Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War

As capital of the United States, the federal district of Washington, D.C., became a significant civilian leadership, military headquarters, and logistics center during the American Civil War. Defending the capital became a major priority of the War Department, 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, a last-ditch attempt by delegates from 21 of the 34 states to avert what many saw as the impending Civil War, take place in the city's Willard Hotel. The effort failed and the War became a reality when Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina was bombarded in early April.

Faced with an open rebellion that had turned hostile, President Abraham Lincoln began organizing a military force to protect Washington. 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 regiments and artillery batteries from throughout the North, and the city became the staging area for what became the Manassas Campaign. When Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell's beaten and demoralized army staggered back into Washington after the stunning Confederate victory, the realization came that the war might be prolonged, and efforts began to fortify the city in case of a Confederate assault. Following the defeat at Battle of First Bull Run, 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, [Eicher, p. 843.] and the Army of the Potomac 16 days later. [Eicher, p.856.]

Most Washington citizens embraced the arriving troops, although there were pockets of apathy and Southern sympathy. Upon hearing a Union regiment singing "John Brown's Body" as the soldiers marched beneath her window, resident Julia Ward Howe 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 effortndash and its legacies, such as veterans' pensionsndash 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 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 war materiel for the Federal armies, and civilian workers and contractors flocked to the city.

Slavery was abolished throughout the District on April 16, 1862 — eight months before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation — with the passage of the Compensated Emancipation Act. [ [http://os.dc.gov/os/cwp/view,a,1207,q,608975.asp "History of D.C. Emancipation"] , District of Columbia Office of the Secretary] 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, convert|12|mi|km away to the south), and the Union Army soldiers themselves. [NPS description of defenses] When Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan assumed command of the Department of the Potomac on August 17, 1861, he became responsible for the capital's defense.Eicher, p. 843.] McClellan began by laying out lines for a complete ring of entrenchments and fortifications that would cover convert|33|mi|km of land. He built enclosed forts on high hills around the city, and placed well protected batteries of field artillery in the gaps between these forts,Catton, p. 61.] augmenting the 88 guns already placed on the defensive line facing Virginia and south. [Wert, p. 80.] 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. [NPS description of defenses]

The capital's defenses for the most part deterred the Confederate Army from attacking. One notable exception was the Battle of Fort Stevens 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 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 convert|37|mi|km of line included at least 68 forts, over convert|20|mi|km of rifle pits, and were supported by convert|32|mi|km of military use only roads and four individual picket stations. 93 separate batteries of artillery had been placed on this line, comprising over 1,500 guns, both field & siege varieties, as well as mortars. [NPS description of defenses]

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, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, and Dorothea Dix. Novelist Louisa May Alcott served at a hospital in Georgetown. The United States Sanitary Commission had a significant presence in Washington, as did the United States Christian Commission and other relief agencies. The Freedman's Hospital was established in 1862 to serve the needs of the growing population of freed slaves. [ [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/hospital/whitman.htm Whitman's "Drum Taps" and Washington's Civil War hospitals] ]

As the war progressed, the overcrowding severely strained the city's water supply. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed a new aqueduct 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. [ [http://www.exploredc.org/index.php?id=113 WETA-TV, Explore DC: Civil War Washington website] ]

Important political and military prisoners were often housed in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, including accused spies Rose Greenhow and Belle Boyd, as well as partisan ranger John S. Mosby. One inmate, Henry Wirz, the commandant of the Andersonville Prison in Georgia was hanged in the yard of the prison shortly after the war for his cruelty and neglect toward the Union prisoners of war. [ [http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/PrisonsParolesAndPOWs/oldcapitolprison.html Old Capitol Prison] ]

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 during the play "Our American Cousin". The next morning, at 7:22 AM, President Lincoln died in the house across the street, the first American president to be assassinated. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton 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, 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 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, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of Georgia. 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, where President Johnson, general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant, 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, Union general John Milton Brannan, John Rodgers Meigs (whose death sparked a significant controversy throughout the North), and Confederate brigade commander Richard Hanson Weightman.

See also

* History of Washington, D.C.

References

* Catton, Bruce, "Army of the Potomac: Mr. Lincoln's Army", Doubleday and Company, 1961
* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* Furgurson, Ernest B., "Freedom Rising : Washington In The Civil War", New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. ISBN 9780375404542.
* [http://www.nps.gov/cwdw/historyculture/index.htm NPS description of defenses]
* Wert, Jeffry D., "General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier: A Biography", Simon & Schuster, 1993, ISBN 0-671-70921-6.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/rocr/ftcircle/ "The Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C."] , National Park Service
* [https://cms.ncr.nps.gov/cwdw/ Washington, D.C. defenses] , National Park Service

Further reading

* Laas, Virginia Jeans, ed., "Wartime Washington : The Civil War Letters of Elizabeth Blair Lee", University of Illinois Press, 1999. ISBN 9780252068591.
* Leech, Margaret, "Reveille in Washington: 1860 – 1865", Harper and Brothers, 1941. ISBN 9781931313230
* Leepson, Marc, "Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed The Course Of American History", Thomas Dunne Books, 2007. ISBN 9780312363642.

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