Fort Stanton (Washington, D.C.)
Fort Stanton was a Civil War-era fortification constructed in the hills above Anacostia in the District of Columbia, USA, and was intended to prevent Confederate artillery from threatening the Washington Navy Yard.In the days that followed the Union defeat at Bull Run, panicked efforts were made to defend Washington from what was perceived as an imminent Confederate attack.On July 26, 1861, five days after the battle, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was named commander of the military district of Washington and the subsequently renamed Army of the Potomac.Gen. John G. Barnard, chief engineer of the defenses of Washington, directed that a line of forts be constructed on the heights southeast of the Anacostia River.General Barnard illustrated this in an October 1862 report, saying, "As the enemy cannot enter the city from this direction, the object of the works is to prevent him seizing these heights, and occupying them long enough to shell the navy-yard and arsenal.A garrison had been assigned in the winter, and the 1862 report of the Commission to Study the Defenses of Washington describes Fort Stanton as "a work of considerable dimensions, well built, and tolerably well armed."[8] The commission had been ordered by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to inspect each of the forts surrounding Washington in late 1862 and make a report on the deficiencies of each.In fall 1862, however, the commission examining the defenses noted that "the work on roads about Washington requires ten regiments for twenty days ... or an equivalent of labor in some other shape.[14] After the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, the primary reason for garrisoned defenses protecting Washington ceased to exist.A Picture and A Narrative of the Origin, Growth, Excellences, Abuses, Beauties, and Personages of Our Governing City, a work covering the history of Washington from its inception to the then-present day.Here the scarf had fallen off in places; the abatis had been wrenched out for firewood; even the solid log platforms, where late the great guns stood on tiptoe, had yielded to the farmer's lever, and made, perhaps, joists for his barn, and piles for his bridge.However, the bill allowing for the purchase of the former forts, which had been turned back over to private ownership after the war, failed to pass both the House of Representatives and Senate.[22] During the Great Depression, crews from the Civilian Conservation Corps embarked on projects to improve and maintain the parks, which were still under the control of District authority at that time.[24] World War II interrupted these plans, and post-war budget cuts instituted by President Harry S. Truman postponed the construction of the Fort Drive once more.[25] By 1963, when President John F. Kennedy began pushing Congress to finally build the Fort Circle Drive,[26] many in Washington and the National Park Service were openly questioning whether the plan had outgrown its usefulness.[27] After all, by this time, Washington had grown past the ring of forts that had protected it a century earlier, and city surface roads already connected the parks, albeit not in as linear a route as envisioned.
Fort StantonCivil War defenses of Washington, D.C.AnacostiaDistrict of ColumbiaNational Park ServiceU.S. Army Corps of EngineersAmerican Civil WarCivil WarConfederateWashington Navy YardArmy of Northern VirginiaVirginiaConfederacyArlingtonChain BridgeLong BridgeAqueduct BridgeGeorgetownFirst Battle of Bull RunArmy of Northeastern VirginiaManassasGeorge B. McClellanArmy of the PotomacMarylandAnacostia RiverWashington ArsenalJohn G. BarnardFort GrebleArlington LineChristmasFort StevensSecretary of WarEdwin M. StantonoutworkAlbion P. HoweBattle of Fort StevensChristopher C. AugurLt. Col.Barton S. AlexanderRichard DelafieldembrasuresglacisabatisRobert E. LeestockadeGeorge Alfred TownsendCongressHouse of RepresentativesSenateNational Capital Parks CommissionGreat DepressionCivilian Conservation CorpsWorld War IIHarry S. TrumanJohn F. KennedyAfrican-AmericanCatholicsAnacostia MuseumSmithsonian InstitutionAfrican-AmericansWayback MachineLouise Daniel HutchinsonDefensesWashington, D.C.Department of the EastDepartment of the PotomacDepartment of WashingtonUnion armyXXII CorpsPotomacFort Washington (MD)Fort Foote (MD) Battery Rodgers (VA)Fort MarcyFort Ethan AllenFort C. F. SmithFort CorcoranFort WoodburyFort WhippleFort TillinghastFort CraigFort AlbanyFort JacksonFort RunyonFort RichardsonFort ScottBattery GarescheFort ReynoldsFort WardFort WorthFort WilliamsFort EllsworthFort LyonFort FarnsworthFort O'RourkeFort WillardFort Sumner (MD)Battery CameronBattery KembleFort BayardFort RenoBattery RossellFort KearnyFort DeRussyFort SlocumFort TottenFort SlemmerFort Bunker HillFort SaratogaFort ThayerFort LincolnBattery JamesonEastern branchFort DupontFort DavisFort RickettsFort SnyderProtected areasFederalNational CemeteriesBattlegroundSoldiers' and Airmen's HomeNational Historical ParksChesapeake and Ohio CanalNational Historic SitesCarter G. Woodson Home