Season of Fire: The Confederate Strike on Washington
The Confederacy's last effort to do something meaningful by trying to attacked Washington DC. The Confederate forces came pretty close to success. The battle at Monocacy River and fighting in the District of Columbia where President Lincoln came under fire at Fort Stevens

Fort Stevens
Washington District of Columbia

American Civil War
July 11-12, 1864


Jubal's Raid: General Early's Famous Attack on Washington in 1864
General Grant was hammering at the gates of Richmond and the Confederacy seemed doomed. In a bold and desperate stroke, General Lee countered by sending General. Early and a force of only twelve thousand men toward Washington, D.C.

On July 11, Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early's exhausted Confederates reached the outskirts of Washington near Silver Spring. Skirmishers advanced to feel the fortifications which at the time were manned only by Home Guards, clerks, and convalescent troops.

During the night, veteran units from the Union VI Corps disembarked from troop transports and marched north through the streets of Washington to bolster the defenses.

On July 12, Early was finally in position to make a strong demonstration, which was repulsed by the veteran Union troops. In the afternoon, VI Corps units sortied against the Confederate skirmishers, driving them back from their advanced positions in front of Forts Stevens and DeRussy.

President Lincoln watched the action from Fort Stevens and came under fire from Confederate sharpshooters.

Recognizing that the Union Capitol was now defended by veterans, Early abandoned any thought of taking the city. Early withdrew during the night, marching toward White's Ford on the Potomac, ending his invasion of Maryland.

"We didn't take Washington," Early told his staff officers, "but we scared Abe Lincoln like Hell."

Result(s): Union victory

Location: District of Columbia

Campaign: Early's Raid and Operations against the B&O Railroad (1864) next battle in campaign  previous battle in campaign

Date(s): July 11-12, 1864

Principal Commanders: Major General Horatio G. Wright and Major General Alexander McD. McCook [US]; Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early [CS]

Forces Engaged: Divisions

Estimated Casualties: 874 total


Grant's Lieutenants: From Chattanooga to Appomattox
This new volume assesses Union generalship during the final two years of the Civil War. Steven Woodworth, one of the war's premier historians, is joined by a team of scholars-- Grimsley, Marszalek, and Hess, among others--who critique Ulysses S. Grant's commanders

Officers and men of Company F, 3rd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, in Fort Stevens

Fort Stevens Artillery

A Night Alarm in the Federal Camp--Signalling from the Right Bank of the Potomac to Head-Quarters in Washington
Illustrated London News
Signalling from the Right Bank of the Potomac to Head-Quarters in Washington DC

State Park Information

Fort Stevens, now partially restored and located at 13th and Quackenbos Streets, NW, was built to defend the approaches to Washington from the 7th Street Pike (now Georgia Avenue) which was then the main thoroughfare from the north into Washington. Originally called Fort Massachusetts by the soldiers from that state who constructed the fort, it was later named after Brigadier General Isaac Ingalls Stevens, who was killed at the Battle of Chantilly, Virginia, September 1, 1862.

In the summer of 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant had Confederate General Robert E. Lee in a deathtrap around Richmond and Petersburg. When General Grant had moved south, he stripped Washington, D.C. of many well trained troops. As a result in July of 1864 there were only 9,000 troops to defend the city, down from over 23,000 that had been there the year before. Those that were left were primarily poorly trained reserves.General Lee sought desperately to find a way out of his predicament around Petersburg. He decided to send General Jubal A. Early with about 20,000 troops to strike at Washington, which his spies had reported was poorly defended.

On June 12, General Early started his march from behind Petersburg, and by July 9, he was at Frederick, Maryland, where he demanded and received $200,000 to spare the city. On the same day, General Early defeated Union General Lew Wallace at the Monocacy River. In the light of later events, General Wallace's defeat after a stubborn fight became a victory for the Union because he was able to delay Early's advance for a day. On July 10, Early encamped at Rockville, Maryland, 10 miles from Fort Stevens.

As a result of the rapid and successful movement of Early, the men of the War Department seemed paralyzed, and would give no orders except as they received them from General Grant. General Grant understood the situation and sent the 25th New York Cavalry, which left City Point, Virginia, on July 7 and reached Fort Stevens midnight of July 10. Also on the 7th, the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the 6th Corps, under General Horatio G. Wright, left City Point. A few hours later General W. H. Emory, with part of the 19th Corps just returning from New Orleans to join Grant, left Fort Monroe for Washington.

By noon of July 11, Confederate General Early came in full view of Fort Stevens, reconnoitered the area and found the fort poorly manned. During the afternoon of that day, General Early tried to find a weak spot in the line, but was met everywhere by fort guns and musketry. Supporting Fort Stevens were the guns from Fort DeRussy on the left and Fort Slocum on the right.

