Fort Lincoln : history and construction / by J.T. Doyle.

- FORT Lr T C0Lr T -
vr I>TORY AND COT T ; STRUCT ION

/

By J.T.Doyle

University of Maryland

Thesis prepared as an initiation requirement for

Tau Beta Pi

///3/33

fort Lr T cor T

Prior to the Civil War, the city of Washington had
never been fortified in any way against an enemy invasion.
". r ith the advent of these internal disturbances, the Union forces
built extensive defensive works around the Capital of the na-
tion, which had become a goal of the southern forces. These de-
fences consisted of a line of infantry parapet, batteries , and
forts, which extended clear around the city. Of those construct-
ed on the northern heights overlooking the city, the largest
and most important was Fort Lincoln located on a ridge directly
east of Bladensburg Road at the District Line. The guns of this
fort commanded, the wide valley of Bladensburg thru which ran
the most important approaches to Washington from the north, the
Post Road and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The capture of
this valley would have isolated the Capital from the rest of

the Union.

The Confederate attack anticipated at this point never
materialised and the fort did not take any part in the defences
of the city other than to stand guard over the valley extend-
ing before it.

All that remains of this structure today after a lapse
of seventy-two years, are a few of the infantry parapet and the
side walls of two of its batteries. The National Training
School has been built upon the site of the fort itself. The last
traces of the breastworks having been obliterated in 1931 by
the construction of a new building. The remainder of the ground
is now used as a cemetery which bears the name of Fort Lincoln.

Fort Lincoln

Prior to the Civil War, the city of Washington had
never been fortified in any way against an enemy invasion.
This is easily understood because during the Revolution
there was no city of Washington, and in the war of 1812 the
American generals unwisely supposed that the city was safe
from attack. This surrnosition was based on the inland nosition
of the city ani its natural protection on three sides by very
heavy; forest and swamp land. The fourth side, that to the
ortheast, was somewhat ex-nosed by a navigable river, now
called the Anascostia, which flowed through the town of ?lad ens-
burg, a thriving uort at that time. The British found this
vulnerable snot about two years a.fter the declaration of war in
1812. They lost no time in carrying out their nlan of taki
the city. The British fleet sailed, unmolested, uo the narrow
river and fell unon the sleeping town of Bladensburg. So
unexpected was the attack that no measures for the defence of
the capital were undertaken. A few companies of volunteers and
a nortion of naval reserve unit lined up across the Post Road
(now Bladensburg Road) ani prepared to resist the British ad-
vance. Upon the appearance of the enemy, the soldiers fell back
in terror. The sailors, under command of Cbmmadore Barney, how-
ever, were made of sterner stuff. They put uo a stubborn but
boneless battle over the ground where Port Lincoln was later to
be constructed. A spring, unier an ancient oak, which, according
to tradition, occupies the place where Barney met his death, is

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named for the gallant Comma'iore. This spring "beneath its stal-
wart guardian is still bubbling forth.

With the advent of the internal disturbances through-
out the country over the question of slavery, and the subse-
quent declaration of war by the Union unon the seceeling states,
Washington became a strategic noint in the defences of the Worth .
With the war came the realization that the city was 'lefenceless .
President Lincoln, who was to lead the country & u t of these
troubled waters, immediately issued orders to the effect that
Washington must be fortified by the best ana 1 quickest means.
The army engineers set off at once to the south of the city
across the Potomac River to set up a line of strong forts,
batteries, and infantry parapets, which were to extend as a
protection from a point well above Chain Bridge, the main en-
trance of the city from the South, to the river aiie of Alex-
andria. Directing these operations were some of the army's
ablest engineers, among whom were Generals lieigg, Totten, Slem-
ner, and Sumner, whose work with fortifications never been
excelled. Under this able direction, the fortification snrang
UTi almost over night, to make Washington practically imnregnable
from the South. These forts, namely, Marcy, Ethan Allen, C.F.
Smith, Bennet, McPherson, Perry, Garesche, Reynolds, Ward,
Worth, Williams, Lyons, Weld, Barnes worth, and O'Rourke, were
never seriously threatened by the Confederates at any time
during the four years of war which followed.

