212 S. Washington Street

A hospital opened in the Baptist Church on July 5, 1862, becoming one of the hospitals in the 2nd Division of Alexandria hospitals on Sept. 20, 1862. The Quartermaster map shows stables  and a sink (privy) behind  the church. The hospital closed on Dec. 8, 1864. A December 17, 1864 census listed the hospital as supporting 150 beds of the 993 beds in the Alexandria General Hospital Division, which included most of the church hospitals.

The church’s brick façade was built in 1805, rebuilt in 1830 after a fire, and enlarged in 1858.

When the church was taken for use as a hospital, The Philadelphia Press  reported that Reverend Bitting, pastor of the church, was in trouble with the provost marshall:

A PHILADELPHIA MINISTER IN TROUBLE.--We learn that Rev. Mr. Bitting, formerly of this city, who is now pastor of the Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, was lately informed by Colonel Gregory, the provost marshal of that place, that if he could not pray for the President of the United States and the success of the Federal arms, he would be compelled to close his church.

The reverend gentleman asked until the next morning to consider the subject, which was granted by Colonel Gregory. Mr. Bitting, in company with the mayor of Alexandria, called upon Colonel Gregory, and informed him that he could not comply with his request. Colonel Gregory replied that he (Mr. Bitting) being a Philadelphian and a minister of the Gospel of Christ, and an instructor of the people in righteousness, it was certainly incumbent upon him to lead them in the way which would produce peace and good order, and that the only object of the Government was to restore order, and bring back peace to our distracted country. Mr. Bitting replied that he had made it a rule not to interfere with politics, and had endeavored to preach the Gospel. Colonel Gregory informed him that politics had nothing to do with the matter; that the subject had resolved itself into the question of a Government or no Government, and that he who was not for the Government must be against it.

Occupying the position which he did, and being from the loyal State of Pennsylvania, he was extremely sorry that he had placed himself in a position which forbid him to pray for the President and thank God for the success of the Federal arms. This being the case, he must take military possession of the church, which was immediately done by the adjutant.

Source: The Philadelphia Press (Monday 21 July 1862, page 3), transcribed in First 91st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, A Day in Alexandria, RootsWeb.

• How a church became a Civil War Hospital. Out of the Attic, March 9, 2017.

Title: Baptist Church, Capacity 150

Image Source: The Photographic History of the Civil War in Ten Volumes. Francis Trevelyan Miller, Editor in Chief, Volume Seven, Prisons and Hospitals. New York, The Review of Reviews Co., 1911, p. 234

Image Date: 1861-1865.

Medium: Photograph

Rights Advisory: Out of Copyright

First Person Accounts from the Union Hospitals

Clarissa Jones head nurse at the Baptist Church hospital in Alexandria, wrote a letter from the Lyceum Hospital, dated September 12, 1862. Courtesy of  The National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Frederick, Maryland. 

The Quartermaster Map, Sheet 12, shows the Baptist Church Hospital and surrounding structures, including stables and general's quarters.

The church, now known as Downtown Baptist Church, is located at 212 S. Washington Street, across from The Lyceum.

• Google Maps. See the location today.
• Civil War Hospitals Map. See location of the hospital in relation to others
• Union Hospitals in Alexandria. Return to main page
• Alexandria Civil War Hospitals. interactive Story Map
• Alexandria Civil War Hospitals. Walking Tour Brochure