When examining the works at daylight on July 12, Early saw the parapets lined with seasoned troops; he then decided to abandon the idea of capturing Washington, but planned to give the Yankees a fight anyway. By nightfall of July 12, the Rebels were sent into full retreat, and the Union Capital had been saved.

On July 12, President Abraham Lincoln went out to Fort Stevens with his wife and other officers and stood on the parapet calmly watching the battle. The Battle of Fort Stevens thus marks the only battle in which a President was present and under enemy fire while in office.


A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence in the Confederate States of America
Ranked among the most important generals who fought with Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. He played principal roles at the battles of First Manassas, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and most of the other engagements in the Eastern Theater
Union Cavalry Toy Figures
Civil War Union Cavalry: 25 Piece Set
  • 13 Union Soldier Figures
  • 11 Brown Horses 2-5/8 inches tall
  • 1 White Horse Laying Down
  • Scale: Approximately 1/32nd
  • Packaging: Plastic Bag with Header Card

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20 piece Civil War Artillery Playset
Civil War Artillery Set: 20 piece set includes 12 Artillery Crew Figures in Blue and Gray that stand up to 58mm tall, 4 Parrott Rifle Gun Cannon about 4 inches long, and 4 Cannonball stacks

American Civil War Book Titles

The Railroads of the Confederacy
The story of the first use of railroads on a major scale in a major war. A complex and fascinating tale, with the railroads of the American South playing the part of tragic hero in the Civil War: at first vigorous though immature; then overloaded, driven unmercifully, starved for iron; and eventually worn out
The Civil War a Narrative
Trilogy of books on the American Civil War is not only a piece of first-rate history, but also a marvelous work of literature. Foote brings a skilled novelist's narrative power to this great epic. Many know him for his role as a commentator on the PBS series about the Civil War
Civil War Album: A Complete Photographic History: Fort Sumter to Appomattox
4000 photographs from the war. Brings to life the battles, bunkers, soldiers, and parades. The farms, cities, and towns as they appeared at the time. This volume is enhanced with essays by Civil War historians, who provide an overview of each battle, and describe each image
Lincoln and the Decision for War: The Northern Response to Secession
Democratic leader Stephen Douglas to Republican party leader William Seward. More than just a politcal history, letters and quotes from common townspeople provide a complete view of the perceptions of the time

Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream
This dissenting view of Lincoln's greatness surveys the president's policies, speeches, and private utterances and concludes that he had little real interest in abolition. Pointing to Lincoln's support for the fugitive slave laws, his friendship with slave-owning senator Henry Clay, and conversations in which he entertained the idea of deporting slaves
A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy
An account of Southern dissidents in the Civil War, at times labeled as traitors, Tories, deserters, or mossbacks during the war and loyalists, Lincoln loyalists, and Unionists by historians of the war
Confederate Cavalryman 1861-65
This title looks at how the men of the Confederate cavalry were recruited, trained, lived and fought. Both routine and campaign life are covered, as well as the weapons and equipment that served them in their combat roles. Key encounters such as the 1863 clash at Brandy Station are also covered.
The Northern Railroads in the Civil War, 1861-1865
Account of the impact of the railroads on the American Civil War and vice versa. How the North was helped to victory through its effective use of the rails, also how the war changed the way railroads were built, run and financed after the war.

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles

Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles
The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor
Civil War Journal - The Conflict Begins
These four programs from the History Channel series Civil War Journal cover critical aspects of the early days of the war.
Civil War Journal
Collector's Edition 4-DVD Set
Made exclusively for Books Are Fun. Discs include: · Stonewall Jackson · Sherman and the March to the Sea · West Point Classmates-Civil War Enemies · Robert E. Lee · Battle of 1st Bull Run · The 54th Massachusetts · John Brown s War · Destiny at Fort Sumter
Brother Against Brother: The American Civil War
Fort Sumter, to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Features battle reconstructions and depictions of army life, eyewitness accounts, period photographs and engravings, plus commentary and analyses.

History Channel Presents The Civil War
From Harper's Ferry, Fort Sumter, and First Bull Run to Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg. The most legendary Civil War battles in brilliant detail. A selection of the soldiers and legendary leaders.
The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one
The Blue and the Gray
The Complete Miniseries
The Civil War proved a backdrop for this 1982 miniseries. Complete and uncut three disc set. Two families divided by the War Between the States. A Southerner caught when he becomes a war correspondent for the Northern newspaper. He finds himself  where history's in the making from the Battle of Bull Run to Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Blue Vs. Gray - Killing Fields
Relive the most vicious fighting of the Civil War, in which General Ulysses S. Grant forcibly reversed the tide of the conflict by paying with the blood of thousands. It was a desperate time for the Union


District of Columbia flag (1938)
District of Columbia Flag (prior to 1938)

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Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.
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