Fort Greble (Congress Heights, District of Columbia)
Congress Heights · District of Columbia · Civil War
History & Significance
Brigadier General John G. Barnard, chief engineer of the Department of Washington, directed that several forts be constructed on the Congress Heights in order to protect the Navy Yard and Washington Arsenal from bombardment. Fort Greble was constructed as an octagonal redoubt with a perimeter of 350 years and mounted 17 cannons and mortars.
It was supported by Fort Carroll to the northeast and Fort Foote to the south. From the time of its construction, Fort Greble was never intended to serve as part of a continuous line of defenses stretching from the Potomac to Fort Lincoln at the extreme eastern end of the District of Columbia.
Rather, the fort and its sister emplacements on the east bank of the Potomac were intended to deny the Confederacy the possibility of infiltrating guns across the Potomac in order to bombard the Washington Navy Yard. No Confederate forces would bring Fort Greble under fire during its entire four-year active military career, and its garrison units, rotated regularly, served quietly behind its earthen walls.
In 1866, the Army allowed the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, General Albert J. Myer, to use Fort Greble for training purposes, and in 1868, Myer requested and received control over Fort Greble as a signal communications school for instruction in electric telegraphy and visual signaling. As of July 2007, the site of the fort is a community park.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Civil War-era earthwork fortification at Anacostia-Potomac junction
- Named after first West Point graduate killed in Civil War
- Strategic defensive position protecting Navy Yard from Confederate attack
- Baseball field and recreation facilities on restored fort grounds
- Park accessible to neighborhood visitors
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Greble
- https://www.nps.gov/places/000/fort-greble-park.htm
- https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-greble-and-fort-carroll.htm
- https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/1129
- https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/washingtons-civil-war-defenses-and-battle-fort-stevens
Other Forts in District of Columbia
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