Fort Stevens

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Fort Stevens (1864)

War:

American Civil War

Date(s):

11 Jul 1864 - 12 Jul 1864

Location:

District of Columbia , US

Principal Commanders:

Confederate: Jubal A. Early

Description:

Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright and Maj. Gen. Alexander McD. McCook, USA
Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, CSA

Each side had about a division in contact.

Casualties ran a little under 900.

On July 11, Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s exhausted Confederates reached the outskirts of Washington near Silver Spring. Skirmishers advanced to feel the fortifications which at the time were manned only by Home Guards, clerks, convalescents, teamsters, and basically anyone who could hold a rifle and wear blue. There were a few veteran cavalry among them, dismounted after Sheridan had worn some units out at Trevalian Station. Early’s men captured a veteran trooper and this may have made him more cautious, but his men were dog-tired anyway and had little momentum.

During the night, veteran units from the Union VI Corps disembarked from troop transports and marched north through the streets of Washington to bolster the defenses. On July 12, Early was finally able to make a strong demonstration, but it was repulsed by the Union veterans. In the afternoon, VI Corps units sortied against the Confederate skirmishers, driving them back from their advanced positions in front of Forts Stevens and DeRussy. President Lincoln watched the action from Fort Stevens and came under fire from Confederate sharpshooters. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., then a captain, yelled at the lanky civilian “Get down, you damn fool” which worked better than Wright’s plucking at Lincoln’s sleeve.)

Recognizing that the Union capitol was now defended by veterans, Early abandoned any thought of taking the city. Early withdrew during the night, marching toward White’s Ford on the Potomac, ending his invasion of Maryland. “We didn’t take Washington,” Early told his staff officers, “but we scared Abe Lincoln like Hell.”

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eHistory Staff

Selected sources:
American Battlefield Protection Program, Heritage Preservation Services, National Park Service.

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