Fort Ward 1861-1865
This stairway leads up the west wall of Fort Ward between the Northwest Bastion (to your left) and the Southwest Bastion (to your right). Fort Ward had 14 cannon emplacements along this area of the wall that created overlapping fields of fire. Infantry soldiers armed with rifle muskets stationed between the cannon emplacements made this wall of the fort a formidable obstacle to attack.
The initial construction of Fort Ward was completed in September 1861. The fort was used to protect the approaches to Union occupied Alexandria via the Leesburg Turnpike (King Street) and Little River Turnpike (Duke Street). By late 1864, the perimeter of the earthwork fort had been enlarged from 540 yards and 24 gun positions to 818 yards and 36 guns.
Fort Ward was the fifth largest stronghold in the Defenses of Washington and was considered a model of 19th-century military design and engineering. The fort was named for Commander James Harmon Ward, the first Union naval officer to die in the Civil War. It was dismantled by December 1865.
Please help preserve Fort Ward for future generations by walking on designated pathways. Climbing on the fragile earthen walls is detrimental to the fort.