Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington

08/05/2025

"Outside of Lincoln's White House: CW Men & Women of the DC Metro Area" Presentation by Bryan Cheesboro, September 10, 2025, at Fort Ethan Allen and the Madison Community Center, 3829 N. Stafford Street, Arlington, VA.

07/12/2025

Great day at Fort Stevens. Thanks to everyone who came out including Alliance members, NPS Staff, volunteers and visitors.

07/11/2025

KIDS ACTIVITIES AT FORT STEVENS DAY THIS SATURDAY, July 12, 10-3 pm

Fort Stevens Day, a commemoration of the Civil War Battle that Saved Washington, welcomes kids of all ages for a day of fun, hands-on activities! Rain or shine, there are outside and inside, air-conditioned activities. This year’s theme is President Lincoln: A Leader Under Fire!

KIDS PROGRAM, 10-3 pm

· Storytelling from Lincoln’s trunk,

· Lincoln crafts and making Stovepipe hats with Lincoln’s Cottage staff,

· Going to the parapet with a Lincoln re-enactor,

· Learning to drill with Union re-enactors,

· Hairstyling kids’ hair like Mary Lincoln,

· How Lincoln Learned, with Susan Kelly, Yankee School Marm, and

· At home with Lincoln and Sewing in the 1860s, with Melanie LaForce

Fort Stevens is located at Georgia Ave at Quackenbos, where there is street parking and a lot just south of the Church of the Nativity. Restrooms are available in the Emory Gym adjacent to the fort.

07/11/2025

Lincoln: Leading Under Fire!
On July 12,1864, with 14,000 Confederates under Gen. Jubal Early bearing down on Washington DC from the north, President Abraham Lincoln left his summer residence cottage (near what is now the Old Soldiers’ Home), and traveled just two miles by carriage to the front lines of the battle, at Fort Stevens. He was there to observe the Confederate attack, and arrived just as Union troops were marching to reinforce the fort. In due course he ascended to the parapet of Fort Stevens and stuck his head above the protection of the fort, where he was urgently requested to get down! It was a stunning and unique moment in American history: a sitting president coming under fire.
Why did President Lincoln expose himself to enemy fire? What was he thinking?!
Historians have many possible explanations:
Irrepressible curiosity;
Assessing the defensive capabilities of the city’s forts and the vulnerability of the capital;
Wanting to see “his” army in action for the first time;
Public relations: wishing to be seen as a man of action and true commander-in-chief during the war;
Recognizing that soldiers would be a potent voting bloc in the upcoming 1864 election (absentee soldier voting would be permitted for the first time), and wanting them to see his support for them.
Grief over the death of his son Willie and other domestic tribulations;
What do you think? Come join in the activities and discussions of this extraordinary historical event at the Fort Stevens 161st Commemoration of the Battle of Fort Stevens, July 12, 2025, from 10 am - 3 pm. For more info: https://www.apcwdw.com/

07/10/2025

Download the program (link below) for Fort Stevens Day 2025.

https://cdn.website-editor.net/s/22a8293265754d088207ee0ff826af84/files/uploaded/Fort+Stevens+Day+program+2025+FINAL.pdf

07/09/2025

https://www.nps.gov/mono/learn/historyculture/the-battle-of-monocacy.htm

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07/07/2025

https://fords.org/one-clerks-quest-to-save-history/

Ford’s Theatre is today an established destination for exploring Abraham Lincoln and his legacy. But did you know about the building’s post-assassination history as a warehouse for the Pension Bureau – and the role of one Pension Bureau clerk in the preservation of a memorial to Lincoln at For...

07/03/2025

Parents: Looking for something to do with the kids on Saturday, July 12? Come visit Fort Stevens and Learn about the Civil War battle that saved Washington.

FREE TO ALL.
• Drill with Civil War re-enactors!
• Make a Lincoln hat and stand at the parapet of Fort Stevens, where an American president came under fire!
• Try on the clothes and hair stylings of the 1860s!
• Find out what you would have learned in an 1860s classroom!

**10:30-3 pm, 13th St NW & Quackenbos Street NW, Washington, DC**

Sponsored by the National Park Service and The Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington apcwdw.com/

07/02/2025

Did you know that an “Emergency Division” of rank-and-file federal clerks and civilian militia rallied to the barricades in defense of Washington in the opening stage of the Battle of Fort Stevens, making a crucial Union victory possible?

