe it if I knew what to compare it to, but I do not, for nothing but a slave-pen can be compared to it."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.)

The Northern presence in Alexandria encouraged migration of all kinds.  Townsend commented on one such demographic shift:

The importation of Northern ladies. . . has not been calculated, thus far, to impress the Virginians with our social superiority.  There are about five hundred women in Alexandria, all of the migratory description, many of whom should have been camp vivandiers.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

When all was said and done, Townsend betrayed a sense of affection for the natives, or at least those of wealth and power:

The leading families have gone, and in many respects, Alexandria will miss them.  There was much of hospitality, ingenuousness, and real nobility about these Virginians.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

The war correspondent also expressed his hope for the future and his belief in Northern superiority:

With the ascendancy of the wild tribes of the North. . . a new era will dawn upon this beautiful, but neglected country.  I hope to see Pennsylvania barns and stack-houses upon these hills, and Yankee mills by all the steams.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.) 

Townsend and the solider-correspondents witnessed and wrote about the movement of the very army that could win a victory and bring peace to the land.  However the war would unfold in the coming months, they also captured the dramatic changes that had already arrived in Alexandria along with the Union Army.  Lucky for us, their articles survive to tell the story.

Sources

City of Alexandria/Alexandria Black History Museum, "Alexandria's African-American History" (web page); Civil War Washington, D.C., "Alexandria's Jail and Contrabands;" The Friends of Freedmen's Cemetery (website); Democratic Banner, Mar. 26, 1862; George B. McClellan, Report on the Organization and Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac (1864); Philadelphia Press, Mar. 20, 1862; Philadelphia Press, Mar. 28, 1862; Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862; Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 9, 1862.

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.

Marshall House Entry on the Historical Marker Database

I wanted to let readers know that I submitted the Marshall House historical marker for publication on the Historical Marker Database, a great on-line resource which contains information on thousands of markers across the United States. Readers may remember that the Marshall House in Alexandria, Virginia is the site of the death of Union Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who became a martyr to the Northern cause early in the Civil War. (See my previous post here.) The marker was accepted by the Historical Marker Database and can be found here.  While you are on the site, do a search and check out markers that may be of interest to you.  And when going on vacation, be sure to look up what historical sites may be available to visit.