Fort Tillinghast
| Fort Tillinghast | |
|---|---|
| Part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | |
| In use | 1861–1865 |
| Materials | Earth, timber |
| Demolished | 1865 |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Fort Tillinghast was a small lunette that the Union Army constructed in Alexandria County (now Arlington County), Virginia, as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington (see Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War).[1] Fort Tillinghast stood about 0.6 miles away from Arlington House, the Union-occupied estate of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
History
Following the Union Army's rout at the
The lunette was named in honor of Captain Otis H. Tillinghast, Quartermaster, killed at the
A May 17, 1864, report from the Union Army's Inspector of Artillery (see Union Army artillery organization) noted the following:
Fort Tillinghast, Major Rolfe commanding.–Garrison, two companies First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery– 7 commissioned officers, 1 ordnance-sergeant, 220 men. Armament, one 24- pounder field howitzer (smooth), two 20-pounder Parrotts (rifled), three 24-pounder siege guns (smooth), one 24-pounder F. D. howitzer, four 30-pounder Parrotts (rifled), two 24-pounder Coehorn mortars. Magazines being rebuilt; at present unserviceable; work progressing slowly; ammunition kept in bomb-proof. Ammunition, full supply and serviceable. Implements, complete and in good order. Drill in artillery, fair. Drill in infantry, fair. Discipline, fair. Garrison sufficient for the work.[2]
In June, 1865, Fort Tillinghast was ordered dismantled and the site returned to its previous owners.[3] The fortification stood near 205 North Wayne Street in Arlington, but no sections remain today. A historic marker, near the intersection of Arlington Boulevard (U.S. 50) and North 2nd Street in Arlington, shows the location where the fort once stood. The marker depicts the fort's position on a map of the city's defenses and states:
Here stood Fort Tillinghast, a lunette in the Arlington Line constructed in August 1861. It had a perimeter of 298 yards and emplacements for 13 guns. A model of this fort, typical of all lunettes in the Arlington Line, can be seen at the Hume School museum of the Arlington Historical Society.[4]
Notes
- ^ OCLC 665840182. Archived from the original on 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2018-03-05 – via Google Books.)
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help - Official Records of the War of the Rebellion)
- ^ War Department. "Special Orders No. 315, June 19, 1865; General Orders No.89, HQ, Dept. of Washington, XXII Army Corps, June 23, 1865". The Civil War Defenses of Washington: Historic Resource Study: Part II, Chapter I: Silenced Guns: Abandonment of the Fortifications. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
- ^ "'Fort Tillinghast" marker". HMdb: The Historical Marker Database. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
External links
- National Park Service - A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington
