Fort Washington National Park

About Fort Washington National Park

The first Fort Washington was completed in 1809 and guarded the nation's capital until it was destroyed by its own garrison. 1814. Enfant was sent to build a new defense and worked at the base until he was replaced by Lt. Col. Walker K. Armistead.

The fort was completed on October 2, 1824 by Lieutenant Colonel George Washington and the rest of the US Army Corps of Engineers and on October 3, 1830 by the Army of America.

In the 1840s a major reconstruction was carried out and in 1846 the first cannon was installed, but the masonry took on its earliest history. During the Civil War, when a circle of temporary fortifications was built around the city, Fort Washington was the only defensive facility for the country's capital. Battery Rogers and Fort Foote were armed with large Rodman-Parrott cannons and were the only naval fortification systems.

Fort Washington was the city's external defense, guarding the Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument and the National Archives.

After the war, the site was run over and additional property acquired to build a new defense system, but the project's funding was withdrawn and the garrison removed. In the next twenty years it was abandoned and over time more plots were acquired to build a newer defence system.

In 1886, the new defense system, consisting of steel cannons and concrete columns, was approved, and in 1891 work began at Fort Washington. In 1895 the battery B (later called Battery Decatur) was blown up and the guns were mounted in 1896.

Eventually, eight concrete batteries formed the Potomac Defense Command in Fort Washington, and the large guns were removed. Washington was downgraded to a portable defense, with the addition of a new B battery in 1894, the first of eight in 1895.

After the war, the 3rd Battalion, the 12th Infantry, moved in and became a ceremonial unit for the Washington Military District. After the war it was used to send troops to France and as an operational base for troops sent to France. The 8th Provisional Artillery Battalion was organized at the post and sent on its first mission to France, where it became the 53rd Railroad Artillery Regiment.

In 1939 the site was abandoned and handed over to the director of public works to build the park along the coast. Before the handover was complete, World War II had invaded the United States and, following the US invasion of Germany in 1941, it was returned to its director, the Public Works, in 1942.

Fort Washington was returned to the Army and became the headquarters of the Adjutant General School. After the war, other government agencies occupied the buildings and the post office was administered by the Veterans Administration. In 1946, Fort Washington returned from the Interior Department and became the headquarters of Adjutant General School until it regained its original purpose in 1953.