Battery Rodgers

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The layout of Battery Rodgers as it existed during the Civil War. Gun emplacements can be seen at the center bottom of the picture, while the remainder of the battery complex is located in the center.
The layout of Battery Rodgers as it existed during the Civil War. Gun emplacements can be seen at the center bottom of the picture, while the remainder of the battery complex is located in the center.

Battery Rodgers was a gun emplacement that composed a portion of the American Civil War defenses of the American capital city of Washington, D.C.

Built in 1863, Battery Rodgers was constructed with the ability to interdict sea traffic sailing up the Potomac River to Washington. From its position on a 28-foot high cliff overlooking Battery Cove, it was positioned with a clear view of fire and was ably suited to guarding the southern Potomac River and Accotink Road (Fort Hunt Rd.) approaches to Washington.

During the war, the battery mounted one 6.4 inch (100 pounder)Parrott rifle and one 15-inch Rodman Gun, one of the largest guns in the world at that time. The guns were supplied by two adjacent powder magazines, and the battery complex included a hospital, barracks, mess hall, and prison. It was garrisoned by 6 commissioned officers, 1 ordnance sergeant, and 256 men. Following the conclusion of the war, the Battery was disbanded and its guns were removed to other locations in Washington. The land on which the battery rested was sold soon afterward, due in no small part to its location in the center of Alexandria, Virginia.

Today, no portion of the battery still stands, but it is memorialized by a small marker in the town of Alexandria. The Rodman gun used at the battery was moved across the Potomac to Fort Foote, and can still be seen there today.

View of Battery Rogers with 8-inch (200-pdr) Parrott rifle in front and 15-inch Rodman gun behind.

A 15-inch Rodman gun in Battery Rodgers.

Another view of Battery Rodgers showing the 8-inch (200-pdr) Parrott rifle and the 15-inch Rodman gun.

One of the dug-in ammunition magazines at Battery Rodgers.

[edit] References

Howe, A.P. (1891). "Report from Headquarters, Inspector of Artillery, May 17, 1864.". The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I. XXXVI (II): 883–897. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 

[edit] External links

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American Civil War defenses of Washington, D.C.
Departments

Department of the East • Department of Washington, D.C. • Department of the Potomac • Military District of Washington • Department of the Rappahanock • Defenses of Washington, D.C. • Department of Washington
Union Army Forces
Potomac Approaches

Fort Washington • Fort Foote • Battery Rodgers
Arlington Line

Fort Willard • Fort O'Rourke • Fort Weed • Fort Farnsworth • Fort Lyon • Fort Ellsworth • Fort Williams • Fort Worth • Fort Ward • Battery Garesche • Fort Reynolds • Fort Barnard • Fort Berry • Fort Richardson • Fort Albany • Fort Scott • Fort Runyon • Fort Jackson • Fort Craig • Fort McPherson • Fort Tillinghast • Fort Cass • Fort Whipple • Fort Woodbury • Fort Morton • Fort Corcoran • Fort Haggerty • Fort Bennett • Fort Strong • Fort C.F. Smith • Fort Munson • Fort Ramsey • Fort Buffalo • Fort Taylor • Fort Ethan Allen • Fort Marcy •
Northwest Quadrant

Battery Kemble • Battery Vermont • Battery Alexander • Fort Sumner • Fort Mansfield • Fort Gaines • Fort Simmons • Fort Bayard • Fort Reno • Fort Kearny • Fort DeRussy • Fort Stevens •
Northeast Quadrant

Fort Slocum • Fort Totten • Fort Slemmer • Fort Bunker Hill • Fort Saratoga • Fort Thayer • Fort Lincoln • Fort Mahan •
Eastern Branch

Fort Chaplin • Fort Meigs • Fort Dupont • Fort Saratoga • Fort Davis • Fort Baker • Fort Wagner • Fort Ricketts • Fort Stanton • Fort Snyder • Fort Carroll • Fort Greble •
National Park Service (Web) • Map of defenses in 1865