Fort Ward (Virginia)

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This article deals with Fort Ward, Virginia, in the United States. For other Fort Wards, see: Fort Ward.

Fort Ward is a former Union Army installation now located in the city of Alexandria in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was the fifth largest fort built to defend Washington, D.C. in the American Civil War. It is currently well-preserved with 90-95% of its earthen walls intact.

Liberated slaves, also known as “contrabands”, helped build the defenses to protect Washington from invasion by Confederate forces during the Civil War. The Fort was named for the first Union naval officer to die in the war. Fort Ward never saw any attacks, and was dismantled in November of 1865, though many African- Americans continued to live there into the 1900s.

The fort is now a part of the City of Alexandria's 45-acre (18-ha) Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site adjacent to Braddock Road, and the museum offers rotating exhibits on American Civil War subjects and a Civil War library. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and hosts Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactments. The historic area now includes a museum, an Officer’s Hut, Ceremonial Gate, and reconstructed northwest bastion. The site can be found at 4301 West Braddock in Alexandria, Virginia.

[edit] References

• Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site [1] - Virginia African Heritage Program

[edit] External links

• Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site website
• Revolutionary War reenactors at Fort Ward
• Information on the Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site from Virginia African Heritage Program
• Maps and aerial photos
  • Hybrid satellite image/street map from WikiMapia

38°49′50.93579726273333″N, 77°6′6.6103363037109375″W

v • d • e 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 Army of the Potomac • XXII Corps 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