Washington, D.C. in the Civil War - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

As capital of the United States, the federal district

Federal district

Federal districts are a type of administrative division of a federation, under the direct control of a federal government. They exist in various countries and states all over the world.-United States:...

of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, became a significant civilian leadership, military headquarters, and logistics center during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Defending the capital became a major priority of the War Department

United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

, and often dictated military strategy. In many ways, the war transformed Washington from a rather modest semi-rural city into the urban center of American federalism, as population, government, infrastructure, public and private buildings, and visitation all dramatically increased during the conflict, setting the stage for the rapid expansion of the city throughout the latter half of the 19th century.

Washington, D.C. during the early stages of the War

Despite being the nation's capital, Washington remained a small city of a few thousand residents, virtually deserted during the torrid summertime, until the outbreak of the Civil War. February 1861 saw the Peace Congress

Peace conference of 1861

The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of more than 100 of the leading politicians of the antebellum United States held in Washington, D.C., in February 1861 that was meant to prevent what ultimately became the Civil War. The success of President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party in the...

, a last-ditch attempt by delegates from 21 of the 34 states to avert what many saw as the impending Civil War, took place in the city's Willard Hotel. The effort failed and the War became a reality when Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...

in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

was bombarded in early April.

Faced with an open rebellion that had turned hostile, President Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

began organizing a military force to protect Washington. The Confederates desired to make Washington their capital and massed to take it. On April 10 forces began to trickle in to the city. On April 19, the Baltimore riot

Baltimore riot of 1861

The Baltimore riot of 1861 was an incident that took place on April 19, 1861, in Baltimore, Maryland between Confederate sympathizers and members of the Massachusetts militia en route to Washington for Federal service...

threated further reinforcements from arriving. Led by Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

, a railroad was built circumventing Baltimore, allowing soldiers to arrive on April 25, thereby saving the capital.

Thousands of raw volunteers (as well as many professional soldiers) came to the area to fight for the Union. By the mid-summer, Washington teemed with volunteer regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

s and artillery batteries

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

from throughout the North, all serviced by what was little more than a country town of what had been in 1860, 75,800 people. George Templeton Strong's observation of Washington life led him to declare

Of all the detestable places Washington is first. Crowd, heat, bad quarters, bad fair [fare], bad smells, mosquitos, and a plague of flies transcending everything within my experience... Beelzebub surely reigns here, and Willard's Hotel is his temple.

The city became the staging area for what became the Manassas Campaign. When Brig. Gen.

Brigadier general (United States)

A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

Irvin McDowell

Irvin McDowell was a career American army officer. He is best known for his defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run, the first large-scale battle of the American Civil War.-Early life:...

's beaten and demoralized army staggered back into Washington after the stunning Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...

, the realization came that the war might be prolonged, and efforts began to fortify the city in case of a Confederate assault. Lincoln knew he had to have a professional and trained army to protect the Capital area, and therefore began by organizing the Department on the Potomac on August 4, 1861, and the Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

16 days later.

Most Washington citizens embraced the arriving troops, although there were pockets of apathy and Southern sympathy. Upon hearing a Union regiment singing "John Brown

John Brown (abolitionist)

John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...

's Body" as the soldiers marched beneath her window, resident Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet, most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".-Biography:...

wrote the patriotic "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to the same tune.

The significant expansion of the federal government to administer the ever-expanding war effort and its legacies, such as veterans' pensions led to notable growth in the city's population, especially in 1862 and 1863 when the military forces and the supporting infrastructure dramatically expanded from early war days. The 1860 Census

United States Census, 1860

The United States Census of 1860 was the eighth Census conducted in the United States. It determined the population of the United States to be 31,443,321 — an increase of 35.4 percent over the 23,191,875 persons enumerated during the 1850 Census...

put the population at just over 75,000 persons, but by 1870 the District population had grown to nearly 132,000. Warehouses, supply depots, ammunition dumps, and factories were established to provide and distribute materiel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....

for the Federal armies, and civilian workers and contractors flocked to the city.

Slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

was abolished throughout the District on April 16, 1862 — eight months before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with nearly...

— with the passage of the Compensated Emancipation Act

District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act

The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, or simply Compensated Emancipation Act, was a law that ended slavery in Washington, D.C. by paying slave owners for releasing their slaves. Although not written by him, the act was signed by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 16, 1862...

. Washington became a popular place for freed slaves to congregate, and many were employed in constructing the ring of fortresses that eventually surrounded the city.

Defending the capital

At the beginning of the war, Washington's only defense was one old fort (Fort Washington

Fort Washington Park

Fort Washington, located near the community of Fort Washington, Maryland, USA, was for many decades the only defensive fort protecting Washington D.C. The original fort, overlooking the Potomac River, was completed in 1809, and was named Fort Warburton...

, 12 miles (19.3 km) away to the south), and the Union Army soldiers themselves. When Maj. Gen.