It was due directly to the fame of this strong line of
defences, spreading through the South, that the city of Wash-

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;ton had to "be fortified. The southern leaders, rep Tiring the
uselessness of trying to -n^netrate from the Bouth, turned their
efforts harassing the northern front of the capital. Previous
to the secret secession of Virginia and the ooen defiance of the
Maryland people, it wa,s supposei that this side of the territory
would be safe from any attempts on the nart of the Confederates.
With the revolt of her nearest neighbors, the District of Colum-
bia was again thrown open th the enemy. Jefferson Davis, know*

that, with the capture of the capital of the nation, he
cruld begin foreign alliances, ordered his generals to take the
city at any cost. Having this as their goal, the Southern armies
began their famous western swing into the territory north of
"'.^shington. Grant, recognizing the true significance of this
move, apoin sent out his engineers to the North to extend his
fortifications clear around the city in an unbroken line. The
same men who bad served so well at the south of the Pot on
were again called upon to save the Union forces from certain
defeat. This time, secrecy being essential, the work was done
in such a manner that the real strength of the fortifications
was not apparent to the enemy. Crant, meanwhile, kept his
forces to the Horth, trying to prevent the Confederate move
from the West. Th.ua, across the northern front another series
of forts was thrown up, connected by infantry lines which "'ere
punctuated by strong batteries of guns about every twelve hun-
dred yards. There was now a total of forty-eight defensive
positions r round the city, which were mounted with some three
hundred guns.

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>

Of these forts, built on the northern front, the lar-
gest and most imnortant was Fort Lincoln. Due to a shortage of
time and labor, Meigg and Totten had been very careful in sel-
ecting the location of the various fortifications, choosing
positions affording the he3t fields of fire and at the most
strategic -points. Fort Lincoln was built on the crest of a ridge,
just to the Fast of the old r ost Road at the District Line.
From this -position, now called Prospect Heights, the guns of
the fort commanded the wide valley of Bladensbure;. Through this
valley ran the most important approaches to Washington from the
orth, the Post Road and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The
ture of this valley by the enemy would have isolated the
capital from the rest of the Union and insured the success of ttee
attack. Because of its being such a vital noint, it was sunoosed
that this valley would be the center of the Confederate irive.
So much emnhasis was placed on the strength of this noint of
resistance, that neT f s of its impregnability leaked through to
the enemy intellegence. General Early, one of the South' s most
capable leaders, was ordered to detach his division from the
Touthern offensive and by si inning behind the lines, deliver a
surnrise attack at a point to the " r est of Fort Tincoln which
was not so well -protected, "his was to be at the ncint "*rhich
was then called Fort Massachusetts and which has since been re-
named Stevens. When Early's departure became known to the main
body of the Union troops, it was too late for them to stoo him.
^he city of Washington was well fortified but lacked the man-
power to handle the runs. President Lincoln immediately sent

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Fort was situated. The National Training School for "boys has
heen put on the site of the Fort kroner. The buildings occupy
the southwest end of the ridge which rises to an altitude of
about two hundred and twenty feet alove the vale t" h which
Hickey Run flows. The ridge extends to the Northeast almost
three quarters of a mile. Beyond this noint, it drons gradual
into the small valley of a stream which flowed through the old
D uel Ground of Bladensburg but which has long since dried up.
The crest of the ridge is cut by numerous small valleys mady by
streams flowing into the Eastern Branch of the Anacostia River
which oozes through the swarimland over a mile from the ridge.
This land lias since been partially cleared but by those nortions
remaining unchanged it may be seen that these small wild valley
must have afforded excellent shelter for troons. All traces of
a ramparts of the fort were obliterate ir the building of the
school but to the north of the school grounds the old covered-
way to the first battery may be easily traced. The battery it-
self, is now just a hole in the ground, but its sides <1esr>ite
its age, clearly show it to be the work of man. All of the in-
fantry parapet to the west of the fort has been turned under
in a more recent develonement of the land. This battery was
built simultaneously with the fort, as were two others on the
rearmost spur of the ridge. They were intended to defend the
appcach between the extremity of the ridge and the stream.
Unon the revision of the lines in 186}, it was not
deemed that this, the right flank of the northern lines, was
sufficiently secured against flanking attacks in the snace

