Fort Washington, Maryland

I mentioned this fort on a previous post this week, and having never heard of it, did a quick search for more information.

From Wikipedia.

Fort Washington borders Washington, D.C. and today has a town by the same name around it.  It was built in 1809 and on completion, was the only defensive fortification protecting the city. The fort is a stone structure and is on the Potomac River.  During the War of 1812, it was captured by the British three days after they burned Washington (they attacked from land).

The British soon left the fort and 12 days later, Major Pierre L'Enfant (the designer of D.C.) was sent to rebuild it, but a short time later was replaced by Lt.Col. Walker K. Armistead and the fort was completed in 1824.  Remodeled in the 1840s and had its first cannons installed in 1846.

Walker Armistead's brother George commanded Fort McHenry during the British attack that led to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and his son, Lewis was a Confederate general killed at the Battle of Gettysburg during Pickett's Charge.

Before the war, it was manned by the 1st, 3rd and 4th U.S. Artillery regiments.

Except for a few cannons at the Washington Armory, Fort Washington was the only defense of the city until the Civil War.

--Brock-Perry