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

George B. McClellan

George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...

assumed command of the Department of the Potomac on August 17, 1861, he became responsible for the capital's defense. McClellan began by laying out lines for a complete ring of entrenchment

Entrenchment

Entrenchment or Entrenched may refer to:* Military trenches with relation to Trench warfare, especially that of World War I *Entrenchment as a feature of a Constitution, making it more difficult to amend* Entrenched clause within a constitution...

s and fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

s that would cover 33 miles (53.1 km) of land. He built enclosed forts on high hills around the city, and placed well protected batteries of field artillery

Field artillery in the American Civil War

Field artillery in the American Civil War refers to the important artillery weapons, equipment, and practices used by the Artillery branch to support the infantry and cavalry forces in the field. It does not include siege artillery, use of artillery in fixed fortifications, or coastal or naval...

in the gaps between these forts, augmenting the 88 guns already placed on the defensive line facing Virginia and south. In between these batteries interconnected rifle pits were dug, allowing highly effective co-operative fire. This layout, once complete, would make the city one of the most heavily-defended locations in the world, and almost unassailable by nearly any number of men.

The capital's defenses for the most part deterred the Confederate Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

from attacking. One notable exception was the Battle of Fort Stevens

Battle of Fort Stevens

The Battle of Fort Stevens was an American Civil War battle fought July 11–12, 1864, in Northwest Washington, D.C., as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 between forces under Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early and Union Maj. Gen. Alexander McD. McCook. Although Early caused consternation...

on July 11–12, 1864, in which Union soldiers repelled troops under the command of Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early. This battle was the first time since the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

that a U.S. president came under enemy fire during wartime when Lincoln visited the fort to observe the fighting.

By 1865 the defenses of Washington were most stout, amply covering both land and sea approaches. At war's end the now 37 miles (59.5 km) of line included at least 68 forts, over 20 miles (32.2 km) of rifle pits, and were supported by 32 miles (51.5 km) of military use only roads and four individual picket

Picket (military)

In military terminology, a picket refers to soldiers or troops placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance. It can also refer to any unit performing a similar function...

stations. 93 separate batteries of artillery had been placed on this line, comprising over 1,500 guns, both field & siege varieties, as well as mortar

Mortar (weapon)

A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

D.C. Military formations

Owens Company, District of Columbia cavalry {3 months unit-1861}
8 Battalions, District of Columbia Infantry {3 months unit-1861}
1st Regiment, District of Columbia Infantry
2nd Regiment, District of Columbia Infantry
Unassigned District of Columbia Colored
Unassigned District of Columbia Volunteers

Washington, D.C. during the later stages of the War

Hospitals in the Washington area became significant providers of medical services to wounded soldiers needing long-term care after being transported to the city from the front lines. Among the most significant of these Civil War hospitals were the Armory Square Hospital, Finley Hospital, and the Campbell Hospital. More than 20,000 injured or ill soldiers received treatment in an array of permanent and temporary hospitals in the capital, including the U.S. Patent Office, and, for a time, the Capitol itself. Among the notables who served as nurses or medical assistants were poet Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...

, American Red Cross

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

founder Clara Barton

Clara Barton

Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian. She is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.-Youth, education, and family nursing:...

, and Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American activist on behalf of the indigent insane who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums...

. Novelist Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...

served at a hospital in Georgetown. The United States Sanitary Commission

United States Sanitary Commission

The United States Sanitary Commission was a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. It operated across the North, raised its own funds, and enlisted thousands of volunteers...

had a significant presence in Washington, as did the United States Christian Commission

United States Christian Commission

The United States Christian Commission was an important agency of the Union during the American Civil War. It was designed to offer religious support, but also provided numerous social services and recreation to the soldiers of the U.S. Army. It provided Protestant chaplains and social workers,...

and other relief agencies. The Freedman's Hospital

Freedman's Hospital

Forerunner of the Howard University Hospital, Freedmen's Hospital served the black community in the District of Columbia for more than a century. First established in 1862 on the grounds of the Camp Barker, 13th and R Streets, NW, Freedmen's Hospital and Asylum cared for freed, disabled, and aged...

was established in 1862 to serve the needs of the growing population of freed slaves.

As the war progressed, the overcrowding severely strained the city's water supply. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed a new aqueduct

Aqueduct

An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....

that brought 10,000 gallons of fresh water to the city each day. Police and fire protection were beefed up, and work resumed to complete the unfinished dome of the Capitol Building. However, for most of the war, Washington suffered from unpaved streets, poor sanitation and garbage collection, swarms of mosquitos facilitated by the dank canals and sewers, and poor ventilation in most public (and private) buildings.

Important political and military prisoners were often housed in the Old Capitol Prison

Old Capitol Prison

The Old Brick Capitol in Washington, D.C., served as temporary Capitol of the United States from 1815 to 1825, and became the Old Capitol Prison during the American Civil War. Razed in 1929, its site is now occupied by the U.S...

in Washington, including accused spies Rose Greenhow and Belle Boyd

Belle Boyd

Isabella Marie Boyd Isabella Marie Boyd Isabella Marie Boyd (May 9, 1844 – June 11, 1900, best known as Belle Boyd or Cleopatra of the Secession, was a Confederate spy in the American Civil War...