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between the river and the end of the original ridge battery.
Pence, to remedy the condition, a mowerful battery name'l Jai^e-
son was erected n nd connected with the original covered-way
by lines of parapet and infantry trenches. Thus a continuous
line of defence was established along the ridge as far as the
valley of the ri"er.To the right of Battery Jameson, the under-
growth and thick pine forrest formed ample protection against
any attack from this flank. This additional battery, being fit-
ted with ample bombproof structures to protect its defenders
from all types of fire, incurred great expense. These bombproof s,
constructed of high, wide earth ramparts, extended to the rear at
the top" by means of reinforcements of large unhewn logs. This
canopy of logs and earth extended clear round the battery of
guns ad protected' the men within the structure from almost any
type of weapons except artillery fire with curved trajectory
which might fall within the confines of its walls. The men
who built this structure were later criticized for their waste
of material and time because it could have been dispensed
with, in as much as the sides of the deep ravive behind the
ridge would have formed ample protection. The outlines of this
old battery may still be traced by the earth parapet, the wood
of the bombproof structures having long ago given way to decay.
The woods to the front of the battery, a new, vigorous growth,
shelters many of the stumps of the trees that were cut down
to give the battery a field of fire. The infantry, parapet form-
ing the connection to the f»rt: stands today, as it did more than

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half a century ago, covered with a thick growth of thorns and
vines which has kept corrosion from tearing it down. These
mounds of earth are about all that remains of the old forti-
fications to the right of the ridge.

The Fort, itself , was, roughly, a quadrangle seven hun-
dred and fifty feet long, north and south. A thousand feet of
infantry parapet extended to the "battery at '■the north end of
ridge lower than the fort, and then seven hundred feet of rifle
trench extended northward down the slooe to "battery Jameson
which was five hundred feet long. Westward, down the hill, to
the Bladenshurg Road, thence to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
and on to : Fort Thayer, twelve hundred yards west of Fort Lin-
coln, was a line of rifle trenches which were sunnorted "by four
•powerful "batteries. This line of trenches continued to the North -
we?t to Battery Morris, Fort Sarratoga, Fort Bunker Hill, Fort
Slemner, and to Fort m otten. The armament of Fort Lincoln was one
of the largest mi heaviest of any of the fortifications that
were "built at this time. The list of weapons, other than the
of the infantry, is as follows:

S mooth Bore Guns

2--8 inch s^ige howitzers

6--32 lb. stationary cannon

1--24 lb. seige gun

3--T4 lb. stationary cannon

3--24 lb. F. and D. howitzers

4—12 n h. field guns

'--6 lb. field guns

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Rifled duns
1 narrott
4--30 11:. ^arrotta

Mortars
1--10 inch seige gun
2--24 lb. eohorn

The personnel of the Port totalled about seven hun-
dred and fifty men and officers, one hundred and forty of whom
were gunners, the rest being infantry riflemen who occupied
the connecting trenches.

The ground unon which these relics of tr • days

stand is now used as a cemeta.ry, orivately owned by a hoari
of business men, one of whom i3 i ber of the old Vietch
family, These crumbling breastworks have been left unmoles-
ted because they are a good advertisement for the cemetary
which bears the name of Fort Lincoln.

BrantMlle T*
Berwyri \

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/ 1 ) K !■* K X S K S ( ) V WA S 1 1 1 XI Ml )X

BATTERY KtMBLE

Remains of infantry parapet connecting Fort Lincoln and

Battery Jameson

Looking to the North Bast from the north battery of

Fort Lincoln

"ewest building of Boys National Training "chool built
July 1931 which eradicated last of the Fort proper.

Barney Spring

Looking Northeast from Lincoln Ridge showing the valley
of the ."nacostia River.

Bladensburg Valley to the west of Lincoln Ridpe with
"the Old Post Road in the foreground.

Covered Way which connected Fort Lincoln with its

batteries .

Old Vietch T !omestead

(1) The Defences of ",'ashington

by William ,,T eox

(2) A. Report on the Defenses of Washington

by General J.G. Barnard U.S.A.

(3) War of the Rebellion

(War Department Records)

(4) War Time in Washington

(a scrap book prepared from newspaper
articles collected by the Hit j in
Library of "Washington, ^.C.)

(5) Proceedings of the Columbia Historical Society

(6) The Washington Post

(February 20,1921}