On July 12, 1864, Confederate General Jubal Early, with 11,000 troops, was following up his success at the Battle of Monocacy and was on the verge of attempting a spectacular victory by taking the Capitol of the United States.
Skirmishing between Early’s probing cavalry and a mostly untrained group of federal employees and civilians whom Union Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs convinced to defend Ft Stevens.

Meigs’ frantic rallying paid off as Confederate General Early saw enough defenders on the Fort Stevens parapets to slow Early’s decision to strike. As the hours ticked by, the two sides traded shots. President Abraham Lincoln himself went to Fort Stevens, where the memorable line “Get down, you fool!” was yelled at the top-hatted president who stood up along Fort Stevens’ ramparts for a better view.

Soon thereafter, the Union Army’s 6th Corps arrived in Washington by boats from Petersburg, VA, and marched across town, entering Fort Stevens in time to have Early’s scouts report to the general that the fort was now defended by seasoned regular army troops. General Early called off the assault and made his way back across the Potomac to Virginia.

If you would like to commemorate the valor of federal workers and untrained civilians who patriotically heeded General Meigs' call to arms to hold off the Confederates, please join the Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington at Fort Stevens, Saturday, July 12th, from 10am - 3pm. Learn about the federal bureaucracy’s finest hour through history exhibits, local historians, and prepared remarks by reenactors.

06/28/2025

https://fords.org/one-clerks-quest-to-save-history/ #:~:text=White's%20vision%20of%20a%20permanent,of%20the%20National%20Park%20Service.)

06/26/2025

Lincoln: Leading Under Fire!
On July 12,1864, with 14,000 Confederates under Gen. Jubal Early bearing down on Washington DC from the north, President Abraham Lincoln left his summer residence cottage (near what is now the Old Soldiers’ Home), and traveled just two miles by carriage to the front lines of the battle, at Fort Stevens. He was there to observe the Confederate attack, and arrived just as Union troops were marching to reinforce the fort. In due course he ascended to the parapet of Fort Stevens and stuck his head above the protection of the fort, where he was urgently requested to get down! It was a stunning and unique moment in American history: a sitting president coming under fire.

Why did President Lincoln expose himself to enemy fire? What was he thinking?!

Historians have many possible explanations:

Irrepressible curiosity;
Assessing the defensive capabilities of the city’s forts and the vulnerability of the capital;
Wanting to see “his” army in action for the first time;
Public relations: wishing to be seen as a man of action and true commander-in-chief during the war;
Recognizing that soldiers would be a potent voting bloc in the upcoming 1864 election (absentee soldier voting would be permitted for the first time), and wanting them to see his support for them.
Grief over the death of his son Willie and other domestic tribulations;

What do you think? Come join in the activities and discussions of this extraordinary historical event at the Fort Stevens 161st Commemoration of the Battle of Fort Stevens, July 12, 2025, from 10 am - 3 pm. For more info: https://www.apcwdw.com/

06/22/2025

161st Commemoration of the Battle of Fort Stevens - July 12, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Join the National Park Service (NPS) and the Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington (APCWDW) to commemorate the 161st anniversary of the Battle of Fort Stevens. The anniversary program entitled "Lincoln Leading Under Fire" is free and open to all ages. Fort Stevens, located in northwest Washington, D.C., is one of the 17 remaining Civil War fort sites surrounding the nation’s capital.

Did You Know:

Fort Stevens began its life as Fort Massachusetts, and
construction began in the summer of 1861, after the Union defeat
at the Battle of 1st Bull Run. In 1862, two significant and permanent changes happened- the name was changed from Fort
Massachusetts to Fort Stevens to honor General Isaac Ingalls
Stevens, who was killed in action at the battle of Chantilly,
September 1, 1862. The other change was the expansion of the
fort, from 168 perimeter yards to 375 yards.

Click the link below to learn more:

https://www.facebook.com/cwdwnps/posts/pfbid0387jw7iJJWPg5MLebxZe8nRuy9vDBEoP5DwmWjgjSNjS2qd1h783o4RegPk7tdabql?__cft__[0]=AZV9rw72wsMD59CHO0kuk1EPFXpjH6_M4x-IDbxl1EXda1S9rVjoXCWt6xNniiv7Avmo0ft0iMIUFSUB3qfmGsZ5y1R1MDu7iGQl7A3qspwo2DvrECm3_MRyuibK67x5FJ4y0H7_8vq9HwOd9tfvvYgw9ySW3_UoqyzEY69IzNoWrw&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R