, as well as partisan ranger John S. Mosby

John S. Mosby

John Singleton Mosby , nicknamed the "Gray Ghost", was a Confederate cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War...

. One inmate, Henry Wirz

Henry Wirz

Heinrich Hartmann Wirz better known as Henry Wirz was a Confederate officer in the American Civil War...

, the commandant of the Andersonville Prison

Andersonville prison

The Andersonville prison, officially known as Camp Sumter, served as a Confederate Prisoner-of-war camp during the American Civil War. The site of the prison is now Andersonville National Historic Site in Andersonville, Georgia. Most of the site actually lies in extreme southwestern Macon County,...

in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

was hanged in the yard of the prison shortly after the war for his cruelty and neglect toward the Union prisoners of war.

Lincoln assassination

On April 14, 1865, just days after the end of the war, Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...

during the play Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin is an 1858 play in three acts by English playwright Tom Taylor. The play is a farce whose plot is based on the introduction of an awkward, boorish but honest American, Asa Trenchard, to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family estate...

. The next morning, at 7:22 AM, President Lincoln died in the house across the street, the first American president to be assassinated

Abraham Lincoln assassination

The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...

. Secretary of War

United States Secretary of War

The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...

Edwin M. Stanton

Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...

said, "Now he belongs to the ages" (or perhaps "angels"). The residents and visitors to the city experienced a wide array of reactions, from stunned disbelief to rage. Stanton immediately closed off most major roads and bridges, and the city was placed under martial law. Scores of residents and workers were questioned during the growing investigation, and a handful were detained or arrested on suspicion of having aided the assassins or for a perception they were withholding information.

Lincoln's body was displayed in the Capitol rotunda

United States Capitol Rotunda

The United States Capitol rotunda is the central rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Located below the Capitol dome, it is the tallest part of the Capitol and has been described as its "symbolic and physical heart."...

, and thousands of Washington residents, as well as throngs of visitors, stood in long queues for hours to glimpse the fallen president. Hotels and restaurants were filled to capacity, bringing an unexpected windfall to their owners. Following the identification and eventual arrest of the actual conspirators, the city was the site of the trial and execution of several of the assassins, and again, Washington was the center of the nation's media attention.

Grand Review of the Armies

On May 10, 1865, new President Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...

declared that the rebellion was virtually at an end, and planned with government authorities a formal review to honor the victorious troops. One of his side goals was to change the mood of the capital, which was still in mourning following the assassination. Three of the leading Federal armies were close enough to travel to Washington to participate in the procession— the Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

, the Army of the Tennessee

Army of the Tennessee

The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee....

, and the Army of Georgia

Army of Georgia

The Army of Georgia was a Union army that constituted the Left Wing of Major General William T. Sherman's Army Group during the March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign.-History:...

. Officers in the three armies who had not seen each other for some time communed and renewed acquaintances, while at times, infantrymen engaged in verbal sparring (and sometimes fisticuffs) in the town's taverns and bars over which army was superior.

The Army of the Potomac was the first to parade through the city, on May 23, in a procession that stretched for seven miles. The mood in Washington was now one of gaiety and celebration, and the crowds and soldiers frequently engaged in singing patriotic songs as column passed the reviewing stand in front of the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

, where President Johnson, general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

, senior military leaders, the Cabinet, and leading government officials awaited.

On the following day, William T. Sherman led the 65,000 men of the Army of the Tennessee and the Army of Georgia along Washington's streets past the cheering crowds. Within a week after the celebrations, the two armies were disbanded and many of the volunteer regiments and batteries were sent home to be mustered out of the army.

Notable Civil War leaders from Washington, D.C.

The District of Columbia, including Washington or adjoining Georgetown, was the birthplace of several Union army generals and naval admirals, as well as a leading Confederate commander.
Other important personalities of the Civil War born in the immediate Washington area included Confederate Senator Thomas Jenkins Semmes

Thomas Jenkins Semmes

Thomas Jenkins Semmes was a lawyer and politician in the state of Louisiana who served in the Confederate States Senate during much of the American Civil War....

, Union general John Milton Brannan

John Milton Brannan

John Milton Brannan was a career American Army officer who served in the Mexican-American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War, in command of the Department of Key West in Florida and assigned to Fort Zachary Taylor...

, John Rodgers Meigs

John Rodgers Meigs

John Rodgers Meigs was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He is most notable for controversy surrounding the circumstances of his death, which led to the burning of a large part of a Virginia town in retaliation.-Biography:Meigs was born in Washington, D.C., into a family...

(whose death sparked a significant controversy throughout the North), and Confederate brigade commander Richard Hanson Weightman

Richard Hanson Weightman

Richard Hanson Weightman was an antebellum delegate to the United States Congress from the Territory of New Mexico...

External links

"The Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C.", National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
Washington, D.C. defenses, National Park Service